Lap_dancer

Thanks for letting us know you are banded and doing good. Sorry to hear about TOOTY TOWN. But think of it as a temporary inconvenience for a long term benefit.

.............................................................................................. DerickM: I did not punch out anyone but I did move away. I went through a nasty and unexpected divorce from my high school sweetheart. (he did me a favor but at the time I didn't know this) I moved 1000 miles away from home with a friend. New Year's Eve I was married and living on a midwestern farm, by December I was in paradise. New starts are amazing. I highly recommend them. Nobody knows your name or who your family is or what you looked like in 3rd grade. I grew up rather quickly and to be honest, I found that there are some awesome people on this planet. The first gay person (that I knew was gay) I made friends with filled me to the brim with self confidence. After two years I knew I would never go back. Find a place you DREAM of living in and then move there. That is what I did.

I think you were intelligent enough not to sign what you knew to be a waiver. I'm with you. What IS he afraid of? BTW: You can avoid that office by going to a new surgeon, signing a release of records for them and your ex-surgeon has no recourse but to send them on.

Those pics are great. Ironically enough, my cat just brought in a dead bird. I found it following the trail of feathers in the hallway.

DrewsLou thanks for that holla! I don't know whether to wait until June when I am off for summer or if I should catch a date in April or May to get this done ASAP. Any thoughts?

Interesting. I'm of the inclination if I don't think I will like what I read I don't read it. That would be the case with the Falwell, Swaggert and Robertson crowd. Dobson has some good parenting books, I think because he isn't solely Theological in his studies. I was most impressed by his interview with Ted Bundy. That is an excellent viewing/reading. My daughter studied Mormonism and did convert for a time. She left that faith however when they talked about the aliens and the young boy having visions in the woods. I couldn't get past the term "Elder" in their church as a boy of 15 years old. One thing that disturbs me about any persuasion, it's broad spectrum when it comes right down to the "ism", no tolerance of an individual's beliefs is equally as offensive as well, no tolerance of an individual's beliefs. No matter which side you are on, I've seen discrimination and broad swipes at intolerance from both camps of liberal and conservative. Seems each side feels justified in their condemnation of the other. (same coin, different side)

Would that be the 11th DIGIT? My guess on the Commandments is God didn't get into specifics because it would have resembled a grocery list instead of tenants for moral behavior. (just a guess is all) Why did you read Purpose Driven Life?

Hey Everyone! Great to see these dates!!! Woo Hoo. I have my phone consulation with Dr. K on Monday.

GREAT tats! Love the spider. Good color gradiation. Okay now about the surgery...AWESOME! This stuff doesn't gross me out it fascinates me. How cool are those hooters! Sittin' up there nice and purdy! Keep us posted. How are feeling?

I'm not gay but wanted to say HI! Good luck bandsters.

I love Snopes.com I check out urban legends there often. Those dollars are indeed missing the logo but it was a mint error. They are going on eBay for upwards of $200. The re-issue has the correction.

One last thought. That knee jerk remark the boss make about it being a white church made me think about folks who are hypervigilant. Did you ever see the move "Uncle Buck"? In one scene, the main character (Buck (Russell) goes to the school to meet with his niece Maisy's principal. This principal has a large mole on her face. Uncle Buck is in the office and of course he doesn't want to mention her very obvious mole but introduces himself as "Buck Melanoma, Moley Russell's wart" and further stumbles along with: "I'm the wart. She's my tumor, my growth, my pimple. I'm ''Uncle Wart.'' Just old Buck ''Wart'' Russell". Racism. The white elephant in the living room.

I get where the boss is coming from. He wrongly assumed your family was racist but on the other hand he is in Alabama and his family is black. My father's family isn't a broad representation of what prejudices are still kicking in Alabama but I have many relatives there with friends and with each visit it stuns me to hear what comes out of people's mouths so I get where the boss is coming from. You and your husband never got an answer to your question which was What KIND of church is it? I would ask again like this: I'm glad (your son's name) has found a good friend in (bosses son's name). They seem to get along well. You know the other day I asked what kind of church you went to, I mean what KIND of church as in what denomination? (drop the racial thing don't bring it up unless they do and if they do say: Well RACE never crossed my mind).

