Edmund S.

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It saddens me to see the continued attacks on Ed S.'s reputation, and for the those who do not know him, perhaps this post will enlighten you to what type of person Ed S. is and stop the constant badgering of him and his posts on this forum.

I met Ed S. when I had my first "clothes giveaway", and I was glad to meet him and his charming wife. He arrived at our place at 9 PM, stayed about one hour, and then drove to help another OH member in Ottawa with her computer, which had crashed. After this, he drove from Ottawa to his home in Cornwall, arriving there very late I might add.

Ed S. has helped people go to and from Utica, whenever he goes and there is a need for a ride.

Ed S. has often stuck up for those who have been attacked by others on this board, when no else would - Including yours truly.

Ed S. is someone who tries to exercise his right to post on this forum, and for reasons that are beyond me, is continually attacked for posting his research. If one does not like what he posts, it is your freedom to ignore Ed S.'s posts. Better still, if you really do not like the man, just use the OH blocking feature and voila, he and his posts are gone.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - I consider ED S. to be a friend

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Hey Carlos,

Thank You for this thread.  It is very kind of you.

I know people say I have a hidden agenda.  I have no idea why they think that.  I am simplly trying to get information out there.  I know some people think I slant my post.  Not true!!

I post information about all different subjects and surgeries.  If someone thinks the information is not accurate then they have every right to say so.  I will defend anyone who does.  The attacks of course are a different thing all together.

Why do I insist on doing this?

1. Not all newbies know how to search the net.

2. Even people who do can miss something.  For example:  I found out about the pressure boots just a few days before surgery.  I had no idea.  Someone simply posted the information.  I thanked them for it too.

3. I agree that not all the information on the internet is 100% accurate.  By posting what I find here then any problems can be addressed by other OH members. The Newbie can then make a decission for themself/herself about it's accuracy.  Information they find on the internet on thier own........will they get that second opinion or take it for granted?  I know when I did my research a couple of things I thought was gospel was later explained to be wrong.

Could I have said this before now..........Sure I could have...........The question is why should I or anyone defend there right to post information.  Like you say Carlos, take it...leave it......or block......

Attacking is wrong.......

Sure I defended myself a little harshly a couple of times.........In hindsite not the best approach.  But...I never should have had to defend myself agaist attacks in the first place.

You Carlos should never have felt the need to defend me, but I love you for it........

Thank-you my Friend.

There are 3 parts to this story.  Look for the---First Post-- 2nd post --and last post too.

I have also included a short Video at the bottom of her story.

Cheryl Harvey was obese and desperately wanted to be healthy. She chose to roll the dice on gastric bypass surgery.

 Chapter 1

 December 01, 2007

Susan Clairmont

THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

Her stomach is full of butterflies.

