Hi ML! Happy rebirthday to you too! How are you doing with your weight loss? Hope you'll continue to check in here. Hugs, Nancy

Hi Linda, and everyone! Wow, hard to believe three years have passed! Even with my ups and downs, I still stand in awe of how blessed I am to have been able to have had this surgery. I'm healtiher than I've been in a long, long time - not only physically, but emotionally as well. Even with those crappy things life has thrown at me, I'm happy for the most part. A few months ago, I was kind of alarmed that I had gotten up to 184 lbs, so I made a concerted effort to be more careful of what I was eating (kind of followed the Weigh****chers point system) and got my a$$ in gear and started walking. Well, I'm down to 172 (even lost a pound on vacation ). Twelve pounds in about 10 weeks. I'm doing 2 three-mile walks a day. I have also dropped a size in clothing. I'm not paying all that much attention to the scale - I'm using it more as a monitor to keep myself in check, but I can feel the difference in inches lost, and other people are noticing too (I got called "Miss Skinny" at the grocery store today ) I missed noting my anniversary here because I was away in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia for a couple of weeks with my dad. We had a grand time! Again, there were times I stopped and thanked God for the blessings this surgery has afforded me. I was so miserable when I was obese. I wish I could get a tummy tuck at the very least, but I just can't afford it at this time. I'd love to get a breast lift too, but I guess if it's meant to be, it will be somewhere down the road. Linda, please keep us posted about your upcoming plastics....even with the $$ issue, I'm starting to gather info. I hope we can all make an effort to check in here. I love the people on this board, and as we really move into the maintenance phase of our post-surgery lives, we will need more and more support. Hugs and happy 3 year anniversary to all!! Nancy

I hope that bad stuff gets sorted out (I had to read quite a bit of your profile before I figured out what was going on). I'm sorry that things have been a little upside-down for you. You'll have to keep us posted on the plastics, I like reading about others' experiences. If I ever reach that point, I'll know what's coming. Take care! Pamela

Well, we bought the camper. My mom lent us the money at a lower interest rate yet a higher interest rate for her money market account, so we all come out ahead in the deal. There's more places to put stuff than we have stuff to put places. Also, because it's brand new, the factory glues and chemicals are really strong when it's closed up. We're leaving on the 23rd for a week, and I can't wait to see how this goes. I saw Harry Potter 5 yesterday. I think it's my new favorite. It has the artsy feel that 3 had, great music, and as it's my favorite book in the series, it has an awesome story line. They changed a few of the minor details and left out a lot of big things, and they missed out on some really funny moments...so I kind of missed that. Still, I thought it was great. All of my update for now...

Hey Stacikins! I'm glad you're doing well. I didn't go to support groups for long, I found we never really accomplished much and really didn't discuss anything worthwhile. I have the best support system with my hubby, kids and few friends...also OH and Quix. My hubby had his surgery in February too and he's doing really well, over 130 Lbs lost! I did sit in for his information session and people seemed to enjoy that, they could see the change the surgery can make and asked me some questions. I'm tempted to ask the surgical nurse if I could step in as speaker, instead of the broad they have...she did it as far back as mine, and she's nothing but a preacher....doesn't really help people and is a REALLY bad presenter. I'm going to try to pop in more often. I miss this group. Great folks here. Linda