I haven't seen my brother since early May 2006. He works horrendous hours so it does bother us that we can't see each other much. We took my grandfather up there for dinner tonight. For the first time in almost a year, me, my family, my poppop, my parents and my brother and his family were together. Steve found out I had surgery when he called on my birthday, which happened to be the day after I got home from the hospital. He never told me he was concerned but he did confide in my mom. So, it was kind of fun to see them tonight. Now, we're not a huggy/kissy bunch. I walked in after Britt and he said "WOW". My brother is a big guy but very soft-spoken and a man of few words. We went into the living room to catch up and, for the first time since we were toddlers, he hugged me and told me I looked beautiful. I wanted to cry. I have no clue how many times tonight he hugged me, told me he was proud and told me I was beautiful. He promised we'd get together more often. He's trying to get his hours cut back a bit. We bought our house in March 2002 and he hasn't been here yet. He's dying to see the changes we've made to the house. Thankfully, it's his old bedroom (my office) that I'm remodeling this winter. LOL I hope he likes it. I promised him the walls wouldn't be pink. LOL My scale finally moved this morning and I'm about 3.5 lbs from surgeon's goal. I'm thrilled about that. But, hearing my brother compliment me and tell me he's so proud of me proved to me that having my RNY was the most brilliant thing I've ever done. I can't wait to hit goal because my baby brother is going to be the first one I'll tell! * Cyndi *

CONGRATS!!!!!

Hi everyone, Highest Weight: 347 Surgery Weight: 300 December Weight: 215 This morning: 216 (I gained, but I enjoyed the holiday food without guilt...and without excess....REALLY) Total pounds lost: 131 pounds I was off the computer for most of December as we spent the Christmas break on Florida. It was so nice this year as we had many days in the middle 80's this time. I did not go hog wild, but I did enjoy what I wanted in moderation. It did catch up with me since I gained a pound. I'm back on track again over the past few days. I did celebrate my wedding anniversary by going out to a fancy seafood spread. I was amazed at what I could eat. I ate slowly and tried a bit of this and a bit of that. It was one night and when it was over I was not feeling guilty at all for eating. I really enjoyed the crab legs and had plenty of time to get the meat out of there. Pre-op I was too impatient to spend the time cracking all of those legs and would move on to other things so I could get in the volume. I really enjoyed the quality. It is so good to be back on track. I want to get to goal so now it is time to really work the tool. It gets easy since you start feeling so much better and most people think that I'm at goal anyway. I still want to drop 35 more pounds and most just gasp when I say that, so I guess the best thing to do is to keep working at it quietly. While I want to lose 35 pounds, I want to gain 5-10 of it back and use that as my cushion. When the dust settles at the end of the year, I'd be happy to be 185 or 190 pounds. I'm back exercising this morning. I even dusted off the treadmill. I'm already anxious for the weather to get warmer in March so I can do my early-morning walks. Keep up the great work everyone. John

Hi Donna, It's good to see your beautiful face on OH. Glad you are doing better. You are in my prayers for a quick recovery. Take care, Hugs, Esther

no, actually I had a total hysterectomy and had my bladder lifted at the same time. a bit mroe painful then I thought it would be LOL! But just taking it easy. I came home Sat and then have just been taking it easy. My husband is off for a few days dealing with the kids and stuff. The hardest part is they do not want me doing anything for 6 weeks. That is a long time. Donna