 As soon as Cheryl says it, she giggles. A high-pitched, nervous laugh more suited to a schoolgirl than a 387-pound woman about to hoist herself onto a surgical table.
Her stomach. That's what this day is about. Shutting that insatiable, demanding, omnipotent stomach of hers down forever. Using medical technology to give her a new one. A tiny one. The size of a thumb. 
This is the moment Cheryl has dreaded and longed for. This is her best chance at health. At normalcy. At life.
"I wish it was over," she says as the gastric bypass team wheels her into the OR. "I wish it was tomorrow." 
In four months, Cheryl will be dead. 
She can't eat candy. 
No chocolate bars. No bubble gum. No sweets.
The little girl with the round face and dark, pageboy haircut cannot have the treats that sweeten other childhoods.
Doctors think Cherylanne Tull has celiac disease. Gluten will make her ill. White sugar and white flour are thought to be poisonous to her.
The diagnosis, looking back, was likely wrong since it didn't follow her into adulthood. Celiacs never actually outgrow their condition. But at the time, it helped explain Cherylanne's adversarial relationship with food. 
Food often makes her vomit. She is a picky eater. But when she comes across something she likes, she digs in.
Cherylanne is born Feb. 17, 1955 to Bruce and Isabell Tull in London, Ont.
She has no hair really, but it doesn't matter because all you notice are the huge round eyes and small, pursed mouth.
She is their youngest, coming after Robert and Dorothy. Long after it is necessary, the active child with the sunny disposition and plentiful supply of friends is treated as the baby.
She is the apple of her father's eye.
Bruce is a big man. Six feet tall, wide around the middle. A mechanic with a good appetite who lucked out when he married Izzy, a professional cook.
Mama Izzy takes pride in her appearance. She dresses immaculately and is never without her stilettos. Her hair is dark and coiffed, her black brows are plucked into perfect arches and her lips are stained red.
But after the babies come, she puts on weight. For a time, her 5-foot-4 frame carts around 300 pounds. Then she joins a women's diet club. She reduces her dress size to a 20.
As her mother shrinks, Cherylanne expands. At 8 she is chubby. Her siblings-Bob is nine years older, Dorothy four years older-are overweight, too.
The Tulls are not rich. As well as owning a diner-the Sunrise Coffee Shop-Mama Izzy runs a boarding house at home to make ends meet.
She bustles about cooking up a mess of food for the boarders who fill the nooks and crannies of the Tull home. One small girl sleeps under the china cabinet.
Mama Izzy plates each serving with an aim to filling hungry bellies and pleasing eager eyes.
Portions are generous. There are two vegetables, filling one side of the plate. On the other is meat and a perfect, ice-cream scoop of creamy white mashed potatoes. There are slices of bread stacked on the table. And there is always homemade dessert.
But Cherylanne must clean her plate first. 
Bruce carries his weight in his gut.
The extra pounds take their toll. He becomes diabetic. He has one heart attack. Then another. He shrinks to half his size and can't work. Then, in 1966, he develops a blood clot in his brain. 
He is 48 on the day he dies and weighs 300 pounds.
Cherylanne is 11.
Bruce's death has a profound impact on his youngest daughter.She withdraws. Becomes depressed. There is anxiety. Panic attacks. An inexplicable fear of falling.She is also dyslexic and struggles with school.
Cherylanne is in turmoil. And at no time is that more obvious than when she is faced with a plate of food.
"She could throw up at the drop of a hat," Dorothy remembers. "She had a nervous stomach."
Dorothy, often tasked with making lunch for her sister, always prepares two helpings: "One for Cherylanne to throw up and one for her to keep down." 
Mama Izzy remarries.
In 1970 she weds Gerald Fitzpatrick. He is a difficult man at times. Cantankerous, verbally abusive, profane. He makes Cherylanne feel inadequate. Still, she loves him.
Cherylanne also acquires a stepsister from the union.
Mary Lou is obviously from a different gene pool than her new sibs. While they are fleshy and steadily growing, she is thin. Scrawny even. "Skinny Minnie," they call her.
These differences though are superficial. The sisters become three peas in a pod.
Cherylanne is branching out.
At 16 she moves with her mom and Gerald to Caledonia. Izzy takes a restaurant job.
Cherylanne leaves high school after Grade 10 and enrols in hairdressing school.
She is a hefty girl, but pretty. She smiles a lot. Is popular and outgoing. Only those closest to her know of the depression.
