BJean

One of my doc's patients decided to take a whole bunch of vitamins and supplements like he did before the sleeve surgery. He aspirated them instead of swallowing them and it was a life or death emergency situation. Doc had to go in and get the pills and he said he found an entire handful clumped together that the guy had taken. It really scared the doc and nearly killed the patient. So this is an important thing, for sure. He says that any vitamins or other supplements must be chewable or liquid, etc. Like B-12 needs to be in the sublinqual form. So I knew taking pills was dicey but I wasn't sure when you might be able to take a pill at all after surgery. I figure it'll be ice chips first, right? And I should only be in the hospital overnight and I had read that Wellburtin wasn't crushable. So hearing that they do make 100 mg. crushable Wellbutrin is a big help. My doc just said that we must be very careful taking any kinds of pills, but he hasn't said that we should not take them at all. And his surgical assistant said that I'd be able to take my little B.P. pill the day after surgery. Were you in the hospital long?

The whole idea of weight "falling off" sure sounds awesome. I hope I will be as successful too Tiff! You're an inspiration to all of us. Right now we're wannabees - soon to be an inspiration too I hope. Terri I hope you get insurance approval soon. I'm originally from Tulsa and worked for a while in B.A. when I was young. I have been gone for 35 years but I still miss Tulsa.

The things Sarah Palin said during the presidential elections showed her true colors. She's willing to say whatever they tell her to say and she says it with total conviction. Even if they told her to say that the earth is flat, she would rant about it and be totally convincing. Of course if she's in a Q&A she has big problems. I watch Rachael Maddow sometimes, but not as often as I'd like. The one thing that I respect her for is that she often gets people on the other side of the argument to come on her show. Like the head of the right wing religious group that provided housing to certain Republican congressmen - I cannot for the life of me remember their name right this second. Senior moment, I guess. But he came on her show and had been nearly completely silent until then. She respectfully gave him plenty of time without interrupting him, to say whatever he wanted to say. You sure don't see that on Fox. They interrupt and argue in a very insulting way. They are even known to lower the sound on the mike that someone from an opposing viewpoint is using so viewers can't really hear them when they make a good point. No, I didn't see Tina Fey on SNL. I heard she was going to be doing her again though. And why shouldn't she? She's great at it and Palin herself tried to take advantage of the mileage Tina Fey has gotten by being on SNL herself. As Bug Bunny would say, "What a maroon."

Well that sounds great. I hope you're feeling great too, not just skinny. Everything else okay?

Oh boy. An accountant is an accountant, eh? How can you argue with logic like that? People who have not worked for the government have always been quick to decide that anyone who works for the government is a simple servant and doesn't work hard and makes more money than they deserve. It's simply not true. You cannot compare apples to oranges and expect to actually get the whole story. This kind of discrimination against government personnel has been going on for 50 years. The fact is, it is not the easiest thing to get a government job, especially by someone who is only capable of making $15,000 a year. So much of what you read is pure jealousy and ignorance of the facts. That is not to say that some government jobs do not pay more than some similar civilian jobs. But for really well-educated, competent workers, the private sector has more perks and better pay over the long haul. By a pretty long shot. Been there, done that and got the hell out so I could make some real money.

People like patty who watch the Rupurt Murdoch insanity like it and believe it because it is exactly what they want to hear and believe. It panders to their hate and fear; their dislike of the government, their revulsion toward viewpoints different from theirs and people with skin color different from their own. They listen to the ranting and raving and crying and hand wringing and they absolutely LOVE it! Anything that is critical of the president, the Democrats in congress and progressive thinking is music to their ears. And that's exactly why patty, for instance, can't stand to listen to Rachel Maddow or other commentators on MSNBC. They are presenting the opposing viewpoints and that makes them squirm. They're so uncomfortable they can't stand to listen for more than a minute or two. I doubt seriously if they last 5 minutes. If they were to give the progressives an opportunity to show how wrong Beck, O'Reilly, Linbaugh and the others are, they would be crushed. So we can't expect them to be able to handle the truth. They're settled into and love that bastion of lies that they call the Fox network. And yes, I do think that if they are incapable of listening to both sides on a regular basis and being able to sort it all out, they aren't the most intelligent tools in the box. If they aren't capable of logically assimilating the facts and coming up with something other than chants and buzz words, they're intellectually inferior. There, I've said it. So sue me.

My doctor routinely checks the gallbladder during lap band surgery. Mine didn't need to come out but many of them do. I do not know if he checks them when he does revision surgery, but I hope he does. Of course if the problem is caused from quick weight loss, my gallbladder could be perfectly normal before the sleeve and then develop over time afterwards and there's not much the doctor can do about that. I'm going to try to not be too extreme with the high protein/low carb thing. Maybe I can prevent the sludge development. Sure sounds like a real uncomfortable ouchie, having pancreatitis or gall bladder sludge or inflammation.

Once again I know that big business Republicans were very happy with President Reagan who they supported and helped to elect. But regular Republicans, like many Democrats were really not happy with President Reagan during much of the time he was in office. Like the regular folks in California didn't like him when he was their Governor. The Californians tried to tell everybody when he was running for president, but of course the monied Republicans used a misleading PR campaign that got him in office. Now Republicans of all stripe remember it differently. And they've done a good job of rewriting that history. Now he was a wonderful president - brilliant, fair and incredibly awe inspiring. Those of us who lived through it remember it the way it really was. He was a puppet, an actor who was very convincing to those who weren't paying much attention. That's the way those who were paying attention remember it.

rodriguez you only have 28 lbs. to go? Fabulous!

