Update

January 12, 2002

>

> With the recent posts regarding the inaccuracy of calipers, my baloon's

> a bit deflated.

Don't let it affect you! As you note below, you've got plenty of other ways

to measure your progress!

> However, as you've all said, the proof's in the clothes. I looked at my

> 38 " black jeans last night ... reached up to the shelf and took down the

> pair of 36 " ones that I had relegated to that shelf a LONG time ago ...

> and, while a tad snug, they fit!

Wahoo! Two people in their jeans in ONE day!!

You can do it, Don! It's all a matter of how much you want it. After hearing

all these amazing success stories from people on this list and on the BFL

website, I'm convinced of it.

-Regina

June 4, 2003

It is nice seeing your name here again. Thank you for the update.

Please continue to keep us posted. I, too, hope your mom is just

struggling after a change in schedule. Were her meds. given at the same

time while she was away? This could also make a big difference.

I will continue to keep you in my prayers.

Hugs-

Sandie

June 4, 2003

Welcome back. A couple thoughts - she may have overdone the old LBD

pull it together to seem normal for others and exhaust themselves

doing it. May be a good idea to try to find a way for her to sleep

extra. I know last week was up at night so much waiting to go

to Sr. Cit. that she slept from 4PM on Thurs until 9AM on Friday.

Then she ate and went back to bed before lunch and again after

lunch. She then slept thru until Sat AM with one time she was up

for about 1/2 hour when I got her to take an Ensure. The sleeping

tapered off until normal by Sunday.

Also - the cough - I don't know if you were here at the time but

back in April had a rather wicked cough for about a week. We

went in for her regular check up that Friday and she was put on

antibiotics. When I commented to the Dr. that our neighbor had just

had " walking pneumonia " he said that's what she has. Of course

anything like that knocks the stability to another world. During

that time I went in one evening as she was getting ready for bed and

she was trying to put her legs in the sleeves of a sweater. I just

told her lets get this other gown and I'll help you get it on.

Hope your break was refreshing if not restful

Sandy (OH)

June 4, 2003

Hi ,

Just wanted to add that perhaps she might have a UTI - a quick test to find

out.

Courage

Re: Update

>

>Welcome back. A couple thoughts - she may have overdone the old LBD

>pull it together to seem normal for others and exhaust themselves

>doing it. May be a good idea to try to find a way for her to sleep

>extra. I know last week was up at night so much waiting to go

>to Sr. Cit. that she slept from 4PM on Thurs until 9AM on Friday.

>Then she ate and went back to bed before lunch and again after

>lunch. She then slept thru until Sat AM with one time she was up

>for about 1/2 hour when I got her to take an Ensure. The sleeping

>tapered off until normal by Sunday.

>

>Also - the cough - I don't know if you were here at the time but

>back in April had a rather wicked cough for about a week. We

>went in for her regular check up that Friday and she was put on

>antibiotics. When I commented to the Dr. that our neighbor had just

>had " walking pneumonia " he said that's what she has. Of course

>anything like that knocks the stability to another world. During

>that time I went in one evening as she was getting ready for bed and

>she was trying to put her legs in the sleeves of a sweater. I just

>told her lets get this other gown and I'll help you get it on.

>

>Hope your break was refreshing if not restful

>

>Sandy (OH)

>

January 12, 2004

, its great to hear from you again! I am very sure that you are

doing a great job with your mom!

Courage

Update

>Hi All

>

>I have to admit I haven't been all that good recently in keeping up with

posts. They have still been coming to my inbox, but just haven't been

reading them. Have in the past day or so started catching up, there was

more than 1000 to read. I have read posts from 1 December to 10 December so

far, and felt the need to update on how Mum is. For those who don't know

me, a combination of some of my first posts are at the address below.

>

>http://f5.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/AFQCQGLC06FE1OCJ41_kcFbI-PaS6CPyww1YC7PJTGJJFK

AJ73aLsZ-HW-r62XdULi2NJYkn5hJFAJg3CfVbv6fEfW1hyDI/MEMBER%20PROFILES/Ngutuwer

a

>

>Mum was away from home from December 24 until last Thursday. She stayed

with a combination of her sister and her son and daughter. This is the

first time she has been away from home for a while, and I was dreading how

she would be on returning, as she has shown lots of confusion after being

away in the past. I first saw her again on Thursday, and was shocked at how

frail she appeared, and how bad her symptoms were. On reflection, I now

realise that after caring for her for the past year I had become used to her

symptoms, and the break allowed me to forget how she was, and remember her

from before LBD.

>

>In truth, my lot in dealing with Mum is not nearly as hard as most members

in this group have to bear, and my heart goes out to all here. I will write

some observations regarding individual members when I have caught up with

the 800 or so posts left.

