Devana

Wow, Jen, you're doing well! Congratulations and keep on going!

Hi, welcome and congratulations on your decision. Search around the site and you'll find a thread with members getting it done the same month as you. It is good to communicate with people at the same stage. All the best!

Hi Krystal, congratulations on your decision. I hope you get your approval soon. I think that 10% business it to try and get you into a new lifestyle so you're up and running with it by the time you're banded. You might want to bite the bullet and go on one of the liquid pre banding diets or Atkins or something like that. That would speed the process. All the best!

Way to go! It's great you have a family member who's been there and can help support you through this. All the best with it!

Hi Pam. I'm in BC. Where are you going for your banding?

Hi Kim. Welcome and congratulations on your approval. This is going to be an exciting change for you. I have absolutely no liquid diet tips other than to just do it and keep your mind on the prize! Keep us posted.

Welcome, Anna. Hey, you're little!! I think it's harder to carry extra weight around when you're only 5 feet tall. Everything is made for taller people to begin with. Add to that the extra difficulty when you're heavier and life can be a bit complicated. Good luck with your journey!!

My husband and I used to run a group home many years ago and always had anywhere between 5 and 11 teens. My husband has always had this gift in dealing with kids in a gentle and humorous way, kind of a gentle way of laughing about the behaviour but not at the kid. So many ugly situations have been diffused this way. So I've learned this from him and it worked well back then and works now with our 16 yr old. Our boy has had many horrendous medical procedures done since he was 9 and we've learned that after every hospital stay, he's angry. His behaviour is atrocious. This usually only lasts a month max and we don't use the humour with this, we just ride it out because it's not really HIM. Right now, at 16, he's an amazing kid. He's smart and funny. He thinks he knows everything of course, and can be a bit obnoxious about it, but nothing we can't handle. He's an amazing musician and spends hours practicing and studying. He has discovered literature and is inhaling the books. He even goes to bed early to get more reading time. He watches what he eats and goes to the gym and pool every day. He and his buddies think they're all Jackson Pollock and go to each others houses to paint. We always have a pile of smelly, bad oil paintings laying around in various states of dryness. He also likes classic movies. I was away at a conference a couple of weeks ago and he spent the whole time watching Ingmar Bergman movies. Not your average bear. My only complaint is that I wish he would be more attentive to the courses he's not fond of in school which of course are all the non arts courses.

This still sounds like you're imposing your will. Submitting to the laws of the land and to someone else's beliefs are totally different situations. You coming into my dying son's temporary home because you think he should have music would be imposing your will. Your above quote is quite telling: "It's fun to do what you want to do despite those who would say it's wrong in God's eyes." YOU are telling me that God has laws and I should follow them. I don't believe they are God's laws. But according to you I should follow what you say anyway? That's YOUR will you're trying to impose.

Are there not laws requiring you to report any suspected abuse of a child?

I couldn't get the quote to come up so I'll type it out: "Liberals generally think that christians are trying to spoil all their fun. It's fun to do what you want to do despite those who would say it's wrong in God's eyes." What could be fun that I would want to do that you would say is wrong in God's eyes. Marry my girlfriend? Ok, just say I was a lesbian and wanted to marry. YOU tell me that it's wrong in God's eyes. I do it anyway. In light of the above quote it sounds an awful lot like you're trying to impose your will on me. As far as the singing in the hospital goes it sounds like you're quite in favour of people going into a hospital and singing to the dying children. My kid is dying. This is where he is living at the moment. You think it's alright to go into his temporary home uninvited and sing? Once more....sounds like you're trying to impose your will.

I don't understand.........Do Liberals always think this? What fun are they having that you think that they think might be spoiled? Are Liberals and Christians mutually exclusive? As I mentioned on a previous thread, I spent quite a long time in the hospital with my son. Any group that came in to see the patients without prior arrangement were asked to leave. I didn't see any Christian groups asked to leave, but I did see a group of highschool kids who had made toys for the kids asked to leave and call ahead to make arrangements to come in.

That was me that said that and that is my son that's had that much care. This "universal health care" as it's called is funded through our taxes as well as the monthly premiums, which in BC amount to a maximum of $108 per family. If you read the link from Joan, our taxes are about 10% above the US. Not all of this is for the medical plan, we also have other social programs that this would cover. In any insurance plan they count on the majority of people not needing to use it much. Unfortunately, my family was one that needed to use it. The difference here is that there's nobody out to make a profit off the insurance plan. In my earlier post I said that I know people in the US who have been insured (at a cost of over $700 a month) who still weren't fully covered and suffered great financial hardship when they became ill. I can't begin to describe the stress I was under when our son was ill. He came close to death several times. I really can't imagine worrying about if I could afford certain treatments or how I was going to pay for them. That certainly would have put me over the edge.

No problem BJean. It always astounds me that some people really think that they'll be better off with big business running the health care system. Low income families get the premiums paid either partially or completely. With that they also get 10 visits per year that they can use for a naturopath, chiropractor or massage therapist. Some employers here do cover the medical premiums for families. However, they're so low that they usually also provide what we call "Extended Care". This covers dental, eyeglasses, orthotics, massage etc.

