(((((Group Hug))))) and Thanks!

Hi Gang! I know with both Molly and I being gone right now that a lot of the posts are slower.. please dont let the board get complacent. Let's keep the support alive. I lurk and don't post often as my time is sooo limited lately. But I love you guys and never want the support here to die! Molly, hope things are better.. I am sure it wasn't the easiest of holidays for you with your Aunt passing. We are thinking of you.. Erin, I am sure you are working tons of hours and going nuts like that... excited about plastics though, how great! Shawn, how are you feeling? how's that baby doing? I hope you are doing well.. Beatrice and Maghan, how are you healing? I am so happy you had your plastics! Angela, don't hear much from you anymore? Hope things are well, I know life takes hold (has for me too!) Steve, also don't hear from much, hope you are well! Melissa (mini me) - how are you? Looks like you had a nice drop recently on the scale, good for you! Diana, glad to hear you were able to participate with your son's swim meats and see him place so high, how fun for you! Hang in there with the scale, you are doing terrific and it will be in your favor soon! Heather - how is TTC going? How are things otherwise? Terisa - How are ya? Good of you to be our december mom's coach, she really needed you and I am sure she was so happy you there with her. You are such a great support on this board.. even in person. We are blessed to have you here! Dawn - I know you are a busy girl, I am so glad your husband has gotten interested in the gym.. how are things going? Ro - you have done terrifically as well, you keep up on all the other boards and always reference us to important information, you are never afraid to share your knowledge with us, way to go! Amy - how's it going, you aren't as active on here lately but I know how BUSY life gets.. I hope you are doing well, you also look terrific! Natalie - down to 116 lbs.. 1 lb from goal.. uh you are my hero! WAY TO GO!!!! Cordelia - I know you stop in when you can. You brought forth the issue of emotional eating a while back, and we all have agreed this is a hard thing for us. Thank you for always keeping it real. Hope you are doing well. You look terrific and are quite a role model. Kelly - also don't hear from you much, you had gotten off track then back on again and was doing very well.. are you still with us and hanging in there? Don't lurk, be sure to post when you can (am I calling the kettle black by saying don't lurk?) ha.. hang in there sweetie.. we miss you! Sabrina - I know you have had some trying times the past few months, how are you holding up? keep us posted! The other Megan - the one we haven't heard from in a long while.. hope she is well.. we miss you here! Brat Girl - sorry can't remember your REAL name? eek (embarassed) how are you doing? I hope the scale is being friendly, hang in there and keep up the good work! There are a few others of you.. Donna, Tara, Marsha, Kathi, and karen and few others I am SURE I have missed and do apologize, but wanted to say be sure you keep posting, this is a great board here for support! Thanks to all of you for all you do! I am here, really I am, I hope (as always) to get more active.. life is just so hectic.. I will try harder if you all promise to keep the faith, keep motivated and keep posting!!! Hugs and talk to ya soon! I am presenting at SG tonight.. I will try to get someone to take a picture Talk to you all later! Bye for now (((((hugs)))) Corrin - you look terrific, how was the SF cheesecake? did you make it?

Hi Melissa! How sweet of you to take such time to address everyone personally. Thank you for your kind words. I am honestly not even lurking that much lately. I am busy yes, but more so I am not feeling well lately. For the last 3 weeks I have absolutely no energy, I am very weak, lightheaded all the time, shaky (I am so sick of shaking) and just the feeling that something is not right at all. By the time I get home from work I can barely stay awake, but the bad part is I cannot sleep either. I have no appetite either, but I still eat because I know I have to. It feels like my heart is racing sometimes and my bp is in the gutter. It has gotten worse each week. I was so lethargic by the end of last week I knew I had to call the doctor. People would take to me and I was not even there. I get in my vitamins, plenty of water, protein, and yes I eat enough, plenty actually. I keep trying to think of what I might be doing wrong, but I cannot come up with anything. I go to see my PCP on Friday. I am sure I will not know anything by then because I am sure she will want to run lots of blood tests. Now I am also trying to study to take my finals and my mind is not even working lately. About you..your avatar is wonderful. You look very beautiful!! What is SG???? {{{{{{HUGZ}}}}}} Terisa

I am so sorry to hear you aren't feeling well Terisa I am so glad you are seeing your doctor on Friday, sounds to me that something is off lab wise for you. I agree with you lots of blood tests are in order for you I am sure. I can imagine the stress of kids and finals when not feeling well is really rough.. I hope the doc finds something you can easily treat/correct with some dietary or supplement modification. Thanks for the compliments on my avie.. I try to change it once in a while. SG = support group. There are some photos of me presenting on Monday night on my profile if you wanna check it out Keep me posted, I am worried about you.. the nurse on the board, I have to be. Hugs, love you! Melissa

Oh my goodness Melissa, your memory is so great..... I am also a luker, love to come here and read all the post but not much posting from my side. As a matter of fact, I was thinking about it this morning, wondering what has happened to all the dec babies....maybe we are so busy with our new lives that do not have much to post anymore....I sure hope that is not the case. I think the problem is that since you and Molly are the leaders, then, things get a little slow over here when you two do not post....we need you two to keep this board going. Besides the fact that I have to wear this "binder" for the next two months I am doing great after my surgery. Wound has healed pretty nice, I started using mederma on it hoping to minimize the scaring since I tend to heal keloid. I can not believe how nice I look, the Doc did a great job and now I have a very nice flat stomach with a pretty belly buttom. The other day I bought a bikini and when I tried it at home I could not believe myself....it looks nice but I sure need a boob job or a a top with a better support b/c my girls were all over....it went back to the store and when the doc allows me to go sunbathing I will buy a better fitting one because I can not wait to go to the beach and show my new body......(i can't believe I am the one typing those words) How was your support group presentation?

