Bridget, The protien shake does sound nice,however I am 15 minutes away from being able to enjoy your Buffalo Ckicken Lasagna and I cant't wait!! It smells so good! I just have to wait for to cheese to finish melting and then wait the LONG 10-15 minutes to let it cool before digging in! Thanks in advance for the recipe! I will report to all after I get a chance to taste it. Mary

Wow Bridget! This looks awesome! I don't cook often-but this is going to be on the table tonight! Thank You-my mouth is already watering! Mary

GREATjob Birdget!! I cannot wait until I fit into misses sizes again! I am actually trying to hold off from going shopping until I can do that, but my clothes are starting to get pretty baggy and frumpy looking! Congrats on your BIG NSV!! Mary

Yep! Happened to me last night with pineapple! I think I have a small amount of restriction (no fill yet), but the type of food and the speed at which I ate it created a really "fun" sliming episode! Mary

I love Mc D's Grilled Asian Chicken Salad! 290 calories and 31 grams of protien! Get it with the lowfat Sesame Ginger dressing-90 calories and I only use about 1/3 of it! Mary

So tonight I went to a house warming party and felt so proud of myself. I stayed away from the food table for over 30 minutes before I decided to have a little snack. (Pre-band I would have made a b-line to the table of wonderful goodies!!). So anyway, I chose what I thought would be bandster friendly foods (which was hard to do with what was available). I had 2 pieces of broccoli, a tiny bite of artichoke dip, and a piece of pineapple wrapped in bacon. About 5 seconds after I ate the pineapple I got that aweful "golfball" feeling. I have had this before, but it generally goes away within about 30 seconds and is my "stop now" sign. This was much more severe. I tried to drink some water to see if it would help it pass down-to no avail. I knew pretty quickly that I had to run to the restroom. Well after just a minute or two, I slimed. Nothing came up except a bunch of clear mucous-gross!! The food then did pass down into my stomach and i had complete reliief. Okay, so now my question: I am 5 1/2 weeks out and scheduled for my 1st fill on Tuesday. I do not feel like I am restricted much (there is definately a little bit of restriction, but I can easily eat over 1 cup of food.) Is it common to slime before a fill? Is it just because I ate pineapple? Or maybe the artichoke dip? Any advice would be much appreciated! I know for now I will not eat pineapple for a long time, if ever again! Mary

Good mrning Frances and prayer warrirors! Prayers have been said for all on the list today. Please add Carol Mayfield to the "turn at bat" list. She will be having her surgery on July 6th and is feeling that "pit in the stomach" nervousness that we all feel prior ro surgery. She is a great lady and I am confident that she will join the list of very successful bandsters!! Her surgery page is http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/status.php?N=M1144381143 Thank you all and have a wonderful day! Mary

Good morning Frances and prayer warriors. This morning I would like to request prayer for my best friend Shawn. Her father passed away on Saturday and there is a sad story attached. Due to a nasty divorce between her father and mother, and issues that occured in her teen years, Shawn has not spoken to her father in over 15 years. He attempted many times over the last few years to contact her but she just couldn't find it in her heart to forgive him and re-connect with him. I am so worried that she will regret later in life that she did not forgive him and establish a relationship with him prior to his death. I am asking God to help her find it in her heart to forgive him now and to forgive herself. I am hoping that she can find it in herself to greive and find peace. His funeral is on Thursday and she is not sure she will even attend. Please pray for Shawn and for the soul of her father Gus. Thank you to all, Mary

Ok, so I know that this question has been asked many, many times, but I guess I don't fully listen to the answer until it affects me. So, I was banded on 6/5 and don't feel like I have much restriction at all. (This is fine with me and I know is totally normal until I get a fill). I am on a mushie diet and have tolerated beef jerky and mozzarella cheese sticks just fine for days.(Both are on my Dr.'s ok list) Well long story short, I woke up this morning and kind of felt like I could "feel" my band around the top of my stomach-it didn't hurt, just felt like a "twinge". Then I ate a 1 oz cheese stick and about 1/2 oz of beef jerky and I now feel like it is all kind of stuck at the bottom of my throat. I can drink, have not PB'd, but I just feel kind of wierd. So my question is, did anyone have that TOM restriction before they got a fill? (My period should start today or tomorrow). Should I be concerned about slippage or does this sound normal? My main concern is that I have had bronchitis for the past week and have had an awful cough (that the doc knows about) and I am afraid the band has slipped. The cough is MUCH better than it was a few days ago and this restriction thing just started today, so i don't know what to think!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Mary

Congratulations!!! I am really happy for you. I read your profile and noticed that you had begun this journey with Dr. Snyder. Did you decide to stay with him or are you using a surgeon in Grand Junction? Dr. Snyder did my surgery 2 weeks ago, and I just love him!! I feel great, feel like I will have all the support I will need, and feel positive that I will have a successful journey. Please e-mail me if you have any questions about Dr. Snyder. Again congrats on getting your loan and good luck in the future! Mary

I just know that your prayers and good thoughts are what helped to bring my Baxter dog back home. He was found about 1 hour ago after an afternoon on the run in the 90 degree Denver heat. The way he was reunited with me surely had Devine intervention attached!: His name tag had my old phone number on it (from 2 or 3 years ago), so I called that old number to see if the person at that number had received any calls about a missing dog. Well come to find out, that number is now a FAX number!!! I felt lost and like there was no way I would find the dog (had called all of the shelters numerous times and so on). Well I sent a fax to the phone number and asked for the receiver to please call me if someone faxed them regarding a missing dog. Well by golly the guy that found my dog faxed his number to the fax machine and the lady called me!!! The man that found my dog has a very ill family member, so he had to leave the dog at his home for a few hours. Well from what I hear Baxter is happily playing with the Beagle who lives there, and we will be picking him up later this evening. So, lessons learned? Prayers WORK!! and Change the phone # on the dog tags!!! Thanks to all of you for your support, it was a hard afternoon but will all be better when I have my buddy sleeping next to me tonight!! Mary

I am hoping that the power of prayer that got me through my surgery on Monday will help to find my beloved dog. My dog baxter who is staying at my sister's house while I heal from surgery escaped from her back yard about 2 hours ago. He is the love of my life, and I am so in shock that Idon't even know how to react. All of the shelters and the humane society have been called, my brother in law is out looking for him, and he is putting up signs. I am about 35 miles away at my other sister's house and feel totally helpless. Can you please help me pray that my wonderful doggie is found? (He has tags but the phone # on the tags is an old number which is now a fax machine-so we are relying on someone to call the shelters). Thank you for your prayers Mary M.

Bridget, You are doing great! Can't wait to be just like you! Congrats!! Mary M. (memalt)