Since you perpetuated just about all the myths about Canadian health care and in the interest of space, I offer the following more accurate portrayal of Canada's health care system: 10 Myths About Canadian Health Care, Busted | Physicians for a National Health Program Thanks for the link Joan. As a Canadian living in BC the parts I have knowledge about are right on. In my own experience, this is what I know: I am paid by our medical system. They pay me on time, they don't tell me where or how to practice. I have one secretary who handles the three physicians in our office. I mean everything from patient handling to billing. I have several American born patients who have family in the States who they are supporting financially to help pay their medical bills or who are selling off bits of the farm to pay for their cancer treatment or whatever. These are INSURED people. I was just reading in the New York Times about how many insured people are being bankrupted by their medical treatment. That just doesn't happen here. EVERYBODY is covered. Nobody is ever refused insurance for past or ongoing illnesses. I know several American women who romanced and married Canadian men (and in every cased divorced them after a 2 -3 years) so they could get up here and have an affordable health care system in their old age. I know two older Canadian nurses who have spent their whole working life in the US and moved back here for retirement to make sure they would have affordable health care. I know several young nurses who have gone to work in the US because the pay is higher. There tends to be a shortage of nurses here and the nurse population is aging. There is concern that nurses are getting trained here at partial public expense only to go elsewhere. There is ongoing debate and research as to how to keep working here attractive. I know several people who have had to wait a couple of months for hip or knee replacements. I don't know of anyone who has had to wait for anything, whether it be imaging or surgery, when the situation has been urgent. I also lived in a rural community for awhile. Back then the nearest MRI was a two hour drive away. The plan has a provision for reimbursing or arranging for travel to be at no charge if you need attention in a different town. People from rural areas are sent to other hospitals be medical helicopter if needed, all paid for by the plan. In our own family, my son became severely ill a few years ago. He was too ill for our local hospital and was transferred to BC Childrens Hospital. He spent a good part of that year there and had multiple surgeries. His treatment is ongoing and I've estimated the cost of all this is over a million dollars at this point. We pay the maximum family amount of $108 per month. His surgery is very specialized. Someone suggested we see the closest surgeon who does this procedure in Oregon, for a second opinion. He told us that he would do exactly the same thing that the surgeon at Childrens would do but that there would be a 14 month wait for him. We came back and had it done in two weeks here. I forgot to take my son off the list in Portland and sure enough, 14 months later we got notice to come down for his procedure. I was at a conference in the US a couple weeks ago and had one fellow buttonhole me and tell me about the evils of "socialized medicine" and he asked me how much it really cost. I couldn't answer him other that say it sure doesn't cost me an extra seven hundred and some dollars per month in taxes. Joan's link does give information on that. I hope for the US that a system gets worked out where there's affordable medical coverage for all, that everyone can live with. I had enough stress to deal with when our son was ill, I can't imagine having financial stress at that time as well. That would have been hell.

Too funny!

BJean, thankyou, I am fine, but I'm insanely busy, and it's totally of my own doing. This past year I have given up or cut down on some things that really give me pleasure and feed me (like playing in a marimba group and LBT) because the other stuff takes up so much time. Green's passing has made me reflective and remember how precious the time of our lives is. So I've come up with a plan. It will take me some time to extricate myself from some of my obligations, but I can also do things on a daily basis that give me pleasure and serenity. For example I love to sit and watch the tide come in, and I've managed to do that for the last three days in a row. And communicating on LBT. For me, social connections, even cyber ones, are "life" supporting.

I was surprised at how intense my feelings are about green's passing. It has taken me awhile to post here. Like everyone else who has posted, I too will miss her. I loved her articulateness and elegance in the way she put things.

Patricia, I stayed at the El Camino when I had my band done, but I've since been down for dental work and my banded friend came down at the same time for her plastic surgery. We stayed in the Best Western in San Ysidro, and much preferred that to staying in TJ. First, it was cheaper. They have special medical rates. It has a nice little outdoor pool and a convenience store and restaurant right there. There are free shuttle vans that will take you to your clinic. (We always gave generous tips). It only takes a few minutes. You sign up the night before for the 7,9 or 11 am shuttle. When you're done the clinic calls them for you to be picked up. I believe almost all the dentists, surgeons and cancer clinics in TJ use the vans. The main clincher for me, though, is that it's way cheaper to call home from the US than Mexico. I made one short call from there once and it cost $50 bucks. PM me if you want more specific information.

My 16 yr old son playing "Hey Joe" (a la Hendrix) on his guitar......so beautifully it almost makes me cry.

I did not hear anything about "handing out money". Is this what everyone thinks "share the wealth" means? And isn't it already being done? Your (collective, not just you ES) hard earned money is going to roads that the deadbeats drive or walk on and schools that the deadbeats send their children to. There are many people who work their asses off and still live in poverty. I hear a general association between poverty and deadbeat-ness (is that a word??) on these discussions. (I know you didn't say that)

Has anyone out there done a self fill? I know there's lots of reasons for not filling oneself, however I'm still curious. It's just that I've got this bundle of huber needles that the doc gave me for emergency unfills and I'm sorely tempted to do some self care.

I was at a dinner meeting at the golf course. Later on in the evening I snuck out to the bar and watched the speech with our two servers from the dining room and a couple of other people. One of the girls cracked open a bottle of champagne and served us all a toast. A very appropriate way to have watched the speech, I think.

Way to go, all of you. Congratulations on your new government.

I beg your pardon? Canada a "completely socialist country"??? Can you explain please?