Bill - This is great news! I will continue to keep her in my prayers. Tell her we're rooting for her! Dina

Thought this would be a good thread to start to get everyone talking about where they are at now. Since we aren't exactly burning up this board, maybe it would be a good place to go back to! For myself, I am down about 58 lbs. It's slow, but it's coming off. I am sure I'll see 60 by my 4 month anniversary date, but boy I wi**** were more. Still I can't complain - I feel a lot better and as I was sitting watching the fireworks last night I realized I no longer had a gut in front of me and I was a heck of a lot less self-conscious about sitting in front of people. Still not without my sense of discomfort completely, but much much better. I know based on my body type I should have a fairly flat tum sitting or standing within the next 20-40 lbs. I am by no means going to be ready for a belly ring and low rise jeans but I will not see any remainders of rolls except for my sagging skin that will be gone with the future tummy tuck! I did update my picture last month and will do another here in a couple weeks for another morph picture (see at the top of my profile). I see a lot more dramatic difference now than in the last picture even though it's less than 10 lbs difference. Funny how that works, huh? As for me and work - well, lots and lots of overtime against my will (should make an acronym for that since it's my normal mode: OAMW!!!) But thankfully I did have last night off for vacation. Woohoo - I got to go to the fireworks! That's the main thing for me. I love the picnics and all but never have gotten to go since I've been here in this area. We had a good BBQ yesterday but wasn't feeling too swift after my Hebrew National dog. I don't eat a lot of fat usually (since the surgery) so I never noticed if it bothered me before, but I think it does. I need to find the 97% fat free or whatever they are of the Hebrew National. I love those dogs! Well, stick a fork in me....I'm done! I'll try to check in here more often. I am just so doggone out of the loop lately! Dina

Bill - I guess I was wrong about what I saw in the post title - I'm sorry she was found to have another leak. That is just awful. I am so glad she is sitting up and eating now. That is just a wonderful sign! I have been following the situation of a fellow on my March board who got a leak and is still in the hospital. He is pulling through and going to be fine, but he did the same thing - leaked and then leaked again. But he wasn't able to do as your wife is doing and sit up. Perhaps he didn't get seen as quickly. Either way, she is ahead of him in the game already, so I have high hopes for her moving on quickly. I will keep her in my prayers and look here for your next update. Dina

Hi Bill, I am sorry to hear that things have been so rough for her, and for you too. I certainly hope that she will continue to improve. You are still in my prayers. Pam

