Patient-Doctor Communication: What patients want

Just show me that you care.

"The patient will never care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

(Terry Canale in his American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Vice Presidential Address)

Doctor-patient communication is a major component of the process of health care. Doctors are in a unique position of respect and power. Hippocrates suggested that doctors may influence patients' health. Effective doctor-patient communication can be a source of motivation, incentive, reassurance, and support. A good doctor-patient relationship can increase job satisfaction and reinforce patients' self-confidence, motivation, and positive view of their health status, which may influence their health outcomes.

Most complaints about doctors are related to issues of communication, not clinical competency. Patients want doctors who can skillfully diagnose and treat their sicknesses as well as communicate with them effectively.
  Doctors with better communication and interpersonal skills are able to detect problems earlier, can prevent medical crises and expensive intervention, and provide better support to their patients. This may lead to higher-quality outcomes and better satisfaction, lower costs of care, greater patient understanding of health issues, and better adherence to the treatment process. There is currently a greater expectation of collaborative decision making, with physicians and patients participating as partners to achieve the agreed upon goals and the attainment of quality of life.

More on this topic: LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest

Weight Loss is not a Competition

Featured in today's 5 Day Pouch Test Bonus Bulletin
Link to Bulletin in our Archive: 5DPT October Bonus Bulletin

"Thank you for joining me for this Bonus edition of our 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin. I've watched and participated in the WLS community now for many years observing patterns and trends as they come and go. One pattern that has held consistent is the uptick in competitive weight loss come the fall season. While it may be unpopular for me to say so - matters of health are not competitions.

Matters of health - including weight management - are personal initiatives necessary to improve one's own quality of life and wellness.

I understand the drive to join challenges promoting weight loss or fitness accomplishments. And when used to strengthen bonds between people with like-minded goals these organized pacts are powerful motivators. But when challenges become measures of success or failure based on another person's weight loss compared with our own weight loss the benefits turn to detriments that ultimately cause feelings of failure or inferiority.

Because the competitive talk is so loud this time of year I invite you to take a look at this topic I first addressed in 2011. Please thoughtfully consider the role competition is playing in your weight loss and weight management efforts. You have the right to include in your life things to support and promote your health and discard the things that derail your health. I am your champion in doing the best you can to live well after weight loss surgery. 

I hope you enjoy this bonus bulletin and I wish you the best today and always!  Sincerely,

Kaye Bailey"

Read the Bulletin

Holiday Hotlines - Cooking help just a call away

For those of you asking - here is the link to last week's LivingAfterWLS Digest - and the list of hotline numbers for cooking questions and emergencies. Keep this at hand ----just in case you run into questions or problems while fixing your Thanksgiving meal. Be safe and Enjoy!

Helpful Cooking Hotlines


To see the full digest go here: LivingAfterWLS Digest Nov 15

Weekly Digest: Food Pushers & Food Police

LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest: August 13, 2012

 

I hope you are enjoying a healthy happy Summer! Like everyone this time of year, our lazy-days of summer seem to be filled with more activities and gatherings than we can manage. Without fail, every event we have enjoyed has involved a meal as the central attraction. Also without fail, the "Food Pushers" and "Food Police" have been on patrol. Have you seen them at your summer gatherings?  

The "Food Pushers" are those who would have us eat more than we could or should eat. Sometimes they are well intentioned wishing only to share the bounty of the table; others are prideful cooks who consider food rejection a personal insult. And admittedly, some food pushers have unsavory designs for derailing our best weight management efforts.

The "Food Police" are those who monitor our plates and forks and pass judgment on us for what we do or do not eat. They too can be well intentioned such as a fellow health-watcher who may question the trans-fat or sugar content of a dish; she is looking out for the good of all. Other police are citation-hungry plate monitors hoping to catch us in the act of breaking rules and crossing dietary boundaries.

It has been a dozen years since my WLS and I have been a very public WLS-Advocate for the last 8 years. I know that for myself, and for many of you, there is not a time when we are not closely watched and critiqued as we engage in fueling our bodies with food. It's no wonder so many of us, myself included, seek to eat in privacy much of the time! Here are a few skills I've learned to use in coping with the food pushers and food police. I you find them helpful as you form your own strategies in dealing with the Food Pushers and Food Police.

