saturday evening

hi everyone it is so good to be home. my step father is doing better he can at least answer with a nod of the head yes or no.i left on thursday morning and yes you guessed it my paper work ame in the mail that same day so when i go to work on monday i am going to fax it in and then wait. probly call them on wednesday to make sure they have it and them again on friday to see if i have a care advocate yet . mindi i am so happy for you look like we might be a loser at about the same time. sherri i am so happy the news with your son is good. i wasnt able to get online from my moms she has dial up and it takes an act of God to even check mail. they live in the middle of no place in kentucy, no cable or dsl connection. i had my last smoke as of 6 pm tonight so that i will be good for go when approved. notice i say WHEN and not if. lol well i am going to go spend some time with my other half . i missed him so much the last 2 1/2 days . night all vicki

Vicki, Welcome home. I'm glad your step-dad was doing better. I hope everything goes smooth sailing with your approval process.! Are you doing anything to help you kick the habit? When I quit, my pcp prescribed Wellbutrin for me because it has the same ingredients that the script to help you stop smoking has...only insurance companies are more likely to approve payment for the wellbutrin since it's considered an anti-depressant. He also prescribed the smoking patch. At that time (3 yr ago in July!!), the insurance would only cover for generic patches. Not a problem! Got 1 month of them. I set a want to be off patches date of August 19th. That's my sisters birthday...the one who had died of cancer when she was 32. I started the Welbutrin about 2 weeks before my target quit date. I had my last smoke on July 18th. I even gave my zippos to my daughter & son. I didn't want any of that old smoking me around. On the morning of July 19th, I put on a full nicotine patch and went to work. The only trouble I had really was going to work and coming home. It was a habit that I always lit up at the same places every day. So...on day 2, I changed my routes! I even went out a different exit from the parking lot at work. That helped..but.. so on day 3, I included a pack of straws in the car. When I reached for a cigarette, I grabbed a straw. I would chew the hell out of those poor things. After about a week, I quit reaching. I also started to shave some off the patch. Every day, the piece I removed got a little bit bigger. By the time August 18th rolled around, it really was more of a sliver that I wore than a patch. On August 19th...no cigarettes, no patch! So what did I learn from my experience? 1. Get your pcp's help. I sincerely believe that the patch & wellbutrin helped me immensely. 2. Change your routine! Smoking is a habit, as is everything that concerns it. 3. Be prepared with 'replacements'. For me, it was straws & gum. 4. Get everything away from you that is associated with smoking for you. For me, it was my zippo lighters. For you, it may be your favorite ashtray. 5. Set a date that means something. You are more inclined to be more determined if you have a meaningful goal. How about..free of smoking by St. Patty's day and free of patches by Easter? 6. Finally..once you quit, stay quit! Don't think of it as quitting so you can have the surgery. Think of it as because of the surgery, you finally have the will power to give them up. Why do I feel this is so important? The surgeons won't do surgery on you if you are smoking because smokers don't heal as well and smokers have a higher risk of complications (including pneumonia). Consider this: since my RNY, I have had to have and RNY revision, a triple hernia repair, and bunion surgery on both feet. Besides those 4 additional surgeries, I'm also looking at 1-2 plastic surgeries to remove loose skin. In other words, you never know when you are going to need that extra healing help! I hope you're able to use some of what I said. It is meant as advise, not preaching. I know smoking can be one of the toughest things to kick. I think after I had my RNY, I was more proud of my 1 yr anniversary date on July 19th than I was the September 17th one! You did a terrific first step..you let everyone know you were doing it. Now we're going to be asking you every day how it's going. I had a couple of key people at work that were ex-smokers who were my cheerleaders (and at times, coaches). You have friends who understand. Keep that in mind! Sherri

