Yeah Laurie, I hope this doctor is just the prescription you need. I am shopping for a new WLS friendly PCP, too. Luckily, I haven't had the problems you have had, but when I have had a question, my PCP doesn't care, and is too lazy to find an answer. I wonder how many of us WLS patients have to suffer through indifferent PCPs. I firmly believe that the morbidly obese suffer needlessly at the hands of their PCPs because they are written off as medical risks due to their weight. They eventually give up trying to get adequate medical care, and then suffer from their comorbidities. When I had my gastric bypass, I didn't realize that shoddy medical care would continue from my PCP. Now I am just considered a WLS patient, and am my surgeon's responsibilty, no matter what the medical ailment. Shame on the bad PCPs. I here from people on this board that there are good, well informed PCPs out there, but we have to search them out. Debra M.

Hi Kate, I was 20 pounds from my personal goal of 150 (height 5'5') when I had my extended tummy tuck a month ago. Unlike most people here, I had been continuing to lose weight ever since the gastric bypass, usually about 5 pounds a month. I was concerned about not being stable or at goal when I had the tt. In the 5 weeks since the tt, I am now 2-3 pounds from my goal. The tt removed 8 pounds of skin and fat, and the surgery has reduced my appetite and ability to consume very much food at any one time. For me, I think it is continuing to need to wear a very restrictive garment to reduce fluid accumulation. It puts so much pressure on my stomach and abdomen that I get very uncomfortable eating much at all. So, I guess my point is, if there is a possibility of plastics in your future, then I wouldn't worry about being 20-30 pounds from your goal. I think you need to take into consideration how large a person you were before the GB. I was super morbidly obese with a BMI of over 58. I know I would never have reached my goal of 150 without the tt, there was just too much skin there. In fact, I am wondering where my weight would be if I had the breast lift, brachioplasty, and thigh lift that I still need. I am positive there is still at least 10-15 pounds of skin in those areas left. I realize that plastic surgery is not an option, finanacially or medically for many people. So, those people need to think about the weight of that skin and factor it into their realistic goals. Financially, more plastics will be a burden for me, and emotionally I won't be ready for more surgery anyway for a good while. This tt has been difficult to recover from, for me. Best of luck, Debra M. 351/152/150 2 pounds to goal 199 pounds lost

awe Kathy - wish you were out having fun in Lexi!!! But I sure understand about spending money this time of year. I've spent another day on the go. UGH, it's getting harder and harder to do that. The *****ily feeling in both my arms is making it harder and hard to drive fo any distance. Not having any fun around here either, I worked for three hours today, stopped at WalMart and got a memory card for my new digital camera (YIPPPIE, finally got a camera again) went to lunch with dh, came home and took a NAP before the kids got home from school. There's definately something up with my eatting. I'm back to forcing myself to eat. B - oatmeal L - 1/2 of a mini omlette L2 - dbl cheeseburger no bun, apple dippers ( couldn't even eat this very well) S - sb breakfast bar D - dh is talking about going out to dinner, so don't know. I don't feel like anything though.

Monday, October 30th, I'm going to post an 8 week challenge for those who are up for it. Monday marks 8 weeks until Christmas - a day we'll use to end the challenge. Anyway, I'm going to post a challenge on Monday and ask you to list things that you'd like to change you'd like to make over those 8 weeks and goals you'll set for yourself. Things to keep in mind: 1. Try not to post "I want to lose 10 lbs by Christmas" - we all know this far post-op that it is hard to truly gauge how much weight our bodies will lose and how fast/slow it will go. It would be wiser to chose eating, water, vitamin and fitness goals that might yield weight loss when done consistently over the 8 week period. 2. Try not commit to doing anything every single solitary day during the 8 weeks. Do not set yourself up for failure from the start. We all know that is derned near impossible to do something every day. Illness, problems, work, family and just plain life gets in the way. Setting a goal of "I'm going to get 100 oz of water in and all my vitamins in at least 5 days a week every week" is better than saying you are going to do it 7 days a week. See my point? (I did pay attention at Weigh****chers and other therapy type meetings). 3. Be sure to set yourself some cool reward at the end for a job well done. Whether it is buying yourself something if it is in the budget, a spa treatment, or just going to the library and getting a good book and allowing yourself the free time to doing nothing else but sit and read - go for it! So, Are You Ready to Rummmmmble? Kathy

I had to come out of luke mode because I'm a chinese food lover. I eat it about once of month and usually with no problems. However, I believe the last time I ate Chinese which was last month and include rice, I dump right in the restaurant. I barely made it to the restroom. I was having dinner with co-workers and 1 old co-worker who had wls as well. It was a little embarassing Rochelle 291/160/149 (at goal)