I apologize for posting the same message twice yesterday. It did not appear it had been sent the first time and the second time. I started to send it a third time but I thought it might be a snafu--turns out it was. Well, I had my first encounter with Dr. Freeman and Company Bariatric Center in Anniston. I was so impressed by the whole lot of them. By the time the visit was over, even my Mother's concern over the surgery where lessened. Prior to going to see Dr. Freeman, I have had a cardiac exam and a pulmonary exam. I had both places fax my records to Dr. Freeman's office. That, however, is not sufficient. Dr. Freeman requires a 'clearance' for surgery from each doctor. That is a simple enough matter and I will call the doctors tomorrow. At the clinic today, I had a psychological exam by Craig Boden, LPL, of Dr. Freeman's staff. So I thought I was good to go, BUT THEN, they told me I did not do well on the breathtek test, which is administered to detect Helicobacter Pylori in the human stomach. Now if that is not the correct terminology, realize I am trying to interpret medical jargon that is way over my head. To me it sounds like something having to do with a helicopter pilot. May be someone can enlighten me. I know I have to take meds for ten days, wait fourteen more days, and take the test again. Then I think I am a good to go. I have Medicare and BCBS of TN so I do not have to be pre-approved. One shocker - All these years I thought I was 5'4" or 5'4.5" tall. Come to find out I am 5'3". Good news, though, my BMI went up. Now - that is the information I put on my profile. For you, my friends, here is the rest of the story. Mom and I went to Anniston the night before so we would have plenty of time to find the doctor and relax. We had to be at the doctor's by 8:00 a.m. and we live over 3-1/2 hours away. We had a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, and then went to Rite Aid to get a few items. I had the bright idea to color my hair--roots were showing. I have short hair and I usually have a little dye remaining after I apply the dye to my hair. Here I am, shut up in the bathroom, with no person of sanity nearby. So, I decided to color my eyebrows so I would look more like a natural redhead. THEN I thought, "You don't know what is involved in a pre-op exam, so maybe I should color all my hair." YEP, that is right. Well, here is what happened. First, any coloring left around your eyebrows, will color the skin around your eyebrows. You will look much like Groucho Marx. Second, if you are overweight, when you color your 'yonder regions' and then sit on the side of the tub, your thighs and stomach are exposed to the dye. Third, for some reason the bathtub and surrounding tile in a hotel are not like the tub and tile you have at home. The tile where I had 'rested' my head while I tried to scrub around my 'yonder regions', became a red blob. Fourth, where I had sat the bottle of color on the side of the tub was a huge circle of dye. Then, when I had washed the color from my head, the entire tub was left with a rust color. Lastly, every towel in which I had come in contact now had rust-colored spots all over them. By 10 p.m., Mom and I had tried 'Wash-Ups', Efferdent, hairspray, shampoo, etc., and there was nothing left for us to try. So, I called the front desk, explained what had happened, and requested bleach. The clerk had to call the manager and the manager's son brought the bleach to our room. With Mom's help, I got most all the dye up, except for the ring on the tub and the place where I had rested my head. And people wonder why I eat. Jacquie

I'm so sorry I've been neglecting my friends here on this board. I don't mean to. I'm so scattered these days that I'm trying to keep myself together So, please, the best way to keep in touch with me is via email, and please don't hesitate to update me on whatever you wish, even if its complaining, venting, crying, etc... I wanna hear from you all ::::::hugs:::::: School starts in a few weeks, and I'm catching up on some much-needed rest! Love you all Beth

If anyone hears how Lindy is doing please post. I know she is probably still in surgery so sending her some good positive thoughts and well wishes! Love, Sandy

(((((((((((sweet Joni))))))))))))sorry you're having a hard time right now. Still sending out good thoughts for you and your family. I thought about you yesterday when I was reading on the main board and somebody was so excited because they got their approval from AETNA!!!!! Maybe that's a sign of something good happening for you too. I can not WAIT for you to be a loser Kim

Does anybody know if you can start having symptoms of Alzheimers or Dementia as early as age 33? I'm having a lot of 'episodes' of absentmindedness. Carrying on conversations during the day that I can't recall the details of later. Yesterday I had a conversation with my Regional Manager and can't remember what the hell it was about.....I had to send him an email this morning saying, "sorry, call me blonde if you want but I can't remember what we talked about yesterday." I tried to play it off like I was extremely busy and he called at a bad time but ya'll I'm WORRIED about this. I have been under extreme stress with work but I CAN HANDLE stress. Is it possible that I am about to crack under the pressure? I dont really FEEL like I'm cracking......but this is happening more and more often and now Pam has noticed it too. I'm going to the DR next week but just wanted to get your thoughts. This really scares me because my Mom died with brain cancer and I'm really scared. Love ya'll Kim