We had our first Get Together for the Bander's Group this week. We met at the local Applebee's which has a nice WLS friendly menu.

We didn't have a large turnout, but it seemed to be very successful for those who attended. It was nice for members to be able to talk about the successes and struggles that they are encountering on their journey and to realize that they are not alone. Tips on types of foods, textures, and quantities were shared. We also talked about food journaling and the benefits of awareness. We talked about the fact that we tend to make better decisions for ourselves when we look at what we are eating when it's written down in black and white... even when no one else will see it.

This looks like it's going to be a very successful event and we look forward to watching it develop and grow as we meet once a month.

This month's in-person support group meeting was held at the "Golden Corral" in Raleigh today. We had a very nice turn-out with about 40 members, despite the incredibly cold morning.

The 'Thought for the Month' was Making Changes. We talked about how this journey is about making changes... some big and some small. We talked about making a list of the changes we want to make. Prioritizing those changes and then picking one to work on each month.

When we introduced ourselves as went around the room, many shared some of the changes that they would like to make in the coming months.

We had a clothing swap which allowed some of us to gain some much needed room in our closets, while allowing others to shop through some of the goodies that were donated by friends that no longer needed them. It was a win/win situtation.

We will be maintaining the monthly in person general support group meetings on the 3rd Saturday morning of each month, but because our group has grown to be so large, I have started a few special interest groups and we talked about them at this meeting. We now have a Grads Group that addresses issues of interest to those who have had at least one surgiversary, a Banders Group the addresses issues of interest to those with restrictive only WLS and on Over50 BMI Group that addresses issues of interest to those who started their journey with BMIs over 50. These special interest groups are open to anyone who would like to join in, but the focus of the discussions is directed towards the specific special interest.

We are arranging to have some special events. The first will be a seminar put on by a local plastic surgeon that has experience with WLS patients.

We also sent a "We're Thinking of You" card around. As you know, we all have our 'reasons' for taking the plunge and having WLS. For one of our members, the big reason was that she wanted to start a family and her weight was standing in the way. Forturnately, her surgery was successful, she lost the excess weight and has been blessed with a pregnancy. Unfortunately, there has been a complication that has caused her to be hospitalized for the remainder of the pregnancy, so we passed around the card so that everyone could send her our loving concern. A few of us went to hospital afterwards to share the card and visit for a while.