support groups in the East Bay area?

I had my surgery at Stanford and tomorrow night is my first support group there. If I have to I will make that journey every month- but I was wondering if there were any support groups in the East Bay area? 
Thanks for any help.

Greetings and welcome to the Cali Board.  John Muir has a monthly support group that meets on the 2nd Saturday of the month from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Lesher Auditorium at John Muir's Concord Campus.  The support group is run by Ann Timberlake, RN and she does a great job.  It's a large group often 50 or more and is not limited to just those who have surgery there.  I had my surgery at UCSF and feel very welcome.  Hope you'll come I really like it and find it very beneficial.

Also, we have our monthly Nor Cal Loser's luncheon and we'd love to have you join us there as well.  A greater, nicer, more supportive group of men and women would be hard   See my post a little further down on this forum and we'll be there a week from this Sat.  Bring a friend or family member if you wish.

Enjoy the day,
Barb

 Thank you! So the 2nd Saturday of the month would be this Saturday right? 

You betcha!  I hope to be there, it all depends on whether I'm knee deep in the garden!

Hi there Mshelf3.  Your post caught my eye because of the "East Bay Area" title and then when I read it, I noticed you had your surgery with Dr. Morton at Stanford.  He is the surgeon that will be doing my surgery so I was just wondering how your surgery went and if you like Dr. Morton?  I have Anthem Blue Cross HMO so even though I live in Pittsburg, I have to go to Stanford for my surgery.  I do get to do my NUT and PSYCH appointments/classes at John Muir though so that's nice.

I can't say enough about how happy I am about how the surgery went. I will say it seems like Dr. Morton is a little quicker and quieter when you visit after surgery. I really want to be able to sit and ask questions and not feel rushed- but I know he has SOOOO many patients every day. However, he is the best. I truly believe that. Stanford hospital- that is another story. The facilities are just so old. The staff is great and everyone is fabulous but the fascilities kinda suck. I was really fortunate to get a private room.
When is your surgery scheduled for? I go to the support group in  Palo Alto and maybe we could find people from out here who want to carpool for that.
Michelle

Hey there.  Thanks for replying so quickly.

I don't have my surgery date yet.  I have my appointments with NUT and PSYCH set up for next week here in the East Bay.  Then, according to a letter I received from my medical group (John Muir) I will be assigned a case manager.  Once that happens, s/he will set me up an appointment with Dr. Morton and I will meet with him to discuss pre-surgery requirements, testing, etc.

Once I start attending support groups, I will definitely let you know and would be interested in a car pool.  I think since John Muir is my medical group I can attend the ones there as well, so I may do that too since it's so much closer.

What were your pre-surgery requirements as far as losing weight and the tests he required?

I went to the John Muir support group on Saturday.  The only thing is- it seems like they have different requirements for their patients than the Stanford doctors do. I might go back to the John Muir when I can't make it to Stanford- but I'm not sure. Even though we are welcome, it kinda feels like being an outsider. LOL. 
As for Dr. Morton, my weight was pretty high- so I had to go on the pre surgery liquid diet. I lost the first 20 on that. However, I'm not sure he makes everyone do that. For me it was only that last week and half before surgery. They do that also to make your liver shrink so that the surgery is easier. 
I am also with John Muir  physicians group and I usually had all of my blood work done up here- BUT ask them to send you copies because sometimes they did not get the blood work to Dr. Morton in a timely fashion and I would have to fax them my copies. Even the day of surgery, Stanford needed to know some of my levels and John Muir had not sent them my blood work from the latest tests, so luckily I had brought them with me and could share them with the doctor. 

There is a support group in Oakland at Alta Bates. I don't know the details.

There is a patient-to-patient support group in San Leandro. They meet the 3rd Sat. of the month at San Leandro Hospital. Pre-op through First Year (aka "Newbies") Q&A Meeting: 1:15 - 1:45 p.m. followed by a General Session for Everyone: 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

I think pretty much any hospital that does bariatrics runs at least one support group. They need to run them to get their Center of Excellence designation. So you can probably find more that way.

 Thanks cuz I am living in Oakland temporarily and San Leandro is 5 min away too! All my children were born at Alta Bates so, THANK GOODNESS I know where to go after all these years. lol! Glad I checked the boards today.

~Catt~