First, hi!  Glad to see Seattle is finally 4th edition!

Second:  I'm new to being a mage in general and am really beginning to dig being such a thing.  Tear brought it to my attention last night that having a Sustaining Health foci would be beneficial.  While in theory it sounds awesome, in practice I'm not seeing how a health foci would work as far as Sustaining goes.

Lets say I have a Force 3 Sustaining Health Foci:  I cast it with 8 dice (magic 5 + 3) and it goes off *blamo*.  However, the rules say it would be sustained.  Does that mean it automatically becomes permenant, or... Should I just got with a Power Foci and buy the Healing Spell itself?

Additionally:  Foci bought in Chargen are -not- bound to the character unless they pay the appropriate BP, right?

It's not for the healing spell.  It's for the Increase Reflexes spell.  That means you can sustain the spell without a -2 penalty at all times.  Could also be used for the Increase Attribute spell, though generally for much less beneficial effect, since a force 3 could only boost an attribute that started under 3.

Oh!  Hah, that makes total sense now.  I was sitting here thinking on Healing and not Health in general.  Thanks yet again, Tear.