It really makes me want to cry. How can people put the value of money over that of human life?

Well you're a couple of inches taller than I am. So you weren't quite as chubby as I am. I was always the smallest in my family when I was growing up and as a young adult. When I was 42 I started putting on weight and grew steadily and dieted in a serial fashion until I reached my all time high. When I got up to 220, I couldn't lose weight no matter what I did. Guess my metabolism was totally confused by then. I have a daughter and son who are slender. She's 5'4" and weighs around 118 and my son is 6'1" and probably 155. It's very hard to be an obese mom of two good-looking and not overweight kids. I'm sure their friends all wonder what happened to me. My kids are one reason I look forward to being normal again. I thought the band would be just the right tool for me, but that didn't turn out well for me. Now I'm hoping I can do what I need to do with the sleeve surgery. I've read lots of success stories, like yours, about the sleeve. But I read lots of success stories about lap bandsters before I got that. So I am really nervous about my ability to make it work for me. I don't have much confidence and I have, of course, lots of bad habits to break. When I was slim, I really ate very little, and I was happy and felt great. So I am thinking that if that's the way I feel with the sleeve, I will be so happy that I will be successful. I just hope to heck that I'm not kidding myself!

That's very kind Hummingbird. I have a really hard time getting past the hard edged tone she has toward people in her posts and the very hard line she takes with politics and religion. You obviously have a very generous spirit and that's a good thing.

Was anybody really surprised about the truth of the Acorn tapes? Well yes, of course the Republican sheep were. They had bought the terrible lies about Acorn long before the "damning" tapes were made and shown on Fox. Those tapes were just the nails in the Acorn coffin. Talk about a lynching. It was a metaphoric lynching, but it caused the death of Acorn so it seems to be an accurate depiction of what's been done to them. None of us should trust one thing that comes to us labeled as news from the Fox network. Or from the numerous mouthpieces that do all the media dirty work for the Republican party. And if we put all the pieces together over the past 40 years (and maybe more, but before my time) it is easy to map out the way the Republicans plan and carry out their political strategy: make up terrible stories that are shocking but seem plausible and repeat them until everyone believes them and keep repeating them until your opponent is defeated - both physically and at the polls. It works for them time after time. And we allow it. Can anybody understand why or when this is going to crush them, as it should? I know it isn't easy. that's abundantly clear since there are still people who believe that our president isn't an American citizen by birth and that "death panels" are a reality of the health care reform bill and that Joe the Plumber is just an honest good old boy trying to eke out a living as a plumber.

Good for you Hummingbird! My thoughts are probably influenced too much by the very hard edge she reveals of her personality and the hard line she takes toward others in her posts. You seem to be very generous of spirit and that is a good thing to be.

They both have fabulous lines that they can be slammed with if they run. That should be fun. They make themselves such easy targets every time they open their mouths. And together... priceless! For the Democratic party.

Robbie my doc said I didn't need to do a pre-op diet at all. And I'm not sure why because I have gained weight recently. I haven't been dieting at all. Having Desserts and dumb stuff. So I am glad to hear that you did some pre-op dieting and that it seemed to help. I was planning on doing about 7 days of low-carb/high Protein and whey Protein shakes. Not really expecting to lose much but just to make myself be in better shape for the stress of surgery. And I'm worried about hair loss and want to make sure I have plenty of protein in my bod. Disappointed about the straw. I've sure missed being able to use a straw. Sigh. You're doing so well. I'm sure that helps a lot when you're getting reconciled to the new tummy. I hope I can do as well. I'm getting more excited than scared now I think. And having you all tell me stuff is a huge help! Thanks.

SlimDiddy- you sound fabulous! Great that you felt like taking advantage of being in San Antonio! I've lived in Texas for 10 years and have only been there a couple of times but each time was great. I am so happy to hear that you're doing so well! Maybe the fact that you have been so active has been the answer for you. I'm going to do my best to get up and at 'em as soon as I can. Keep up the good work!

wannalise, I also take a BP pill but it is small and my doctor didn't think I'd have a problem getting one of those down. And I'll bet you're right since this is such a big life changing procedure, you don't need to be getting your meds out of whack at the same time. (Congrats on your cool weight loss since 3/25!)

pnw218: "I did make sure to have something in my stomach tho before I took my meds. Made that mistake with my back meds and I felt yucky the entire day." Also good info. These are the kinds of things that the doctors don't really tell you but that can really make it easy or rough. I prefer easy so thanks!

Fabulous information!! I read my information insert and it says not to crush the regular tablets so to know that I can actually get a crushable tablet of Wellbutrin is wonderful news. Yay! Thanks Stuck. I am glad you love your sleeve, that's also very great news!

Now that's a fact. But too bad you don't understand how much of a loss it is for you too.

Thanks Robbie. That helps me get a better picture of what to expect. With the band they told us not to use a straw. Is that true with the sleeve? You sound good. I have heard others say that right after their surgery they felt like they had made a big mistake, but then in a couple of weeks it got much better. It must be pretty scary at first. Did you have a lot of pain that first week or two? It's been so recent for you, I'll bet you can remember feeling anxious and a little worried about all these things when you were waiting like I am. I see you've lost 30 lbs. Was part of that from pre-surgery dieting? What a great start!

That might work Stacey. That kind of depression is a side effect of taking Wellbutrin if you stop taking it suddenly. I wouldn't take it but it has changed my life so much for the better. Other meds just didn't have an effect. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. Thanks to you too Mary!

P.S. you said a seed is a person.

My point is that all these spontaneous miscarriages, those blobs of tissue - united sperms and eggs in whatever condition - have souls according to you.