Paula Bee

Wow! Two marriage proposals in one day! That tops my daughter's trip to Rome, where a gypsy ran after her calling her his beautiful princess and proposing. Just think what will happen when you come back for your fills!

Yep, Crystal Light is great for what you need. Enjoy!

I am soooooooooo glad you had a wonderful experience. Keep us updated on how you are doing. Paula

Thank you so very much. Not only did it make me smile all over, but I am sending it to some friends.

Woot! I am so glad that you had a great experience and wrote to tell us all about it! Did you have a Rx for the meds? Keep us updated!

I am sooooo happy you had such a great experience. Keep us updated! Paula

Hi, and welcome! I am still 11 days away from real food, but I have lost 18 pounds since starting the pre-diet, then surgery, then the post diet, (appx. 3 weeks.) Paula

Yeah, but it was the first time I ever wore a thong, paper or not. Ack.. just looking in the mirror burned my eyes out!

I am STARVING today, too. Thank heavens it is the day that I get to add creamy soups. I had coffee with a scoop of eas protein powder this morning, some juice through out the day, some cream of broccoli and cheese soup, blended smooth. I feel just ravenous. I cannot tell if it is mental hunger or physical hunger.. and my stomach is growling, too. I really don't feel like drinking anything else, which makes me think it is not physical hunger, but I am still feeling unsatisfied. I will have a protein shake for supper... sigh. I think about how privileged I am to live in a country where protein shakes are available, and I tell myself to stop the internal bitching and moaning. I am grateful.... but starving feeling. Paula

Man, I am sorry you are having a rough time with it. I may be less receptive to the pain because I have had so many laproscopic surgeries and knew what to expect. Hang in there, Paula

I hate to make this worse, but Dr. Ortiz's patients are supposed to wait an hour after after eating. I have dry mouth from many of my medications, and I am dreading the no water with meals part. Not to be gross, but I really don't have enough saliva to keep my food moist enough to chew. I have tossed the idea around about using a straw and adding a few drips of water when I really can't swallow something dry, but I am not there til April 8th, and I would ask Dr. Miranda before doing anything like that. Frankly, at this point on the liquid diet, I would rather have a "cud" of dry food to chew on all day than more protein shake. LOL Ask Dr. Miranda and see what she says, then let us know.

Try phazyme... works better than gas-x.

How wonderful that your mom is keeping your kids; they are in great hands.. relax and ENJOY yourself! I hope your trip will be as stress free as mine was. Alas, however.. I didn't worry about my kids at all while I was gone.. mmm, wait... they are 23 and 28 years old.. they worried about ME instead.. the circle of life, as it were. Enjoy these brief days away from them.. they will be that much sweeter when you return. Not worried about you and surgery.. you will do FANTASTIC. Paula

Sugar, Go back and read my post.. our trip was perfect. Quit worrying and celebrate the beginning of your new life!

Paul, So glad you have started this part of your life. I am so glad you feel so happy with your experience and shared it.

Tee hee! Worked its way out! I am so bad.. somebody slap me.

On the flip side, I NEVER exercised because I have bad knees.. . well, that is an excuse! I never exercised before, either! (I have no problem exercising my fingers on the keyboard, however.) My exercise usually consists of wandering up and down Walmart until I get tired.. and spending too much money. I actually found 2 IDENTICAL shirts in my closet.. took one back today! Must really have loved that shirt! I am biting the bullet (when I can have solids, that is,) and joining the Y so I can do water aerobics. My therapist is making me. Michelle, You are a superwoman in my book... treadmill, sex.. who knows what else in 36 hours! Oh, speaking of sex, I asked Dr. Ortiz, "what about sex?", and he replied, "I am already busy for the rest of the day." LAFFING! Not!! He told me that.. a former patient asked him that. Honestly, he cracked me up. Wow! I have chased this rabbit all over the place! (Does that count as exercise?) Oh, yeah.. what was the topic?

Yeah, I think that is pretty great, especially with TJ taking such bad rap all the time. I was lucky.. my husband put a stop to most of the naggling. Thank you for being encouraging... hope I am returning the favor

Thank you!

Sunday update: Started yogurt drinks today.. yay! I have felt great, except my dang body is still on pacific time instead of Eastern.. lol I even went with my hubby to walk the dogs tonight. woot Paula

Best wishes to you.. I will be rooting for you! Paula

Honestly, phazyme works much better for me.. tiny little capsule. I have had no gas at all to speak of. Paula

Nope, no x-ray at all. I would have felt neglected/forgotten, but I was just as glad not to do it. lol Just beware the Mexican slow pace compared to our overpaced expectations. And, bug the receptionist if you need to. Paula