Best Wishes & Good Health! 

Kaye

Link to the full Digest

Weekly Digest: Lies & Myths of Goal Weight

LivingAfterWLS Digest

The Lies & Myth of Goal Weight

Avoid the Pitfalls Associated with a Single Goal 

May 16,  2016

Greetings!

Note: This is an encore presentation of our Goal Weight Range Newsletter previously published 05/10/2011. In response to many many requests we are pleased to publish it again and share this information that has made a positive difference in the lives of many WLS Neighbors. Thank you for joining us today in this LivingAfterWLS Digest. Check out our follow-up to this newsletter published 05/17/2011: Goal Weight Range Part II: Super Morbidly Obese. Calculating Goal Weight Range: The Process in Achievable Phases. 

---

May 10, 2011
Today I'm addressing goal weight as it relates to our experience with weight loss surgery. Prior to surgery patients are in cahoots with their surgeons as they plan for bariatric surgery, set the course and denote the finish line which will be crossed when goal weight is achieved. I don't particularly like to hear what I'm about to say and I know it is a tough thing for my WLS Neighbors to hear, but I'm putting it out there bluntly so we can face it and take action:

Few patients will ever reach goal weight.

There you have it. Numerous studies suggest that fewer than 20% of patients achieve goal weight. My work with patients of all gastric surgeries for weight management suggests the same thing. In fact, it is fairly common for me to meet someone who introduces themselves saying, "I'm one of those people who never made it to goal weight." Here is what you need to know about goal weight so it will cease to be a barrier to your pursuit of overall health.

Know This Truth:
It is the random method of determining goal weight that is flawed; it is not the patient who is flawed.

Goal weight is a random data point set arbitrarily with reference to standardized tables that are irrelevant to an individual's health history, age, co-morbidities and genetic profile. In most cases the goal weight creates unrealistic expectations for the patient. When patients do not achieve this random point of measure called goal weight they consider themselves a failure and "one of those people." Patients become hopeless and frustrated. These feelings almost always lead to rebound weight gain.

Continue reading the LivingAfterWLS Digest

May Tip 'o the Day - In the Neighborhood

Hello Neighbors!

Welcome to May Tip 'o the Day! This month I am excited to share a daily tip with you that will help us all learn more about the features here in the Neighborhood and make the most of them so we can improve our overall community experience. Please check this thread each day and take a minute to learn more about what the Neighborhood has to offer. And if you discover some neat trick or feature we haven't covered yet please post here for all to see. I learn tons from our Neighbors and I think collectively we can bring the house down when we learn more about getting around!

May 1 - Tip #1
Update and share your status! You will notice on the right-hand column there is scrolling box, "Recent Status Updates." It's easy to update your status and share! Click the down arrow next to your display name in the upper right corner, on the top navigation bar. This opens the settings box like this:



Click your cursor in the field, "What's on your mind?" and type your status. This could be anything you want to share with Neighbors including WLS, hobbies, weather, friends, family, work, 5DPT --- whatever is on your mind. When you have typed your thoughts just click or and your status updates and feeds to the scrolling box on the main screen! You can add comments or comment on one another's status simply by clicking the "Comment" button just below the status update. This is a great quick way to share and connect without posting. Give it a try! I'll be watching for your updates! 

Go to the Tip 'o the Day

Good Luck and Weight Loss Surgery: Are you one of the "Lucky" ones?

LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest March 20, 2012

Over the weekend we marked St. Patrick's Day - a celebration of Ireland's culture of which luck plays a starring role. Legend and folklore entwine luck in song and tale about the Irish people. Symbols of luck - the four leaf clover and pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - abound. And classic Irish blessings bestow luck upon the deserving. So here at LivingAfterWLS under our own beautiful rainbow we searched for the pot of gold to find how luck plays a role in our weight loss surgery experience. Please join us in the wearin' of the green as we explore the lucky side of weight loss surgery in this You Have Arrived Newsletter. And please enjoy a pot of slow cooker stew (recipe below) on us - You are sure to feel lucky with this in your bowl.

