York Region/GTA Support Meeting 3/22/15

Hi everyone,

The next York Region/GTA meeting is scheduled for Sunday, March 22, 2015 at 2:30. The meeting will be held in the Craft Room of the Langstaff Community Centre at 155 Red Maple Road in Richmond Hill.

Because of the cold weather, last month's meeting was not well attended. We've been very fortunate to secure again Leona Dove, "The Iron Maiden", who will talk about Iron & Iron Deficiencies among Bariatric patients. Leona is a wonderful resource in this subject, per her bio below:

Leona is a Bachelor of Science prepared registered nurse(U of O 1986), who has spent the better part of her 29-year career in trauma and emergency medicine. After spending 2 years in clinical research, she took on the role of ONTraC Blood Conservation Coordinator at Humber River Hospital in 2008. Leona is one of 28 elite nurses who practice independently for the provincial blood conservation program, ONTraC. The mandate of this role is the treatment of iron deficiency and simple anemia using iron, B12 and other strategies to minimize dependence on blood transfusion. While most ONTraC programs focus on pre-operative patient populations, Leona has opened her program to all patients suffering from iron deficiency and anemia with special interest in the Bariatric Population. Her expertise in the special needs of the bariatric community with regards to B12 and Iron supplementation has earned her provincial endorsement to speak on this topic. Since 2011 Leona has spoken internationally on this subject on behalf of the ONTraC program and has recently been retained by Biosyent, manufacturer of FeraMAX as a “Key Opinion Leader” and Nursing expert on the subject on Iron Deficiency and related anemia.

To maximize the value of this meeting, you may want to bring with you some recent blood work results & a daily dose of your vitamins & supplements.

There will be a $10 fee to cover the room rental cost, although support people are welcomed at no cost. We will also have our optional 50/50 draw.

Support is so important regardless of where you are in your WLS Journey. Please take the time to come out. You'll meet some wonderful people, have a great opportunity to ask WLS questions & learn a lot in a friendly, supportive environment.

I look forward to meeting some new people & seeing some familiar faces too.

Take care,

Andrea