Band_Groupie

It sucks to be 49 ½, especially when you’re obese. So today I thought I’d recant my fall physical…as that sums it up. I remember my yearly physicals up until about 10 years ago I never had ANYTHING to complain about. After that my strategy soon became; pick the two most important issues and focus on them with the PCP. This year Mr.SA insisted I make a list…how sad is that, I have a LIST! Mr.SA gave me the lecture about how YOU don’t know what is related…give THEM all the info. and let THEM decide what’s important (can you tell his dad is a Dr?). This wasn’t my style…I’m not a complainer (I know, I get it all out here) but I typed up my list (I’m a little OCD) of about 6 or 7 things and off I went. I should mention here that this was the visit this fall that I also decided to ask about the Lap Band for the first time. I was a little nervous about my “list” as I sat waiting on the beloved crinkly paper on the exam table…I SWEAR they make it extra noisy just to make you more nervous. In walks a kid who could have been my son. OK, NOT my usual Dr.! He explains he’s an intern and would be doing my initial exam and then the Dr. would be in. Poor kid, this was NOT to be his day. I started into my list…and he’d ask me a few questions as I went along…then I forgot where I was, so I paused to actually go get out my type written list…BIG MISTAKE…his face got more flushed than mine:blushing: (and I think I need to add rosacea to my list) and I SWEAR his teenage acne was breaking out as I spoke. I tried to add a little humor saying my DH made me make a list because I was falling apart and needed a tune up:laugh:…no smile, no laughter…just looked more frightened:eek:…OK then:huh2:…on we went. I made it through to the end with a few raised eyebrows…I’m pretty sure my face was actually on fire at this point.:cheers2: So right about now I’m feeling like he must think I’m a hypochondriac or worse yet…what’s that thing people have when they want medical attention…munchausens? The LAST think I want is attention about all my health problems. Dear God,:mad: now he’s trying to recap my list and I suddenly realize he hasn’t taken down a single note. He’s about on number 4 on my list when his memory fails:out:…I toyed with the idea of just handing him my list, but then I remember he’s not a writer…do I dare suggest he write it down…I think not, he’s flustered enough. It’s like watching one of my kids practicing for speech class at school…I want to yell “Where are your index cards?” He tries reciting my list about 3 more times unsuccessfully (I'm starting to get a almost 50 year old hot flash and may go nuclear any minute) when I we hear a knock at the door. It’s my regular Dr. “Are you about done it there?”…Panic forms on the poor interns face. He’s frozen in fear, he opens his mouth but nothing comes out.:nonod: I shout… “Oh, sorry Dr. ____, I’m keeping him tied up with my big list of problems…ha, ha…we’re almost done!” Relief flows back into the intern’s face. Loooong pause, then he finds new strength and says “What issues are the biggest problems that you would like us to focus on today?” OK, good boy, you may make a good Dr. yet…now we’re getting somewhere…I picked my “big 2” as always and recited back the details…off he went to get the Dr. In they came and he recited my “big 2” perfectly…I did eventually get in the rest of my “list” as if I’d just remembered them…my intern looked on gratefully.:smile2: It went smoothly…I even got a phone number of a lap band surgeon from them even though I’m “…not that heavy and you’re not a metabolic nightmare, but you can look into it if you want”. Did I not just spend the last hour giving you my “list” of reasons why I need this? All is well…I had my surgeon’s phone number and my intern may not drop out of medical school, just yet. I think schools need to issue pens with all those medical books. Just wait until he sees my list at my 50 yr. old physical...next time I'll bring a copy!:ohmy:

You might get an answer here, but you'll probably have more luck if you post this under post-op in the forum tab (just want you to get a quicker answer). Only the forum questions show up under 'new posts' so they get way more visability than the blog section. But keep on bloggin'! -BG