I think you are right.. we all have lives now on the december board and that is fantastic yet I don't want to lose sight of you girls (or steve!) b/c you are a big part of my heart, truly.. I would be lost without all the love and unconditional support. I could be having the worst time and I feel I can come here and share that with all of you.. thats so important to me not to be judged and just feel loved and cared for.. all of you give me that here.. from the bottom of my heart I *SO* appreciate that! I will do a better job of posting, I need to. I honestly don't care to post on other board but I do care about this one A LOT so I will be making a better effort. Wow binder for two months, that is a long time. I am glad to hear you are healing nicely though. Mederma is good stuff, I used it on my own scars not so sure it really helps as it is the moisture that provides the tissue to become more supple and less rigid so it heals smoother, either way, can't hurt and only help. You do look terrific. I think because of your success, angelas and megans I am gonna go make a consult. Even though I haven't had kids my friend brought up a good point. If you wait 2-5 years after having kids to apply for plastics they will think you are full of baloney as far as paying for it.. that if it was truly needed you woulda had it done after surgery within the first 2 years postop. Hmm got me thinking. Well a friend of mine had an LBL that goes to my support group, she hasn't had kids yet and used the surgeon I would go to.. well he told her she could get pregnant after the LBL just won't be as pretty as it was before pregnancy but never look as bad as it did prior to surgery.. well I could live with that. I am sick of the skin hanging there.. its so ugly. How awesome that you bought a bikini OMG! Wow.. now if that isn't a wow moment I don't know what is! Yeah for you for wanting to show off you bod! I think that is spectacular!!! My support group presentation ROCKED! I have pictures on my profile thanks for asking They were a bit overwhelmed by my nerdiness with RNY and what I believe.. (as you know I have many beliefs! haha) and well they were glad I put it together into a guide for them. Good chattin' ya lets try to keep this board alive!

the cheesecake was awesome. i made a sf peanutbutter cheesecake. i used a different recipe and just changed everything to suit the pouch. it was a hit. people who normally don't do sf even ate some. i will try to post the recipe at another time. and thank you for the compliment.

Please please share.. my two loves in the world.. PB and cheesecake!!! glad it was a hit!

Melissa (or should I call you Mom? ) Thanks for keeping all of us in your thoughts. How awesome are you??? I apologize for not being around, I had forgotten how much time newborns take up...then there's the rest of my group. I really hope that no one is offended that I choose sleep over coming to the board...I promise you it's NOT personal!! As far as how I'm feeling, I *think* I'm doing ok. It's hard to tell with lack of sleep and hormonal changes. I'm keeping close watch on myself to make sure it's not PPD. Sydnie is doing GREAT!! Aside from the 2 days we spent in the hospital (after being discharged from her birth) for her jaundice, things have been well. She did come down with an eye infection/clogged tear duct which required a dr. visit yesterday. She's gaining well, so I'm VERY happy that breast feeding is working. It didn't with Sammy and he didn't gain like he should have...so I'm relieved. I think though that she might be headed for a cold. My mom came down with one a couple of days before Easter, and Samuel was there the day before. He's now a bit sniffly and coughing in the morning. Sydnie has been quite sneezy...so we'll see. I'm a bit frustrated that I'm not losing weight more quickly even though I'm down to my prepregnancy weight. I was told NOT to *try* to lose for at least 3 months while breast feeding. Just eat healthily...no "dieting". I *know* that it takes the body awhile to recouperate, but I'm just anxious. My belly was "cute" when I was pregnant, but it's not cute anymore...LOL. The good news is that my dumper is starting to work again. We celebrated Zachery's birthday while we had the family here for Easter, and I had a small piece of birthday cake. Boy did that ever make me not feel good. I worried about that since I was eating higher carb foods in order to get in enough calories during pregnancy, and that I could tolerate them. I've also noticed that I'm going back to only being able to eat smaller amounts. At one point I could eat 2 pieces of pizza and now I'm lucky if I can eat one. YAY!! That's all for now, other than trying to finish out my class...it's tricky trying to sleep, eat, shower, drive kids to school, feed the baby (and everyone else) and find time to do the homework. Ahh well, only a month left of school and I'm done until Fall. I hope everyone has a great week, and while I'll be scarce for a bit, I'll be back eventually. Hugs to all!!

Wow you have so much on your plate not sure how you do it girlie.. you truly are my hero. Remember to take care of you also.. it can be hard to do when so much time is spent caring for everyone else in the family and the world around you.. Glad Sydnie is doing well and growing good. Don't worry about the scale, I know that is easier said than done. You have to take care of your body's needs first (breastfeeding, etc) and then the rest will fall into place eventually. You will get there, I have no doubts. You are a strong lady :0) Huggles!

Wow, Melissa....you are amazing! I want your list-keeping or just plain old memory skills! There are so many of us here in the Dec. group and we all show up at different times, how sweet of you to keep track of so many of us. We are a great family here and it is so nice to know that we have a place to come and hang out when we need each other. Hope you will post and let us know how the presentation went at your support group. I bet you inspired a lot of folks and gave them a lot to think about. Hugs! Molly