16th MONTH ANNIVERSARY AND GOAL!!

Hi Carla! It's good to hear from another fellow June bug! I hope your journey toward your goal is wonderful as mine is now. Life is so different now; so much better. I appreciate your support and thoughtfulness in writing your response! I will need everyone's support during my plastic surgery journey as well. Thanks for posting! Lucy

Lucy, you are such an inspiration and a tremendous success!!! I'm so glad you wrote as much as you did - I was so overjoyed for you reading it that it brought tears to my eyes and filled my heart with bursting joy for you! I so believe in the will of God... I so believe he is behind blessings of every kind... and I so believe that he has sooooooo much more in store for you. Girl, I feel it all the way down in my bones!! It just gives me the *shimmies* - not only has he been preparing you...but also that perfect help mate for you. I believe it with all my heart and soul. You are always here for us and we will always be here for you - good times and bad times. That's what friends are for! Although, I feel so much more like I'm with family here. Great BIG ((((HUG)))) Pam

Pam, it's good to see you here on the board. I hope your pain from the last dentist's visit is over and resolved. I had many dental appointments that were painful. Once I had a root canal that was so painful because I had an infected root. When he attempted to fill the root, I jumped up from the chair because of the intense shooting pain. It took some time for that area to feel better. You know that we think that losing weight will solve all of our problems or fulfill our hopes and dreams. I have such a hard time with the fact that now that I'm of acceptable weight that I can't find my mate and there are others in the world who had their mate even when they were SMO. I even made an attempt to go and find mine. I don't expect him to walk up to my door and say here I am. I do get a lot of attention from men at work as well as in public. But again nothing. I just don't understand it. Maybe I'm too anxious for a relationship. Maybe it's not the right time. Now that I'm so close to having my plastic surgery, it's probably not the right time to start a relationship. The whole sick experience and hospitalization is not condusive to build a relationship. This is the place where I can share my feelings, thoughts and experiences without prejudice or backstabbing. That is what family is all about. I feel like I can be open and honest here. We understand what it is like and what it was like to walk in each other shoes. We've been there and are there now too. Pam, I thank God for bringing us here together. It means the world to me. Thanks for your supportive words of wisdom. Hugs, Lucy

Oh Lucy, that night (thurs) after my dental appt was just awful. I'm so ashamed of how I treated my family that night. The tylenol w/codiene didn't work at all - so the full brunt of the pain was upon me. I screamed at everyone to find some percocet - I just knew we had some leftover in this house somewhere - everyone kept asking me questions and making me talk - which just made me yell more.... to the point that they all ditched me. Literally. I was so crazed with pain that I just started scooping dishes out of the cabinets all over the counters, the sink the floor, (breaking them) in a desperate attempt to find that percocet. I found it... and valium. I took both. Nothing worked until around 5 the next morning when I finally went to bed - to discover that my hubby actually locked the bedroom door on me!!! OMG I was really that horrible. I don't know why they didn't call the paddy wagon & white coats to come pick me up. I don't remember if I explained all that happened at the dentist that day - but it was supposed to be a root canal. Then he ended up having to pull it. I thought no biggie - I've had widsom teeth out, 5 children, gastric bypass, ps...walk in the park. I was numb on that whole side. It was all good. Well, that darned thing did NOT want to come out! The more he tugged at it, the more the other side of my jaw hurt. I raised my hand, I moaned, I pointed, over and over again... Like HELLO!!! PAIN!! I threw my legs up in the air - my purse and water bottle flew across the room. I had my knees almost up to my chest digging my heels in. I gave all the universal signs for pain that i possibly could! Finally, it came out with a big bang of pain on the other side. He told me to bite down on the gauze and i couldn't. I have a double jointed jaw so sometimes it locks up on me in the dentist office - but I can always work it back into place. This time i couldn't. The top of my jaw bone (where it is jointed) was under the corner of my eye - waaayyyyy out of place. By this time I was white as a sheet and shaking like crazy and crying. He said "It's okay, just lay back and trust me. Your jaw is dislocated and you need to relax and let me pop it back in place." HA! There's no "just pop it back in place" It was shove, tug, shove tug and OUCH!!!! Then he tells me i have to open my mouth back up for stitches. All I could think was "I'm done. I'm just done" I drove myself there and I was so messed up shaking and crying that they didn't want me to drive - but I wasn't staying in that place for one more second. I can't even tell you how nervous I am about getting the stitches taken out on thursday You know, on the subject of finding that special someone.... it's just unexplainable how it works the way it does for some...and so very differently for others. I had a friend years ago (she moved away and we lost touch) who was just the greatest most fun person ever to hang out with and talk to. She was single and looking. I could see from the outside looking in that she actually intimidated men because she made it VERY clear that she was looking for a relationship right from the get-go. I have no idea WHY this scares so many men - especially since most of them are looking for the same thing. Anyway, I suggested to her that she treat every man she meets like a new girlfriend that she hangs with instead of a potential mate - just as an expirament. Funny thing happened. She ended up having several men expressing their desire to up the relationship! She actually had a hard time figuring out which guy she wanted to take the chance with! Makes me wonder if it's just the way men are programmed - you know, to be the hunter, the suitor, whatever... ya know? I'm thinking it will happen after your ps. Your self-confidence is going to go up. I recently had someone at work (a man) tell me that I was "Quiet and confident - and that was powerful!" The way he said it made me blush! hee hee that was cool! but food for thought, eh? You are a wonderful person. I will keep you in my prayers - you have a lot coming up! Hugs, Pam

