Poll re: support groups

1.      Do you attend a support group regularly (you can define regularly however you want; I’d say it means you go more often than you don’t)?

2.      If you don’t, why not?

3.      Is your support group associated with your surgeon?

4.      How often does your support group meet?

5.      Would you say that your support group focuses more on providing emotional support or on education?

6.      How would you say that your support group has helped you?

Do you attend a support group regularly (you can define regularly however you want; I’d say it means you go more often than you don’t)?

2.     Yes, I do.

  Is your support group associated with your surgeon?

No, it's not.  My surgeon was three hours away from me, which was too far to go for a support group meeting, and she has since closed her practice and left the state anyway.

4.      How often does your support group meet?

Weekly.

5.      Would you say that your support group focuses more on providing emotional support or on education?

Emotional support.

6.      How would you say that your support group has helped you?

It's helped me deal with the "head stuff" that I think is so vital to being successful with this surgery.  It's also provided me with a pretty good support system - in addition to getting support during group meetings, I am in touch with some members of my support group outside of group meetings, too.  And it's turned out that some of the members of my support group deal with similar issues to things I deal with, like depression, which has been helpful.

 Yes

Yes, the group is part of the bariatric center and led by its dieticians and psychologist.

Once a month

Definitely education

I'm encouraged by:
1. The mere fact that there are others  
2. Hearing what veterans say about their experience and strategies  
3. The meeting leaders keep things organized, which is invaluable.  
4. Once in a while I learn something or am reminded of something in the presentations.
5.  Making the effort to show up and being part of a group strengthens me. 

Do you attend a support group regularly:
    Yes.

Is the group associated with my surgeon:
    Yes.

How often does it meet:
    Twice a month.  One is lead by the psychologist.  We discuss "head issues."  The other one 
     is lead by the registered dietitian.  It is more "educational"

How do they help me:
     Getting to know other post ops,  dealing with "head issues",  Educational classes are good.
     Last week another post op gave us lots of ideas about getting in more protein.

 Do you attend a support group regularly (you can define regularly however you want; I’d say it means you go more often than you don’t)?

yes, once a month but just recently been going to a wl group therapy group that is once a week

Is your support group associated with your surgeon?

no, mine doesn't have a group so I went to another hospital groups

 Would you say that your support group focuses more on providing emotional support or on education?
well the once a month deals with both but I would say more education. my other grp deals with emotional support

How would you say that your support group has helped you?

yes for sure. The group therapy is new for me but really is starting to help me deal with some head problems around my weight loss and other issues that is causing me to over eat etc

Julie

1.      Do you attend a support group regularly (you can define regularly however you want; I'd say it means you go more often than you don't)?

Yes

2.      If you don't, why not?

NA

3.      Is your support group associated with your surgeon?

Yeah, sort of. It's at a kaiser, but not the same one I had surgery in cause it's 2 hours away.

4.      How often does your support group meet?

Once a month

5.      Would you say that your support group focuses more on providing emotional support or on education?

Both. Sometimes we have speakers, so it gets pretty educational. Other times we just talk about our experiences.

6.      How would you say that your support group has helped you?

I like to hear others experience and how others deal with the same kind of problems. It helps to know there are others going they the same stuff and when the NUT is there we learn so much about our vitamins, our food and so much more.

Yes, I attend a weekly support group, but I no longer attend the one associated with my surgeon's program.  (The psychologist who runs the bariatric program group sends most of the time talking himself (lecturing), does not encourage a lot of true peer-to-peer support activities (he actually suggested several times that people could talk after the group was over), and he sometimes does not even seem to LIKE working with obese people! My surgeon allowed us to start our own "club" that met once a month but we had to disband it last year.)

With our support group it is a mix of emotional support and education (peer-to-peer), but the focus is more on emotional support.

Some of the people who are early out have helped remind me of the excitement and NSVs of the losing phase, which often renews my sense of gratitude at no longer suffering in all of the various ways that I did when I was trapped in a 300+ pound body... and that, in turn, helps keep me motivated to continue to maintain my weight loss.

Lora

yes, i go to one every wk ...on monday nights and  once a month at Kaiser in Garden Grove,ca

yes, my support group is associated with my surgeon

my support group meets two times a week ,,but i only go on Monday nights

my support group focuses on both

yes , it has helped me out most in all sorts of ways i enjoy going to my meetings

Do you attend a support group regularly (you can define regularly however you want; I’d say it means you go more often than you don’t)?

       Nope. I don't.

If you don’t, why not?

3.    It's about a 40 minute drive into the city, across a very congested bridge. I'd have to get a babysitter, and it's just fairly inconvenient.

Is your support group associated with your surgeon?

4.    The one I've attended is, yes. But it tends to come across as more of a salespitch than a real support group.

How often does your support group meet?

Last Monday of every month

5.    Would you say that your support group focuses more on providing emotional support or on education?

Definitely more education. They do a good job of prepping people who are pre-ops, but there wasn't much in the way of support for post-ops. Though, granted, I haven't been to many, so maybe I just came on a day when it wasn't addressed much.

6.    How would you say that your support group has helped you?

It changed my mind from wanting LapBand. I had gone with the intention of being banded, but after hearing about some of the experiences (which were actually all positive) it made me think more about it, and I ended up changing my mind--which I'm very glad I did. 

Do you attend support group regularly? Yes

Is your group assoiated with your surgeon? No, it is not associated with any surgical group.

How often does it meet? Once a month.

Does it focus more on emotional support or education? I would say it is an equal mix of emotional support and peer-to-peer education.

How has the support group helped you? It keeps me mindful of the fact that I had MAJOR SURGERY to treat my chronic illness, obesity. It is when I FORGET that fact that I find myself headed for trouble.