Sept 12th Chandler Support Report

Show and Tell night was inspiring!  Gil referred to us as living testimonies!  Pictures were passed telling the story better than we could ever try to do verbally but we did do the verbal as well!  Lots and lots of verbal!  Totally incredible tells of restored health, improved quality of life, and the victory over the "before".  We all agreed that this journey is not just til we reach goal, stop losing or even have a little regain but it requires a vigilant efforts that includes education, research, AND support!!! We welcomed new members:  Hope (Dr Fang), Judy (Dr. Simon), and Jeff (Dr. Zahn)........Hope and Judy are just newbies and both have lost an amazing amount of weight in a short amount of time!  Weigh 2 go!....Jeff is working on body building!  Who'd of thunk it several pounds ago Jeff???!  You rock! Pam is crazy busy with her pursuit of education and promised to become our Personal Trainers as soon as she's certified! In the meantime, she said she'd throw together a Boot Camp for us.  She encouraged us all to enter some walks and said that now is the time to begin training for the P.F. Chang half marathon! Wayne is looking very "Shepherd" like and is a very handsome shadow of his former self!  He is doing 20 on the treadmill and 20 on the eliptical to keep his health in check and plans on walking the PF Chang with Pam this year! Gil has lost 478 pounds and regained 232 pounds but since he works out, the 61 pounds is really muscle and the other 724 pounds will be lost with the Stomaphyx and the body lift!  Yup, basically Gil is full of bologna and looking as handsome and trim as ever!  He continues to work out and passed around his before and before...while he represents his other before since he didn't have a current picture!  :)  He'll be finished in a while..... Jeanna paid tribute to her lovely friend who inspired her to have surgery, guided her along the way and became very dear to her heart.  Very sadly, her sweet friend passed away recently and those of us who were blessed to know her for even a second have learned from her in some way.  Jeanna continues to blossom and could be considered a "rose red" bloom with her awesome new hairdo! Joyce pushed all the events coming up.  Just a reminder that there will be a HUGE HUGE HUGE clothing exchange at the Walk from Obesity.  Bring your donations that morning to Jeanna (or before to the Chandler support group so she can sort them earlier).....Register for the Walk from obesity on their website.  AZ is currently in the lead with the biggest walk in the Nation so far!!!!...Get your tickets NOW for the O.H. event the end of Oct.!!!! Biggest moment of the evening is when our very own DAWN from Chicago (formerly one of our favorite Chandler girls) popped in for a surprise visit!!!!!  She hung with us the entire night after flying here just today!  She looked absolutely gorgeous with her new blonde hair, very suntanned "small" body and gave us the update on her and her hubby's life in the Windy city! We shared.  We celebrated.  We chattered and then we ate together at Souper Salad where they extended the chld's price to us!!!!  ....AND we had a moment of WONDER...we wondered what happend to Julie? to Darlene? to E.J.? to Marianne?  to Blanche?  to Kent?  to Jen, Jenn and Jennifer?  to Sarah?  to Christina?  to Cathy?  to Kathy? .........so many friends and so very little information about YOU!!!  You are missed!  Support group is for YOU!  It can totally make a difference in your success!  It's not just for newbies but can boost each of us in every stage!  Recommit and get in touch with us! It was a GREAT NIGHT!!!! Don't miss next support meeting when Dr. Schlesinger will present "Everyone Deserves a Second Chance"....revision options and an introduction to the newest Weight Loss Procedure in the U.S.:  Stomaphyx!!! (4th Tuesday of September from 6 to 7:30 pm)  ALL are invited! That's the report.....

I (and everyone) have come a long way.  one thing is for certain - everyone will continously have  changes go on with in their body.  the positive changes I have made have caught other peoples attention and have commented to me in a positive way.  Hopefully things will continue fall into place during the next 13 months.  I will keep everyone posted as to the progress

Can I come to the next meeting even though I haven't been banded yet? I live in Chandler and I'm very interteted in the Lap-BAND. Gracie