It's hard for me to understand this, since I'm pre-band. I'm probably stating the obvious, but...You'd think if you didn't feel much restriction that the band must have been too open and if it was tight enough to back up into your esophagus and stretch it that you would have felt super full? Maybe it's more a matter of getting in touch with knowing when you're actually full?...I know now I can eat until I hurt at times...way past just 'full'...maybe it's like that? I'm a little nervous about being able to feel all these actual physical triggers (not just the hunger in your head). When you're used to not ever feeling hungry and eating way too much...it's going to be like learning how to eat all over again. Tuesday- that's great! Not much longer. Let me know how you're doing after. Have a great weekend! -BG

I just got a call from the surgeon’s office. I thought it was their insurance expert FINALLY calling me back. I started off with “Thanks for calling me back!” Then I get “Thanks?:biggrin: You might not want to thank me yet…I have to reschedule your appointment.” :biggrin:#@%& (in my head) are you kidding me??! Mr.SA was off for the holiday and set to go with me on Dec. 23. I had all my questions ready to go.:wink2: I was SO HAPPY:crying: that this would be done right before Christmas…a nice little present for me.:eek: At first she tried to put me off until Feb…:angry:not happening. Now it’s on Jan. 13th at noon, so who knows if Mr.SA can make it or not.:wub: I’m depressed:sad2:…I know, that’s life. Many people don’t get to see their surgeon until that point anyway (half-way through 6 mo. diet). I’m still bummed…OK, upside-:nopity:pity party time, join me:party:…time to open that wine early tonight (maybe a lovely fruit martini even)…now that I’ve really got something to whine about!:thumbup: Who's joining me?

I just got a call from the surgeon’s office. I thought it was their insurance expert FINALLY calling me back.:smile2: I started off with “Thanks for calling me back!” Then I get “Thanks? You might not want to thank me yet…I have to reschedule your appointment.” :mad:#@%& (in my head) are you kidding me??! Mr.SA was off for the holiday and set to go with me on Dec. 23. I had all my questions ready to go.:sad: I was SO HAPPY:crying: that this would be done right before Christmas…a nice little present for me.:ohmy: At first she tried to put me off until Feb…:angry:not happening. Now it’s on Jan. 13th at noon, so who knows if Mr.SA can make it or not.:nonod: I’m depressed:sad2:…I know, that’s life. Many people don’t get to see their surgeon until that point anyway (half-way through 6 mo. diet). I’m still bummed…OK, upside-:nopity:pity party time, join me:party:…time to open that wine early tonight (maybe a lovely fruit martini even)…now that I’ve really got something to whine about!:cheers2: Who's joining me?

Let the commiserating begin!!! Open that bottle of wine tonight and I'll be whining with you!!! (sorry-bad one) Thanks...I needed that!

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Blab away! And welcome to blog land! BTW- I think waiting until after the holidays is a good idea.

