Christie, No problem at all. It is not painful you will not remember it and it will only take about 3 minutes. I was a nervous wreck the first one I had before surgery and it was nothing then I had one 6 months after surgery and again nothing yes your throat may get a little sore ,but nothing bad just like you had a bad night of snoring. They give you a drug to put you in nowhere land but not asleep . One minute your talking next minute you are done and ready to go home. Put yourself at ease it will be okay. I totally understand though because I was nervous that first time. Take care and let us know how you are. Brenda

Hi All, I am coming up out of lurker mode to tell you what's been going on with me since my last post. As far as my health- Well...I have some GREAT news and some not so GREAT news... I went to see Dr. Steinberg on 9/9 and he has decided I DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE SURGERY!!! I have learned how to manage the pain, and so, we are gonna work with that for now. I am slowly introducing new items to my diet, and I am making it so far. The Bad news is simply that the pain is still there. The fear to eat is constant, but you know, I just take each day at a time, and will move forward on that premise. We have a that I will do what I can to stay focused, and will work harder to get those things down that will get the remaining weight off. I feel better then I have in months, and this itself is a blessing! I am still t-minus 97 lbs and counting. I have updated my picture on OH as well as my picture trail photo log. My first 6 months in on the www associated with my profile. My new link is: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=7057172&uid=2720669&members=1 On a personal note, truely apologize for my absence. As you all know I many hats...and this is my time of year.. My Girl Scout troop and I have adopted several displaced families here in the ATL. FOr the past month we have been working gathering clothing,furniture, and basic household goods and donating items to those families. I have received ALOT of support and from family, friends and my WLS support group here locally. We were in need of plus sized clothing, and my local group gave generously. I have to tell you it has been an awesome experience so far- When you are working with real folks, it makes it more tangible. It also gives the girls a reality check and a lesson in community service and what their hard work does. In a world that at times seems so cruel at times, I have to say that the generosity we received amazes me. I wish I could reach out and give everyone a big Hug and I have a phooto journal of our efforts: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view PASSCODE: 2060 I do hear of your accomlishments with folks who frequent on BAF on the regular... Congrats to all of you who are doing your thing! I just wanted you all to know that yes, I am still alive, and yes, I still care about you all and am thinking of you! Take Care and Much Denise

Thanks for replying, Kristy. I had my surgery locally, but my comments here on my profile page about something that happened with my surgeon and his assistant cost me my post-op care. When his office read what I had written, he refused to see me anymore and had security remove me from the hospital. Around here, no other surgeon will see me for follow up care since they didn't do my surgery. If you want more details about what happened, it's all in my profile page. So, needless to say, I am without a bariatric surgeon. As for the weight loss, I have been told a few times that my body will know when to stop, but in all honesty, that's not always the case. There have been people who have dropped so low that they've had to be hospitalized, ended up with malnutrition, etc. I don't want to drop so much that I look sick and weak. It really is a scary feeling. Thanks again for replying!

Hi all I dont no if anyone remember me well I have not posted in a long time but I have read these many post over the year I c0me in hear late at night just reading I was wondering what do you eat I still have not had bread and stay away from sugar I am not big on meat I am addicited to cheese nips and going to cut them out I love diet ice tea and salad do you count calories and watch what you eat what do you eat

Relax...your body will know when to stop. Personally I would love to get a bit smaller...I'm hovering around 137-140 and would really like to get to 130. I guess I could work at it harder but I'm ok with where I am now. Anyway...don't fret about the continued weight loss. As for you blood work...I'm suprised you don't have a surgeon in your area that you could go to for follow up care. Where did you have surgery? Anyway...the labwork that my surgeon usually does is B12 level, Thymine (B1) level, Methylmalonic (sp) acid, HBA1C, Hepatic (liver) function, Iron & Calcium. There may be more but I can't think of what they are off of the top of my head. Good luck! Kristy 254/140/140 (today that is...tomorrow will probably be different)