Link to Newsletter

5DPT: Questions, Answers & Hot Topics

5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin: February 2012

Today we take a look back at the most frequently asked 5DPT questions in the last year. As the 5 Day Pouch Test has become more widely known information about it --both accurate and inaccurate-- abounds.

Kaye Bailey

As the author of the plan this is a mixed blessing. I am pleased so many people have used the plan to get back to basics. On the other hand, glibly shared summations of the plan often lead to misunderstandings and disappointing results. I have seen the plan absurdly simplified to "just drink liquids for two days, then mushy food, then regular food. That's it."  Not so fast. What are the liquid options? What is mushy food? What about protein first? Where is mention of slider foods and liquid restrictions?  Simply put, the 5DPT is not that simple.

The 5DPT as it is written and presented online and in print is an organized approach to getting back to the WLS basics both mentally and metabolically. When followed with attention to details we hear great success stories that include restored feelings of pouch tightness and satiation, lost weight, increased energy and overall improved confidence and mental well-being. 

If you are going to invest five days into getting back on track then do it all the way. Take the program as a whole and immerse yourself in doing it right. Build that storm of enthusiasm and recreate the excitement you felt leading into surgery and the days and weeks that followed. Learn about yourself. Take notes and use the 5DPT 2-page journal. Learn your strengths and weaknesses and harness that knowledge to do better on Day 6 and Beyond.

 

Read the full Bulletin in our Archives: 5DPT February 2012

Hope is the fuel that turns dreams into reality

Greetings! 

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to our first You Have Arrived Weekly Digest for 2012! Glad to have you with us. We look forward to providing more meaningful content and useful recipes and ideas in 2012. Today we talk about getting back on track with our weight loss surgery goals and lifestyle. It seems to me, whether we have strayed slightly or completely veered off course, the beginning of a new year is always an exciting energized time of renewed commitment. Like you, I hope to harness the excitement of a new beginning and make a fresh start of managing my health and weight with my WLS tool. I hope you will join me!   

Link to the Newsletter

CHEERS!

Kaye 

Just a note: Our LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood refurbishing is a little behind schedule and we are still offline. But we have a good team of experts working on it and I hope to send you a message in the next day or two saying the Neighborhood gates are open, Come on In!  Thanks so much for your patience during this reconstruction. I promise, you are going to love all the new community features! 

Visit our Newsletter Archives

LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood Outage

We have begun the actions in our scheduled Neighborhood refurbishing. During construction we will have the Neighborhood offline periodically throughout the day beginning December 26. Every attempt will be made to return the Neighborhood online as soon as possible. Please check in often and we look forward to serving you in 2012 with our new and improved community features.

Thank you,
Kaye, Scoop, Tech Team and IPB Support

Monday, December 26, 2011
Time now: 3pm EST


During the Neighborhood outage you may enjoy these areas of the LivingAfterWLS website:
Newsletter Archive
Library
Recipes
5 Day Pouch Test

LivingAfterWLS General Store
Save on our product sampler bundle!!  Learn More
Use coupon code at checkout: MERRY2011 and save $4 off $29 orders! Ends soon.

Are you a Flattery-Floozie or a Yeah-But-Betty?

LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest: December 1, 2011

After attending several WLS events recently I started noticing a trend among our weight loss surgery sisters that may seem at first superficial but once examined reveals much about the emotional journey from obesity to healthy weight. Unlike other diseases, obesity can be observed and diagnosed by the lay person: men, women, and children alike. Who among us doesn't cringe at the memory of an innocent child drawing attention to the "Fat Lady"? While this lay-diagnosis is most often uncomfortable and probably unwanted, wearing our disease in our plus-size britches also provides opportunity for positive feedback when we are losing weight and becoming healthier. Feedback can be complimentary, "You look wonderful" or incredible, "You have lost a TON of weight" or nosey, "Did you get the surgery?" or underhanded "Too bad you lost all that weight only to lose your hair and find all those wrinkles!" It's no wonder we evolve coping personalities to emotionally manage this feedback. As obese people we had coping strategies as well. Think of the forever funny fat lady who is really crying on the inside while laughing on the outside. She makes herself the target of her own fat jokes just to beat others to the punch and avoid the hurt.

