PhotoNut

I didn't go for a week. I was beginning to worry so I called my surgeon and he said Milk of Magnesia. I took it when I went to bed and by the next afternoon, things were back to normal.

Yet another reason for me to avoid Texas. *grins*

Oh my god. I'm so glad she's ok Heather. *shudders* I can't imagine how horrible that must have been for your mom. Where was the snake? In your yard??

27% of women say they'd rather get their wisdom teeth pulled than shop for swimsuits. Amen sisters! *laughs*

I only know of one who has but as far as I know, she isnt on LBT. Check out the Yahoo group: idahobandsters There is a gal named Patty on there who had her port "flip" twice and she talks about how it was repaired and the cost of the repair. You must be very concerned right now, I would be. Facing another surgery stinks. But I think, from what I've read, that it's much easier than the original surgery. Please let us know how it goes for you, ok? *big hugs*

Cashley - I knew it wasn't aimed at me. I understand where you were coming from. I just wish that people who do follow the rules wouldnt get so attacked by those who dont. Perhaps those who dont follow the rules feel the same way in reverse. I think that what most people fail to adequately express is that they feel a sense of fear and concern, even worry, for the person who is breaking the rules. Not disgust or distaste. The urgency in posts that warn people to stick to the Dr's orders is that of concern, not judgement. I just wish everyone would begin to give people the benifit of the doubt in and not take it as a personal attack when someone says, "Dont do that! You could harm yourself!" Basically, we are all here because we care about each other. Total strangers who bond together in an attempt to pull each other along the road to freedom. I think it's amazing how much we all care about the person beside us - that we can't even see. Remember everyone. Text is just as fickle as the band. It is so easily misinterpreted. Tone and intent are often misread. Let's just trust that we are all concerned about the fundamental success of each person and believe that noone is here to hurt anyone's feelings or run them off by being cruel. Ok? *hugs Cashley* It's all good

Teresa, you're such a card! Lisa, it's so nice to see you in good spirits and wishing everyone a Happy May when you must really be so frustrated inside. It is a beautiful day here in Boise, Idaho. Sunny, cool breeze and I'm inside. Doh! I think it's time to get my tuckus outside and do something constructive! Happy May Day everyone! Anyone want to dance around the Maypole with me? The ceremony of the maypole and maypole dancing, is symbolic of renewed life. In folklore, the common practice was to bring a new pole into the village every year representing that year's incarnation of the spirit of all growing plants - hopefully encouraging a good harvest. The tradition of dancing around the maypole is widespread through the UK, North America and Europe. Each dancer holds a ribbon and by dancing around the pole and weaving in and out of one another, the dancers gradually wind the ribbons in an intricate pattern down the pole.

I just KNEW that Heather would drive a truck!

Welcome to bandland! I felt much like this too. It took about a week to feel normal again and sipping Water was all I could manage. But over time things did come back to normal and by the end of the second week I could drink more and was feeling much less pain. Get up and walk around as much as you can tolerate. sleep all you want, you're body is focusing all of its energy on healing. Try a warm heating pad for relief of pain. Extra strength liquid Tylenol seems to be highly recommended. I just stayed on the prescribed medicine my Dr gave me until I felt well enough to do without it. And Wheetsin's right, try drinking room temp water or even sipping on some warm broth. It really is comforting even if you can't drink much at a time. If you get hungry, just sip more whenever you need to. You don't have to be on a restricted meal time or amount of calories right now. Just focus on healing. Trust me, you don't need to fear this. It's the natural process of healing and adjusting to your band. Day by day it gets better and better. *hugs*

Last time I filled up, here in Boise Idaho, it was $74.00 and that was at $2.79/gallon. Since then, I think prices have risen another 6 cents. Not surprising though. The warmer weather has arrived and people are pulling out their campers. Supply and demand. I think it's about time we demanded they stop forcing us to pay so damn much for the supply!

