Prayers are on the way,I will be thinking of you all,Marcia

Hi Susan WOW have you had a lot to deal with this past year. YOU are a rock and an inspiration. I'm sending prayers to you and your daughter for a safe trip and successful outcome of her surgery!! Hugs and prayers to you!! Penny

Hey Pix, It is hard for me to get on the computer at work so here I am. I am getting ready to go to the Orlando OH convention. Can't wait to meet the other Florida people that I talk to. Andrea from this board is going with me so I can't wait to see her. I also won a makeover and will be on tv in about 5 weeks. I have been also busy with planning my 20 yr high school reunion. I have contacted some of my old friends and they say I look better than i did back then. I was a size 11 juniors back than. Now I am a size 12 but with muscle tone.......lol. My face also looks thinner. Well I have been busy with work, the kids in summer camp, my reunion and my brother and his wife are expecting their first baby!!!! Shower is next month. Now you guys are caught up! Talk to you guys really soon! Thanks Pix for keeping us on our toes. Hugs, Christine 307/170/150

Hey Donna, I agree with Susan. Exercise is vital to loosing and keeping the weight off. Before the surgery I dieted but no exercise. So what happens is you stop dieting and the weight comes back on double becuase you have no muscle to matabolize the fat. I do see a personal trainer 2 times a week to at least get in weight training. He gets on me all the time because I do not do enough cardio. I know how you feel because I have been stuck at 170 for a month and desperately I want to get into the 160's.......lol. My surgeon said to decrease calories by 150 a day and increase cardio by 15 minutes each time and the weight should come off. Hope this helps! Huts, Christine 307/170/150

Well, the time has rolled around. My six-year old has scoliosis that has progressed despite bracing and vertebral stapling. We're headed to Philadelphia Shriner's Hospital next weekend so that she can have "growing rods" put along her spine. The operation involves making a long incision from her neck to her tailbone and placing clips along each vertebrae, then running the rods through the clips to straighten out the curve as much as possible. She has a pretty rotated spine, too, so they will have to un-twist her at the same time. She's having surgery Monday the 20th at 8 am. She had a previous surgery at the same hospital a year and a half ago, with three major incisions and requiring the surgeon to collapse each of her lungs in turn, which led to breathing complications afterwards. This time, she's 6, they won't have to collapse her lungs, and hopefully her little veins won't collapse with the IVs. Naturally I'm anxious and stressed out, but I keep trying to tell myself that this surgery will improve her life, much like mine improved my life. Her curve has shrunk the capacity of one lung to virtually nil, and with her straightened up, she will breathe better. Her heart will have more room. She will be cosmetically better off. One of the sort of bright spots is that when I packed for the last surgery, it was January and I was a size 22. This time it's June and I'm a size 10. I need less than half the suitcase space I did before!! I know I'll be able to sleep in that stupid converting chair better this time (I didn't fit all that well before), and I won't be red-faced and sweaty all the time! Please send up your prayers, meditations, good thoughts, crossed fingers, or whatever you can offer for a safe surgery and a quick recovery. I'll post when we get back to town-we're supposed to be back late on the 28th June. Hugs, Susan