The panic. The vomiting.
Down the street are the Harveys, Don and Catherine and their children, Suzanne and Michael. The teenage Cherylanne babysits.
When Michael is two, he drowns in his family's pool. A terrible accident. Don and Catherine's marriage suffers afterward and never recovers. They divorce.
Don, an electronics prof at Mohawk College, finds solace in the babysitter. Cherylanne, now in her early 20s, is 14 years his junior.
Those around them raise eyebrows at the age difference. The circumstances. Their opposite personalities: she, sociable and chatty. He, solitary and quiet. She, a homebody who loves to sew and cook. He, an outdoorsman who hunts bears.
As unlikely as they are, somehow it works. They are falling in love.
Cherylanne moves to Toronto and gets a job as a "colour technician," dyeing ladies' hair in a beauty salon.
Then one day at work when she is about 23, she slips on the wet salon floor. Pitches backward, her head striking the wall before she crashes down. A bone in her neck is broken. There is severe whiplash.
She never works again.
The pain is unbearable. Constant. She becomes addicted to painkillers. Later it will be Don who weans her off.
She has no choice but to move back home.
Izzy cooks for her.
On March 21, 1983, Don and Cheryl marry.
There is snow on the ground. The ceremony is intimate, held in a tiny church in Haliburton. The reception is at Don's cottage, a rustic log cabin in the woods. He is 42.
Cheryl-as Don calls her-beams in every photo.
She is 28, five feet four inches tall. She wears a lavender suit with a bow at the neck. Size 16.
She will never be this small again.
Married life suits Cheryl.
She is happier than she has ever been.
She and Don settle into their new life on Tisdale Street South in Hamilton and Cheryl busies herself with being a homemaker. She turns much of her attention to cooking.
She cooks for Don, of course. Like Mama Izzy, Cheryl loves to feed those she cares about. And they entertain.
Friends are invited over for dinner parties.
Chicken wings deep fried and tangy. Schnitzel. T-bone steaks, marbled with fat and grilled to perfection. Pancakes, hot off the griddle. Bacon and eggs.
Piles of pasta. Potato salad. Pizza.
Rarely does a vegetable or a fruit enter their home.
"The obesity basically came after I got married," Cheryl notes later.
Don never gains weight. His appetite is hearty, but he stays trim.
Cheryl eats and eats. Her stomach never feels full. Her body never tells her to stop.
Cheryl and Dorothy's big brother, Bob, dies.
He is 38.
He weighs far too much. His stomach is vast. And he drinks too much.
He has a heart attack and is pronounced dead at Joseph Brant Hospital.
Cheryl accompanies Mary Lou and her five-year-old daughter to a movie.
"You can't fit into the chairs," the child says.
Cheryl is 32.
200 pounds.
250.
300.
400.
Cheryl does not want anyone to think she is "a couch potato."
Though it is difficult for her to get around because of her increasing size, she is a busy woman. A generous volunteer.
She is involved with Neighbourhood Watch. Is a member of a superintendent's advisory committee with the Hamilton Police Service and volunteers at the Landsdale/Stinson Policing Centre. She fundraises for Kids Help Phone.
She works with Wilma's Place, an alternative high school program.
Each December, Cheryl puts on a Mrs. Claus dress and hat and makes her way to St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church to surprise dozens of children at their Christmas party.
She and Don cannot have children. So this is a special treat for Cheryl.
One year, she walks from her home on Tisdale Street South during a rainstorm-in full costume-to get there.
Another year, the weather is just too bad. She can't make it.
So she phones instead. She stays on the line for an hour, each child taking a turn speaking with Mrs. Claus at the North Pole.
Walking is difficult.
Cheryl's thighs are thicker than an average woman's waist. Her middle is so wide she cannot see below it. Her arms cannot rest comfortably at her sides because they are too big.
It is 1999. Cheryl is 44.
She heads out from her home on foot to run a few errands.
She passes a young girl sitting on a bus stop bench on Main Street East near Tisdale. The child's legs are stuck out.
Cheryl trips.
She hits the sidewalk hard. Her shins are scraped, bloody, embedded with dirt and gravel.
She cannot move. She is stuck. Stranded. Unable to heave her own massive body upright. She tries to roll. To bend. To push.
She is crying. Calling for help. She can't breathe. Her heart is pounding. She is in the throes of a full-fledged panic attack.
