Joe, I'm so sorry you're going through this stuff, especially when you were looking for a fresh start! That being said, I feel strongly that back to Oregon is where you need to go, do you really want someone not familiar with your case (i.e. no vested interest) to start working on you especially when he can't guarantee laparascopic? GREAT job on the 170's, I'm so proud of how far you've come in your journey. Be well and keep us posted please. ANDI

Well, This is a long story and I"ll try to make it short. about two weeks I started having pain in my lower belly. a dull ache mostly, but it seemed to get worse with food. by the following monday, I went to the emergency room where they did a CT with contrast, couldn't find anything wrong with me, and sent me home. said go see a dr in a few days. i did that. he said, hmm, I can't see what's wrong with you, let's have you see a gastroenterologist. i should say at this point that a month ago we moved to Montana from Oregon, so I'm 700 miles from my surgeon's office, and 100 miles from the closest bariatric surgery center. so I went home, tried to find things to eat that didn't cause the pain, and waited to see the gastro guy. well, this last Tuesday night, I went into a period of pain unlike any I've ever experienced, stomach pain, some into my middle back. I was going to have my wife drive me to the hospital, 20 miles away, and we reconsidered and called the ambulance. I was admitted to the hospital, where I started to feel better. Just like when you take your car to the mechanic. Wednesday and Thursday I had the following tests: ultrasound of belly and gall bladder, HIdaScan (nuclear) test of my gall bladder, and then a whole small bowel study. Lots of bad things were ruled out. yea. but still, the dr said, hmm, not sure what's wrong with you. he called my surgeon's office in oregon, and they said AHA, we know what's wrong with that guy. he's about 16 months out from surgery, he's lost 152 lbs, we think he's got an intermittent internal hernia. we can fix that laparoscopically. so they sent me home thursday night, said go back to a stage 1 diet, and get hooked up with a surgeon. i seem to be fine as long as i'm on this liquid puree diet. The silver lining is that I've gone from 194 to 178 in the last 6 weeks. I NEVER thought I'd see the 170's again in my life. So I guess I'm just sharing all this to see if it sounds familiar to anyone out there, and if you have any thoughts. I just can't believe I'm gonna have to pack up and get to Oregon to have them look in my gut, find what's wrong, and then get back here. I could possibly do this in Missoula, which is 2 hrs away, but that surgeon is less experienced and can't guarantee he won't open me up. this is all just incredibly frustrating and more than a bit of a worry. I just started a new job here in Montana, and this is sure putting a crimp in getting off to a good start. THANKS for listening! Joe

Just adding yoghurt & raspberries: Cals: 140 Protein: 10 So totals for day: Cals: 1064 Protein: 43 Still too low on both counts - will do better tomorrow!

B - slice of toast with peanut butter S - 2 cookies (40 cals each) L - bbq chicken wings & small salad, latte coffee (restaurant) S - 120 cal pack chips S - 120 cal fruit bar D - topping from 1 slice pizza (wish I hadn't had that - left over night, but ughhh, it isnt' sitting in my pouch too well.) Not too good on the snacks, but better than I have been! It's all relative I supose. Because I'm lazy, anyone have an idea of how many calories in the above?

Hey Holly Tracing the feet is a GREAT stress buster idea Shame we can't actually do it!! How long have you been a foster parent? We were foster parents while we lived in America. I really miss it - the system is very different here and 'difficult', so we haven't been able to foster We are hoping one day to return to America to foster again - not for a few years yet tho'.