...

With the ladies I find that two typical personalities emerge, see if you recognize them. 

Link to Article

Free LivingAfterWLS Email Newsletters

Subscribe to LivingAfter #WLS free email newsletters! New publishing season begins now! Signup Be Empowered & Informed!
http://tinyurl.com/4xlq5ou

Blog Roll - Have you got something to say?

So here I am, Sleepless at LivingAfterWLS, and I was clicking through the blog roll on this very blog. Not a current link on the list!  So, I'm revamping the blog roll. Are you a weight loss surgery #WLS blogger? Do you keep your postings current? Drop me a note and I'll blogroll you!  Send me a quick message to KayeBailey@LivingAfterWLS or Tweet me your link @LivingAfterWLS or FB me http://www.facebook.com/LivingAfterWLS. I'll get you listed here and keep up with you. As I say time and again -- We are all in this together!


Did you know that #WLS Bloggers are extremely predictable? I have been studying this for nearly 10 years now. We blog hot & heavy before weight loss surgery and keep it up the first year after surgery as we go through the phase some call "rapid weight loss" or "honeymoon" period. Postings taper off in the second year and by the third year most #WLS bloggers are AWOL.  Have you noticed this? If you followed this pattern what is the reason for the wax & wane of your #WLS blog?


Do tell!


I know that on Sept. 13 I'll be 12 years post-op. And I've said pretty much all I have to say about my personal #WLS experience and life as I know it after being gut-whacked. But now this (talking about WLS) is my job -- my calling if you will -- so I need to keep posting. It seems my posts are a lot less personal these days. Does this mean I am "back to normal"?

I hope we get some interesting discussion here...... What is your take on the blog cycle of a WLS Neighbor?

Free iPhone App to Track Supplements

If you are an iPhone user there is a terrific new APP available to help you keep track of the dietary supplements you take. It is presented by The Office of Dietary Supplements which is a division of the National Institutes of Health. The APP is available from the iTunes store and it is FREE!!!! So take advantage of this and let me know how it works for you. I've got a Droid in my hand so I have to wait for that application to become available. But I'm anxious to hear from you Neighbors how this works for you. I really like that you can get information and reminders to take your vitamins and also print or email a list of what you take for your doctor to review.

The Office of Dietary Supplements is funded in part by the US Federal Government with supplemental funding coming from grants -- many from the pharmaceutical and supplement industries. I consider the ODS my go-to source for information about supplements and supplement research. You can visit there website at: http://ods.od.nih.gov/

Here is the information about the iPhone APP -- MyDS:


The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) has developed a free mobile app for consumers called My Dietary Supplements (MyDS). MyDS gives you:

• An easy way to keep track of the vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other products you take—right in the palm of your hand.
• Access to science-based, reliable information on dietary supplements.
• General information about ODS — who we are and what we do.

Simply enter the names and amounts of your dietary supplements, and they'll be stored on your iPhone or iPad for your use anytime, anywhere—for example, when seeing your doctor or shopping. With MyDS, you also can email your personal list of dietary supplements to yourself or to your health care providers and print it out.

MyDS keeps your health information private and secure. Whatever you enter will be saved only on your device and not stored or shared anywhere else. You also have the option to create a personal password to open the app.


Download
MyDS is available from the iTunes store. Download MyDS.


Features

• Create personal dietary supplement profiles for yourself and others.
• Record the name and amount of each dietary supplement you take.
• Add additional information about each dietary supplement in the Notes field.
• Email your dietary supplement profile to yourself or your health care providers.
• Add up to two photos of each dietary supplement on your list.
• Protect your information with the option to create a personal password.
• Access reliable information about dietary supplements from the Office of Dietary Supplements.

Have you got class? LivingAfterWLS Alumni Club - Connect & Support

You Have Arrived Alumni Club

Connect with other weight loss surgery patients who are at the same stage as you. Simply look for the year of your surgery and join the conversation in the "Class of" sub-forum. All surgical procedures can participate in each "Class of" sub-forum. Let's share our collective experience and support one another who are near the same stage in the journey.