People walk by the enormous woman on the ground. Cars drive past.
Nobody stops. Nobody helps. Nobody says a word.
It is as though this obese woman floundering on the sidewalk of one of Hamilton's busiest streets is invisible.
Cheryl weighs 421 pounds.
Cheryl hates the word fat.
"Fat," says Cheryl, "is a piece of meat with all the white stuff on the edge.
"I'm not saying that's not inside me. But I usually consider myself obese."
By medical standards, the term obese refers to anyone with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30.
A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.
The morbidly obese have a BMI of 40 or more. They are 100 pounds overweight and have co-morbidities. That means they are so large, basic functions are affected such as breathing and walking. It endangers their lives.
Cheryl Harvey is 5-feet-4 inches tall. Her ideal weight is about 130 pounds. In reality, her weight peaks at 421 pounds. Her BMI is 72.3.
Someone 5-feet-4 is considered obese at 175 pounds.
Flesh cascades down Cheryl's body.
It bulges and sags and quivers.
She has few clothes. Her pants threaten to burst seams. She usually wears short sleeves because, for one thing, it's hard to get a shirt that fits over her upper arms. But also, she is always hot. Sweating. She is often plunked in front of a fan.
Her underwear is custom made of Lycra by a friend. Cheryl dreams of the day when she can go to a store and buy underpants off the shelf. Her friend promises to sew a leopard thong for Cheryl to wear when she's thinner.
Her feet are two sizes bigger than they were when she was younger. Rings no longer fit. Necklaces are too tight against her throat.
Cheryl is a wife. A sister. A stepmother. A friend. A volunteer.
But she knows all too well strangers only see her as a fat woman. To them, she is big and lazy and slovenly and stupid.
Society looks upon the obese as something less than human.
At her lowest moment in life, Cheryl knows this to be true.
It is the day she falls on Main Street and nobody helps her.
Eventually Cheryl rolls and pushes and pulls her way over to the curb. Manages to get a foothold. Tugs and rocks and, somehow, after 20 minutes of trying, rights herself.
She is hysterical.
The fall and all its consequences change Cheryl.
Her health deteriorates.
The scrapes on her shins-minor abrasions that would heal quickly on a healthier person-slowly become infected. Blood flow to her extremities is poor. Particularly her legs and feet. She has diabetes brought on by her size.
Amazingly, four years after the fall the scrapes turn into open wounds. Ulcers. Festering. Oozing. Raw.
She is told to rest, so she does. For a year she barely leaves her couch. That busy brown floral sofa is her world now. Everything she needs is within reach.
Her dearest friend, Jo-Anne, comes every day to change bandages. Don fetches whatever she needs.
Still, the wounds don't heal.
She lies around some more. Another year passes.
Going to the doctor is too difficult. Cheryl takes photos of her red, scabby legs and e-mails them to a physician so he can monitor her progress.
"I could hardly walk," Cheryl remembers. "They told me if it didn't get better, I'd have to get my legs cut off."
There are antibiotics and ointments.
Finally, the wounds close and Cheryl avoids amputation. And skin grafts.
But her legs are forever scarred. From the knees down they are black.
Cheryl is becoming reclusive.
The terror and humiliation of the fall, coupled with the pain of her shins and her morbid obesity means Cheryl is rarely leaving the house. When she does, it is usually to go to the cottage with Don or to a doctor's appointment.
She quits her committees, takes leaves from her boards.
"You disappear into yourself," says Dorothy, her slightly smaller sister.
Cheryl's life is shrinking.
The bond between Cheryl and her sisters is as tight as it gets.
Dorothy hovers around 315 pounds. Once, she took out a $1,000 loan and joined Nutrisystem-stocking her kitchen with the pre-made meals. She lost 83 pounds.
But then she went on vacation and ate regular food. All the weight came back.
Step-sister Mary Lou is dubbed "Skinny Minnie."
There is much bantering about weight among the sisters. But serious discussions are rare.
"We'd talk about it in fits and spurts," says Mary Lou.
"I could talk about it easier with Cheryl because of my own size," says Dorothy.
Cheryl's self-esteem is low. Almost non-existent.
She is ashamed.
"You have no idea of the emotional embarrassment when you walk into a restaurant and you can't fit into a booth," she says.
Mama Izzy is dying.
It is 2004. The hard-working woman who cooked for a living and was once nearly as large as Cheryl, her youngest child, weighs just 94 pounds when she passes.