Banded on Wednesday, March 19 Let me preface this by saying I had a GREAT trip! Francisco picked us up at the airport, right on time, with Brandi and Kelly. We got to the clinic about 40 minutes later, and went straight in to the clinic. This was the only sour part of the trip for me... the receptionist was so overtaxed that she couldn't call one of us up to send us to one of the tests without the telephone ringing constantly. I never felt like I got her full attention.. not ever. I don't know who is responsible by her lack of attention, but she was the weak link in the whole plan for me. She was on the phone CONSTANTLY and interrupted her calls to sort of tell us where to go. There was lots of waiting, but we had already adjusted to the fact that Mexico does not move at American pace. I saw Dr. Miranda first, and she is a doll. I fully understood everything she had to say, and she does use a power point presentation to make her points, but she does go fast. My recommendation is that If you feel like you missed something or didn't understand something, ask her to back up and explain again or explain more. One of the individuals waiting said she didn't understand a thing, but you need to ask if you don't get it. ASK ASK ASK. She did tell me that I could eat that night, but not to gain a pound before surgery. > I was so happy. I never got the ekg or breathing test til the next day, and I never got the blood work at all, but again, I blame the chaos at the front desk for that. Come on, OCC, hire another receptionist to help this girl. Mrs. Ortiz took us to the hotel around 4:00 and told us that she would be there in the morning at 7:00 to pick us up and take us to the clinic. I read in one of the other posts that they wouldn't let someone's hubby ride in the car on the way to the clinic, but she let mine. Maybe it is because he is so skinny that he didn't take up any space. When we got to the clinic, it was wait wait wait. We saw the girls from the day before making their laps around the clinic, and then, one-by-one they were released. It dawned on me while this was happening that none of us would be "admitted" before the 6 rooms were empty and cleaned. I finally got my breathing test and ekg. I was worried about the breathing test, because I am asthmatic, but he told me I had passed with flying colors, and my ekg was fine. Like I said, I never did have the blood test, which was not really surprising considering the chaos at the front desk. I think I was the last one taken back to the rooms and the last one to have surgery, but I enjoyed visiting with my hubby while we waited. I did love the nurses so very much. I almost giggled at the sweet little nurse who was putting the compression hose on me. She was so intent, and all I could think of was how many thunder thighs she had seen doing her job. I really nearly lost it. The other nurse was so good...that was the slickest IV I have ever had, and boy, have I had a lot of them. It didn't make any type of bruise, and yesterday I couldn't even find the puncture hole. Before surgery, Dr. Ortiz came in, relaxed on the little loveseat, and chatted with us for about 30 or 45 minutes. He was so funny and informative. One thing he said that struck me was that once your body weight is 30 percent fat, it resets all your trigger mechanisms, and your body will use that setpoint from now on. You can lose weight... I told him that I had lost 100 pounds 3 times, and he said that I can lose it because I am restricting my food intake, but once I reach goal and loosen up a bit, my body starts moving back up to my set point. Since you can never lose fat cells, only shrink them, it is just a matter of time. The only way to keep that from happening is to keep your food restricted forever. Hence... the success of the band. Dr. Ortiz also told me that I had a hiatal hernia, and when I asked him how he knew, he said that he recognized certain upper body confirmation that indicated hiatal hernias. After surgery, he told my husband that I had a very large hiatal hernia and he repaired it. He also told me to quit the nexium, and I did I don't remember going in, and I don't remember coming out. I did think that it was strange for my husband to be sent to the hotel around 4:00 because visiting hours were over, but that must be the way things are done there. The wonderful nurses brought me liquids of assorted types all night, and being the curious person I am, I went up and down the rooms, checking on people and chatting a little. I seemed to be the active one of the bunch. They took me for one lap around the clinic, but not more.. I guess that I did enough running around on my own. I was released on Thursday morning, feeling fine and happy. Mrs. Ortiz took us back to the hotel gave us our pick up time for Friday. We went to the restaurant right away and I got broth and apple juice. I tried to order coffee, but they wouldn't let me, which I thought was hysterical. "No, no, no! You just had surgery and you must have juice only!" <lol> That evening, we just strolled around the hotel grounds and took pictures, then we went upstairs for the night. Next morning, shopping day! We caught a cab right after my juice and broth breakfast, and shopped for about 3 hours. Someone was right... the merchants practically chased us down the streets to make a sale. I finally had to use the "I just had surgery, and I am not feeling well" tactic to escape one. I got a silver, mexican opal, and pink amethyst ring, my husband got a beautiful ring, and we bought a purse, tequila, vanilla, couple of bracelets, and a leather hat for my son. Word of caution: most, a large percentage, of the vendors do NOT take credit cards. Hubby had to run across the street to use someone's cousin's machine twice. Believe me, we will just take cash next time. Also, what cash we did take, we split into different compartments and pockets. Twice, David pulled an amount out of his pocket that was significantly lower than the merchant had asked, and they took it because it looked like all that he had. Trip back to the airport was slicker than grease. Everyone was on time, the trip across the border was adroitly handled, and we got to the airport early. I feel wonderful.. virtually no pain.. bruises fading.. starting yogurt drinks tomorrow. Thinking about going back to TJ about May 16 for my first fill. Okay... I know your eyes are broken from reading this.. hope it was useful and reassuring, Paula

It was great meeting you, too! I froze the whole time, not just at the hotel. I am doing great... no pain, no gas. I will be happy to add the liquid yogurt tomorrow, though. Hugs, Paula