Queens Meeting Summary & Future Events

Queens Metro Surgical Weight Loss Support Group health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Queensmetrowls/ March 14, 2005 Meeting Recap I would like to thank everyone that attended our monthly Queens meeting. For those that did not attend Fern made a very interesting presentation about caffeine and tannic acid. Fern's presentation was very informative and we all are better educated about the dangers of caffeine and tannic acid for the gastric bypass patient. After Fern's presentation I do not think I will drink regular coffee however inhaling the aroma of her eight o'clock coffee bag gave me a contact high. After Fern's presentation two new post-ops gave us an update on how they are going. Ira's sister Rhonda had surgery two weeks ago and she has a wonderful mentor in her brother Ira. I hope Rhonda finds the advice useful that she received from the group. Maryann is seven weeks out of surgery and she is very excited about new life. Maryann is walking and is ready to become a big time loser. Maryann already lost 40 pounds in her first month. Maryann has joined our walking group and is she has a great mentor in Bettyann and the other members of the group. Great going Maryann we are all proud of you. Bettyann is going for plastic surgery on April 1st 2005. This is no April fools joke and she will have many watchful eyes on her. Bettyann has lost over 200 pounds and she consistently walks and exercises with our group. The surgeon better do a job on her since she has many friends looking out for her. Bettyann good luck with your surgery and we are all excited for you. We were glad to welcome Jess back to our meeting. For those that do not know Jess, she had surgery in May 2004 and is down over 200 pounds. I have not seen Jess since December and I rarely recognized her. Please stay in touch with us Jess; you have many friends interested in your journey. My sister in contemplating weight loss surgery and she asked questions of other post ops. Believe it or not, I did not interfere in the conversation. My thoughts on this, she has to make her decision weather or not to have surgery. Whatever road my sister selects I want her healthy for many more years. Our group is going to participate in the Revlon walk. The walk is to be held in New York City on April 30, 2005. Participating in the Revlon walk is going to be a great experience for us. Just think, prior to surgery would have ever imagined that we would be walking in a charity walk Let alone a 5K walk. Please join our team and participate in this event. Our team # 2288 and the name of the team is Queens Metro WLS. We are probably the only organized surgical weight loss team to participate in this walk. I would like to thank Carol for baking a birthday cake for me. I am fifty-three years old and I now have a life. I can walk five miles, I exercise, and most importantly I am happy. On Sunday the walking group surprised me a showed up at my door to wish me a happy birthday and take me out for breakfast. I was shocked, flattered and humbled. Plans for the future: 1) Weekly walks. We will be walking in other areas this year so people that do not like to travel can join us. We all know that walking is great exercise but boring when you do this by yourself. We all always have fun walking and the conversation endless. Guys and gals get off your rear ends and join us. Remember surgery is only a tool and you have to help. 2) Our Bariatric only gym class will be on Channel 2 news in early May. Get those fancy sweat suits out of the closet and get ready to become TV stars. This is going to be a very exciting moment for our group. 3) Sophie and Ira are planning a bowling party May 14th. Several people have all ready expressed an interest in this. We have already heard of Ira's proficiency in bowling but you have not heard about how bad I am in this sport. Whatever, it will be a fun evening. More details will be forthcoming as plans are finalized. Tess from New Jersey has already made plans to join us. 4) We are planning a trip to Great Adventure in the late spring or early summer. The larger the group the larger the groups discount. I am sure many of us have experienced the horror of the safety belt not fitting or being to small. I would like to thank everyone for making this a fun and a successful group. Lenny [email protected]