"She just wasted away," says Cheryl.
Don convinces his wife to go on vacation.
They decide on a trip to Barbados. Before the holiday, Cheryl phones the airline numerous times.
Will she fit in a seat? Will the seatbelt-with an extension-go around her? Will she fit in the plane's bathroom?
They get to Barbados, but Cheryl can do very little sightseeing. She has a walker with her for walking and sitting.
Being seen with an obese wife is tough for Don.
"I was never comfortable being with Cheryl in public," he admits. "It was an embarrassment. It never stopped us from going out, but I was embarrassed."
In private, however, it wasn't much of an issue.
"We had a terrific sex life. We did it for fun and enjoyment. We had to make adjustments because of her size, but we managed."
Yes, Cheryl does try to lose weight.
She tries the Cabbage Soup Diet. The Grapefruit Diet. The Atkins Diet. She introduces herself to vegetables. Especially green ones. She eats only one starch a day.
She still treats herself though.
Dark chocolate is her favourite indulgence. Though she isn't much of a drinker, she does enjoy a little Hot Sex from time to time-it's a liqueur she likes.
She loses a little. But as soon as she goes off the diet, she gains it all back. And then some.
She enlists the help of Dr. Arya Sharma, Canada's leading obesity expert. He is running a fledgling clinic at Hamilton General Hospital.
He believes obesity is a chronic disease and should be treated as such, like cancer, or diabetes or heart disease.
It is not the lifestyle choice so many critics think it is.
He puts Cheryl on a prescription liquid diet. It's called Optifast and costs her $3,000 for a year's supply. OHIP does not pay for it.
For the first three months Optifast is all she consumes, for about 900 calories a day. After that, she has one small meal a day along with three Optifast "shakes."
It takes like crap. The vanilla flavour is the least disgusting. Still, Cheryl gags and sometimes vomits.
The label says, "Food for special dietary use in medical weight management."
The first week, Cheryl loses 15 pounds. The next week, 18.
She feels better than she has in years.
"I had energy to burn by the fourth day," she says. "I was stripping the floor at the cottage.
"She sets a goal for herself: lose enough weight to become eligible for gastric bypass surgery.
During this time, Cheryl Harvey's name is added to waiting lists for bariatric surgery. One list is for Dr. John Hagen in Toronto.
There is no gastric bypass surgery done in Hamilton.
Cheryl is one of the first obese patients seen by Dr. Valerie Taylor, a psychiatrist now considered one of the country's leading experts on the links between obesity and psychiatric problems.
Taylor is helping Cheryl prepare for surgery.
"She was very motivated," says Taylor. "
Cheryl was a very good candidate. She had an obese family and Cheryl was trying to break that cycle. She didn't want to die at a young age."
One of the things they work on is Cheryl's fear of falling.
"We were trying to get her mobile," says Taylor.
"Getting her to go outside and walk a block with a friend and then another day to walk a block by herself. After her fall, she didn't want to go out. Her fear was that it was going to happen again."If she does not lose weight -- 200 pounds at least-she will die. Soon.
A person with a BMI of 40 is more than two and a half times more likely to die than someone with a healthy BMI.
Her body is crumbling under the strain of her fat.
Here's what it is causing:
Migraines. Type 2 diabetes. High cholesterol. High blood pressure. Arthritis. Sinus congestion. Sleep apnea. Acid reflux. Asthma.
Menopause sneaks up on Cheryl since she stopped menstruating years ago because of her size. She has a bad knee from tripping over a carpet and falling.
Her liver is enlarged and fatty. Also, her depression and anxiety attacks are closely and complicatedly linked to her obesity.
Though she can be shy, Cheryl is surprisingly outspoken about her size.
She is fed up with the way the public, the politicians, the medical community, the media, regard obese people.
She believes if everyone understood what it is like to live inside a body like hers, they might learn to care.
What will Cheryl do if she loses weight?
"I will sit in the passenger seat of the car and not have to push it all the way to the back seat. I will shop for clothes off regular racks. I will go fishing in the boat with Don. I will cross my legs."
She pauses, giggles, then says this:
"You really want to know what I'd do? I'd wipe my own bum. (Without Don's help.) I know that sounds crude, but for me, it would be the biggest deal of all." 