This year Mr.SA (DH) and I were both called to jury duty. I was thinking about this yesterday as I sat in the hospital waiting room without Mr.SA…he was on jury duty- Juror #12 (Last one picked)…as DS put it “Leaving me in my time of need!”:lol2: (funny boy). I’d been called to duty three times before in other cities but I was always traveling for work and no one could take my place, so work always wrote me a note to get me out of it…sweet relief to be honest. But now I’m home, not working, no excuse:glare:…I wasn’t sure what I thought about that…I’m pretty patriotic:patriot:…I can’t make it through 3 lines of “The Star Spangled Banner” without tearing up:crying:…I always call my Dad and thank him a on Veteran’s Day…I planned a day in Normandy:gnorsi: with a private guide when we took the family to Paris…heck I even rented every Normandy movie ever made and we had Tuesday movie nights:film: with the kids for months in preparation for our trip. So I know it’s my civic duty, but I was dreading this. Maybe I’ve gotten cynical in my almost half-century of life, but I’ve become one of those “don’t have much faith in our judicial system” people. It’s probably all those real court room cases that are on TV these days…so I’ll blame the media for my newfound knowledge of how the judicial system doesn’t always work. Two words come to mind O.J., or is that one bad word? I see people that get off on loop holes and it makes me angry…especially when children are the victims.:biggrin: I’m a pretty tolerant person; I’ve forgiven some pretty serious wrongs in my life especially when the forgiveness is earned…in fact those that know me would say I’m a kind, never-hurt-someone’s-feelings-let-alone-a-fly-on-their-head person. So I don’t like that I’ve gotten to this point, but if someone I loved were harmed by another, I think I would be very tempted to take justice into my own hands. I’m not so sure I would “trust the system”,:frown: but maybe, just maybe...now I would give it a chance. You see I spent a day on Jury Duty…Jury Selection to be exact. I dressed nicely and got there early. I think I was hoping that then I’d be first to be interviewed and I could just tell them that I have no faith in their silly system and they’d let me go home…hey, I look nice, I would have time now to go window shopping at that fancy new boutique strip mall I’ve been dying to see. So 150 of us packed into a tight chairs-in-rows-room. After an hour and a half:sleep: of getting to know my neighbors the judge finally came in and told us that 6 of the 8 cases just settled. Then they started to call names and assign them numbers and I soon caught on to the fact that it didn’t matter that I came early. I watched as 50 people left the room never to be seen again and I was pissed they didn’t pick me:angry:…what’s wrong with me?:wink2: Eventually I let the slight go (forgiving remember) and I settled into my oh-so-comfy-NOT stacking chair with a good book. Lunch break we were released and then all us “losers” came back for round two. Another hour and a half and they started calling names again…44, 45, 46…Yeah me…juror number 47! We get to the courtroom and I won’t bore you with all the details, but only the first 12 + 2 alternates are THE jurors for the case unless they get dismissed.:hand: The judge is patient and informative and then starts the “Game Show” of “Eliminate the Jurors”! Round 1: “Raise your hand if you know anyone involved in this case.”…hand raised, they bring the sweet old man-juror #3 up and we all hear him proudly describe to the judge how he has known one of the lawyers since he was a little boy…good friends with his dad even…whispers between them…he waddles back with his cane towards us as the judge yells to him “Don’t get too comfortable”…more quick whispers…and before he can sit down… “Juror #3 is dismissed!” He looked startled,:yikes: then crushed:sad:…I felt for him. We all moved up one seat, and more importantly one number. Well, a million more questions and 5 more dismissals and we were done…I was up to being Juror #41…no where NEAR even being asked a question.:thumbup: I was exasperated by then…it’s late afternoon, my bum was sore from sitting in hard court-house chairs all day and they didn’t even need me! :biggrin: Then the judge said something that I’ll always remember….It was a long impromptu talk about the importance of serving and our coming today…yadda, yadda, yadda...and then she said “God forbid you ever find yourself or someone you love in court (on either side),:laugh: wouldn’t you want the best people to be there to sit on your jury?” Something about that rang true to me.:eek: So yesterday instead of cursing the judicial system for making Mr.SA miss his son’s hospital visit…I did what I always do... especially when it’s earned…I forgave them.:wub:

This year Mr.SA (DH) and I were both called to jury duty. I was thinking about this yesterday as I sat in the hospital waiting room without Mr.SA…he was on jury duty- Juror #12 (Last one picked)…as DS put it “Leaving me in my time of need!”:lol2: (funny boy). I’d been called to duty three times before in other cities but I was always traveling for work and no one could take my place, so work always wrote me a note to get me out of it…sweet relief to be honest. But now I’m home, not working, no excuse:glare:…I wasn’t sure what I thought about that…I’m pretty patriotic:patriot:…I can’t make it through 3 lines of “The Star Spangled Banner” without tearing up:crying:…I always call my Dad and thank him a on Veteran’s Day…I planned a day in Normandy:gnorsi: with a private guide when we took the family to Paris…heck I even rented every Normandy movie ever made and we had Tuesday movie nights:film: with the kids for months in preparation for our trip. So I know it’s my civic duty, but I was dreading this. Maybe I’ve gotten cynical in my almost half-century of life, but I’ve become one of those “don’t have much faith in our judicial system” people. It’s probably all those real court room cases that are on TV these days…so I’ll blame the media for my newfound knowledge of how the judicial system doesn’t always work. Two words come to mind O.J., or is that one bad word? I see people that get off on loop holes and it makes me angry…especially when children are the victims.:rolleyes3: I’m a pretty tolerant person; I’ve forgiven some pretty serious wrongs in my life especially when the forgiveness is earned…in fact those that know me would say I’m a kind, never-hurt-someone’s-feelings-let-alone-a-fly-on-their-head person. So I don’t like that I’ve gotten to this point, but if someone I loved were harmed by another, I think I would be very tempted to take justice into my own hands. I’m not so sure I would “trust the system”,:frown: but maybe, just maybe...now I would give it a chance. You see I spent a day on Jury Duty…Jury Selection to be exact. I dressed nicely and got there early. I think I was hoping that then I’d be first to be interviewed and I could just tell them that I have no faith in their silly system and they’d let me go home…hey, I look nice, I would have time now to go window shopping at that fancy new boutique strip mall I’ve been dying to see. So 150 of us packed into a tight chairs-in-rows-room. After an hour and a half:sleep: of getting to know my neighbors the judge finally came in and told us that 6 of the 8 cases just settled. Then they started to call names and assign them numbers and I soon caught on to the fact that it didn’t matter that I came early. I watched as 50 people left the room never to be seen again and I was pissed they didn’t pick me:angry:…what’s wrong with me?:wink2: Eventually I let the slight go (forgiving remember) and I settled into my oh-so-comfy-NOT stacking chair with a good book. Lunch break we were released and then all us “losers” came back for round two. Another hour and a half and they started calling names again…44, 45, 46…Yeah me…juror number 47!:glare: We get to the courtroom and I won’t bore you with all the details, but only the first 12 + 2 alternates are THE jurors for the case unless they get dismissed.:hand: The judge is patient and informative and then starts the “Game Show” of “Eliminate the Jurors”! Round 1: “Raise your hand if you know anyone involved in this case.”…hand raised, they bring the sweet old man-juror #3 up and we all hear him proudly describe to the judge how he has known one of the lawyers since he was a little boy…good friends with his dad even…whispers between them…he waddles back with his cane towards us as the judge yells to him “Don’t get too comfortable”…more quick whispers…and before he can sit down… “Juror #3 is dismissed!” He looked startled,:yikes: then crushed:sad:…I felt for him. We all moved up one seat, and more importantly one number. Well, a million more questions and 5 more dismissals and we were done…I was up to being Juror #41…no where NEAR even being asked a question.:biggrin: I was exasperated by then…it’s late afternoon, my bum was sore from sitting in hard court-house chairs all day and they didn’t even need me! :rolleyes2: Then the judge said something that I’ll always remember….It was a long impromptu talk about the importance of serving and our coming today…yadda, yadda, yadda...and then she said “God forbid you ever find yourself or someone you love in court (on either side),:laugh: wouldn’t you want the best people to be there to sit on your jury?” Something about that rang true to me. So yesterday instead of cursing the judicial system for making Mr.SA miss his son’s hospital visit…I did what I always do... especially when it’s earned…I forgave them.:glare:

Haven't been there, but I just wanted to say that I've read this a lot on LBT (they usually come up in the fills forum). The same hormones that make you gain that 5 lbs. every month of water weight also effects swellling of your stomach...causing you to be too tight. If you're having this for days (you didn't say how long it lasts) each month and can't hold anything down then maybe it's time for a call to your Dr.? Even if you don't want an unfill you might ask about diuretics (keep water gain down) that you could take that would be safe? Let us know how you're doing! -BG

Wow! That's great! Thanks for going to all the trouble to do that! :ohmy:

Thanks for sharing Tony. This was a great description of what to expect. Sounds like your incisions are tiny! I've been wondering about that tilt table...someone had a photo of patient on one...I'll have to ask my surgeon about that next week, thanks for the reminder. Hope you're feeling better soon. -BG

MIL and Catholic guilt (I can say that I'm Catholic)= Bad combination! I'm with you..."the things we do"...at least you'll be done with it...hang in there tonight! -BG

Wanted to let you all know I (Mr.SA had jury duty of all things) just got back from the hospital with DS (youngest). He's sleeping now. Had plenty of time to write my blog entry while in the waiting room (sorry I rambled my story today, but it kept me busy). Both procedures went smoothly and he did well with the anesthetic...just took him longer than most to wake up. One small problem and we'll wait and see what the biopsy shows...may not have results until the day after Christmas (I pray it's before). Sounds like regardless there will be more testing in the future, since they shouldn't have found anything at his age...and maybe more tests depending on biopsy. Thanks for the prayers all!

Wanted to let you all know I (Mr.SA had jury duty of all things) just got back from the hospital with DS (youngest). He's sleeping now. Had plenty of time to write my blog entry while in the waiting room (sorry I rambled my story today, but it kept me busy). Both procedures went smoothly and he did well with the anesthetic...just took him longer than most to wake up. One small problem and we'll wait and see what the biopsy shows...may not have results until the day after Christmas (I pray it's before). Sounds like regardless there will be more testing in the future, since they shouldn't have found anything at his age...and maybe more tests depending on biopsy. Thanks for the prayers all!

