cinwa

Done but keep it to yourself ... I have a reputation to maintain!

<<<<<<<<<< as and when, send me the link >>>>>>>>

That cake is absolutely fantastic Trish ... your DH has a real talent.

I'm sorry you had to go through that Jen but it's a blessing in disguise because at least you know that your RNY is still working and it is most definitely in charge.

Oh my! .... where has all the time gone! It feels like it was just yesterday that we were looking at a picture of him sitting on the table helping himself to his cake on his 1st birthday.

You, a Christmas tree and a newborn baby .... a perfect picture. You put a smile on my face Trish ... the perfect end to a good day.

That's the reason why I chose not to have scales in the house until I got into the normal BMI range for my height. Pre-WLS, I had a 30+ year documented history of failed dieting attempts - all sabotaged by what I perceived as a failure the moment the scales recorded a zero loss. AliPat - you are doing an amazing job - those photos testify to that. You are looking amazing!

WOW Kio! That is a pretty dramatic transformation - you're doing an amazing job with your WLS.

No need to apologise Cindy - your surgeon gave you a tool and you have used it wisely. Own your success and have pride in it.

Congratulations Carl - you are doing an amazing job with your WLS.

It's the neatest of my stacks but it's also the smallest. I wouldn't normally put wood on the deck but the smell of that cedar as it was drying was gorgeous. And now I've got a little tuft-ear taking dried leaves and the like into it so I think I'll leave it alone ... I'd rather enjoy watching him/her and there's a bird feeder directly above that wood so I guess the little chap figured it would be a good spot for the winter.

A white Christmas would be wonderful but usually, we have to settle for snow-capped hills and a brutal wind coming down the valley from Mt.Rainier. But we will have a roaring fire (that's how we heat the house) and I saved some of the bigger limbs that were trimmed from our big cedar trees along the drive earlier this year - I cut and stacked them on the front deck - they dried out nicely this summer. They smell amazing. It'll just be the two of us and as I still can't get meat down and DH isn't too keen on turkey, he'll be having his favourite center cut tenderloin https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/center-cut-tenderloin-roast-recipe-1916748 That'll keep him happy for 2-3 days. I'll probably have fresh salmon.

To this day (and I'm just over 11 years post-op), I still find it difficult to drink much in the way of plain cold water. It gives my pouch a toothache type sensation. And it's not just the temperature - my pouch doesn't like plain water too much. For me, warm teas (Celestial Seasonings fruity flavours) or something like Crystal Light at room temperature and diluted with almost double the amount of water goes down best.

It's good to see you posting Trish. I'm well but cold but the PNW isn't noted for it's warm weather at this time of the year and there's snow on the hills surrounding us - thank you for asking.

Welcome to Thinner Times Ryan! The early days/weeks can be a difficult time but it does get better. I had a stitch type pain early post-op and one thing my surgeon recommended was to massage the area (pressing quite deeply) in a circular motion. A little bit of oil on my fingertips helped but you have to do it pretty regularly. And walking can help too - along with some gentle stretching with your arms above your head - particularly side-to-side motions. On the water thing ... to this day, I still have a problem drinking plain water. Strange because other than tea, water was pretty much all I drank pre-op. Now, I drink nothing colder than room temperature and it has to have some flavouring - I like Crystal Light but I don't know how widely available that is in the UK but I hear that Stur® is pretty good. And of course, as a Brit. I drink a lot of hot tea.