Cheryl's Struggle 

TheSpec.com - Local - 421 pounds: Chapter 2
421 pounds: Chapter 2

Warm spring rain comes down hard. Sheet lightning shocks the dark sky.
Puddles in the parking lot at Toronto's Humber River Regional Hospital shine under the glow of street lights. Finding a spot is easy.
It is not yet 6 a.m.
Cheryl Harvey and her entourage make their way inside. It is not a dash through the storm, but rather a slow shuffle. At nearly 400 pounds and with a walker to steady her, Cheryl does nothing quickly.
She hopes that will change.
Today is the surgery.
Cheryl, 52, has been on the waiting list for gastric bypass surgery for three years.
During the first year, she is in the care of Dr. Arya Sharma, one of the world's leading obesity experts who works at McMaster University. He puts her on a prescription liquid diet and she loses more than 80 pounds. The idea is to prepare her for surgery.
But by the time Dr. John Hagen at Humber calls to say he is ready for her, Cheryl has gained back all the weight. She peaks at 421 pounds.
Before Hagen can accept Cheryl for a bypass she must meet certain criteria.
As far as weight goes, she's a shoe-in.
Her body mass index is 72.3 - more than double the minimum Hagen requires of his patients. 

Second Part
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ON/a,messageboard/action,replies/board_id,5450/cat_id,5050/topic_id,3649614/

Last Part
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ON/a,messageboard/action,replies/board_id,5450/cat_id,5050/topic_id,3649617/

Hello everyone.  I was reminded today that I have not updated my profile since surgery.  Sorry about that.

Well as some of you know the surgery went well and i went to the motel the next day.  I was in alot of pain though but was told this is can be a normal thing for some and it would subside.

Well it didn't subside in fact it actually got worse.  I had a pain in my side that just would not go away.  My local GP had a look and did not think it was much but did give me some hydromorphone for the pain.  Well this actually did not help much.  Anyway the pain contued and i went to my 3 week post-op appointment with my surgeon.

He checked me over and thought it might be a cracked or broken rib.  Now everyone I have no idea how it happened.  I did not really ask actually.  I was more concerned about what to do with it.  My surgeon then decided to give me a shot right into the area that was giving me the pain.  I am not sure but i believe it might have been cortizone.

Well I had almost instant relief.  The pain was still there but much less.  A few days later the pain was very tolerable and today i have no effects at all.  I don't blame my surgeon at all for the rib.  i woke up with it.  I figure it could have happened anytime after I was put under.  It might have been a strap to strap me in or when I was moved.  I am a very large man and not easy to move.

So onward with my story.

I started to get very weak after that.  I was so weak in fact that I could not funtion.  I felt I was going to pass out most of the time.  No energy what so ever.  My family told me I was very pale.  which is really not normal for me.

Well after talking to my GP and my surgeon it was all figured out finally.  I was not getting enough protien in for one but the big one was my blood presure.  I no longer had high blood preasure!!  I was still taking the meds for that though.  The med was driving my blood pressure way way to low!

The cure was a simple change in meds and I felt stronger every day since.  I was stalled for a good month maybe more but now the weight is coming off again.  I am putting more mucle on for sure.  Everyday I can walk further and do things I could not before.  My physical strenth is coming back too.  I was a very, very strong man once.  Now i feel it coming back and i am so happy about that!!!

So there it is, I am doing very well now.  At first like many I was wondering what did i do to myself.  Then once the problems were ironed out I now think it was the best decision I could have made.  I have the highest trust and respect in both my GP and Surgeon.  Together they have saved my life.  Not only that I feel my life with my family and friends coming back!!

Life is good again and I know it will only get better!!

Hello,

Well it's here, I leave for Utica tomorrow.  Surgery is two days later on Friday.  My life long friend is driving me, my wife and Penny Lalonde.  He will then drive back to pick us up next week.

Penny is joining us to keep my wife Theresa company.  She is the leader of our local support group and a very kind soul.  We have only met and she is doing this huge favor for me.  It's such a relief to know my wife will not be alone should anything happen to me.

I have been trying to lose weight.  The doctor asked me to lose as much as possible before the sugery.  The more I lose the better it is for me.  It just makes the operation easier to do and gives me a better outlook as far as complications are concerned.

Well I have been trying damn hard to do this.  I have fallen off the no extra food wagon over a dozen times and right back on again since my consult.  Problem is that I still have not lost any weight.  Maybe a couple of pounds and that's it.

I have to admit that I am very afraid of having the surgery cancelled.  It's on my mind all day today.  I really hope it doesn't cancel,the sugery.  I need this tool, I really do.  I will never win the battle agaist the fat without this surgery!!

Hello Everyone,

Well I am all done my pre-op stuff in Canada.  I have my supplies and arrangments have been made for the trip.  I'm ready to go and only 17 days to go to my surgery!!

The date seems to be flying here and other times it seems like it's taking forever to get this surgery done.

