Come join us. We are bandsters without a local support group, and we're going to meet, say hi, and chat about possibly starting our own group.

We are meeting this Wednesday December 13 at 6:30 PM at Humble City Cafe near the SE corner of the intersection of 1960 and 59, on Main Street.

Let me know if you're coming and I'll make a reservation in the name of Bandsters.

Mom's coming home Tuesday. I took her out of "the home" this afternoon to go grocery shopping to stock her up at home. I was really pleased with how well she did. Good energy, good brain power. Jeez...91 years old, two broken hips and a stroke, and she's healthy as a horse. Amazing.

So it's 34 dogs and Mom for Christmas. Yippee!

Glad to hear your Mom is doing well. I'm sure she will be glad to be home, and share her home with some of the dogs. I bet she has to have a few of them at her place! :huggie:

You are really going to be busy. Hope everyone is doing well.

How was your test?

It's tomorrow at 8 am. I'll let you know when we get home from the surgicenter.

I'll keep a good thought. Shoot...I should be going with you. I need .1 of the .3 they took out, put back in. I'm almost right, but not quite enough restriction.....

I had the esphagus test today. No problem with my esphagus, but I had pollups removed. I think he said 3, but lots of them around my stomach. There was also the number 7 so I'm not sure he removed 7, but biopsy 3. You know that wonderful stuff they give you. Anyway, in 1996 I had knee surgery. They gave me meds that caused pollyps to form in my stomach. The symptoms were I would just start throwing up and feeling really, really bad. Once they took out the pollups I was OK. I'm hoping that this is the problem with my fills and now they are gone. I am back on Acifex so what they say about never having to be on that is not true.

I've made an appointment for a fill on the 31st at 10:30 am. I don't want another day to go by without a fill once this vacation is over. I didn't let them put anything back in just in case this didn't clear up my issues. However, I am very optimistic that it did.

Sorry for the spelling errors. Trying to do this quickly and too lazy to look up spellings.

If I can now get myself packed I would be ready for vacation. We leave Saturday and spend the night in Ft. Lauderdale. The cruise ship leaves on Sunday. Looking forward to a few days in the sun.

May all of you have a very happy holiday. Enjoy and be thankful for all that we have accomplished!

Barbara, it's good to hear that they have probably found and fixed your problem. I hope you'll be doing great really soon. I look forward to getting the holidays over and meeting with you all again. We too have a cruise in the future. Just not as close as yours. We'll be going in Janurary. Can't wait. Barbara, Betsey , Sandra and all how I have yet to meet, I wish a very Merry Christmas.

That's great. We'll keep a good thought, Barbara.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Hye, if anybody wants to see the pictures of the 34 big dogs living in our house for Christmas, please email me at giddyyuppie@aol.com and I'll be happy to send them on. We can't stop laughing. And they have all been so good.

I bet your house was active Betsy! I don't know what happened today. My phone just called you while I was talking on it. My bluetooth was going out so maybe that caused it.

I had my fill today so we'll see how it goes. I had the full 2.0 put back in. Yikes I hope this works.

The cruise was great. We really had a good time, but I learned a few things. Mainly that I haven't learned or dealt with my food issues the whole 18 months of banding. I fell back into bad old habits. I ate bread, drank while eating, and even had a drink through a straw. It was great being unfilled, but it taught me I have no control. So its back to the basics for me. My new year's wish is that this fill will work for me.

Many happy wishes to all for the new year!

Do you know if there are any support groups in El Paso Texas??

Now that's really funny. I had just gotten off the phone with anothe rBarbara, and I thought she called me back by mistake. I didn't realize it was you or I would have asked you about your trip!

I know what you mean! I had .3 removed, and I'm eating, well, not quite like the old days, but with hints of all my old bad habits and not stopping them! I have to get back in to add some in! Amazing what that little old band can do! Makes me appreciate that little sucker.

Texan: Look in the supprt group section to see if there's one in El Paso. Good luck!

Day 5 has past and so far so good. Soft foods for one more day and then on to solids. I am hungry, but noticed I don't drink my protein drink until around 10. I have 2 cups of coffee throughout the morning. Maybe I have some resriction in the morning without realizing it.