>

>Thought I'd write in the meantime about some of the symptoms as they relate

to the posts of December 1 to 10.

>

>Feeling the cold

>Mum is constantly feeling the cold, even though it is the height of Summer

here. The first thing she does in the morning is turn on the heater. I

have constant battles with her regarding wearing warm clothes. She says

things like :I've been dressing myself for all of my life, why should you be

telling me what to wear now " . Having said that, she also gets extremely

hot.

>

>Drooling and runny nose

>Mum has been drooling for the past six months or so. I also put this down

to her having her head down mostly. She has also been having trouble with a

runny nose, especially when eating.

>

>Obsession

>Mum is obsessed with bugs. Any little speck is a bug. She sees little

legs on these specks that are moving. They are everywhere, including in her

food, on her clothes, in her bedding. The pilling on blankets and wollen

clothing are especially bad, resulting in me " throwing out " these offending

items. She's also had trouble with some stairs. The carpet there " moves

like waves on the ocean " as a result of the masses of bugs. The offending

stairs are in a part of the house that doesn't see much light. I put this

down to problems with her vision.

>

>Completing sentences

>One thing I have noticed is that Mum's ability to talk has decreased during

the two weeks I didn't see her. She is having more and more difficulty

finding the right words to tell me about things she has experienced

recently.

>

>Affection

>I note form the posts I have read recently that mention has been made about

our LOs not being the affectionate types. Mum has never been the huggy

type, or been able to tell people she loves that she loves them. She has

never been a touchy type. I remember when my father, her husband of 45

years, died, two years ago. All these people at the funeral and before gave

her hugs. She would just screw up her face and say how much she hated that.

Just an observation.

>

>The cat

>Mum had always been an animal person, having lived on a farm for most of

her life. She had many pets, from sheep (what else in New Zealand), goats,

pigs, calves etc. She had always befriended wild cats on the farm also. At

the beginning of last year, a stray cat turned up here. We believe it was

abandoned as it was tame. Mum developed a love/hate relationship with this

cat. On the one hand, she was always anxious that it was fed, and worried

where it was if she hadn't seen it for a while. On the other hand, she was

extremely reluctant for it to come inside. She said it stank (Mum hasn't

had a sense of smell for 20 years) and it had bugs. Well, my sister brought

Mum back here on Thursday of last week while I was in away till Saturday. I

got a call from t on Friday saying the cat had attacked Mum. It had

left four puncture wounds in her leg, and Mum had spread blood all through

the carpet in the house. t managed to clean the mess up, and took the

cat to the local SPCA.

>

>Me

>I had a relaxing time away from Mum for the two weeks. Spent a week in

Wellington on my own, allowed me to think through some issues. The second

week was spent at our bach in Taupo. I had hoped to get some boating and

fishing in, but the winds largely prevented that. When it was calm, there

were no trout to be found. It couldn't have been that I was a bad

fisherman.

>

>I still have plans on visiting the US soon. I have had, as a result of

circumstances beyond my control, to delay the trip. I now hope to leave

early February. I know when I mentioned the trip last time people asked

where in the US I was going to be. I plan to spend the time in the Midwest,

around Iowa. :-)

>

>I think about the people on this site and how wonderful you all are. I

feel privileged, and a little unworthy, to belong to a group such as this.

I hope that I can, and am, doing somewhere near a good job caregiving as you

all are.

>

>Hugs, and a Happy New Year

>

January 13, 2004

In a message dated 1/12/2004 5:16:43 AM Eastern Standard Time,

ahuone@... writes:

> I first saw her again on Thursday, and was shocked at how frail she

> appeared, and how bad her symptoms were.

:

I am sorry you were shocked at your mom's frailness. I remember the feeling,

seeing my dad from week to week before his stroke. It is amazing how they

change.

Thank for the update. Where did you come up with " unworthy " ? I heard that

you were a lovely person, from the people that met you last year. Everyone was

very pleased to meet you, excepr for the " reverse " accent thing, of course.

This is not counting the excellent job you do with your mom by yourself. I am

so glad her sister, nephew and niece were able to help you with her and she

had a good visit. They will, in spite of all the work and confusion, cherrish

those memories forever.

Take care of yourself, I know you are taking good care of your mom. Happy

new year to you. Have a good trip when you com to the U.S. Hugs,

Josie

September 24, 2005

woop woop YOU GO GIRL. Love Lyn

Re: and exes

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AffirmationstoDe-Stress

A positive thinking, positive affirmations support group, discussing ways to

cope with the stresses of daily life. Come aboard! PJ and Gang

September 24, 2005

Way to go girl! Way to stay strong. Hooray for you!