Am I nervous about the surgery?  You bet!!!  I can't get it off my mind.  I have no time left in my mind to think about sex anymore!!!  Well that's not true!!  he he he.  After all I am a man right!!  I am very nervous though but I will go through with this surgery.  I so need it.  I have no life now.  I sit or lay down all the time.  I can't really go anywhere or do much.  It's no life.

I have become totally dependaent on my poor wife.  Without her I don't know what would happen to me.  It's not fair to her.  She needs a life to and I am holding her back.  Soon though soon we can both get our lives back.

For the weight Ticker go to www.tickerfactory.com and create your ticker.  After you are finished designing your ticker and it shows you the final design, do not follow their instructions.  Instead:

1) Right click on the actual ticker itself and select Copy. 

2) Come back to this forum.  On the left side you will notice a menu that looks like this.  

Welcome, Edmund S.

ObesityHelp Ontario
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Forum Home 
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User Settings     <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (Here) Go to User settings.

3) In the signature portion of your user settings, right click and select Paste.   (Your ticker should appear in the box)

4) Make sure you have your signature enabled, Enable my signature and then be sure to save your work.

5) you will then be brought back to user settings.  That's ok.  You can just go back to the Ontario forum and view your post.  You should then be able to see your ticker.  Note:  There is no need to save your work a scond time.


For the Avatar go to this site.  http://www.shrinkpictures.com/create-avatar/

1) Follow the directions on the page.  Be sure the picture that you use is a Gif or Jpg, Jpeg format.
2) Click on Download This Picture Now

3) Name the picture and save to your computer where you can find it later.

4) Come back to this website and go to User Settings on the left as you did before.

5) Find This area in User Settings and upload the picture.

Submitted Avatars are limited to a size of 20K and must be in GIF or JPG format. They should be 100 x 100 pixels.

 

 

Avatars should not contain nudity, violent, offensive, or copyrighted materials. If violations are reported, please note your Photo/Avatar may be removed, and if abuse of the system persists, your account may be deleted.

 

 

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This is for the members who wish to see the new threads and threads that have been responding too at the top of your screen first.

In User settings, 
Forum Home 
Message Board 
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User Settings <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
which is on the left of your screen, choose

Default View Preference:

Most recently created topics first Topics with most recent posts first (This One)

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So you want to insert a picute into your post.  Great.  Please feel free to copy and post this antwhere you like.

If you want to copy an avatar or anything from this OH site just highlight it, then right click the mouse and choose copy.  Now go to where your making your post and right click the mouse and paste.  This works great for anything on this site.  

However, if you want to post a picture that you have at home on your computer or from the internet then this is what I suggest you do.

1) Submitted Photos are limited to a size of 20K and must be in GIF, JPEG or JPG format.  Photos should not contain nudity, violent, offensive, or copyrighted materials. If violations are reported, please note your Photo may be removed, and if abuse of the system persists, your account may be deleted.  If you need to resize your picture this is a site that will help you do that. http://www.shrinkpictures.com/  Just follow thier directions here.  For Select New Maximum Image dimension I would choose 100 pixels.  This should ensure the image does not exceed the size limit here.

2) Once you have a picture that you wish to post go to this site first. http://tinypic.com/

3) When at this site follow thier directions and upload a picture from your computer.

4) The Tinypic site will take your picture and process it for you.  Never mind about the silly screen that sometimes comes up with a warning.  Be patient and wait.  When it's done you will see a number of lines that can be copied.  Right click on the top line and copy it.

5) Your done at the Tinypic site so now come to this OH board and press (post/reply to post) for where ever it is you want to post this picture.

6) Now in the pain where you wish to add the picture right click then paste.  A big line of information should show up there.  Something like this.


7) You will need to delete most of the stuff you see.  You should end up with a line that looks like this. Remember yours will look slightly different because you will have a different number representing your .jpg picture.


8)  Write whatever you like in your post and submit it.  Your picture should then show up in your post.

Hope this How To Guide helps you.

 

Well I have 34 days to go before surgery.  I still need to loose weight so I have decided to start Opti Fast. I actually started two days ago.   I am drinking three aday with tons of water.  I am also taking two "One A Day" vitamins for Men.  So far I have not cheated but it has been real difficult.  I have read that after a time the Opti Fast diet will help hunger pain to go away.  I hope so.  I don't know if it's real or just in my head but when I think of food my stomach is actually in physical pain wanting it.

