Thinking about getting the surgery performed.

Hello, Are there any support meetings for the Northwest Arkansas area? I see it referenced in some of the older posts but nothing solid. My wife and I have been lurking for a while doing research but we are at the point where we want to speak to others in our area who have had the surgery or are in the process of figuring it out. Mainly just to help point us in the right direction when the paperwork gets a little confusing. We haven't even hit the point yet to know which surgeon we want to go with to give you an idea of how early we are in the whole process.

Hi! I'm not sure about meetings in Northwest AR. I have seen some posts from a while ago but I haven't read any recently. I'm sure it is quite a drive for you to get to Little Rock, but they have some great doctors and seminars there. I just had Lap-Band on Friday with Dr. Wellborn and St. Vincent's. In my opinion, he is an awesome surgeon. He is very easy to talk to and very supprotive. I live near Helena in a small country town called Lexa. I am about 15 minutes from the Mississippi River. It takes me a little over two hours to get to Little Rock for appointments and for support group meetings and seminars, but in my opinion the drive is well worth it. I find the meeting and support groups to be very helpful and reassuring. What kind of surgery are you wanting to have? If you are considering the Lap-Band then please feel free to post a reply to this e-mail or to send me a private message and I will be more than happy to help you in any way that I can. Sorry I couldn't be of more help as to the meetings in Northwest Arkansas. Good luck in your journey!! It will be worth it!!   Karen

Right now we are looking at the lap band. But since all of our research has been on the internet we aren't
dead set on that procedure. It'll end up coming down to the doctor's recommendation for me and my wife and insight we get from others.

We may end up going to the Little Rock or Tulsa for the meetings and surgery. Haven't seen any listings for nearer locales. Just depends on recommendations and which doctor clicks.

Hi.  I live in NWA and I called around.  I located Dr. Petrino's office.  They have a seminar tentivly set for July 13th.  They have a new sergeon from Duke University joining their team this week.  You might want to call there.  I am thinking about having Lap-Band, but not sure yet if that is the right procedure for me. 

Hi There, I think there is a very active group in the Fort Smith area.  There is a lady who used to be very active here named Margie Hart, screen name Hartmac, who is very involved in that group. You could look her up under "people" on the banner at the top of the page and ask her about it.  If for some reason you can't find here there, let me know and I'll PM her and connect you to each other. Good luck Susan RNY 9/14/06 Starting weight 235 Current weight 140 Goal weight   ????