Good Morning all. Had an enjoyable week visiting family last week, but it is good to be back to my normal routine.

I'm off for my walk, back later.

Gotta tell the whole world!
I'm finally in ONEderland!

YOU GO RUTHIE !!

for Ruthie!! ONEderland......how wonderful!!

Off to the second grocery store.....back later.

WoooHOOOOOOOOOO ONEderlandddddd!!!!

I am waiting for the day I hit the TWOsomes! (which should be soon)

WAY TO GO RUTH!!!!!!!!
that 's terrific!!!

Hey Leens!!!! Hey Lori!!!! and Hey hey Debkay!!!...glad your trip went well.

All the boys were out today. yeeeehawwww. Dh and the big kid are at football camp and the little guy started his summer program. Ran errands with mom, bought hair dye and other girlie type things!!!

Barb, Ruthie got the date right...August 11th!!

gotta scoot!

peach

Hi! Sorry its been so long!

John and I have been very busy doing yard work. All the things he has not been able to do the last few years! He has lost around 70 lbs. but the really unbelievable part is 14 inches lost from his waist!

We had a long discussion last night about a co-worker of his who just returned from weight-loss surgery. She had a heck of a time finding someone willing to do her surgery due to a bunch of complications she had from birth, i.e. cerebral palsy and a facial deformity.

BUT here is the kicker! She is 3 weeks out and is already eating Personal Pan Pizza's! She is totally reverted back to all of her old ways. Eating things she knows will make her sick, just waiting a half hour, then eating them again?!

I am floored by this. She called us on the phone after John's surgery and she just wanted this so bad! She was VERY scared to go through the surgery, but knew that this was her one hope for a "normal" size and healthy future.

She has also refused to wear the girdle to protect her incision?! She stated that it was uncomfortable. She does not like the protein shakes so she will not drink or eat any of the shakes or bars and she does not like the taste of chewable vitamins so again she is refusing to take them. Plus she said they upset her stomach (like the Pizza didn’t?!).

John has tried to talk to her, but he said that she just rolled her eyes at him and said, “I’m losing weight my way”!

My question is, how can you help someone like this? I do not want to judge her or make her feel bad, but my gosh! John could not even eat “real” food at this point and here she is downing Greasy Pizza?! She told John she was eating Chicken Pop Pies less than a week after surgery?! This is just dangerous, being sick on that newly healed stomach. I am actually really worried for her. Any suggestions?

Diane

luna... i'm sitting here eating my lunch and reading your post [lunch = lamb chop and a lovely spinach and leaf lettuce salad with chick peas, shredded carrots and cheese [a little], and low fat blue cheese dressing] and it's very sad.

but first. i really do wish you'd post more often... i miss reading about you and john!!!!

as for this woman... she needs professional help. psychologist. psychiatrist. eating disorder specialist. there's little you can do for her, beyond being supportive of change and non-supportive of pizza! she needs to figure out why she went through all this preparation and surgery and now is doing everything possible to sabotage it. and she;s really going to extremes here.

this surgery gives us a chance to be healthy, but we have to do the work as well. and frankly, it's not that much different from anyone else following a way of eating!

as for the vitamins, she doesn't have to take chewables. one a days are tiny. and as for upsetting her stomach, well, you pegged that as an excuse. she's setting herself up to be a statistic very very quickly: a wheelchair-bound victim who blames the surgery for her woes rather than her own lack of interest in taking care of herself.

i wish i could be more helpful. but john can be a shining example. and i'm sure that she could attend a support group if she really wanted to.

keep us posted on all fronts....

Diane, Jiff said it all, not much you can do for this woman. I hope she seeks help and is able to get herself on the right track.

BOB, good news for you! Hope you can get the approval and get a revision (at least I think that is what they are called.) Have you found a surgeon yet?

Hey hey hey peachie! Are you ready? Does it seem real to you yet that soon you will be a post-op?

Wanted to share......while visiting our relatives in northern VA, the day we arrived, a 40th birthday party was going on for my cousin. All the relatives were there and my Grandma (who saw me in December) didn't recognize me. She looked right through me and I had to bend down and say "Grandma, it's me!" And she is not senile!! I guess I look a little different than I did in December, but I didn't think that much. I must say......warning brag alert ......I did look cute in my little black skirt!!

bob... i can't begin to tell you how excited and happy i am for you!!!!! this is really wonderful news...

and now, one of your posts mentioned that you know a lot of stuff you didn't know 20 years ago... care to share???

and debkay.. you skinny little goddess!!!! you must have looked fabulous!

will try to post more later.

Hi Everyone,

Luna It sounds like that woman has troubles that go way beyond weight. I wonder if she had to go through a psychiatric evaluation before surgery. Either she said what they wanted to hear or was fooling herself. It certainly makes me take a hard look at myself as I consider this.

Ruth Way to go! You must feel positively lithe!

Guess what? Kaiser finally sent me the new, improved(?) WLS info packet and questionnaire. I'm worried that they won't accept me as a candidate because I'm not sure if I have enough weight-related complications. I'm certainly fat enough, but might be too healthy. I'm going to try my hardest though and my PCP said she would help me too. If anyone has any great suggestions to make them accept me, please post and let me know. They do warn in the booklet that the process can take up to two years. The other thing that bothered me is that they only do open surgery. No lap whatsoever - by general surgeons, not gastric specialists. Would that stop any of you from persuing this? I'm still learning so much about all this and thought that laproscopic sounded like the way to go, but that's based on my limited reading.

My life has been a freakin' soap opera lately and I'm glad it's finally settling down. Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of my life:
*Someone ran over my dog on June 29. She's okay now, but it was scary because only the kids were home and the driver didn't even stop. We were coming back from South Dakota and were hoping the kids could deal with everything.
*June 30, my knee went ballistic and I couldn't walk for a couple of days. It still hurts - poor me!
*On July 2 my son turned 18.
*On July 3 one of the pitchers on the softball team I coach got hit in the eye by a ball and had to go to the emergency room for a concussion and possible fracture.
*On July 4 the newly 18 year old son was in an accident that totalled the car we just bought him. Thank God he and his girlfriend are both okay, but they had a fun-filled ride to the hospital via ambulance. They had to use the jaws of life to get him out. He was just an innocent driver and the accident wasn't his fault. He's going back to the doctor because he's in a lot of pain where the seatbelt was. He has bruises and blisters where the seat belt gave him a rope-like burn.

I need a break and anyone who read this long post probably does too!

Thanks for letting me vent,
Chickadee

Chickster, you should come to new jersey
cause your life is too topsy and turvy
we got surgeons who lap
and baseball is crap
and then you would be svelte and curvy

Quick update ... I have passed -100 lbs!!! I am currently 219 and now .. I am trying ever so passionately to make it to ONEderland. That is my next goal.

Here is the kicker ... I went shopping for a bathing suit and bought a size 16 ... OMGAWD. It actually fits and looks decent. This is the first time in a long time that I went to one of my sister's pool parties and played in the pool. I even played a rousing game of POOL volleyball ... where the women kicked ***!

I am having a wonderful life ... doing all of the things I used to do and more! I have started dating again ... and men are coming out of the woodwork ? ? ? When did this happen ?

Thanks all for your support!
Leanna