chickadee dee.... open vs lap... i'd do either. but by a general surgeon who's not asbs-certified??????? i'd really think twice about it. no. that's not true. i'd immediately call those kaiserites and raise bloody ****... and write a letter to the state's commissioner of insurance complaining that kaiser's policy do not meet industry and medical standards of care for bariatric surgery.

and then,. i'd come to joisy. i can't put the invitation as eloquently as peachie did, but i can sure agree!!!!

Hey I am doing a drive by posting this morning! I wanted to tell everyone Hi

I am on my way to the hospital to have my thyroid scanned! They are pretty sure I have HYperthroid. But I am just one of the people that do not lose weight with it. Go figure

I hope every one is doing ok! I have to run.

Oh for those that wanted to see pictures of me I have some up on obesity help! I cant remember if i have posted this before (I have the worst case of CRS)!

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobe...?N=F1018357588

Have a great day!!!

Hazel

Leanna happy dance for you!! And dating to boot!

chickadee......yep, I would do open or lap, but again our Jiff is correct........a general surgeon........I don't think so!!

and chickadee........I know about kids and car accidents, sorry your child had one, but glad he is okay. My son had an accident yesterday, he is also okay, thank goodness!! A lady pulled out of a Ford Dealership, crossed over FOUR lanes of traffic and hit him, pushing him into oncoming traffic (thank God it was clear) he went up and over a curb and did extensive damage to his (new to him Honda Accord) I'm sure this will turn into a nightmare......hubby will contact her insurance company today to see what they want to do.

peachie your such a poet!!!

Jiff, aren't you a member of a support group strictly for post-ops? How is it run? Do you like it? Hazel and I and a couple other's are thinking about starting a support group for post-ops, our WINGS around Atlanta support group is great, but we need a little more for post-ops. Any hints??

Hope you all have a wonderful day

You KNOW it's been a good week when:

1. Your rent rebate check comes in the mail.

2. You lose an inch off your hips (of all places!) and didn't even expect it

3. Not only do your cat brats let you sleep in for a change, the house is actually INTACT when you do get up!

4. You get a call from db that his parents want to meet you (I don't know if that is good or not, though).

5. Today is a balmy 72 degrees and I was able to both weed the flower garden and get in a walk. Tigger has not dragged back any dead birds....YET.

Oy vey...it is now July 10, 39 days and counting to the big consultation appointment in Pittsburgh. Supringly, I am not nervous at all. I guess doing research on WLS and being here on the boards helped a great deal in getting prepared. My goal at the moment is to break 300 even by the time my consultation appointment day rolls around; heck, that shouldn't be too difficult.....I've kicked most of my bad habits as it is

Hi Ladies,

Its so nice to see such a cheery thread. I'm so incrediably happy for all of you.

Lori and Peach GOOD LUCK !!!

Leanna, CONGRATS on your weight loss, thats so wonderful. I can't wait to hit onederland again. I maintained there for such a long time and its where I wanna be again. But I've got a long way to go, and this time I know I'll make.

Hazel, Chick, Jiffy, BOB, Diane, Deb Hugs to all of you !!

Leenie

So Peach,

If I made my way to New Joisey,
(where the baseball fans are too noisy)
Could we both get the lap
and be done with this crap?
Then cruise around for cute boy-sies?

By the way, sweet and juicy one, you are the bomb (as my DD would say)!

Leanna and Loranden- It makes me happy just reading your posts. I'm so happy for both of you.

Deb - I'm sorry your son was in an accident too. The accidents are surprisingly similar. Insurance companies are so fun to work with. I look forward to my interactions with them - NOT!
I appreciate your comments and Jif's about the General surgeon. That's pretty much what I thought too. Thanks for the suggestions Jif. I hadn't thought of calling the insurance commissioner. I'm also concerned about the care after surgery. It doesn't seem to me that there is enough support. I may change insurance companies in December, but from what I read on obesity help, my other choice isn't that great either. I hope this isn't just a pipe dream.

Have a great day ladies. I really have to go and get some work done!

