MM - BBGC - Life After WLS

New house rule.

There's no crying., originally uploaded by Bethography.

MIL Update Part Deux.

She's "fine."  She's been removed from her blood pressure meds, but.. no diagnoses as to what happened with her chest pressure and slow heartrate.

Tab Energy?

I have a 'hood coke dealer.  He gave us a case of Tab Energy.  This means, I should be Feeling Quite Energized, right?  I mean, I've had two cups of coffee, which translates to 21 ounces of coffee so far... and now, I'm working on a Tab Energy.  Should I be able to leap buildings in a single bound soon?  Nah.  I don't get that kind of energy, ever, even highly caffeinated nearly all the time.  It's bizarre, and I've said this before:  Caffeine seems to have an equally opposite reaction on me - it seems to calm me more but at the same time makes me focus.  If focus helps my energy, fine.  (I don't focus.  I have issues with trains of thought derailing, hence the fact that I never finish anything I start.)

Anyways - about the Tab Energy Drink.  It's bizarre.  I don't know why it's called Tab - I thought Tab was initially a diet cola?  I am a little too young to have been a drinker of the old skool Tab, but I know it was a big deal back when I was little.

"TaB was Coca-Cola  Company's first sugar-free drink, introduced in 1963.  Its name was a  play on the notion of people keeping "tabs" on their weight."

I guess Coke is trying lure in the mid-aged women who may have been fans of the original?  (I can't imagine my mom trying this at ALL, to be perfectly honest.)  Or, maybe the younger than me set, who doesn't remember Tab, trying to be cool?  I don't know.

The facts:

Ingredients: Carbonated water, citric acid, taurine, natural and artificial flavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate (to protect taste), ginseng extract, caffeine, vegetable juice (for color), asesulfame potassium, sucralose, carnitine fumarate, niacinamide (Vitamin B3), pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Guarana extract, cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12)

Nutrition Facts: Serving size: 1 can; Amount per serving: Calories: 5; Total fat: 0g; Sodium: 110mg; Total carbs: 0g; Protein: less than 1g; Niacin: 25%; Vitamin B6: 25%; Vitamin B12: 15%

It's pale pink, pretty!  It's carbonated.  It smells like, my four year old?  At first it tastes slightly fruity, partly like children's toothpaste.  It's not bad, just odd.  It's easier to drink than say, Monster Zero Carb, because it's not as vile a taste, maybe because it's meant for girls.  It leaves a funky mouth-feel, sort of dry and icky.  The after taste is not exactly pleasant, either.  It's chemically enhanced metallic flavor!

I've had about five of these since I got the case, and while they're "not awful" - I wouldn't physically pay my own money for them.  (But, for free, I'mma drink the suckers.)

Have you tried Tab Energy?

In a few months - they'll be beating each other up in the playpen.

, originally uploaded by Bethography.

In this corner, baby Triscuit.... in this corner, baby cousin E... DING DING DING!

MIL Update

MIL is having a little visit at the hospital.  Yesterday, while out walking at the mall, she had chest pressure and trouble breathing, enough to make her sit down and stop walking altogether.  She figured it was enough to get checked out - because it's something new and not normal for her.  (Quick background, she had roux-en-Y gastric bypass back in the summer, has lost 100+ lbs. and had previously been dealing with high blood pressure, diabetes, and other obesity-related health issues.)  So, she gets to the ER, her pulse is low - blood pressure normal.  I have no clue as to what this means - and why she's had pain - so she was admitted and is undergoing all the related cardiac testing.  Also, something else, when attempting to draw blood for testing, her blood is very slow to come out and someone mentioned "clotting" on the way out?  I wondered if she may be very dehydrated or something, but I have no medical knowledge... so, that's all I know right now.  I'll update her condition, because of course I'd like to know if this is in any way related to the previous weight loss surgery or complications of, since she's had a few of the complications already.  She feels alright now, but they've kept her for testing further today, and we'll know more later.