If all continues well I will try for another fill in 4 weeks. I don't think 2cc will give me the restriction I need. Lost 3 lbs of the 10 I gained.

We should start planning to get together for dinner. Maybe we can do it week after next.

Goood news. I find I'm kind of holding my breath for you. Glad to hear the update.

Anybody want to do the 5 mile Bridgefest run/walk in Kingwood Feb 2?

16TH ANNUAL BRIDGE FEST 5K FUN RUN & WALK SET FOR FEB. 2ND

Saturday, January 05, 2008 @ 06:08:06 AM CST

Topic Announcements

Kingwood Medical Center to be Event Sponsor

The Lake Houston Family YMCA announces the 16h Annual Bridge Fest 5K Fun Run and Walk will be held on Saturday, February 2, with Kingwood Medical Center once again as the Event Sponsor. Additional sponsors are The Observer Newspapers, Tejas Toyota, Kingwood Personnel, Wendy’s, Thornton Printers and Zanderman Graphics. The Lake Houston Family YMCA appreciates the generosity of these outstanding businesses as their support helps cover the cost of race expenses so that 100% of race entry fees will go to the Lake Houston Family YMCA Partners Campaign.

Last year over 2100 runners, joggers and walkers attended Bridge Fest which began as a celebration of the opening of the Lake Houston Parkway Bridge connecting the communities of Humble, Atascocita and Kingwood. The course is a fast, accurately measured USTA certified 5K, which begins at the YMCA, 2420 West Lake Houston parkway. The route travels across the Lake Houston Parkway Bridge, makes one turn, and returns back to the YMCA.

This event offers a great opportunity for families to come out and spend quality time together. The first race will begin at 8:00 am and is a ½ mile event open to ages 6 and under. Following the ½ mile race will be a 1-Mile Race for ages 7 – 10 at 8:20 am and a 1-Mile Race for ages 11 – 14 at 8:40 am. This will allow for the younger runners to race against their own age groups and compete for an award in those age groups. Following the Kids Races, the annual Family Run and Walk will begin at 9:00 am.

All Bridge Fest participates can enter the Elementary School or Middle School Challenge which is a friendly competition between schools. The elementary and middle schools with the most participants in Bridge Fest will win a trophy to display at their school, their school name on the plaque that hangs in the lobby of the YMCA and a party at their school.

Proceeds from Bridge Fest support the Partners scholarship program offered at the Lake Houston Family YMCA. Many families in the Lake Houston community have little or no ability to pay for the programs and services offered at the YMCA. Last year, Bridge Fest contributed over $35,000 of the $185,000 raised to make certain that children and families were not denied access to character enhancing programs or vital services such as the After School Child Care, Aquatics, Day Camp, Residential Camp, Youth Sports, Teen Leadership Camp and many more because of financial limitations. Families and individuals can apply for financial assistance by completing an Open Door application at the member service desk.

Bridge Fest registration is $20.00 for the 5K and $14.00 for the children’s races. There is a special fee of $49.00 for a family of four and $5.00 for each additional family member living in the same household. Registrations received after January 29 will be assessed an additional $5.00 fee. Registration forms are available at the Lake Houston Family YMCA and all Houston area YMCA’s. You may also register on-line at www.signmeup.com

New this year is a Spaghetti dinner on Friday, February 1 from 4:00 – 8:00 pm at the Lake Houston Family YMCA sponsored by Italliano’s Restuarnt and Texas Road House. The cost is $3.00 per person and proceeds will also benefit the Partners Campaign. Pick up your packets that night and load up on your carbs before our event on Saturday.

There will be a post-race awards celebration following the last race under the pavilion (in the event of inclement weather the awards celebration will be in the gym). All participants are invited for food, music and the presentation of race awards. For additional information on Bridge Fest, call Carol Sutton, Marketing Director (281) 360-2500 or e-mail carols@ymcahouston.org. The Lake Houston Family YMCA is a non-profit organization serving the communities of Huffman, Humble, Atascocita, Kingwood, Porter and New Caney by building strong kids, strong families and strong communities.