Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Bandsters

[Lucy 0]

AWESOME. Stevee, you've already got $100 towards your surgery!

And I agree with Juli, if you can set up a Paypal acct. that would be great :girl_hug:

[Bozlee 0]

I'll donate too!

[Stevee 0]

Thank you thank you thank you. i can't put into words what this means to me. i can't stop crying. its so amazing there are people in this world like you all. i'm working on emailing everyone that has offered to help me. and i can assure all of you this money will be used for my surgery and my surgery only. i have opened an account specifically for saving this money. my girlfriend has also asked me to thank you all from her. she feels awful that she can't help me more but what she doesn't realize is that i wouldnt have my house if it weren't for her being here to help me w/ the increase in the payment as well as buy my gas etc. again words aren't enough to express how greatful i am to all of you. i also want to say that i will also pay it forward. when i'm able to i will do this for someone else.

again thank you and my tears are still flowing!

i do have a paypal account that i've used in the past but i have no idea how to or what to give people so that they can send money that way. if anyone would like to help me i'd appreciate it.

i can't say it enough. thank you. ya'll are the most supportive group of people i have ever met.

whats so sad is that my own grandma wouldn't even give me 25 cents towards this. just shows that blood family isn't always better than family right?

[Stevee 0]

i also wanted to tell ya'll that i'm not just sitting here waiting for a handout. i am so afraid of people thinking that of me. i am trying to save all i can. the account i opened has $10 in it. i know its not much but every little bit counts right? i had originally saved $100, then when i went to the dietician it cost me $100. so then i saved $50, and went to my psych eval and it cost $200.. so i owe them $150. i promise i'm trying i promise. i'm also going to have a garage sale on Sept 7 and 8. i putting everything i can think of in it. and my girlfriend is giving up clothes for it too... and for anyone that loves clothes and hates giving up clothes even if they fit ya'll understand how much it means to me to see her bring me a huge stack of clothes to see. all the money i get at the garage sale is for my surgery fees as well.

again thank you all so much and i love each and every one of you and i'm here to support everyone as much as ya'll have supported me!

[Kimmie 0]

You all are amazing...I'm a friend of Stevee...and I think you are all godsend for helping her out in her situation! Ya'll ROCK! :girl_hug:

[Lucy 0]

Marc, congratulations on your decision to have the surgery. I think it's awesome that you are facing your fears and you are going to be so happy that you did this.

Stevee, we all know that you are not sitting around waiting for a handout. I think a big part of why I want to help you is because I know what it's like to work my ass off and still struggle financially. I've been through some really rough financial times in my life when I didn't know if I would be able to pay my rent. The kindness of others, particularly people who were not family or super close friends, has always been something that has amazed me. And being in those situations has made me realize that sometimes we are in position to receive, and sometimes we are in the position to give.

Honestly, if someone wrote a "send me money" post on this forum, I don't think any of us would even click on it to see what they needed. But we know that isn't you. Accept it and know that someday you will be able to do the same for someone else :confused:

[cheri52 1]

Wouldn't it be great if money wasn't a part of society?! when you figure out how to work it (the paypal thing) , let us know, I'm sure you will get what you need with a little help from your friends,.... you're to young , but there is a song in there somewhere:music:

Well, I had my 2ed fill yesterday. It went well, without a hitch, but I got to tell you after was a first!:confused: I've never been one to follow rules, always though I was the exception! and actually up to now have not had even one bad side effect.but I mean to tell you when they say FULL liquids the 1st 24 hrs, they mean it!!! I only took one bite of very soft food and chewed VERY well. OMG:omg:, wrong thing to do. found out just what they mean by "foaming" lost the "bite" and then the foaming started. felt like a creature from the black lagoon! won't go there again!!!:faint: The good thing tough is that I always thought that the vomiting associated with this thing would be like when you are sick, but it really isn't as bad as that, just a little blurp with the burp! nothing that at this point out should threaten the band placement. but still...:rolleyes They said it would be a couple weeks till I felt a change in restriction, but I definately feel it now.

And YES I would still do this again! creature and all!

[Stevee 0]

cheri - i've always heard that the way we learn is to do what we aren't supposed to do and pay the price i'm sure your foaming was your price. i'm sure that will happen to me at least once. not lookin forward to it at all. :confused:

ok .. so i think i figured out the pay pal thing.. it looks to me like all you have to know on pay pal to send money is their email address. boy oh boy i just knew it was gonna be tougher than that. so if you want my email its stevee_stidham@cox.net

again thanks to all of you.

also i made a myspace just for posting about my weight loss journey so if any of ya'll are on myspace add me add me

MySpace.com - www.myspace.com/230361199

[kity 2]

Good Morning Family~

I can honestly say that I am looking forward to going back to work. Even though I have 3 jobs , I am looking forward to the regularity of life. I can committ to this band thing, lol. I need another fill in the next couple of weeks (depending on my schedule). Anyway, it has been a great productive summer w/ lots of home projects and lots of vacations...but I am ready to go back to normal. (Remind me I said this in Feb. when I am freaking out and cursing my job).

Tomorrow, I am going to the beach for 4 days. Susanne lives at the beach. We have Dodgers tickets for Saturday night, and then just relax a bit.