To find your Class follow this trail in the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood:

• The Neighborhood  ~ The Town Square: LivingAfterWLS Knowledge Center  ~ You Have Arrived Alumni Club

Welcome Class of 2011 - You Have Arrived

Hello Neighbors and a Joyous greeting to all who have (or will) Arrived in 2011!  This is the space for our weight loss surgery Neighbors in the Class of 2011 to connect with others and share the weight loss surgery journey! Welcome to our Neighborhood - we are so glad to have you here!




Welcome Class of 2012 - Your Journey Is Now

Are you considering weight loss surgery in 2012 or have you already scheduled an "Arrival" date? This forum, the You Have Arrived Alumni Club Class of 2012 is your place to connect with other people considering surgery in the coming year. Ask your pre-op questions and meet a WLS Neighbor who is at the same stage in the journey as you are right now. Nothing promotes successful weight management than having a strong and dependable support network. Connect now and be ready to begin your new life in 2012!

To find your CLASS go to the parent forum:
You Have Arrived Alumni Club

2011 Neighborhood Postcard Swap - Join Us for Fun Mini-Vacay!

Welcome to the 2011 Neighborhood Postcard Swap! This is the least expensive most fun *Vacation* you will enjoy all year. Please take a minute to learn how it works and then join us! The Postcard Swaps -- as you can see below with KeepHerKitty in 2008 -- Have been tremendously successful. So let the fun begin!

What it is: Neighbors mail 6 unaddressed, but stamped postcards to one central location in a regular mailing envelope. Include in that envelope a note with your Neighborhood Display Name, Your Name and Postal Address. (All information is kept private and used for the single purpose of this Swap.) The postcards are collected here at LivingAfterWLS and everyone who sends in 6 postcards will receive 6 postcards mailed randomly throughout August. Just when you need a little pick-me-up you will find a cheerful and fun postcard in the mail -- real live touchable mail -- from one of your Neighbors! A chance to see the world and enjoy the beauty and diversity of our close-knit global Neighborhood! Follow the detailed instructions below and get ready to vacation right from your very own spot in this Safe Haven Circle of FriendS!

Postcard Swap: Opens July 9, 2011 and Closes July 30, 2011.

Step 1 US Neighbors: Purchase 6 Postcards from your local area or while on vacation. Write a cheerful greeting on each postcard and adhere proper US postage* to each postcard.

*US Postal Service Postcard Info:
Postcards - $0.29
Size limits:
Minimum: 3-1/2 inches high by 5 inches long by 0.007 inch thick
Maximum: 6 inches long by 4-1/4 inches high
Additional postage required for larger postcards

Step 1: International Neighbors: Purchase 6 Postcards from your local area or while on vacation. Write a cheerful greeting on each postcard. Do not apply postage from your country because the cards will mail to recipients from the US and must have US postage on them. I will adhere US postage on the postcards you have provided to the swap. In addition, I will personally adjust the postage on the stamped cards from the Neighbors that we will be sending to you across International borders. This will ensure that all postcards arrive to their recipient without a fuss! Continue to Step 2.


Step 2: Place all postcards in one envelope addressed to:

2011 Neighborhood Postcard Swap
c/o LivingAfterWLS
PO Box 311
Evanston, WY 82931

 

Please note - additional postage may be required on this envelope. Please check the weight and adjust accordingly or have your friendly USPS Postal Clerk calculate the postage for you.

USPS First Cost Postage:
1 Ounce: $0.44
2 Ounces: $0.64
3 Ounces: $0.84

Step 3: Include a note with the postcards that contains the following information so that we can properly address the postcards from other Neighbors that we will be sending to you.

Neighborhood Display Name
First & Last Name
Address
City, State Zip Code

Step 4: Place sealed stamped envelope containing your postcards in the mail between July 9 and July 30. Post here to this thread that you are participating and your cards have been mailed! This helps build the excitement as we learn how many Neighbors are participating.

Step 5: Enjoy your August Vacation from around the Neighborhood with each surprise arrival of a postcard! And report back here when you receive your swap postcards!

