Let's bring it back to life!

I welcome vets to come back and be mentors to newer people.  Jean, I miss you!  Let's develop a place of positive support for people who all have similar goals, but maybe different ways of getting there.  Instead of just saying, yeah it's dead, why not start an interesting thread and see where it goes.  I would love to see this forum more active again.  Thanks!

I have lost count of fhe number of times I have tried this. Jean, Bette, Grannymedic and many others have all tried so hard. I have been coming again over the last few weeks so will join you in trying once again.  Please take note that a recent new member will try to sabotage you. She tries, under different names, at intervals and has just reappeared. 

But you have my support.  Kate

I just checked to see if you had been here long enough to remember the "old days" but can't see when you were banded.

I've been around for a while- banded in 11/09.  I have tried to stay clear of the negativity- just don't even read it.  I have been lucky enough to not be offended but once or twice for posts I wrote.  It would be great to see this forum as a safe place for people to ask questions and seek advice.  Kate, I appreciate your efforts for sure.  You bring a lot to this board, please don't give up!

I for one would be willing to post more often. I would love to see this forum pick up. I want to say to others please do not respond to the negative post just let the pass you by,  the more your respond the more they feed off it. They will get bored and leave. That's been proven by how slow this forum has been for months.  It's not as  entertaining  if no one responds to you.

I am asking this with much respect, so please don't get me wrong. What constitutes a negative response? If I were responding by saying I decided to have my band removed after 10 years, is that negative? It s my real-life experience. I support anyone looking to get a band or do whichever surgery works best for them. It is terrible to have someone condem another person for such a truly personal choice. That sad, I would post more often if I see a post I could relate to but I am always going to tell the truth even f it does not place one surgery over another. Whatever works for the individual but after a while, anther I portent decision is dentifying what is nt working. I spent too long messing with this and did not have a productive 10 years in weight loss.

I have no problem with people telling their story. I feel everyone needs to hear the good and the bad to make an informed decision weather or not the band will work for them or even be a good choice for them. You have been around long enough to see negative post. Telling people their band will fail or they will have to have more surgeries if they get a band,  to me are negative. People come here for help and support I feel we should offer both. If people are going to respond to a message they should do it with a little compassion. If they can't then maybe some should not respond at all. I Agree when you say you would respond more if you would see a post you can relate to. That's part of the problem most people do not think like you,  they have responded to all post even if they could relate or not and that is where the problem lays they want to post all the negative they can about the band and they do it at all cost. It does not matter how it will make some one feel as long as they tell their story whether it relates to the post or not. No one knows who the band will work for or who it will not work for but getting the info out there is the only way people can make that choice. If you want people to know about your experience by all means start a post and tell them your story  or if they ask please respond they need to know. But (example)when some one one post they are stuck people should not tell them to run to the surgeon their band has slipped and they need it removed. You see where this is going we can go back and forth on whats negative and what is not. But this slow forum answers that, if there was not so much negativity people would still be here posting daily and getting the support they need,  like they were a year ago.

I hope to see you post more people can learn a lot from vets. They need to hear from both sides

Having been the very first person EVER to post here, in 2003, I can say there were days when things were much nicer than today. I am back on board because of complications and having a hard time getting much help. I called on some much older OH friends who I still keep in touch with and they are also no longer here. There is no reason for bitterness over a surgery which is such a personal choice. Everyone needs to deal with their own cir****tance no matter if they are at the beginning or end of their journey. I am at the end of mine and if someone can learn from me, someone who has been banded for 10 years, then I am more than happy to help. I will tell the Ruth and not sugar coat to make one surgery option appear better than the other, because one is not better than the other when it comes to our individual mix of cir****tances and preferences.  I wonder if I can retrieve that first post I made over10 years ago?

Lol... Ruth is my mother in law. How about try again... Truth

Melissa,

The plain truth, presented with politeness, is not negative. In fact, it is essential. We need to know the good and the bad, we need to know what to watch out for and, the most important, people with problems need support.

The problem is largely created already. At the moment, there are posts about problems, which is as it should be. But responses are in the main supportive and helpful. But many of those who left this board a year or so ago may well not return. People became frightened to post their problems  on here because they feared "what did you expect, I told you so". This has stopped now but those who left have found other places and don't come here.

This is not just my opinion. I know people who left precisely for that reason and in previous attempts to get the board going again, I have specifically asked them to help revive it. But they re happier not to.

I can understand! I have always accepted the band can fail, I have never said anything else. I have always supported those with problems. But if anything goes wrong with my band, I would find it very difficult to o post on here! I would do because it would be almost immoral not to, but it would take courage. Someone who had to post  like that last year received vile responses and PMs.

It would be good if it came back to life. But it will never be my main board again.