Hi everyone!

Wow! This is the one message board I didn't find. I'm having my first consultation for WLS on 11/9/06 and I'm dying to do a scrapbook to document my journey. I can't wait to meet you all. On a side note, I know you all know who Lisa Bearnson is. On her blog she's calling out to all scrappers to send cards to the Amish community following that horrible tragedy. Here's the link: http://www.lisabearnson.com/blog/2006/10/support-amish-community.html I go to Lancaster all the time (I'm in South Jersey) and I'm also a Leaving Prints consultant. I'm definitely going to start making cards for Lisa's wonderful project. Have a great weekend everyone! * Cyndi * (lv2beasahm)

Cyndi, Thanks for the info about Lisa Bearnson's card request. I'll be checking that out! Congratulations on making the step to talk with a surgeon about WLS. I'm only a little over two months out and have already lost around 70 lbs and I'm feeling so much better. I started a lot heavier than you but I really wish I would have considered the surgery when I was younger and smaller. But I also believe everything happens for a reason and God had all this planned just perfectly for me. Anyway, I am an avid scrapbooker too. I don't have kids so I have an easier time making time but I did a lot while I was off for recovery. I have two scrapbooks I've started regarding my journey. Smaller one is a 6 x 6. Each month I will put a photo of myself and across the page a list of the things I did that month that I couldn't do before. All my WOW moments. I've already started with my pic from the morning of surgery and I have two more photos as well. It's going to be a fun one to keep up and quick. I also have one whole 12 x 12 scrapbook done from the day of surgery to the day I returned to work. Title page, my acceptance from insurance letter, hospital pics, sample menus from the various stages of drinking/eating, the BMI chart and where I hope to be, pictures of a friends wedding I went to just 3 weeks after surgery, etc. I love scrapbooking and go on forever. I hope to find a bunch of friends online that also love it and see what they are doing. Anyone going to the convention in Lexington? Cyndi, you will find more support from people you don't even know yet on this website than you can ever imagine. If you ever have any questions please do not hesitate to email me or anyone else on the site! God Bless and welcome to the journey, Kelle

Kelle, I'm about 2 years post-op and just now getting ready to begin my wsl journey scrapbook so you are waaaay ahead of me! Unfortunately I didn't journal much as I went (as you can tell by looking at my OH profile - lots of gaps) so I don't know what to put in my book. I have pictures taken each month during the first year and before & after pics from each of my plastic surgeries - I've had 3 rounds with multiple proceedures each time, but I don't have much memorabelia to include with the pics. Got any suggestions? Now that the "wrapping table" is down & out of the center of my craft room I need to spend a few days organizing my room then I'll be ready to begin. My mother's CM consultant in NC "gifted" me a lovely 12x12 album imprinted with my inspirational Bible verse on the cover and my name & album title "I Choose Life" on the spine. I have plenty of supplies but need ideas of other things to include in my album besides my pics. So I'm open to any and all suggestions and ideas! I'm also trying to figure out how to include the nude before & after pics in my album but in such a way that they are not visible just by turning the page (maybe some kind of pocket or flap ....) Any ideas??/ Thanks in advance for your help! Vickie J.

Vickie, I would recomend a pocket with a pull out picture for anyone interested in seeing the pictures. You could also put them in a mini album mounted on the page to be opened or not. I printed my profile from this web site and placed it under my front page using eyelets in the top and bottom left corner so the profile can be read. I did not make it accessible for anyone. I usually cut the page protector to allow access to the interactive portions of my pages, this one I did not. You cannot tell there is anything under the cover. Hope this helps. I am a year out and have only documented up to 2 months out. I did not take a picture every month because I am such a busy person and I am usually behind the camera and have to make an effort to let someone take one of me. For the months I don't have a picture, I will still document that month and the events that happened. I keep a diary of sorts so that helps. I have been scrapbooking for about 12 years and have filled nearly 8 albums including a Disneyland one and a Hawaiian vacation one. I am adding my hospital bracelets, pictures of my "breathing exerciser", my letter of acceptance, and a copy of my letter to the doctors office and anything else I can think of like my name on the prayer list from church bulletin. Lois H