One of the requirements for my surgery is that I attend my surgical group's support group. It meets once a month at the doctor's office. I can't attend every time because (a) every other month my husband works nights and ( we only have one car, so I only go on months my husband is working days so I can have him watch our son.

Anyway, tonight was my first meeting and I did not come away overjoyed. Most of the people there were bypassers or people who were planning on having bypass, save for me and one other lady (who came up to me after the class and expressed some of my feelings- I told her about LBT). The guest speaker (inspiration?) was a bypasser. Blah blah blah bypass. :thumbup: I got to hear all about the joys of dumping syndrome, expanded pouches, Vitamin regimes, how most people didn't choose the band because they didn't want a foreign object in their body (am I mistaken or are staples a foreign object?), and just general bypass |337ness. Ugh. It just sucked and I have to keep going until my surgery- I figure after I have my band, it's not like they can come rip it out of me for not attending these stupid meetings. :tongue:

Will I be missing something if I don't go? I'm going to talk to my surgeon at my appt on the 3rd about getting a bander in there to talk.

I'd bail as soon as I could!

Our meetings are on alternate months. One month is the by pass group and the other is for us lap banders. It works much better that way. I would have no interest in attending a support group for by pass patients.

My surgeons office requires you to attend 2 support group meetings before surgery, which for me meant leaving work and then going back. The first meeting there were only a few people there interested in lap band and I dont think there were any banded people there and I was a little worried because it was mostly bypass. This last meeting there were 4 or 5 people there who have had the band done and quite a few people that were preband so it was completely different this time. But the physician assistant that runs the support groups said that its difficult for them to get people who have had the lap band to attend and she wasnt sure why and they were trying to work on getting more to attend on a fairly regular basis.

When I began attending my Dr. support group, there were only 3 that had even had the band surgery through him. Since that time (2 yrs. ago) there are many more of us in the group. I know it was those 3 gals that nagged the Dr. to incorporate more items for both band or bypass with regards to support issues. This was really good for a while.

After about a year, I had to go about every other month because of my volunteering schedule changing to the time the support group met. I still am very active on this website though. Well, this past month I went back to the Dr. (for a fill) and it had been a while. I noted on my paperwork that I hadn't been to support group in a while, but I was active here on LBT. That seemed to be ok. I think that as long as we're reaching out to get answers to our issues, and willing to focus on why we even had the surgery, we're doing well. That's what LBT is all about. I'm planning on visiting the group next week...just because I'd made a few friends there that I've not seen in a while and would like to visit with them.

There you have it...my 2 cents. :thumbup:

Annette

Will I be missing something if I don't go? I'm going to talk to my surgeon at my appt on the 3rd about getting a bander in there to talk.

Support groups exist so you can share your concerns with people who have experienced the same thing as you. You learn about what's going on and thus have fewer fears and are more able to work the program (the band is just a tool).

I've also seen that RNY and LB patients don't mix well. The topics at these meetings don't stay on "weight loss" but tend to shift towards the eccentricities of either procedure. RNY folks seem to view banders as less committed than them and I guess you really need to be gung ho about things to have your stomach split in half and a few feet of your small intestine removed.

LBT is my support group. I'm here daily poking around and if I have a question or concern I've found it has been asked and addressed at least 10 times already by those that came before me. Does it lack the immediacy of face to face conact, yes. However, LBT does have hundreds of active members and special interest areas that can direct you to the help you're looking for.

When I started my journey I was also required to go to 2 support meetings. I did my time and then saw the Dr. He asked me what I thought of the meetings and if I got anything out of it. I told him it was a waste of time for me because it was all about bypass. The speakers were bybass, the leader of the meeting was bypass, there was one bander there at one meeting that I got to talk to after the entire disscussion of bypass. (those people dont let up when they have questions) At my first appointment after surgery I had to fill out a questionair, I found out that in the 4 months since my support meetings they now have a support meeting just for lap band. I think enough people complained. It doesnt hurt to suggest it to the dr.

Good luck.

I had similar issues.

The LPN at my doctor's office said we Lapbanders are just a different type of patient. We don't need the coddling the RNY's do. We don't need the support, etc.

I said that's not entirely true. Yes, our aftercare consists of fills and not monitoring closely our blood work because we aren't malnurished, but it was a cop out on the part of the practice to ignor our needs.

It's been nearly two years since I first said something and still nothing about making it more lapband friendly.

Come here, we'll get your back.

I can't see how attenting a mainly bypass support group could be any help to you whatsoever. I'd bail out asap. Or maybe you could suggest to the surgeon that he set up separate groups for banders.

At my group there is a speaker/topic and then we split into LB and RNY groups to share. That seems to work pretty well.

i am suppose to go to pre-op support group meetings too...but they are at 6pm-730...the most inoportune time in the world for me, considering i work until 7. It meets the second thursday of the month. I guess i completely understand the reason for them. Each time i go to the dr. they asked if i went to the meetings, they don't even know if i went or not..perhaps tell them i did? I look at this website as a great source for a support group. If i am feeling down or things just aren't working for me and i need more help, then sure i will go, but required meetings that are at dinner time....that doesn't work for me...i have a husband, 4 dogs, 4 ferrets, and a cat i need to care for when i come home.

LBT is my support group.

AMEN!!

Our support group is mixed between LB and RNY also. The last one had 5 post-op folks, 15 pre-op, and only two of us were bandsters. The entire pre-op group was RNY! So us two bandsters chatted quietly in the corner while the other discussed extended hospital stays, complications, dumping syndrome and other "niceties" of RNY surgery! Sometimes I enjoy the meeting just because it so nicely validates my decision for a lap band!

I have a form to fill out at my surgeon's office before each fill. It asks on it if I've been attending support group. I always write on the form that I belong to an online support group and they have never once questioned me further.

Though, I have heard that my surgeon's support groups are very good, though. I've just never been inclined to drive that far when I have everyone here.