WLS support groups besides ours in the Southern New England and CT area

Hello All: I am Kellie Armstrong, RN. I am the Bariatric Pre Op Instructor at Rhode Island Hospital. I am looking for other WLS support groups besides ours in the Southern New England and CT area. We would like the names of the groups and the places and times that they meet. We would like to be able to give this information out at our pre op teaching as well as at our support groups. Please feel free to reply here or at my other email address of [email protected]. In the subject heading please list SUPPORT GROUP INFO. Thank you in advance for any and all information

Middlesex Memorial Hospital - Every Monday 6:30 pm- 7:30 pm 1st floor conference room pre/post ops all welcome. Mostly Dr Aranow's pt's but anybody is allowed.

St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center 6-8 pm the last Tuesday of every month (except for Dec.) in the Gengras Auditorium, everyone (pre & post op) is welcome! Jessica

We have three support groups that meet monthly at Norwalk Hospital-- all of the meetings are free and open to the public): General Post-Op Meeting (which is peer-lead by 2+ year post-op patient Ann VanBramer) which is held in the Patio Room of Norwalk Hospital starting at 6 p.m. on the second Monday of every month. Early Post-Op Meeting is held in Perkins Auditorium of Norwalk Hospital at 6 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month. These patients are part Q&A Session, part support-group, part motivation; we have guest speakers and much involvement from longer-term RNY patients. On the first Wednesday of every month, we have an introductory meeting to discuss in general terms the various bariatric surgical options, the advantages and disadvantages of each method and the common emotional (and medical) issues that are faced following surgery. These meetings also start at 6 p.m. in Perkins Auditorium.

Hi, Kellie! I have information about 2 groups. The first is clarification of info. about the group at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT. As Bernadette stated in her reply to your post, it does meet every Mon. night from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. and is primarily for patients of Dr. Jonathan Aranow, although anyone is welcome to attend. However, not all meetings are for both pre- and post-ops. (Bernadette is a recent post-op, so I'm sure that's why it didn't occur to her.) The meeting topics and "audience" are as follows: 1st Mon. of the month (for pre-ops only) - presentation by program dietician and psychologist of what to expect, both leading up to surgery and as an early post-op - all patients of Dr. Aranow must attend one of these meetings 2nd and 3rd Mondays of the month (for both pre- and post-ops) - general discussion, questions and answers - sometimes led by program psychologist, other times led by one of several post-ops (including 2 who are nurses at the hospital) 4th Mon. of the month (for pre-ops) - a panel of post-ops present their stories and answer questions 5th Mon. of the month (for both pre- and post-ops) - only occurs several times a yr. - led by program dietician - discusses nutritional info. and answers questions from those present Besides the Mon. meetings, there also is a meeting on the 1st Tues. of each month (6:30 - 7:30 p.m.) for post-ops only. The program psychologist and dietician alternate months leading this session. There is also a group in Hamden, CT which meets at the Senior Center (behind the Miller Library on Dixwell Ave.) on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, from 6:30 - 8 p.m.. This group isn't affiliated with any doctor or hospital and is for both pre- and post-ops. It's run by a couple of post-ops and most of the attendees are post-ops whose surgeons are located in New Haven, CT, but anyone is welcome to attend. Because this group meets in a government building, when a holiday falls on a day when there would normally be a meeting, it's usually rescheduled for the next evening. I post a message on the OH CT message board towards the end of each week regarding the meetings at both of these locations for the following week, so people can check our board to see what's coming up, or they can e-mail me at [email protected]. Debby

Hi Kellie - The Hospital of St Raphael's in New Haven CT has 2 support groups. The first group meets the 3rd Wed of each month in the Auditorium. Meetings begin at 5pm for Pre-ops, Post-ops welcome to join at 5:45pm. The second group is for post-ops that are over 1+ years out or have completed the FLEX program. This group meets the 2nd Wed and 4th Thursday of each month in the St Raphael's Auditorium Conf Room at 6pm. Carla

Thank you all for the information that you have provided. ANy other information or suggestion will be greatly appricated. Kellie A