I am going to be attending support groups in various different towns now, mostly due to my schedule. The support group associated with my doc has a group that meets at a time that conflicts with my work schedule completely. And they only meet once a month.

I've found several other support groups that are within about 15-25 minutes from me, and I really need some support. I also need to meet and make some new friends. Since I changed jobs I have lost touch with a lot of my friends. I think making some bariatric friends would be AWESOME and I so need it! I called ahead and it's not a problem that my doc wasn't their doc. Also, they are both free and open to family too!

That said, does anybody here attend a support group outside of the one for your doc- are there any issues?

While I do attend the one of the ones for the bariatric practice I used, there are several people in mine who had their surgery performed outside the practice. No issues at all with having them there - the coordinators welcome everyone.

On occasion I attend a support group with one of my friends that used South Nassau (I was at Winthrop). I love those meetings - they have a totally different feel than my meetings and are a lot of fun to attend with my friend. No one has ever said anything about me being from a different practice

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I had my surgery in Mexico, and although the practice I went to had an online support forum, it wasn't very well "attended". I joined several different local groups within an hour of my home until I found one that fit. There were often patients that came from different doctors and programs which always gave us fresh perspectives. In addition to the personal therapist I saw for the first several years, I attended support group fairly regularly up until 6 months ago. I enjoyed the comraderie, so here I am, trying my hand at online support.