SSSSWEET!! WHAT A RED LETTER DAY! MARK IT ON YOUR CALENDAR! 100 POUNDS IS AWESOME GIRL! WOOT WOOT! :clap2: :clap2:

WOOOOHOOOO!!! WAY TO GO TRICIA! *DOING THE HAPPY DANCE* :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

I deleted two of my posts on this thread because I didn't feel that the response I provided was well received and was upsetting the original starter of this thread. It is never my intent to insult, belittle, judge, condemn, or even lecture anyone. I always try to answer any questions with direct honesty. Isn't a person who posts a question such as "Why not cheat?" looking for others to tell them "Why Not"? In my mind, that is what several of us did, and suddenly we are being yelled at for being judgemental and making people feel bad. Perhaps some people have a better way of expressing themselves. Perhaps some people just know how to candy-coat the response so that it's easier to swallow by the receiver. I'm not sure what it takes, but I decided I didn't have the ability to do it and therefore my post wasn't contributing anything positive on this thread. I came back to this thread today, after distancing myself from it for a while and I have to tell you that I'm very shocked and upset by what I found. People who have taken their time to share what advice they have, based on what they were told by the makers of the lapband AND their medical professionals, are being called Nazis. NAZIS. Does it not strike you as ironic that passing on sound advice can bring hateful, angry responses upon us and yet someone can call us a fricking NAZI and that seems to be OK?? MerrianWebsters Dictionary: Nazi Etymology: German, by shortening & alteration from Nationalsozialist, from national national + Sozialist socialist 1 : a member of a German fascist party controlling Germany from 1933 to 1945 under Adolf Hitler 2 often not capitalized : one who resembles a German Nazi The thread starter was asking "Why shouldn't I cheat?" and as the thread progressed, the thread starter said, "I thought, if I posed this questions, hopefully someone would provide me with a valid and educated response that would scare me into being good." Ok, so people answered her question with the knowledge that they gained from their own experience, study, and medical professional's guidance. That makes them judgemental? That becomes lecturing? That is reminiscent of a fascist military group that cruely tortured, experimented on, and slaughtered thousands of human beings? How? Explain HOW! And then, please explain to me why it is ok to call people a Nazi, but you are being judgemental and hateful by telling someone, "If you cheat you are only cheating yourself. If your doctor has told you not to eat certain foods for your own benifit, then it's best not to." PLEASE! I really want to know how anyone can jusitfy that in their minds. *exasperated sigh of frustration and hurt*

Jack - You and Dawg share the same dream!

Here's our ride. A Ford Expedition.

Awww, thanks Kimbo. I decided to opt out because I'm so great that none of you could beat me. *laughs* Actually, I didn't get points for exercise or water today. :eekB: I got lazy! I just didn't think it sounded right for me to be trying for the award. It's really not a bad thing. I'm still working hard and enjoying watching all of you working hard too! I'm glad that this has been so helpful to you guys. That is enough reward for me! LindaV - Tomorrow! Yay! Hurry up and get well so we three can walk. I missed you this weekend girl! We went to a family/best friend family bbq this evening and the pics of me were awful. I've lost 63 pounds as of today, and I'm still so blobbly, and wobbly, and roly poly. *sighs* I can't wait to see that first picture where I don't look so grotesquely fat. And these boobs have GOT to Go! I would love to have perky boobs. And Maggie, when you lose more weight, you'll fit right into those "small" girls!

Yay! This is great news, less waiting time! I was only able to do my pre-op diet for a little over 2 weeks. I was a rush job due to a bad hernia that needed to be repaired asap (did them together). I was able to lose 16 pounds in that time and my liver was fine. I'm certain it was 99% fat before I started that! I lived on fast food (totally) for over almost two years! Blech. You know we are here for support. Let us know if you need any, and keep us posted on your progress. :eekB:

Hi Terry! Welcome to LBT. Im glad to see you've moved out of lurkdom and have joined the talkers! Best of luck with your progress toward getting your band date. Keep us posted!

So... have all the hugs and kicks helped? How ya doing Angie?

I just saw this! :eekB: Go back to tickerfactory.com, select weight, then click next, change your current weight, then click next, copy the updated code in the bbCode box like you did the first time. Then delete your current ticker in your signature and paste in the newly copied one. That should do it!

Eight years ago, we got two pets from the pound. First was Abby, the cat who became known as Abby the Bitch. She was the toughest, meanest most loving cat we've ever known. Now this could have been brought on by certain someones who found it funny to torment her when she was younger. Things like sraying her down with Windex and washing the sliding glass doors with her, or sliding her back and forth across the kitchen floor in some fashion of an air hockey game. She got revenge though. *grins* We lost Abby last week. Found her seemingly asleep by the side of the house, stiff as a board. We miss her. We spotted Murray in the pound and immediately knew he was to be ours. I swear that dog thought he was human. I can't even begin to tell you what a big part of us he was. Murray's life with us came to an end last fall but we still think we hear him or see him around the house. He was the best dog ever. He loved this family (including the two cats) and we loved him. We miss him. Our sole survivor came to us six years ago as a tiny kitten rescued from some stupid teenage girl who just about killed it by carrying it around in the summer heat. Our son saw that the cat was nearly dead and just took it from the girl, telling her she didn't deserve to have it! He brought it home and named that precious ball of orange fur, Princess... who promptly grew some healthy male organs and then became, the cat formerly known as Princess! *laughs* Actually, he was renamed Sprout. Since he was tiny he has loved to sit in flower pots. He is our only baby now. He misses his pals Murray and Abby, and rarely leaves our sides. Even though Murray and Abby aren't with us anymore, I couldn't put up our pet pics without including them. Abby is in the middle of the picture below. We think that image best described her! *laughs*

