loserbob

Wow, Id like to know what fire company that is. Seriously though,good for you, your one or two of the lucky ones to have found good jobs in this tough economic time when most are getting laid off. As far as lumping you into that group(25, single, jobhunting)didnt mean it as a putdown, its just that most 25 year olds are in that situation. I had no clue what I wanted to do when I was 25. I personally have not felt the impact of the economy. Im a self employed plumber. But I feel the impact of healthcare costs when I want to hire people. I have to pay a plumber good wages and would like to pay for healthcare also but the healthcare is holding me back. Im not asking for a handout, I just cant raise my prices high enough to allow me to afford this at this time. Even though you are makeing good money, (again assumeing your benefits are employer paid)think about if you had to pay on your own. When my wife wasnt working I had insurance on my own, it cost me around $21-22000.00 a year($1885.00) a month! Thats rediculous! Something needed done. The reps. had no answers so Im willing to wait and see. The product your hearing about now wont be the same 10 years from now.

This was posted under the wrong person, Im sure you saw that , its meant for Patty.

Patty again Im so glad you worked you a$$ off to get where your at! Im sorry I keep looking for handouts but the numbers and info you find is unbelievable. With all this talk and now reform bill passing(YES!!!) why do the insurance companies keep raiseing their prices at a time when everyone is hurting(except for you, you worked your a$$ off and now reaping the rewards,KUDOS to you). Whats going to happen when insurance companies raise prices so high most people cant afford it anymore. We're almost there! Whats your attitude going to be when your employer tells you your going to have to pay a couple hundred more a month to keep coverage. Ya, you wont have to worry about it because the "Anti-Christ" took care of it for you. Theres really something wrong if you dont see a problem with the rapidly riseing costs!

When the CBO supports reps point of view, theyre all for it. When it goes against theyre beliefs its a "biased extension of the left wing!

Sanjay Gupta seems to support this plan, He and Obama, good enough for me!

Its funny Patty, you always lean on this statement but how do you know its going to be so bad? Because it was a dem who came up with the healthcare plan. Because Beck almost cried about it on the radio yesterday. God forbid you believe anything Obama says, The experts probably know better than Beck, Hannity. You always talk about how libs want handouts, I work for a guy(at his moms house yesterday) who always talks about Obama(not in good way, not mean either,assuming rep.) He had a huge, beautiful house he built himself(this is where I worked). Yesterday he was cleaning it out to sale, he moved into his mothers little house with her(hes 62 and not married). He told me it was unbelievable,2 Decembersw ago he was an airline pilot makeing $120,000 a year, He was laid off that Dec. Yesterday he was takeing his mother to a church in their town because the food pantry was giveing out food!!! Not being mean but "handouts" arent only for libs!!!

Its funny, your 25, Im assuming no family,wife, kids. If thats the case youll see when your in the workfield for a while and have to support a family. It becomes alot more important. When I was 25 I didnt care what went on in the world, especially healthcare. I was young and healthy and invincible! Now I have a family, am 38 and healthcare is very important to me. Just let me say, Im self employed, my wife has great insurance through her job. We pay about 170.00 a month for top of the line insurance. The reason Im telling you this is because even though Im insured this is still a big issue for me. Id be curious to see what your opinion is in 10 years. The young and old seem to me to be the ones most against healthcare reform. Being 25, your going to have a hard time finding a good job(in this economy)which pays healthcare and descent money. A college education doesnt guarantee that anymore. Today the average child lives with parents until age 28, 10 years ago it was around 24(I believe). I hope you have no problems finding a good job but like I said I would be curious about your opinion in 5-10 years when you have a little more experience in the workfield and hopefully a healthy family.

Whose this Scott Brown guy anyway? It doesnt matter. At last I found a party I can believe in!!!

This is it today, Lets get it done once and for all. If this gets passed I will gain so much more respect(already respect him a great deal either way)for Obama and the dems who passed it. I will respect them so much more for careing about me and my familys well being over payoffs from insurance companies. Im also getting the names of the dems(who caved to rep pol pressure)did not vote for it and will vote against them even if it means voteing a rep in their place!!!

Hi Im Bob. Im 10 days out(March 10th) and already down 32#. I dont know how! I havent done anything out of the ordinary, wait, yes I have. Ive gone from probably 4-5000 cal. a day to around 1000 if Im lucky. I went for my checkup with my surgeon yesterday and before I got on the scale I told her I would be so dissappointed if I didnt lose(I expected around 10#), I couldnt believe it when the scale said 311.1#. My preop weight was 343#. Im so excited, this is enough motivation!!! I havent exercised, at least not anything other than playing with my kids in the yard now that its nice outside. The dr. told me it would slow down, 1-2# per week. Im happy with that and I understand when I eat normal foods again it will slow down but Im wondering if I can be one of the few who lose 100 plus in by next spring (2011). Im planning on joining Snap-fitness when Im able to resume exerciseing! Thanks,good luck to all!