Hope I'm not too late ... I have always been a late bloomer! 1) Where do you work? Collier County S.O. - Naples, FL aka Blue Hair Ville in the winter 2) How long have you been a dispatcher? 9 years in Sept - but some times it feels like 100 and others 2 days 3) Do you dispatch for everything (fire, police, ems) or do you specialize in one certain area? Yes, dispatch - fire, EMS, sheriff's deputies, and Marco Island Police Officers ... which drags, small town with lots of old rich people, so it's "quiet" (I probably just jinxed it, you know you can't say the 'Q' word or 'S' word in dispatch!) 4) What do you love the most about being a dispatcher? Everything, it's my 'true calling'. I love getting my bootie kicked on a busy radio, running teletype, having no time to think - and then walking away and saying, "Dang, that was fun! I want to do it again, but this time I want a vehicle pursuit that turns into a foot pursuit!" 5) What do you dislike the most about being a dispatcher? Not getting the "pat on the backs" that we soooo deserve. Not only from the civilians, but from the deputies, fire fighters, paramedics, and especially each other. 6) Do you get paid what you are worth? I know I'm worth a lot more than what I make, but down here in the "South" we are paid V-E-R-Y well. I'm a Senior Dispatcher and I make more money that the majority of the supervisors .. No, I'm not a supervisor, that's another story. 7) What shift do you like working? And what shift are you on? I started out on Midnights (2300-0700) went to Eves (1500-2300 and then 1700-0300 and then 1700-0500) was on Days for a couple of years (0700-1900) and now back on Mids (1900-0700 3 days and 1700-2300 1 day) I will never work during the day light hours again! 8) What was your most harrowing call? 4 years ago in May, we rec'd a px call from an ex-leo who adv one of our ex-lt's (who was fired for drugs - nice guy) called him and said he had shot and killed his wife and one of our deps. That was at like 2100 hrs, we were racking our brains trying to figure out who the vict was - I took a brake, went back into the room & on the CAD there was one of our Sgt's personal screens .. I looked at his name "Jeff Kline" and chills went down my back - my "intuition" took over & I knew something bad was going to happen. After a lot of research, and several B.O.L.O.'s sent through the state to look for the ex-lt - I was monitoring the radio when one of our Sgt's ran a tag ... it came back to Jeff ... and what seemed like 20 mins (which was only 2 mins) they advised, "Naples, signal seven times two." I stood up, looked at my friend and you could feel the emotion in the room (I had the radio turned up and everyone heard) - Then I found myself sitting at the teletyp counsel sending an ATC to Jeff's mother ... it was horrible. We lost a great Sgt, a strong cop, and a wonderful man! I will NEVER forget that night, I lost a friend (he worked part-time with us in dispatch) but I gained a family - everyone working that night "bonded" and I realized we have to be there for each other because we're really the only ones who knows exactly what it's like. 9) Can you remember one of your funniest calls? 9 years ... funny calls - too many to put on here. Funniest radio traffic? I was training, and my trainee had control of the mic - he called home to let his girlfriend know he was staying late. He picked up the phone, dialed the number and when the answering machine picked up, he keyed up the mic and said "Hey Honey, I just wanted to let you know I'm working late tonight." when he un-keyed the mike, a deputy keyed up and said, "Uh, 10-04 Naples!" it was great! 10) Have you ever talked to anyone famous in the course of your job? Care to elaborate? Not that I know of, but recently our agency did cover the President when he visited SW FL. 11) Relating to diet: What is the hardest thing you have or think you will encounter regarding having the wls when back at work? Ordering out and our "Pot Luck" dinners ... we bring food for any occassion .. it's always around - but now, I make it, bring it in .. and eat salad - I'm over the desire to chew .. I just don't like doing it any more. 12) What is the favorite junk food in your comm center? Anything and everything in the snack machines .. we have 3! 1 for frozen stuff **** cream, microwave dinners, etc.) 1 for chocolates, popcorn, and chips & 1 with bagels, lunchables, chocolate milk, and those nasty hamburgers. 13) Are you a water drinker at work, or do you tank up on coffee or soda? Soda, soda, soda .. except during Lent - then it's tea or water. Coffee is my favorite to drink between 0200 - 0500 hours, it helps 'ease' the pain of the dragging mornings. 14) Do you find yourself distrusting of other people...being in work mode? Or do you think you haveh a pretty normal perception of others? I'm one of those people that tries to find the good in everyone - no matter how many times I'm proven wrong .. I would make a terrible deputy! 15) Do you like to watch Cops on TV or any of the other emergency reality programs? I did like for a minute ... now Nextels even bother me. 16) Do you like the other reality shows (i.e. Survivor, etc)? If so, why? Not really, since the surgery I don'****ch T.V. very much .. I've realized there's more to life than Sex & The City. 17) Do your co-workers know you had or are going to have wls? 1 of my closest friends had wls about 1 1/2 B4 I did - I saw her progress and followed in her footsteps! Everyone knew I was having the surgery - a secret in our dispatch center is like pigs flying .. it doesn't happen. One of the neat things is - My I.D. still has my "old" picture, and when our new dispatchers see it they freak out "Holy S*** I can't believe that was you!" 18) Are the people in your life (co-workers, family, friends) supportive of your choice for wls? At first, my family questioned my decision, but I took my Mother & Sister to a meeting and from that point they backed me up 110% - I have great support around me! 19) Do you have a pretty informal comm center, or is everything kept very professional? Pretty informal, I work Mids - we can joke around and laugh ... when I worked Days I was miserable - there was too much "Brass" walking around and I'm the type of person who likes to talk (a lot at times!) and with everyone working in the building I had to watch my P's and Q's too often. 20) What is your strongest ability? Everything?!?!? Just kidding, I think I'm a very good multi-tasker (is that even a word???) some times I swear six arms come out of my body!