I had my last iron infusion today before surgery!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!! I am up to 13 in my hemaglobin and hopefully after this treatment it will go up further in the next two weeks. I am scared to death though of the pain I know I will deal with. I hope they drug the crap out of me!! LOL!! I am tired of surgery and stuff. I am sure you know how I feel, even more so. It is so hard on your psychy and body and family. I think I will put off the rest of the reconstruction for awhile after this. My hubby doesn't care about the flab and I can wait, so I think I will. Maybe fall I will start looking into the boob job and other stuff. The belly HAS to go though, it interferes with my back and gets in the way of my clothing and all the belly sweat and etc. is gross. I'll be glad to be rid of that baggage. Glad you are doing better, you are my inspiration. You have been through so much in the last two years and you just keep on soldiering your way through. I am glad I have you to talk to about all of this. It is scary stuff that only other people going through it would truly understand. Wendy

PAM not i dont know about this...... (((HUG))) only thing i hear of alot is obstructed bowls and a friend on my NY forum is going in for surgery for that monday! KEEP us posted hugs

Okay, Gang. Here's the deal. I was in the ER on Sunday and admitted for abdominal pain. It was the kind of pain that hit in waves and drew me into the fetal position. All I could do was cry. Even morephine did NOTHING for this pain. It lasted a full 24 hours. While I was there, I had an X-ray, pelvic exam, interal sono, external sono, and an MRI with gastrograph and injected dye. I was told that I had a ruptured ovarian cyst and sent home. The next morning, still in pain and swelling.... now passing loose stools the size of spaghetti (very thin strands) I made an appt to follow up with the doctor. I go in and she says "There's nothing wrong with you - everything is normal" and she hands me a copy of all my tests. The Abdominal CT is on top. It reads "small intussuscepted loop of small bowel." I asked "what does this mean?" She grabs the paper, reads it and dials the hospital...mumbling something about how they said nothing was wrong and then they put this on here....she talks to the hospital. Then she looks at me and says "that's okay, you've had gastric bypass...it's nothing for you to worry about." I'm thinking "my God, she hasn't even read this stuff and she has no idea what she's dealing with" SOOOOO I came home and called my surgeon. I read the report to him and asked "is this okay?" He said "NO it is NOT okay! WHO did that test? I need a copy of that report. You need to come see me." Thing is, he's going out of town, so I can't see him until Monday. He told me if the pain gets bad again or if I stop moving my bowels all together to go to the ER at Fair Oaks and his fill-in will take good care of me. So, I'm planning to see him on Monday with all of my tests in my hand. If it takes a turn for the worst again, I'll go sooner. I'm just curious, does anyone know what a "small intussuscepted loop of small bowel" is? Has anyone had it? What was your experience? Thanks, Pam

Hey Chip!!! I am right there with you on this! I sooooo struggle with this. I find that I go through streaks and then have to get back on it. It is hard as I don't dump easily. I do dump, but not on everything and I can get away with certain amounts. I am back today trying to get back down about 10 more pounds for my tt. I put on about 5-10 up and down every month. Some is water weight, but not all of it is. I seem to be able to be good one day, then rotten the next and good the next etc. I really have a hard time, but after my tt, I don't want to stretch all back out again! And I am not at my goal weight yet either! Good luck to you and glad to hear from you again. Wendy

Hey June Bugs, I've missed you guys terribly. I have to admit I have spent the last few months thinking I'm cured of my obsity problem and did not need support. Boy was I wrong. I'm all of a sudden putting on some weight and need to get it under control NOW. I have gained 10 pounds since September 2006. I haven't been going to the gym on a regular basis since October and pretty much eat what I want when I want. I've gone back to the pouch rules and will make a effort to get back to the gym asap. My goal is to still make it to my original goal of 180lbs. I now have 35lbs to lose. I think I can do that in 6 months. My biggest problem is I'm get hungry about a hour after I eat. I'm especially bad from the time I get home from wor****il Heath gets home (3pm to 5PM). Sometimes I eat when I get home and then eat again when he eats dinner. I've decided on the days I don't have class I will use this time to work out. Heath has agreed to work out with me on his days off and on weekends. I'm feeling very positive. How are all of you doing. I hope you are well. Glad to see many are still posting. I've missed you, Chip