I’m in need of a good uplifting story today, so I thought I’d tell one. It’s my very favorite Christmas story so hang in there with me.:thumbup: When we were first starting out we didn’t have much but we tried to make the holidays special. The kids always wrote their letters to Santa well in advance and we always let them ask Santa for 3 wishes (thus giving us a clue what they wanted and limiting them at the same time). We reinforced how important this decision was and that they had to chose carefully because children only got to send one letter per year (Santa is busy after all). So the kids always fretted for weeks before deciding. This always involved hours of “test driving” in the toy store, circling items in ads, and paying more attention to the toy commercials then the cartoons on Saturday mornings (Remember when cartoons were on Saturdays only? No?…I’m aging myself:embaressed_smile:). This was always particularly hard for my DD…choosing between many things you want has always been hard for her. Just go clothes shopping with her sometime…after a few hours on the bench in the fitting room you’ll know what I mean. When my oldest (DD) was about 5 she had a particularly hard time choosing that year. She finally sent off her letter to Santa and we were set. We bought our presents, wrapped them all up, and loaded them in the car.:biggrin: We used to take turns traveling to each set of Grandparents every other year and that year was my parent’s turn. My Dad has been “playing Santa” since I was a baby and he has always done an awesome job! I remember sitting in my grandparent’s house with all my cousins and hearing Santa’s bells and then seeing his face coming through the snow toward their big picture window…I thought my heart was going to burst with excitement! We each took a turn on Santa’s lap to whisper our wishes into his ear and he always had candy canes to give out. We’d sing him our best Christmas carols and then wave to him from the window as his sleigh-bells slowly faded away. I swear I could hear the reindeer on the roof! I was wonderful…up until the year that my cousin whispered in my ear who Santa really was and I burst out in tears :biggrin:(my Mom had to rush me to the bedroom before I traumatized all the other cousins). That cousin who told me has spent some time in jail over the years:glare:…go figure! Sorry, back to the story… So this was one of those wonderful Christmas’ at my parent’s home now and there was Santa in their window. I thought my DD was going to die of excitement. It was finally her turn on Santa’s lap and he asked her what she wanted for Christmas…we’d been practicing this with her for weeks…she could rattle off those 3 wishes like nobody’s business…so cameras:camera: and camcorders:film: blazing we waited for her reply…I knew her well…no whispers in Santa’s ear like the shy kids…I knew she’d list them loud and proud…a pause…then she thoughtfully looks at her grandparent’s mantle points to it and says “I want a manger just like Oma’s (Grandma’s) only I want a PINK light in mine.” WHAT’S THIS???!!!:wink2: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 3 WISHES WE’D BEEN PRACTICING FOR A MONTH??? Well Santa must have seen the surprise in my face:ohmy: because he promptly asked “Well, what other things do you want Santa to bring you?” “That’s all Santa…that’s all I want.” she says matter-of-factly and she wouldn’t budge. You’d have to know my DD to understand this…this was NOT one of those spur of the moment decision that kids make just because they can’t think of what else to say…oh NO…she had obviously given this a lot of thought. She’s one of those kids whom other people, from the age of about 2, have been telling me that she’s a kid who’s going to get what she wants out of life…she’s bright, precocious, outgoing, likable, adventurous, is always the life of the party, loves attention, and can smooth talk the pants off anyone. The manger my mother puts on her mantle every year is a beautiful antique one with 14 figures and animals. It’s from Italy, an old one from about 1920, with a yellow light in it (with a fabric covered cord that will probably cause a fire some day) and it was given to them by my father’s parents. The kids all love it because every year (I told you this story in my “Traditions” blog) on Christmas Eve a child gets chosen to carry in baby Jesus to place in the manger while we all hold candles and sing “Silent Night”. My DD loved having her turn to do this. OK…now what’s a parent to do? It’s Christmas Eve and no stores are open:clock: to look for a manger even if we wanted to. What could we do? We spent Christmas Eve assembling the kitchen set she’d asked for and said a prayer:pray2: that she’d love it. Christmas morning dawns and the cousins arrive. Santa always wraps all his presents in plain Red and Green paper…except each child’s big gift which is left unwrapped. We let the kids come into the family room and my DD ran:willy_nilly: right to her kitchen set with squeals of delight…all was well and I breathed a sigh of relief. We start the “great unwrapping” with Opa (Grandpa) handing out gifts one at a time. A few presents into it my DD gets a red gift box from Santa that I didn’t recognize, but sometimes the grandparents do that. She opens the box and screams with delight:hurray:….she starts to jump up and down pointing and can hardly breath! It’s a manger set…identical to Oma’s…and yes, it has a big pink light in it. I look at the box…then I look at the mantle…double-take…I check again…yep, Oma’s manger is still there, yellow light and all. It’s a Christmas miracle! I start bawling and saying “I believe in Santa!!...and Christmas miracles!!”:laugh: At this point I see my middle sister in tears laughing and crying with me. Pretty soon we’re all laughing and crying. I later find out that my Grandparents had originally bought two identical manger sets…they’d given one set to my parents and one to my father’s brother and his wife (my aunt). My Aunt had passed the manger on to my sister (her Goddaughter). Long story short…my sister already had a manger set so she’d never put it out…it had been down her basement for years…waiting for it’s moment…all she had to do was switch out a big pink bulb from my parents Christmas tree for the yellow one!:wub: The manger set now adorns my mantle every year (until my DD gets a home of her own)…and yes, everyone who sees it curiously asks about the big pink light so I have to tell the story (it does kind of make the crèche look like a brothel:blush:…but I love the pink light)…and I still believe in Santa!:eek:

I’m in need of a good uplifting story today, so I thought I’d tell one. It’s my very favorite Christmas story so hang in there with me.:biggrin: When we were first starting out we didn’t have much but we tried to make the holidays special. The kids always wrote their letters to Santa well in advance and we always let them ask Santa for 3 wishes (thus giving us a clue what they wanted and limiting them at the same time). We reinforced how important this decision was and that they had to chose carefully because children only got to send one letter per year (Santa is busy after all). So the kids always fretted for weeks before deciding. This always involved hours of “test driving” in the toy store, circling items in ads, and paying more attention to the toy commercials then the cartoons on Saturday mornings (Remember when cartoons were on Saturdays only? No?…I’m aging myself:embaressed_smile:). This was always particularly hard for my DD…choosing between many things you want has always been hard for her. Just go clothes shopping with her sometime…after a few hours on the bench in the fitting room you’ll know what I mean. When my oldest (DD) was about 5 she had a particularly hard time choosing that year. She finally sent off her letter to Santa and we were set. We bought our presents, wrapped them all up,:glare: and loaded them in the car.:rolleyes3: We used to take turns traveling to each set of Grandparents every other year and that year was my parent’s turn. My Dad has been “playing Santa” since I was a baby and he has always done an awesome job! I remember sitting in my grandparent’s house with all my cousins and hearing Santa’s bells and then seeing his face coming through the snow toward their big picture window…I thought my heart was going to burst with excitement! We each took a turn on Santa’s lap to whisper our wishes into his ear and he always had candy canes to give out. We’d sing him our best Christmas carols and then wave to him from the window as his sleigh-bells slowly faded away. I swear I could hear the reindeer on the roof! I was wonderful…up until the year that my cousin whispered in my ear who Santa really was and I burst out in tears :rolleyes2:(my Mom had to rush me to the bedroom before I traumatized all the other cousins). That cousin who told me has spent some time in jail over the years:glare:…go figure! Sorry, back to the story… So this was one of those wonderful Christmas’ at my parent’s home now and there was Santa in their window. I thought my DD was going to die of excitement. It was finally her turn on Santa’s lap and he asked her what she wanted for Christmas…we’d been practicing this with her for weeks…she could rattle off those 3 wishes like nobody’s business…so cameras:camera: and camcorders:film: blazing we waited for her reply…I knew her well…no whispers in Santa’s ear like the shy kids…I knew she’d list them loud and proud…a pause…then she thoughtfully looks at her grandparent’s mantle points to it and says “I want a manger just like Oma’s (Grandma’s) only I want a PINK light in mine.” WHAT’S THIS???!!!:wink2: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 3 WISHES WE’D BEEN PRACTICING FOR A MONTH??? Well Santa must have seen the surprise in my face:ohmy: because he promptly asked “Well, what other things do you want Santa to bring you?” “That’s all Santa…that’s all I want.” she says matter-of-factly and she wouldn’t budge. You’d have to know my DD to understand this…this was NOT one of those spur of the moment decision that kids make just because they can’t think of what else to say…oh NO…she had obviously given this a lot of thought. She’s one of those kids whom other people, from the age of about 2, have been telling me that she’s a kid who’s going to get what she wants out of life…she’s bright, precocious, outgoing, likable, adventurous, is always the life of the party, loves attention, and can smooth talk the pants off anyone. The manger my mother puts on her mantle every year is a beautiful antique one with 14 figures and animals. It’s from Italy, an old one from about 1920, with a yellow light in it (with a fabric covered cord that will probably cause a fire some day) and it was given to them by my father’s parents. The kids all love it because every year (I told you this story in my “Traditions” blog) on Christmas Eve a child gets chosen to carry in baby Jesus to place in the manger while we all hold candles and sing “Silent Night”. My DD loved having her turn to do this. OK…now what’s a parent to do? It’s Christmas Eve and no stores are open:clock: to look for a manger even if we wanted to. What could we do? We spent Christmas Eve assembling the kitchen set she’d asked for and said a prayer:pray2: that she’d love it. Christmas morning dawns and the cousins arrive. Santa always wraps all his presents in plain Red and Green paper…except each child’s big gift which is left unwrapped. We let the kids come into the family room and my DD ran:willy_nilly: right to her kitchen set with squeals of delight…all was well and I breathed a sigh of relief. We start the “great unwrapping” with Opa (Grandpa) handing out gifts one at a time. A few presents into it my DD gets a red gift box from Santa that I didn’t recognize, but sometimes the grandparents do that. She opens the box and screams with delight:hurray:….she starts to jump up and down pointing and can hardly breath! It’s a manger set…identical to Oma’s…and yes, it has a big pink light in it. I look at the box…then I look at the mantle…double-take…I check again…yep, Oma’s manger is still there, yellow light and all. It’s a Christmas miracle! I start bawling and saying “I believe in Santa!!...and Christmas miracles!!”:laugh: At this point I see my middle sister in tears laughing and crying with me. Pretty soon we’re all laughing and crying. I later find out that my Grandparents had originally bought two identical manger sets…they’d given one set to my parents and one to my father’s brother and his wife (my aunt). My Aunt had passed the manger on to my sister (her Goddaughter). Long story short…my sister already had a manger set so she’d never put it out…it had been down her basement for years…waiting for it’s moment…all she had to do was switch out a big pink bulb from my parents Christmas tree for the yellow one!:glare: The manger set now adorns my mantle every year (until my DD gets a home of her own)…and yes, everyone who sees it curiously asks about the big pink light so I have to tell the story (it does kind of make the crèche look like a brothel:blush:…but I love the pink light)…and I still believe in Santa!

