Support Group Meeting

I went to one of the local monthly support group meetings last night for our WLS facility. It is held twice a month at the hospital where surgeries are done. (2nd Monday of the month 6 - 8 pm & last Saturday of the month 10 am - noon). It is a different agenda at each meeting. This meeting was standing room only, with over 60 people there. Some were several years out from having had surgery, some recent like myself and then others who were still waiting for insurance approval. Most meetings have a speaker (dietitian, personal trainer, psychologist...) People share their successes for their month if they would like, there are door prizes, money is collected (optional) to contribute to the activity fund. There is a summer picnic, Halloween party, Christmas party, clothing sale...

The fun thing about this meeting was after about 30 min of items on the agenda we divided into two groups, lapbanders and gastric bypass. There were about 28 lapbanders and 35 or so gastric patients. The two nurses from the practice facilitate the groups. (both have had wls/one gastric and one lap band). Our nurse went over some info in a packet talking about fills and how to be successful with the band. The best part is when the participants shared their experience and offered advice. It was fun to hear what bandsters several years out had to say. I think we should divide into groups more often and just chat.

I did feel bad for a woman who has not had surgery yet and came to the meeting to decide which route to go. She sat in on the lap band session and decided that sounded like too much work with all of the fills, and she didn't like needles. :)

One of my favorite quotes from the night was "not deprivation, but moderation." I think that is a good way to sum of lapband lifestyle. :)

I get so much information on the blog lists, it is hard to imagine anything new I could pick up at support group. The biggest thing I took away is how the journey is different for each person. One person had no trouble eating lettuce and yet the person right next to her eats it every day.

I will wrap with another fun quote, "There are no failures, only delayed successes!"