Corliss

The unfortunate thing is that every year, people are executed who did not commit the crime they were convicted of. If our justice system were fool proof capital punishment might be more just, but since it is not, at least with life imprisonment when a person is discovered to not be guilty, he can be freed, with capital punishment, there is no reversal. Corliss

Weren't the two men who died on either side of Jesus theives? Were they murderers? As far as whether or not God calls for capital punishment I think it should be left up to Him. I am not saying that I oppose it on an emotional level because I don't however if you go by Christ's admonition in the story of the woman who was being stoned, then none of us are fit to cast the first stone, or push the button, or drop the trap door, or initiate execution by whatever means. The Bible is full of contradictions. The crime rate is far lower in countries where capital punishment has been abolished. Fear based ethics are not higher ethics. This type of ethics results in the ones with the power ruling, whether it is physical strength or political power. Power does not equate goodness or separation from animals, in fact the reverse is true. Corliss

Hi, I am an RN and work on a total care unit. We only have one tech (nursing assistant) so it is essential that we pull and push patients. I would never have considered going back in less than 6 wks. You will have a port attched to your stomach muscles, it is easy to pull it out of place if you do anything to strenuous. I have surgery scheduled for this thursday (gall bladder/hernia repair) and have arranged to take off 6 weeks and have my two weeks of accumulated leave paid to me at 24 hrs per pay period. That will give me a small amount of income over the six week time period. I get unpaid leave under FMLA. It is well worth the down time to get your band and get the weight off. You wil probably loose a lot less time off due to illness and injury not to mention being a more productive, happier Tech! You guys are vital. You can make or break a nurses night and a patients safety. I love good techs!:smile2: Corliss

That would be so amazing. Another interesting tidbit is that according to polls (I can't quote them so take with a grain of salt) Most people who are anti-choice are in favor of capital punishment. If a life is a life, who should be killed? Most anti-choice folks are also against public funded sex education and contraception. That stance does not even make any sense. For the record, I am not generally in favor of abortion and strongly oppose it after the 1st trimester except in extreme cases. I can't decide exactly my criteria for extreme cases, so I don't believe that even late term abortion should be criminalized. I believe that abortion is a very serious choice that a woman has to make. Only she can live with the consequences of her choice. It is not our responsibility as a nation to make her choices or eliminate them. In the name of health care, compassion, common sense and economics, sex education and contraception should be made available to all of child bearing age. Corliss

Yeah I think those of us who low carb just get tired of the yaya :cursing:and dont' check in here that often. BTW, I have noticed some of the most vocal anti low carb folks on here like to rant on other boards too. I just don't waste my energy, but would love to get this board active with pro low carbers. I know it is fantastic way to go. I myself am not consistant but I should be. Thanks for your post. Corliss:thumbup:

If you are being very careful and still having some fairly frequent pb, more than once a week, you might want to have just a fraction of a mL removed. I am on my second band and am coming up on restriction real slowly. My plan is to stop just short of the point you describe. If I get there, I am gonna get him to take me down just a hair. It can make all the difference. I can't risk loosing another band. Good luck to ya. I need to drop another 50 myself, all of which I gained before rebanding. Corliss :thumbdown:

So many people prefer not to be bothered with evidence to the contrary of what they believe and hold dear. Like any diet the Atkins will not work if you don't do it. There are loads of people on my Low Carb lists through Yahoo that are maintaining for years after loosing 50 plus pounds with Atkins without a lap band. I personally am not one who can maintain, but lets see, I didn't maintain with weight watchers, nutri system or diet pills either. I even gained wt on the mediteranian diet as much as I loved it! I have the band to minimize the damage that I do when I am not making good choices whether they be bandster reccomendations, OA food plan, Low Carb food plan or Weight Watchers. I find that the Atkins way of eating which is very similiar to the OA grey sheet to be really effective for wt loss. I think all of us who are in need of a band, just muddle through this the best that we can, but many would like to see ourselves as successful dieters and hold our own diets as better than someone elses, where the truth is the band is the key! Very few here would be successful in keeping it off if not for our tool. I know of only one person on all the boards I am on who has successfully kept her wt. off after band removal, without some revision to another surgery. She is the exception. I personally have experienced a band loss and I am in touch with dozens of others who have and we all experienced wt gain with that one happy exception. Atkins can do wonders for dropping a significant amount quickly and I am all for using it if it works for you. If not, why whine and get nasty about it....if you don't want to do it then for goodness sake, don't do it, but stop the yaya! Corliss

Ain't it Amazin'???? LOL! Corliss:lol:

Hey Jolly, I have never tried yogurt butter. I have had yogurt cheese. For hard core low carbing, the more butter/fat you use, the better. You don't want to use transfats such as crisco or margerine, but animal fat and olive oil, even coconut oil are excellent. Most lap band folk do not adhere to this type of low carb, because it is not really neccesary to be able to loose for most. So if you are eating a normal amount of carbs the high fat will blow your calorie count up. I am a sugar junkie and very carb sensitive. I have been having a hard time getting on board loosing and rather than go get another fill right away, I had just started cutting the carbs yesterday and had not thought a thing about this candy till your post came up. I always try to put off making the treats till I am really on a roll. Like I was telling someone on chat last night super low carb can make your blood sugar run too low, so if you do this be sure to get some veggies in. I had turnip greens for dinner cooked with olive oil and onion for seasoning along with some talapia, sauteed in butter with lemon sauce and capers. They were both wonderful though I ate them seperately. Corliss

Hi Jolly, I buy the hard cooking chocalate bars. This stuff is not low cal cause it has so much fat in it. I only eat them if I am way into low carbing. They are major good and I also do a sugarfree cheesecake with erytiritol. The erythritol is the major key ingreedient in both. Splenda will not do the trick by itself and maltotol has almost as many cals as sugar and also gives you upset stomach. You buy the Erythritol from www.netrition.com Corliss

My guess is experience. So glad for you! Corliss

Yes, it amazes me that people can continue to debase this approach to eating and health despite strong evidence both scientific and anecdotal that it works! All the time that I was loosing wt. and doing my labs long before I knew of or considered the lapband, my "friends" kept telling me, "you can't loose wt. like that, you are gonna get sick." I would show them the labs and the wt loss was obvious and all I got was puzzled looks! Fact is the larger majority of the American dieters have followed the "healthy low fat diets" and have also become fatter and fatter. It is almost like people say "don't bother me with evidence to the contrary, I am gonna believe wha I want to believe." Corliss:thumbup:

I started out in OA 30 years ago. I went to other 12 step programs from that point and have been happy in recovery from alcohol, mood altering drugs and relationships for many and varying years, one day at a time, but i have never been freed up from the desire to eat compulsively, band or no band. The band has kept me from doing major damage to myself and allowed me to take off a lot of wt. in spite of my active food addiction. It is sort of like harm reduction. I returned last week to OA, and having the band and still feeling compulsive is the reason I returned. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I am a food junkie. As an old time 12 stepper, I am sure that the 1st tradition applies, and I have to place principles before personalities. If someone has a hard time with my personal choice to be banded then they need to take thier own inventory, not mine. I just know that I need this program and plan to take what i need and leave the rest. It is part of why I am here, I have done everything humanly possible to control this disease and I can't. Maybe we just need to be out about the band and let the chips fall where they may. I know that is my plan. I am not out to convince anybody else to be banded and I have great respect for those who can do it without the band, but for me it was a tool I needed and I believe it is about my powerlessness. Corliss

That is some good advice! I used to wear thigh high compression stockings and had to deal with the same issues, lol! I have also found with these compression sleeves I am wearing on my brachioplasty that I have to give myself and extra 20 minutes when I shower cause i have to treat the incisions and then get the sleeves on right. With the face lift, I am now trying to practice good skin care and am trying to get in the habit of wearing makeup, so that means at least an extra hour to get ready to go out! Now i remember why I never liked being a "girly girl". It takes too much time, and I am still just as ADHD as ever! Maybe if I get in the habit, I can develope some speed and time management skills on this one, lol! Corliss

Dr Schulman, Thanks for your reply. I did discuss this by email with my surgeon. He says that he did lift the tail of the brow up. He used and endoscopic approach, but I don't see how there is any difference other than my eyebrows are flatter and lower. I had a point in the middle of my eyebrows before surgury, like the "devils brow" but now it is just straight so i guess that is why if he lifted the tail of them but I cannot for the life of me understand why my brow would be lower if he lifted the tail. He said that he had not done the coronal lift because I have an ample forehead already. I have written him back asking for more information but have not heard back from him. In your experience can a coronal browlift be done without making the hairline receed further? Can an endoscopic lift be repeated perhaps elevating the entire eyebrow area without making the full incision ? Thanks you, Corliss

I understand you not wanting to get too pushy too quick with the doc, but I do think you need to start a conversation with it, so he won't be surprised about your concern. I so hope it improves. Corliss

I had face lift in Monterrey Mx on June 23. I had neck, face, upper and lower bleph and the muscle in my forhead weakened. I also had my ears trimmed. I am extremly happy with most of it, however my forehead does not match the rest of my face. The skin is quiet loose and wrinkled. My eyebrows are low as a result, basically unchanged since before the surgery. I find this disturbing as it is a contrast to the rest of my face. My understanding was that he would in doing the full face lift, elevate my brow somewhat. I told him in consult that I did not want to look unnatural and have that surprised look all the time. When I asked him afterwards if it was going to pull up on its on or if my brows would stay that way, he told me that I had said specifically that I did not want that surprised look. This was all true, and I am wondering if since this was a Mexican surgeon that the language nuances may have made a difference in his understanding what I really wanted or was there some medical reason that he could not have done this in combination with the upper and lower bleph. If you could shed some insight on this issue I would appreciate it. Do you think I could yet have a brow lift or would too much scar tissue have developed from the incisions he made to weaken the forehead muscle? I also wonder if it is usual for patients to not require narcotics after face lift. My doctors gave me Supradol (Mexican tordol and tylenol combo) and Ultracet (ultram and tylenol). This was quiet painful surgery on my face though the arms were not very painful. My doctor told me I was the first patient he had ever had who had such pain with a face lift. That was a bit disturbing because I don't require a lot of pain meds and following lap band was off after the second day of Supradol. Any how I would appreciate your thoughts on these issues and any advice as to how to deal with my mismatched face lift. Thank you, Corliss