If you have any questions please post here! I hope I've explained the process. It is simple and fun! So Join Us! Link to the Neighborhood & let us know you are taking a Vacation with us!

Vote Now for your Favorite Neighborhood Haiku

Link here for the entries in random order for the Neighborhood Haiku Contest 2011!
Please select 3 favorites from the 17 entries. The entry thread has been hidden for now to conceal the author of each Haiku.  Some clever authors submitted more than one entry. If an entry has a letter and number (ie: Z1, Z2, Z3) you may only select one Z entry.

A 1-page PDF file of the entries is attached for you to open and print. This made it easier for me to read and think about each entry. Plus, I think this is a really cool collection of thoughts to keep on hand. After the contest we will release the same page as the blind author page, but with Authors and also winners.

Voting begins as soon as this posts and ends June 20 at 12:00 Midnight! Tell everyone you know to get over here and vote!! There are fabulous prizes and the fame of winning the 2011 Neighborhood Haiku Contest!!!

Thanks to everyone for participating as a contestant or a voter!

Go Here to Vote
*must be a registered member of the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood 

Neighborhood News: Friday June 10

Happy Fun Friday to you All!

Thank you so much for your support & patience during the unscheduled outage of the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood beginning June 5 and resolved on June 8. This was only the second serious unscheduled outage in the 5 year history of the Neighborhood but stressful to myself and the Tech Team nonetheless. I am genuinely grateful to you, My Neighbors, for your patience and understanding. It is with joyful sincerity that I invite you to drop back to the Neighborhood which has always been and continues to be your Safe Have Circle of Friends and the best online destination for weight loss surgery support.

Great Things Coming Soon!!
We have some exciting changes scheduled in the next few weeks so please keep an eye out for these improvements to your community. I am really excited about the coming addition of a Download Database where we may work together to build an article resource and recipe collection. This will be a free feature to all registered members. Our Premier members (paid subscribers) will enjoy an exciting new feature called "Member Marketplace" where you will be able to promote and sale goods via the Neighborhood. This feature, The Neighborhood Bazaar will be a great place to pass along clothes to your WLS Neighbors as we downsize our bodies on the way to better health. In addition members will have an option to offer electronic products (think eBooks) and hand crafted items all subject to our Appropriate Content Policy (to be posted at the time of roll-out; basically a boiler plate policy of reasonable use specifying no adult content). And finally - for all members who choose to take advantage we will have more social connection options. Currently we allow Twitter and Facebook log-in using your information from those accounts and Social Network Sharing of posts - see the social buttons at the bottom of each post page. Additional Social Network features including "LIKE" and "Google +1" sharing are forthcoming.

Your Privacy is Our Business
But speaking of social networking let me take a moment to discuss you and your privacy in the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood. The LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood offers the highest level of privacy protection possible in an online community: See Guidelines. We do not share your contact data (ie; email data) or release our lists to advertisers. For me the subject of weight loss surgery has been very personal and privacy, particularly during weight loss, has been deeply important to me. I know it is to you as well. Only this week we learned that one popular social network now uses facial recognition for pictures shared on their website. This function is automatic unless the member opts-out by making a purposeful and complicated adjustment to their rofile. If a user does not change their preferences then any picture posted is scanned and tagged with facial recognition software. In contrast our Premier (paid subscribers) Members in the Neighborhood may post pictures knowing that only registered members of the site will see the pictures: not search engines and not lurkers. In addition, it is very easy to mark a photo private and share with your select group of Neighbors rather than the entire World Wide Web. We do not make random changes to our Privacy Policy and we value you as a multi-dimensional person. We want you to feel comfortable with what you share here and how that sharing is used: You Are In Control. Like the Gallery, Premier members enjoy the same privacy options on their blogs. You set the level of sharing. By the way - our subscriptions prices are low and simply support operation of the Neighborhood so we do not have to intrude on your space with constant advertising that you see on all other sites. Pennies a day to protect your privacy. Go Here to Learn About Subscription packages.

The best place to learn about your options and settings is to click the down-arrow to the right of your Display Name in the upper right corner of the screen: Neighborhood Home Page. From there you can select the option link and review your settings making adjustments as you desire.