Re: and exes

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AffirmationstoDe-Stress

A positive thinking, positive affirmations support group, discussing ways

to cope with the stresses of daily life. Come aboard! PJ and Gang

September 24, 2005

YEEEEEEEEE HAAA!!! Get out those dancing shoes. I hope you had a wonderful

time.

Martha

September 25, 2005

hi martha :-)....thanks and i was glad to get out and be around ppl but seems

like all the weird guys were out tonight!...maybe i will have better luck next

week?...these guys tonight were just so annoying and asked dumb questions and

the one guy Rick that i thought i was interested in seems to complain too

much?.....just seems like joey was so perfect which is a crazy thought since he

is married and cant be with me

christina

Re: update

September 25, 2005

hi lyn and i think you are right when you say that i need some time....i suppose

this is what they call " the rebound " stage!....yes, i am a member of a gym so im

gonna try and focus more on that and today im just reminding myself that i have

a day off work to just rest and be here with my sons

christina

Re: update

September 25, 2005

:

Don't compare! Would you like to find a guy who compared you to one of his

ex's? Clean the slate and look for someone who you feel comfortable with, who

will make you laugh, who will cherish you as a person. Bars and nightclubs are

usually not the best place to find the " right one " . They are really good to

find someone for a one night stand. Is that what you want? Yahoo Personals, or

some other internet matching service, is better than that!!! When I was single,

I used Yahoo Personals and there are really nice people on there. You have to

be careful not matter what mode of dating you use.

Instead, take a college class in something that interests you (also one a guy

would sign up for). Join some social clubs in your town...the local newspaper

may have some information on that. If you belong to a church, some have single

groups.

Charlene

frozen fire wrote:

hi martha :-)....thanks and i was glad to get out and be around ppl but seems

like all the weird guys were out tonight!...maybe i will have better luck next

week?...these guys tonight were just so annoying and asked dumb questions and

the one guy Rick that i thought i was interested in seems to complain too

much?.....just seems like joey was so perfect which is a crazy thought since he

is married and cant be with me

christina

Re: update

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AffirmationstoDe-Stress

A positive thinking, positive affirmations support group, discussing ways to

cope with the stresses of daily life. Come aboard! PJ and Gang

October 18, 2005

Hi Roy,

Youve done FANTASTIC!!!!! Any update is a welcome Read on this group. Lord knows

I've posted my share of em. I'll be posting anither one after thursday when I

see Dr K for my one year post-op. I am kinda excited as you can inagine I never

thought a year ago that the time would fly by so fast. But thats what happens

when your having a great time loosing weight!!!!

All The Best To You,

Mike

sfgiantsfanz wrote:

Well, I am now 12 weeks post op (7-25-05) and I am happy to post that I have now

officially

joined the century club. Actually I weighed myself about 30 min ago and have

lost 101

pounds. From a start weight of 444, I now weigh 343. This is the lowest my wife

has ever

seen me and we have been together over 6 years. When I drop the next 40 pounds I

will

finally weigh what I did when I graduated high school.

I know that this news is very trivial when it comes down to the recent postings,

but I just

thought that maybe this board could use some positive news today.

For everyone who went to Bonnie's service I was with you in spirit. Eddie, I am

praying for you

and the rest of your family.

Have a wonderful evening, and just remember, we went through this surgery to

have a better

life - so embrace it and do something with it.

Roy<><

October 18, 2005

>

> Well, I am now 12 weeks post op (7-25-05) and I am happy to post

that I have now officially

> joined the century club. Actually I weighed myself about 30 min

ago and have lost 101

> pounds. From a start weight of 444, I now weigh 343. This is the

lowest my wife has ever

> seen me and we have been together over 6 years. When I drop the

next 40 pounds I will

> finally weigh what I did when I graduated high school.

> I know that this news is very trivial when it comes down to the

recent postings, but I just

> thought that maybe this board could use some positive news today.

> For everyone who went to Bonnie's service I was with you in

spirit. Eddie, I am praying for you

> and the rest of your family.

> Have a wonderful evening, and just remember, we went through this

surgery to have a better

> life - so embrace it and do something with it.

> Roy<><

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``````

Roy, no news like that is trivial,,,,WoW,,,WAY 2 GO Roy!!!!!

Bonnie would be the first to say that...We told Eddie about

your invite and I have sent the email to him...You can email

him yourself by sending him a message thru Bonnie's email and

he said he would be looking for it...

God bless,

Pat

>

October 18, 2005

Roy,

I havnt Met you yet, but Congratulations!!!

I agree that We have all been given a second shot, I'm gonna make

the most of it, and I'm sure that everyone will!

great update!