Chickadee

bob... i sure wish we could bottle that last post of yours and hit john's coworker over the head with it!!!!! when you had the surgery originally, it was surely, as you described it, being thrown into the lion's den...

and deb... funny you should ask about post op support groups and how they're run. it seems as if it's a wide open field right now.. i was asked tonight to run it!!!!

talk about going from the frying pan into the fire!!!!! suggestions? hmmmm. i've been thinking a lot about this. the post op support groups, when everyone's all bunched together, tend to be all focused on the newbies, and throwing up, getting water, vitamins, protein in. that's all valuable, but it only helps them over the short term and helps almost no one after the first couple of months.

so, i was thinking about how to address their needs and the needs of farther-out post ops. this is where i was going [please please please jump in... we need to brainstorm this stuff!!!!!!!]:

we need to focus on identifying issues and deciding how to cope with them. things like basic food water vitamins. but also image changes. emotions. it doesn' t much matter what the issue is, but rather how we identify it and resolve it so that we can lose the weight and keep it off.

so instead of a moderator who tells his/her story, and then opens up to questions, i'm thinking of posing questions and getting answers... maybe writing on a flip chart or white board.

and maybe starting with: why did you decide on the surgery? and then move to what did you expect afterwards? how is it different? how can you cope? and then see what happens.

what do you think???? HELP!!!!!!!! I might have as long as 2 weeks to pull something together!!!!

Jiff, is there any way you can pose those questions ahead of time to your participants? I've taught many a course where questions have been met with glazed over eyes. Those were for techie questions. When dealing with feelings, folks might need a wee bit of advance thinking time.

Just a suggestion from an old broad who has been there in front of a group who looked dead! (Mainly male executive types, however, who hated the thought of a skirt telling them stuff!)

Jiff, how about discussing how to deal with people trying to feed you?

This is one of the things John has had to learn to deal with, even as he is losing weight, the ladies at work keep trying to push food on him! It is even sometimes hard for me. When I was done with my food I always offered him what was left.

I guess it could sort of be a "how to live" now that you can eat real food, how to make good choices at a restaurant, i.e. Just say NO to the bread basket! and other things like that.

Or the emotional issues of losing a large amount of weight? Just thinking of my own personal experiences with John here but my 8 year old daughter had a “talk” with her dad last week about not wanting a skinny dad! We have always discussed weight issues as being too large, too skinny and being a healthy weight. I had to reassure her that her dad was not getting too skinny! LOL! But he was trying to be a healthy weight so he would be with us for a long time.

Just my .02!

Diane

I just wanted to stop in and say that my sisters surgery date got bumped up and she will now have surgery on sept. 3, 2003. She hasnt really excepted its finally here! Wish us luck!

Julie good luck to your sister. Has she posted with us?? Sorry, I'm over 40 I can't remember anything

Been in here a couple times today, reading the suggestions about support groups. just didn't post.

I like the idea of having the discussion topics known in advance, of course with room to discuss things that come up. Our support group has an email support group also, so that is one way to get the word out on discussion topics.

I don't know if any of ya'lls support groups do this, but I think one of the most important parts of our support group is the introdutions. We each tell, name, date of surgery (in my case 3 dates ) insurance company, doctor's name and pounds lost. We try to move it along quickly, but it can get bogged down, as we have grown it takes longer and longer. Currently, some also throw out discussion topics at that time.

Hazel and I attended a new (to us) support group last night and there was a woman there, longer term post op (4 years.) Who.......WOULD NOT SHUT UP!!! The leader, not a wls patient, but very informed on wls, just let her go and from what I understand from other's there, it's very common for this to happen. I think we all want to talk, but some just can't shut up! She was the only negative of the meeting.

No she hasnt posted but i did a little while ago asking for ideas on how to best support her before and after surgery. Her original surgery date was for the end of october and they bumped her up to the beginning of september. I cannot wait for her to start feeling better.

Just thought I would drop in on this sunny Saturday and say HI !

OK, I am now officially over the "meet the parents" anxiety for sure as of today--I talked to Bri's mother earlier this afternoon on the phone. Turns out the family had an eventful morning out there when a couple of troublemakers started in on his little brother and Brian went off like a rocket. Much as this little squirt loves kids, mess with his kid brother and the wrath of God comes unleashed. Anyway, I didn't get all the details of what transpired, but it must of been dandy, because Zack came on the phone and said something that really cracked me up so hard I had tears down my cheeks: " "Dude! Ewan McGregor and Kurt Cobain's love child just kicked someone's !" (I would presume from that that "someone" won't be messing with Zack anymore ) Even their poor mother, bless her heart, about peed her pants!

Doris is a joy. I told her about Tigger and the dead bird and read her the cat commandments and practically had her on the floor laughing. Turns out they too have a cat and Mr Belvedere also has a habit of leaving dead "presents" on the front porch every morning. Guess that explains why Tigger liked Brian so much, and Tigger is not one to usually warm up to males--human nor animal.

Oh yes, and I just had the most delightful lunch--watermelon and cantelope salad with cottage cheese..ummmm. I love summer fruit