I am doing 30 mintes of excersise aday and doing some walking in the house.  It does not take long to be out of breath.  I go back and forth through the kitchen 4 or 5 times and my legs feel like they are going to collapse under me.  I am also out of breath.  I hope in a couple of weeks to see myself walking a little further.

Well everybody this one is your fault!

I am now totally addicted to this Ontario Forum!  I find myself thinking of the Ontario forum all day Long,  Everyday!  Look at me!  It's 5:39 in the ******  Morning, and what am I doing?  Reading and posting on this ****** forum!!  LOL.  Ok, My sick sense of humor again!

Thank-you everybody!  This is one addiction I can live with for sure!!  Hopefully it will continue for a long time.  I have met so many wonderful careing people on this forum.  Your all lifesavers and Hero's to my family, me, and many others.


Thumb Line Of Well Wishes For All Of You!

Hello Everyone,

Some of you have said that to help with getting food off my mind I should keep myself occupied.  Well I discussed it with my wife.  Let me tell you for awhile there last week I wasn't sure I should have done that!! 

 

 "Occupied she says", with an evil grin!   I knew I was in trouble right there!  Well she decided now was the time I should make the items she has been asking for since we moved into our apartment three years ago.  I know. I know.  3 years is a little longer than my usual 6 month waiting period to get things done around the house.  Hey I’m a man, what can I say.  LOL, I’m sure some of you can relate, Right?

 

 Well she decided, (Notice I said she decided) that I should build her a Coat Rack with two shelves on top, a 3 shelf setup just over my desk, (Yup, My Desk!) A larger 3 shelf setup on another wall, a headboard for our bed with a shelf on top made of pine and trimmed in pine.  I was to cover the headboard, footstool for the bed and the top of two night stands in a red material we had gotten from a friend for this purpose a while back. 

 

 Ok, I need to go back a couple of years to explain the foot stool for the bed.  We had a bed that had a metal frame with wheels.  Well with my weight, I broke it.  No need to explain that.  So our bed sat on the floor for awhile while I promised I would make a strong frame for it.  Yes, the six month rule that turned out to be a long six months! LOL 

 

 Ok, so a few months ago we bought a brand new Box spring and Mattress Set.  I finally said that I’m going to build the frame.  With the help of my future son in law and my daughter we got a frame built.  I designed, measured, and cut the lumber and they put it together as I instructed.  She is one strong bed frame!  Now the reason I made a great effort to explain who cut the wood is to be certain I get the credit for the little ooops that happened. The frame was so high off the floor that when the Box spring and Mattress were added I could not, no matter how hard I tried get into that bed.  My Belly just kept getting in the way.  My wife could get in but not me.  So the footstool I refer too is more like a step up to enable me to get into the bed.  I know, I know, typical man right.  Rather than fix the frame, find an easy way around it.  Hey, what can I say?  LOL  

 

 Alright, after that long side track I’m getting back to what happened yesterday.  All the wood, screws, tools, sandpaper etc, etc as been ordered, delivered and laid out in the kitchen for me too start working.  My dear wife decided I should have some help to keep me motivated.  She had my grandson’s come over to give me a hand.

 

 I got everything built and up!  I had the greatest time teaching my young grandsons what the tools were and how to use them.  I have tears of happiness in my eyes right now thinking of the great day I had yesterday.  I was so tired at the end of the day I could barely move but will never trade it for anything.

 

 I have been married for 27 great years to wonderful women who has put up with me and all my problems and still cares enough to get me a present like my day yesterday.

Why, am I going through with my surgery you ask?  I think this story says it all for me.

I Love You Theresa, Thank-You!   

Well I have been trying really hard with this and as usual I don't think I'm doing to good.

I have to confess that I have fallen off the wagon.  Yes each time I fall off I get back on. I am currently on again and hope to be able to stay there.

I don't think I lost any weight yet and don't have a scale to check myself.  None big enough and I do not want to go to the truck stop again.  Dr Graber asked me not to weight myself anyway.

However, I went to play darts tonight.  Two of my favorite Aunt's told me that I have lost weight they can see it.  I think they are just being kind.  Nice of them to say though.