Just by your description of the surgeon it sounds like you didn't get proper aftercare. I'm sure I would be feeling the same way. I would definately file a complaint about him after I got my records. Find another surgeon. There is remedy.

Hi Mini: Pull up a chair darlin'. I spent untold $$$ on therapists until I finally evolved, grew, changed, and met the therapist who gave me these words: " Until you accept that your mother will never be the kind of mother you think you should have or that she should be, you will continue to struggle like this." You cannot change your mother. You can change how you internalize her words, her actions, and everything else she does. Make them less important than they are. That will take practice. Hold your tongue because it will only encourage old patterns with her. The idea is to change the old patterns. THAT you have control of. Best to you. PM me if you want to talk. I'm here and believe me, I DO understand what you are going through.

Thanks Faithmd! Will do.

I need to qualify that flamer word in case we have some that jump to conclusions. My gay friends look at flamers (gay individuals who are expecially effeminate) as not representing the whole segment of the gay population but being the stereotypical comedic punchline to homosexuality. Hence, FLAMER.

Okay, following this logic, liberals want to force everyone else to recognize gay marriage as a legal wedded union between husband and husband or wife and wife. Why should I be okay with that just because someone else says it's their lifestyle choice? Do your REALLY think Roe V. Wade will be overturned? (not) Ted Haggard doesn't represent any Christians I know of. In the conservative world, Ted Haggard would be the equal to a Chrisitan "flamer". Christians don't want their kids to sit in a science class and be forced to learn Darwin's THEORY. T-H-E-O-R-Y. Add the other possibilities to the scientific equation...ooops! Too late since they purchased all those teaching materials with ONE theory. (now is that really science?)

Go to the Blue Cross Blue Shield thread under INSURANCE. There is a quick jump to that topic at the bottom of the site with a drop box to open and click to that topic. I have an exclusion. It's plain as the nose on your face. "no matter what" it is not covered. I did appeal all the way to the state insurance in my case and was denied, denied, denied. Now, having said that, just because I'm a hard a$$, I encourage everyone to appeal their adverse decisions because you never know what can happen, you build awareness within your insurance company that may lead to change C) it doesn't cost anything but your time. D) I like to just mess with 'em when some idiot company has such an exclusion that would ultimately lead to healthier patients (are they complete idiots to not cover this????) I did have a Plan B and Plan C. Plan B was to ask my employer to purchase a rider to my insurance so that I could have the surgery. They tried and I love them for it. My insurance told them NO. Plan C was self pay and fly to a surgeon I would pick. I look at this like an investment in ME. We buy cars, homes and think nothing of getting a loan for it. Is it so far removed to get a loan for ME? Heck no! Think what I'll recoup in the long run!!! Hope this helps.

Thanks Jack! I'll be flying to and from Denver. Can I expect to be rather sleepy on the whole trip?

How did your insurance company handle the doctor bills for the pre-op tests? Covered the following..*I'm fat so diagnosis obesity is a no brainer. The sleep study, cardiac evaluation, thyroid testing,*blood chemistry panel) etc ... did they cover those things because they are tests that could have needed to be done anyway, since you are over weight? &&&& YES! Or did they deny the claims because they were pre-op tests for "bariatric surgery" ^^^NO. Non bariatric patients have these tests on a regular basis. I know I have an exclusion and I don't want to find out down the road BC/BS won't cover these bills. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida HMO Health Options covered all of my tests.

When I want a good stiff breath of liberal air, I turn on NPR. (And I love NPR and the independent radio stations that play original music some that includes musician friends of mine). **What works for me is a balance of all of the sources. I am fond of bloggers who tend to hit the topic first followed by mainstream media the next day. They blow their trumpet to their reader politics (like FOX). If you read several sources, including overseas sources like BBC and Asia Times, you can read through the muck and hopefully find that balance.

Wow (and laughing) Talk about all of us going off topic. So who is Ron Cusano and where is he when much of the discussion of late is about him? Hmmm. I wonder if he knows.:bored

No kidding? I heard they take the old navel, resection a piece of the stomach with a "new hole" and pull the little OLD belly button through and stitch it to be the new navel. I saw this on a body lift surgery episode.

AHHHH! I'm SOOO excited for you JulieNYC! Wow. You are so close to being able to see your feet, top and toes and even your knees! WOO HOO. Keep these wonderful posts. They are such a joy to read!