Thanks for all the positive responses, They also keep me motivated. gingerjane, dont be worried about the surgery, I never had surgery before this and was probably more scared than most but it was a breeze and time seems to be moveing pretty quickly right now(healing time).Thanks again and I wish success and happiness to everyone!

Another example: Me being a plumber, I do jobs where some of the small towns are switching from septic tanks to city sewage. I go to these towns and can bid lower than usual because Im going to get majority of jobs, therefore I do the jobs at lower(substantially)prices because I know I have the guaranteed work.(Normal sewer install might cost around $5-7000.00, If I have 10 in 1 area I could do them for about $3-5000.00 and still make good money.

The Tea-baggers are showing their true colors today! Supposedly theyre chanting the N-word at 2 black senators at the capital today during protests. What makes me feel even worse about it is, there are busloads of baggers from Pittsburgh there, which is where Im from.

I crush my pills also. Very tough to swallow, very bitter but I found orange juice makes it a little easier.

I had the realize band on March 10th(lost 32# so far). Am real happy. Maybe we should start "Realize band talk.com"!

You dont have to be afraid to say"for vanitys sake", we all want to look better also. For me its right up there with health and wellness. Its mentally healthy to feel happy about our looks also! Look, you just said what a good day it was because of compliments, whats healthier than being happy?

Dawn, you got my vote. GOOD LUCK!!!

Its tough. When I was on clear liquids I craved homemade turkey soup broth so I made some(2 liter pitcher and a 1-quart measureing cup full). I had 1 soup bowl half full and threw the rest out the other day. I went to full liquids and went to Panera Bread and bought a quart of Broccoli Cheese soup, I had my son with me, he had lunch there so I decided to buy a bowl of the soup to eat. I called my wife at work to tell her I was in heaven(eating this soup). I havent touched the soup I brought home, I will probably throw it out today. That same day I went to a fav. resturaunt and bought 4 bowls of Seafood Bisque, I had 1 bowl total so Ill have to throw out the other 3 today. I keep thinking about the next level of food and when it gets here Im not in the mood for it. Im craveing meat, steak, whatever, real protien. It cant get here fast enough!!!!

My problem is, I assume people will understand my sense of humor, which I shouldnt, I dont know people on here personally. I do apologize, Im not here to pi$$ anyone off.

One more thing. Buy a box of gas-x strips, they are a lifesaver!!!

Hi Im Bob. I had my surgery done on March 10th. I had the realize band. I was a little disappointed when I found out it was not Lapband(Idont know why). I read about the benefits of the "new" realize band and am very happy now. Do not, I repeat, do not even worry about the surgery! I was probably more scared than anybody(never had surgery before). It went so fast, I spent the day of the operation and went home the next afternoon(my dr. requires overnight stay). All I remember was, being wheeled down the hallway (after they put my IV in) the anest. put "oxygen" mask on, told me they would ask me a couple questions when we got to the OR, well she asked me where I was from, I started getting this funny taste in my mouth, then woke up in the recovery room. Ill be honest, the worst part for me was the 2 days after. I had what I think was really, really bad gas. It was more discomfort than pain. I came home the next afternoon, asked my wife why I did this, took my pain meds, went to bed, slept like a baby. Woke up in a little gas discomfort, a little miserable, almost depressed, managed the day. Woke up day 3, it was like night and day difference, I kinda got my appetite back, miserable makeing my wife and kids pepperoni pizza but the suger-free Jello made up for it, Ya right! Today(Tuesday)I took my youngest to the local mall to get out of the house, went to food court got my kid subway. I drank my Won-Ton Soup broth while watching some old man look to me like he was over-enjoying his Big-Mac! I really thought about grabbing it and frunning to my car but the soup broth wasnt really bad. Sorry its so long. I hope this helps,Up to this point there is really nothing to worry about, especially the surgery itself!

Glad to hear your all doing so well. It keeps me motivated.Im just wondering how small do you have to cut your food? Im haveing my surgery tomorrow and still not sure.

5 days out, just wondering how your feeling/doing?

That was right on!

Melinco, I was haveing a bad morning. For some reason i woke up in an arguementative mood(i will accept the blame! No actually Ill blame me starting liquid diet yesterday, haha). Actually my point was that this is probably part of the reason insurance companies require the preop programs. Actually Ive been on this sight going on 3 years and never heard of anybody not being well informed this far into it. By the way, do you think I could sue equate weightloss shake company because Im so miserable since chooseing their product for my liquid diet? They promoted it very wellbut didnt explain the fact I would be miserable? None of that was worded right. What I meant was, I wasnt saying people who self pay arent well informed. Ok I guess the mood is staying with me Im getting pi$$ed that I even have to explain it to you. Interprate it however you like. When in the %$^& did I generalize about self payers? I even went as far to say"My knowledge is limited because I havent had mine yet, but I will help in any way I can. Quit makeing it about you. You where very knowledgeabl I get, good for you. Is that what you want to hear? Why dont you quit being so sensitive and think about how you can help!