Hi there. OK...questions: How did you know you had a dialated esophagus? Does it just need to shrink again? Be proud that you didn't give up. I think starting over is very admirable!

So the new Realize has "pre-made" creases? The debate as I heard it is that the old one would crease into a triangle-maybe that almond shape you described (like taking a long balloon and trying to make a tight circle it would crease in places) and also that the stomach could pinch into those creases...again, I have NO idea what's true; just trying to make an informed decision since you know what it does. Thanks again for your time and opinion. Oh, and hello Cincinnati (DH grew up in Anderson and we lived in Mt. Washington for awhile)-great city!

Thanks for posting this DrC! Can you tell me how fully inflated these are in the pics...or more importantly, do you have a pic of both of these fully filled? I'm wondering if that gap at the end of the Realize one goes away when full? Also wondering if it develops creases when full, like so many say the old one did? It's so confusing knowing what's true and there are so few pictures out there with good information. I don't want to spark another one of those debates, I'd just like to see fully filled photos. When will this one be widely available to other surgeons? I'm going in for my surgeons consult in 2 weeks and have a choice of Realize or LB-Allergan (I'm hoping to be banded in May '09). Thanks again!

Thanks for this thread! I just did a blog (on LBT) the other day about this (trying to decide if I'll need to "diet" and count calorie the rest of my life even with the LB. It's reassurring to know there's a chance this "obsession" may go away forever. Thanks!

Wow, if you can lose 7 pounds with all that stress you've had then you ARE my inspiration! I think that's amazing! You CAN get that next 7 off...and if you don't by the end of the year...it's not the end of the world...just keep you're eyes on all the positives you're doing and you'll get there. I think that's what's so helpful about this site. Hearing stories like this really helps...I now see that I'll "fall off the wagon" at times, everyone does and it's just a matter of not beating yourself up about it...we all got fat from bad habits and the band doesn't cure those...you're aware of what you did and why...it's what you do after you fall off the wagon that counts! As you said "Time to hit it hard." Hang in there.-BG

My prayers were answered!:thumbup: My youngest, DS has two minor procedures being done tomorrow at Children's Hospital (nothing serious). The prep today involves no eating, laxatives, etc. TMI. It's 11am and he's "starving" already (13 yr. old going through a growth spurt needs hourly food). The hospital doesn't give you the time of the procedure until the day before. So, I've been saying prayers that he would have a morning procedure...another 1/2 day of no food would not be pretty.:biggrin: The OR nurse just called and he's the first one scheduled tomorrow!:biggrin: 6:45am check-in...yay! A tiny miracle...but one all the same...he and I were doing the happy dance around the kitchen! I'm a little nervous:unsure: about the general anesthetic he's getting for the first time, hour and a half under in the OR...sounds like forever to me (he's got asthma and so many allergies)...please send prayers! We're having "jammie day" and playing games...distractions. I'm off to play (Wii)...