Emily, thanks for your response.  I'm finally having an opportunity to respond.  I have a fb page, but, don't use it.  I made it long ago and don't even remember how to get to it.   I just quit using fb all together, sorry.  But, if you want, you can email me anytime you like.  (that's is how I got your message--through email,,......guess it delivers them there for  you, thank goodness or I never would have found my way back here again, LOL).  I live off of I-10 & Cassat Ave, 1 blook N of I-10.  Where abouts are you located?  You mentioned you live way, way out kinda.  I'd definitely be interested in meeting with some people on the westside if it weren't too expensive.  I'll just tell you, I'm way out from my surgery, but, still going with Novus and NFS.  I've just got to unfortunately save up some $$$$ 1st.  Thanks for your response again.  I appreciate it.  I hope to hear from you again,.....Amy

The support from Novus was great.  They handled everything for my insurance and I never had to talk to anyone from the insurance company.  I felt the $500 was worth it for the pre and post-op support.  The dietician and mental health counseling that was part of the Novus program satisfied my insurance requirements, so I didn't have to deal with co-pays for any of those visits before surgery.  I never bought any vitamins or anything through them since I was so educated from doing tons of research online and I knew where to get the items on my own.

Even if you don't go through Novus, their monthly support groups at St Lukes are open to EVERYONE.  They realized that getting a variety of opinions and experiences was very helpful for post-ops.  Jarrod and his wife, who both work for Novus are also WLS patients, so there is first-hand experience within the company.  Even if you don't have the $ right now, I would encourage you to go to the monthly support groups as a pre-op.  Once you get signed up with Novus, you'll have access to their classes which are more structured than the support groups and will give you a lot of information on subjects such as diet, exercise and mental health effects.

I haven't found any support groups yet here in Tallahassee.  I'm 2 years out and doing ok.  I know what I'm supposed to be doing, but having the support group acted as my accountability and I'm finding that I really miss that.  I've managed to lose and keep off 190lbs throughout the whole process, which is much better than I'd ever imagined I would do.

 hey. I grew up on the westside. 

Friend me on fb. There are a few of us that meet up in OP.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002426626593

Amy - did you get my post about why I chose webb not sure if it went thru....