Have a great couple of days everyone.

xoxoxo

[OH Juli 15]

Regular life? There is such a thing? I feel like I run from one thing to the next to the next!

But I know what you mean. Looks like I can breathe come the end of September, but I've just planned a big ass bike ride in a different city...so that means getting a room....coordinating with other LBTers.

Pamela, I have to say meeting you was such a treat I'm pressing my luck and my cycling buddies and I are going to meet in Indiana to ride come the end of September. You were so awesome, I'm betting they will be too. (Bad logic, but wtf? eh?)

[Chris61 0]

Stevee:

Does your employer have a flexable spending account? Or do you quailfiy for the HFSA that is self directed for individuals? You could put x number in for next year and start right after 1st of the year. Plus it's tax free and would reduce your taxable income. Iam in the process of trying to find out the total cost from are doctors so that we can figure out the ded. We might what untill the first of the year since we have maxed out the flex account this year we put in the max amount. Also you might have your taxes ready to file in Jan. and us the refund to pay for the surgery. just a thought.

Chris

Pre Band

St. Louis

[Stevee 0]

we have flex spending account but i didnt know what it was at the time so i didnt sign up for it and i can't sign up for it again until next may. so thats out of the question.

my taxes though i actually file ASAP and if i dont have the surgery before then that money will go towards it as well. i'm only needing like $700 for surgeon fees so i'm hoping to actually have that by my birthday at least .. i would like to be banded before my birthday which is new years eve. so far with the help of the people in this thread i'm up to $150, my g/f is giving me $25, and two friends said they'd give me $25 too. and MsDad sent me an extra $60 (i thanked him up and down in an email to him. he is a remarkable man!) and i put it $10 for now (thats all i could afford this week) so i'm up to $270. i can do this. i'm trying really hard. i do hair part time and am trying to find new clients. right now with my checks not paying my bills, i'm using the hair money to stay on top of bills but believe me if there is any extra its going towards this!

again thank you to everyone that has helped me. its so much appreciated and i love you all!

[AshevilleEddie 14]

MsDad sent me an extra $60 (i thanked him up and down in an email to him. he is a remarkable man!)

Thanks for the compliment Stevee, but I don't know if I qualify as remarkable. I am however, pretty fortunate. We're not rich, but we do make enough to have a nice (not luxurious, but nice) home and support our RVing habit. :biggrin1: As for the extra $60, let me clarify. I'm pretty much copying and pasting what I e-mailed to you Stevee, so if it sounds familiar that's why. I’m a notary & one of my clients came in yesterday to have some documents notarized. We don’t charge for notary services, so when she asked how much she owed me I obviously told her “nothing.” Well, she pushed $60 at me and told me to buy myself lunch. I argued with her for several minutes, even telling her that I would just deposit it into her account after she left. She told me she would be very upset and hurt if I didn’t take it. (Of course I did remind her about my surgery – she already knew – and asked if she realized how many lunches that would buy me!) Anyway, I wound up keeping it. I was thinking about it last night and decided that since everything happens for a reason, that I was meant to pass that along to Stevee. So I did. Nothing remarkable, nothing heroic...just me being me. You see, I'm honestly an incredibly selfish person (don't believe me, ask my husband) but I do believe in helping others when I can. All of us have our families of origin and our families of choice. You guys are members of my extended family of choice. I've never met any of you face to face (yet) but you have been more caring and supportive than many of my local friends (and family of origin) and I love you all. So there was never any question in my mind about helping Stevee. I just got lucky enough to have extra to pass along.

So I'm done waxing sentimental and am changing the subject completely. Has anyone watched Burn Notice on USA? We've only missed one episode. It is such a cool show. And for the guys (or our beloved St8 grrls) - is not Jeffrey Donovan freakin' HOT?? :flame:

[Lucy 0]

I used to have a flexible spending account and it was awesome -- I've had a lot of ankle problems in the last 2 years and I cashed in all my receipts before I took a vacation every year, it was like having extra money. Of course, it was all mine, but it didn't feel that way.

Now that I work for myself I don't have that (or a 401K -- I know, I know, Suze Orman is going to appear in my bedroom in the middle of the night and shoot me in the head) but I do have a savings account that I try to contribute to...

Also, if any of you are self-pay, don't forget that your medical expenses are tax-deductible. I think you have to spend at least $9000.00 or so (don't quote me on that, I'm not an accountant or even remotely good at math) but if you are a self-payer, your medical bills should qualify, along with all of your other medical expenses over the past year.

Have I mentioned how much I love this thread? I'm not even gay (I do think women are hot, but I'm not *that* into any vagina other than my own) but I feel more at home in this thread than I do in most of the others. So thanks kids, for welcoming me into your famlly.

(Not to mention that bears drool over my husband, and I do a totally kick ass impression of Freddie Mercury...that has to count for something...)

[kity 2]

Thanks Juli...the feeling was mutual. I am sure your cycling friends are going to be fabulous!!! Don't forget, a bottle of wine makes anyone "fun". LOL...I crack myself up. Gotta go to bed, gonna see my girl tomorrow, and I must look rested! Have a great weekend everyone!

xoxoxo