need support in the sarasota area

hi i finally got myself organized from my move here in oct. haven't found a support group yet. this weekend a scary thing happened. i had lapband surgery last jan. and this weekend 11 months to the day i noticed drainage from my port incision. took myself to the er and yes infected . on antibiotics now and saw a surgeon today . he's ordering an endoscopy for fri. to rule out if the infection is al the way up the tubing to my band . besides trying to hold it together , i'm on my own and wanted to know if any one lives near me and might be able to help me through the procedure on fri. i know it is alot to ask ,but you never know until you do . thank you guys for all the support i know you'll give in whatever way you can. i'll keep you posted . btw i love it here. take care robin

Oh Robin I am so sorry you are having to go through this.  My best advice would be to call some of the lap band surgeons in your area to see if they have any support groups.   Good luck and please let us know how this goes for you.   Red

Call the surgical weightloss center at Manatee Memorial Hospital.  Its in Bradenton and not Sarasota but we do have a support group there.  Talk to Cathy.  Which Lapband doc did you find? Hope your endoscopy went well. Barbara

thanks for the help guys. barbara ,i've been following you on the lapband board,and i just want to tell you i think you're doing fantastic! would i meet you at the support group? that would be nice.i'm working with dr. scott stevens in sarasota. he's being very vigilant and atttentive.i haven't discussed fills and all that stuff yet. the priority now is getting this infection under control and see if i can keep the port. the endoscopy showed the band is in place and healthy,so thats a huge relief. i'll write when i know more. again thank you for your input robin

Hi Robin,  Glad to hear that everything is good with the band.  Hope you can get the infection under control and the port will not be a problem. As for support meetings~  I am working 2 jobs and the 2nd job was keeping me from going to support group.  I am in the process of changing my schedule so that I can attend the support group.  We general meet the last Thurs of the month at 6pm at MMH.  So yes there is the possibility to meet sometime at one of the groups. Thanks for the kind words and hope you are well soon. Barbara

Hi Robin,  Just thought I would drop in and see how you are doing? Also we are having a support meeting on Thurs the 17th.  They are going to have a plastic surgeron talking so I am not sure if any of the Lap Band docs are going to be there.  They are having the meeting in the new section of the hospital.  U would park in the parking garage and go inside the main hospital there.  Then the meeting spot is by the cafe.  Let me know if you want to go and I can give you some better directions. Hope all is well with you.  Barbara