Hi Susan! Welcome to bandland! As everyone has said, it is normal to be tired. Your body has gone through a lot of "shock" from the surgery and now it's focusing its enery on healing the "injuries". Follow its lead and do what you can when you feel up to it, but get all the rest you need. I remember the first time I looked at myself in the mirror after surgery. My reaction was, "I paid $26,000 for THIS?!" My stomach was so bloated, I looked pregnant! I weighed and much to my horror I had gained 8 pounds! I was told this was from all the fluids pumped into me via IV. And sure enough it went away and I started losing about a pound a day. One day I even lost 8 pounds! After you switch from liquids back to more solid foods, that rapid weight loss will slow down. It's even normal for some to gain a few pounds during this phase. After the swelling goes down, you will be able to eat just like you did pre-band, not that you should, so you'll start getting the hunger stuff to deal with until you get a fill and some restriction. Once that happens, the weight should come off at about 2 pounds per week (average). Sounds like you are doing really well. I'm happy for ya! Keep sip, sip, sipping on that water!

Well, we finally did it! We got started on our resistance training in the gym today. We did arms, chest and back. Tomorrow we go back to do legs, butts, and some stomach work but mainly twisting and stuff until we build up enough muscle to support the more targeted stomach exercises. I'm such a wimp! Some of the stuff I had to set on 5 pounds. A few years ago, we did some weight training and I had worked up to a lot more weight than that. Now I'm starting over. But it won't take long. It was good to be moving those muscles again! Loved it! I'm doing well on my scorecard. I've been thinking about all of you who might be a bit too strict on yourselves in regards to the sugar and flour thing. I want everyone to be logical about it. We are aiming this at baked goods, candies and sweets, and adding granulated sugar to your food not at whole grain cereals, marinades, canned fruit (light syrup). I know that sugar is in just about everything we eat. Those of us who live in America are trained to have a sweet tooth from a very young age. So, if you are being prudent in selecting low sugar or unsweetened foods and avoiding processed flours and baked goods, then please don't be analysing the lables for the grams of sugars in that soy sauce or cottage cheese. Be fair with yourself and be honest with yourself. You know whether or not you've earned those points! Love you all! Goodnight from an exhausted P'Nut. ZZZzzzzzz......

Skye, you have put the BIGGEST smile on my face, my friend! This is exactly the kind of thing I've been waiting to hear from you and the very thing I've been praying for. Peace for your family. What a wonderful little oasis for you, your hubby and your boys to take a breather from all of the stress you guys have been under. I'm so so happy for you. And your NSV - Wow! 12s and 14s! OMG! I can hardly wait to experience that again! Your doctor is right, you ARE doing a great job. In fact, considering what you're going through at the same time, you're doing above and beyond great - you're do an amazing job hun. *big hugs* To all in the Challenge - It's fine by me if you keep score cards offline and update every few days. I think that's a great idea! Mystjin - I'm so happy about your surgery date girl! Have a wonderful time in Orlando! Put all of this out of your mind and just have a blast! *hugs* Maggie - w00t! Almost 60 pounds! You go girl!! :clap2: By the way, how are the "Twins"? Skbishop - No worries hun, do what you can but family certainly comes first. Try the printed card and update when you have some free time. :eek: Sammari - I'm happy you joined the Challenge! I'll get you added to the members page (first post on page one of this thread). Please post a short hello to everyone and tell us a bit about yourself?

Aw Jen, I can imagine how you must be feeling. My hair started falling out when I stopped taking my synthroid (stupid me). A beautiful head of hair is important to us gals! Sounds like you are doing all the right things. You must be getting about 100 grams of Protein a day. My hair hasn't reacted like this, thank goodness, so I don't know what to suggest other than maybe calling a really top notch hair salon and seeing what they might suggest. Try to relax about it too. Stress can cause some pretty extreme things to happen in our bodies, including hair loss. *hugs*