Mike,

how ya doing bud? I see that your going to see Doc K on thursday, is

that this Thursday? or are ya going to be at the Mtg?

let me know

Steve n B-Town

> Well, I am now 12 weeks post op (7-25-05) and I am happy to post

that I have now officially

> joined the century club. Actually I weighed myself about 30 min ago

and have lost 101

> pounds. From a start weight of 444, I now weigh 343. This is the

lowest my wife has ever

> seen me and we have been together over 6 years. When I drop the

next 40 pounds I will

> finally weigh what I did when I graduated high school.

> I know that this news is very trivial when it comes down to the

recent postings, but I just

> thought that maybe this board could use some positive news today.

> For everyone who went to Bonnie's service I was with you in spirit.

Eddie, I am praying for you

> and the rest of your family.

> Have a wonderful evening, and just remember, we went through this

surgery to have a better

> life - so embrace it and do something with it.

> Roy<><

>

October 19, 2005

Dear Roy,

What fantastic news. Huge congratulations on joining the century

club. It is such a wonderful milestone. It opens one up to the

possibilities and all the miracles they lay in wait for you.

I never had the pleasure of getting to know Bonnie but I feel many of

you are going to have a special guardian angel watching out for you,

cheering you on, and keeping you all safe and healthy.

Biggest hugs,

Theresa in San Francisco

>

> Well, I am now 12 weeks post op (7-25-05) and I am happy to post

that I have now officially

> joined the century club. Actually I weighed myself about 30 min ago

and have lost 101

> pounds. From a start weight of 444, I now weigh 343. This is the

lowest my wife has ever

> seen me and we have been together over 6 years. When I drop the

next 40 pounds I will

> finally weigh what I did when I graduated high school.

> I know that this news is very trivial when it comes down to the

recent postings, but I just

> thought that maybe this board could use some positive news today.

> For everyone who went to Bonnie's service I was with you in spirit.

Eddie, I am praying for you

> and the rest of your family.

> Have a wonderful evening, and just remember, we went through this

surgery to have a better

> life - so embrace it and do something with it.

> Roy<><

>

October 19, 2005

>

> Well, I am now 12 weeks post op (7-25-05) and I am happy to post

that I have now officially joined the century club. Actually I

weighed myself about 30 min ago and have lost 101 pounds. From a start

weight of 444, I now weigh 343. This is the lowest my wife has ever

seen me and we have been together over 6 years. When I drop the next

40 pounds I will finally weigh what I did when I graduated high

school.

so embrace it and do something with it.

> Roy<><

Huge Congrats!!!!!Roy!!!!

Welcome to the century club! You are doing fantastic! What a ride,

HUH?. Oh, but wait, it just started, Hang on!!! Here you go!

Sharon in Onyx

October 19, 2005

> let me know

> Steve n B-Town

Hey Steve,

isnt it time for an update from you?

just wondering, I know herbie is a pain, but what else is going on?

How is Tammy? and the race?

inquiring minds want to know....

Sharon in Onyx

October 23, 2005

Congrats Roy! It was good to hear good news.

Tracey

>

> Well, I am now 12 weeks post op (7-25-05) and I am happy to post

that I have now officially

> joined the century club.> Roy<><

>

November 11, 2005

le

Welcoming your mom to this group with open arms. The bowel prep is a

True pain in the butt...however, I think it is a very important step

to a successful surgery. Hopefully Mom won't develop any leaks,

however if she does, an important element is early detection. So If

your mom starts to feel worse, run a temp...don't hesitate to

contact her doctor. Sometimes if the leak is tiny, just going back

to clear liquids for a couple days will do the trick. Sometimes a

feeding tube must be used until the leak heals...a couple weeks a

few months??? And sometimes the doctor must surgically go back

in...It just depends.

I take Vita-4-life. (note: I was 4 months post-op before I

could " handle " taking it). The best way to take Vita-4-life is 3

pills 4X a day. But I don't do the " best " thing cuz getting that

extra dose in just seems to be hard. Understand, Vita-4-life is

formulated for the RNY patient. It has high levels of B12...which

doesn't hurt us...but we don't need it either. The whole " all in

one " is the reason I started taking it. Plus I wanted something I

could just swallow without tasting. Even when I liked the taste of

calcium chews I would get sick of them quickly. Vita-4-life is one

way to go...but it is a " pricey " way. If you order multiple cans

the cost goes down by $3 a can. I always order a 6 month supply and

then re-order when I open my last can. They are usually delivered

in less than a weeks time.

Your doing great le.

Hugs

Jo

November 12, 2005

Thanks for the info, Jo. I think I will order some and do the 4 pills x 3.

Is your can the blue label?

_____

From: DS_Friends_Keshishian

[mailto:DS_Friends_Keshishian ] On Behalf Of Jo

Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2005 12:26 AM

To: DS_Friends_Keshishian

Subject: Re: Update