Also Helpful: LivingAfterWLS User Help Guide New & Up-to-Date with all the new features that make navigation & using the Neighborhood better than ever.

That is the Neighborhood News for today! We will soon have 10,000 registered Neighbors from around the world. We come from all walks of life with different backgrounds and experience: But we are united in our goal to become healthier by managing our weight and medical conditions with weight loss surgery. The Neighborhood is your Safe Haven for connecting, supporting and sharing. It will be great to see you there!

Have a great day and weekend. Take some time to play our weekly Fun Friday Game and be sure to enter our Neighborhood Haiku Contest -- You can win fabulous prizes! And have a good time doing it!

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The Neighborhood Statistics:
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Registered Users: 9972
Total Posts: 163101
Busiest Time: 1080 users were online on Oct 06 2010 11:36 PM

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Last Day: Free Deluxe Goody Bag with Purchase

LivingAfterWLS General Store

The road traveled with weight loss surgery is never easy:
That is why we are here to support you!
To show our dedication to your improved health we are giving our customers a darling and thoughtful Deluxe Goody Bag full of things to support your journey!

Your Deluxe Goody Bag includes: Know Your Numbers Journal; Worksheets; Trio-Nuts, Seeds & Fruit snack bar; 3 Samples Triple Leaf Tea; 2 Samples Emergen-C; You Have Arrived Magnet & Four Rules Magnet; Four Rules Wallet Card. Packaged in a dainty soft vinyl tote with snap floral closure and tube handles adorned with feather boa accent and lined with angel hair iridescent shred. 

Beautiful & Inspiring!
Our way of wishing you the best in your WLS experience! 

Free with orders of $50 or More.

Value: $13.64

Shop Now 

To Purchase a Deluxe Goody Bag Link Here:

Fun Stuff - Sale Price $10.25

LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest: Royal Treatment

Link to the Newsletter Archive: May 2, 2011
From today's LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest Newsletter:

Greetings Neighbors!

Were you among those who enjoyed watching the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton last week? I confess to pulling an all-nighter just to watch it! It seems we are obsessed with all things royal. I cannot help but wonder that while we enjoy watching the spectacle of royalty perhaps we are privately wishing for a little bit of royal treatment in our own lives. Who wouldn't like to be pampered and coddled: every wish granted expertly and efficiently? I don't see that lifestyle in my future but I do know there are things we can do to pamper ourselves in the act of nurturing a stronger healthier being. Today's "Weekly Digest" celebrates you with simple ideas for royal treatment. I hope you enjoy and look forward to learning how you take time out for the Royal Treatment! Read Article

Gastric Sleevers: Welcome to LivingAfterWLS
In the weight loss surgery community we are seeing more patients undergoing the gastric sleeve procedure. Many "Sleevers" have joined our LivingAfterWLS network recently and I personally wish to welcome you here. I believe you will find the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood to be one of the few prejudice-free zones for connecting with other WLSers on the Internet. We welcome all people to our community regardless of weight or weight management method. As the sleeve procedure becomes more common I hope our Sleevers will grow in numbers and actively share their experience so that we may continue to build our body of knowledge for healthy weight management. I invite you to participate in all the Neighborhood discussions and point you to the Heart on Your Sleeve forum dedicated to the gastric sleeve procedure.

Follow this path:The Neighborhood >> Town Square Knowledge Center >> WLS Chat >> Heart on Your Sleeve

A special forum dedicated to those who undergo gastric sleeve procedures. Named "Heart on Your Sleeve" because so many of us invest our hope and our hearts in a procedure to take back our life. Please share you knowledge and experience here.

To learn more about the gastric sleeve procedure read this article: Benefits of Sleeve Gastrectomy in the Treatment of Morbid Obesity featured in today's Weekly Digest. 

Happy Spring - We are all in this together!
Kaye
KayeBailey@LivingAfterWLS.com

Other Featured Articles:

In This Digest

Free iPhone App: Connect with the Neighborhood

Social Connections

Benefits of Sleeve Gastrectomy

The Royal Treatment in Non-Food ways

The Neighborhood

Recipes: Budget Friendly Rotisserie Chicken