Good morning Pam! Your post about your dental experiences brought shivers up my spine! YIKES and OUCH!! I could see myself going through cabinets throwing things about, trying to find the pain pills. I think that's normal and understandable when you are in such agonizing pain. I, too had a root canal that was too difficult, my dentist had such a hard time, I had to go to a specialist to have it completed. The relationhip thing with this one guy hurt a lot because he was looking for someone to share the rest of his life. He wasn't just looking for someone to date and only have fun with. On eHarmony they screen everyone and ask a lot of questions and then match you up based on those questions. One of them is about if you want someone just to date or looking for a serious relationship. That's why it hurts so much! I think that it's better that I wait until my first round of plastics is over. I don't want to get hurt again in that way. A couple more months one way or another isn't going to make a difference. Thanks for sharing so much with me. I feel very close to you Pam. Hugs, Lucy

Words can not adequately express how very happy I am for you.!! This journey is long and you have put forth such a great effort. You certainly deserve all the best that life has to offer. Like others have stated...you are a wonderful person. Your kindness and sweetness are reflected in your posts. I am a bit jealous but fully understand than when I give 100% I get 100%! That is the way this works! Your posts ALWAYS encourage me to try again. You set a wonderful example Lucy! With respect and love, DIane

Hi Diane! OMG, I needed your words of wisdom and support. I am struggling this past week with the foods I'm eating. It's something that I have to work out for myself. My problem is that I want to eat more in terms of quantity. My pouch is more accepting and that scares the heck out of me. I'm trying to shrink it back slowly. Sometimes the ones who are going great, fall down as well. I know that this is something that I will tackle head on. Thanks for your support, words of encouragement and well wishes. I respect you and everyone else here on the June board. Hugs and Love, Lucy

Lucy you have so inspired me to get my butt in gear. I have had my share of issues includeing 6 months of no weight loss. But i think at the end of the day you are proof that this works as well as you work it. Coming from the numbers you had and seeing what you could achieve i know i can achieve it too. thanks for being here and sharing this. Congrats Monica 418/277/???

Hi Monica! Thanks for your response and congratulations. I've been at this weight loss journey for most of my life, always a failure! To see some control over it, is a miracle. I thank God for my surgeon and tool. I realize that it is me who has to make the lifestyle changes. No one can do it for me. I'm always going to have the disease, but I will have control over it. I will not let myself regain a lot of weight. I will be watching my weight like a hawk. I never want to go back to my previous lifestyle. The only way I can achieve that is by being vigilant with watching the scale. If I could do this, YOU definitely can. We are all in this together as family! Hugs, Lucy