sherri thanks for the words of wisdom and will take them to heart. for me i stopped one time before cold turkey . when i found out i was going to have my first child and didnt start back again for almost 10 years then went through my divorce and stress got to me. but this time i will just put them down and not pick them up again i am down right now to less then 4 a day so i decided that its time that way i know i am clean for surgery.my other half is a smoker and has agreed to go out side and smoke .i have not chew gun either cause i forget and swollow it and that wont work after surgery so i got sugar free mints and have been sucking on them when i feel i want a smoke,mindi and i work for the same divison of anthem and she was approved in less then a week so i figured i best get my butt in gear and so on. i spent all weekend drinking nothing bu****er with crystal lite and wal mart brand of crystal lite and found 4 i really like ( right now anyway) and did really good. i managed to drink 5 of the 20 oz bottles (sipping) i did have one question can we drink decaf ice tea and coffee?

Oh girl you got the right attitude!! You sure seem like y ou are going thru this with your head on straight!!! Quitting is the hardest ting to do but I made it with the help of patches 13 years ago when my mom was dignosed with lung cancer and so I didnt have to with my surgery.. My anthem approved me in less than a week and I had my surgery less than a month later. and not chewing gum is the right answer.. I always told my self if I decided I wanted another smoke I would just put on the patch I carried.. havent had to I learned in the stopp smoking class it is 3 addicitons you are breaking the physical addiction, the mental.. I got to have on to calm me down one and the habit of reaching for one.. keeping your hands busy with something else... my mom folded paper straws... I croched.. Best of luck to you the first few weeks are the hardest but then you have such a fantastic reason to quit (surgery) that you already have the goal and reward in sight!! Preachin??? Maybe but in a proud way... and this IS Sunday Linda

Yes you can! The four things you are looking for in a beverage are: 1. Sugar-free 2. Carbonation-free 3. Caffiene-free 4. Alcohol-free Caffiene is bad in 2 ways. The first, it's a stimulant..which means it would also stimulate your appetite. Who wants that?? The second, it causes dehydration. To lose weight, it is very important that you get your fluids in. We all have heard the 'drink eight 8 oz of water a day'. Well...for every 1 oz of caffiene that you drink, you have to drink 2 oz of water just to make up for it's effect. If you had a 8 oz cup of full-leaded java at breakfast (let's not even go down the road of talking about Expresso's or Mountain Dew! LOL!), you would have to drink 16 oz of fluid in ADDITION TO the 64 oz you already need to drink for a total of 80 oz needed for the day. I would have no problem with that..but I'm also 2.5 yrs out. For a newbie though? You will be doing fantastic to come anywhere near the 64 oz....so make every ounce count! I admit, it makes it boring to go out partying. Some restauraunt are pretty bad too. I usually had decaf coffee and ice water. I will also ask for water with a ton of lemons...and make my own lemonade. I personally don't like the Crystal Light's..it's a taste bud change thing..so sometimes, I just gotta get creative! LOL! BTW..cold turkey??? OMG! That is something I tried to do a hundred times and would fail by noon. But then, as I said, cigarettes really were my 'friend' and I thoroughly enjoyed their company. I really admire people who are able to just say 'that's it' and put them down! Sherri

well sherri i am a VERY head strong person and when i want something i will work till i get it and nothing gets in my way .. just ask my other half . loli didnt so much like the lemon flavor of crystal lite but the orange i really like it and i can drink water i just , like you , a slice of lemon or orange works well for me too,. sometimes grapes if they are juicy. i really hope to be aproved and have a date soon i want to be ready for summer for swiming and bike riding. taking my grandbaby to the park and walking my dog. he dont like to walk much when its cold and there is snow on the ground. he is rather a spolied one( the dog) oh and i have 7 lab mix pups if anyone is looking for a good family dog. the main goal for my male lab is to sleep, potty, be near me and eat.i have 4 males and 3 females . all are super sweet and cute as can be i have a few pictures on my profile. vicki

Vicki, Could you email me pics of the pups? We're looking for a male (un-nuetered..men ). Any idea what the 'mix' is? Sherri

sherri you have mail at your indy.rr email addy...