Okay am i missing something? I thought you paid him 4000 more to take care of your rolls in upper stomach. He did not tighten muscles correct? Then if he didn't tighten muscles he didn't do an actual tummy tuck, he just cut the loose skin off the upper part of the tummy for the extra 3000 you paid him and the 1000 was for extra time in the OR? I would be very very angry. I think I would get a copy of my operative report first, and unless he had told you in advance he was not tightening your stomach muscles, he owes you some money or a revision. If he explained before hand that he would only cut excess skin he should have also explained to you that this would not give you the flat stomach that a tummy tuck gives. That is horrible to not give complete information either way. He may even be liable for malpractice. :cursing: There is a plastic surgeon who has a thread on this board. I would post and ask him any questions I had and I would deal with my doctor politely but objectively. I would not make any accusations but ask for information and be careful to document everything he tells you. Ordinarily I am not litiginous but having just been through a face lift and brachioplasty I know how much pain and what a slow recouperation it is and this should not be taken lightly. Hugs to you hon, and I hope all goes well as possible. Corliss

So sorry, what a drag. Is your doc going to be able to do it outpatint in his office under local? Good luck hon. Corliss:thumbdown:

Rita, I agree with you. Christ preached love and forgiveness. I have had to work real hard to forgive some people in my life who have been abusers but that didn't mean I liked them, I just didn't have to waste my energy hating them. I certainly don't have to hate a troubled celebrity who may or may not have done the things he was accused of. I wonder at the people who use the bible to justifiy hatred and avoid forgiveness. I have found a lot of peace in my life by being willing to own my feelings and let go of them. I suspect everybody is right where they are supposed to be, and my biggest problem is that I tend to have a hard time avoiding judging the judgemental, lol! All part of my spiritual journey. Corliss:wub:

I just thought I would check in on this thread to see what folks had to say and I wished I had stayed on the forum just talking about wt. loss and cosmetic surgery. I was saddened by the guy because I thought he had too many issues that he should have dealt with as he certainly had the resources. He had very bad judgement in his relationships and in his use of cosmetic surgery, but he did a huge lot of good for a many thousands of starving people. He was just an injured soul. I hope he finds peace, and for those of you who get some comfort out of hating him and pronouncing him guilty of child molestation and wishing him in hell, I hope all of you find what ever it is that you are supposed to learn from this experience and move on. Good luck on your life journey. Corliss

I lost 203 lbs with my previous band. I did not consistently do low carb but it was absolutely wonderful for getting me off plateaus. I lost my band due to a slip Sept. 19, 2008. I gained wt. on every diet I tried. The only one I lost any wt on was a modified low carb where my carbs were from vegetables and a small amount of fruit and of course dairy. I could not consistantly stay on low carb and it was neccesary to get another band. I am thrilled to have a band. At this time I am 45 lbs from goal again and just started back on low carb, high fat, moderate/high protein. I intend to keep my band as loose as possible in hopes of avoiding another slip. Wish me luck! Corliss

TY Patty, I have read a lot of your posts on the plastic surgery forum. You had caught my eye, I identify with so much you have written. Sounds like you did a tremendous amount of work even before you were banded. Please PM me anytime. Corliss

Hey Butterfly, I was banded 2 days after you but this is my second band. I am here to tell you that bands work if you do your part. I lost 203 lbs with my first band. I gained 60 between bands and started with the new band at 49.8 lbs from goal. I had a load of plastic surgery shortly after rebanding and am only just now starting to focus on wt loss. I had so much push to eat from my plastic docs that I have basically ate most any liquids, softs and now mushies that I could get in. I am however feeling that I am wasting time cause I am not trying to loose wt, so I made the switch, today I started seriously watching my carbs and cals. Don't feel like you are the only one who has buyer's remorse because I have heard of many who do. You are an addict to the feeling that food gives you and to avoiding the feelings that come up when you can't eat. You will have to deal with those negative feelings. The best ways I have found its to start a new project and you can let that project be you. Start logging your food and activity on fitday, and try to work in just a little more fun physical activity everyday. If I can help you in any way I will be glad to. Don't hesitate to get in touch with me. You can see my before and after pics on my profile. Corliss