Support Groups?

For a couple of weeks prior to my surgery, and then nearly religiously twice a month for the first year afterwards, I attended two-hour evening WLS support group meetings sponsored by the hospital at which I had my procedure.

For a variety of reasons, I haven't attended one of those meetings now for a couple of months.  I look back at the ones I did attend and occasionally wonder if they were worth the time to go.  Most of the attendees were women, and generally more than half of the attendees were prospective candidates for surgery (meaning they had not had weight loss surgery yet).  Some even had little "proof of attendance" papers that they needed to have signed.

The better part of half of each meeting was taken up by going around the table and having each post-op person state their name, their surgeon's name, the date and type of their surgery, how much weight had been lost, and any issues with which they might be concerned.  The pre-ops generally had no information to share other than the type of surgery they were going to have (if they even knew it) and what their concerns might be.  Yada, yada, yada.

You go to 25 meetings like that and pretty soon, things just begin to drag.  Couple that with one of the moderators who seems to love the sound of her own voice and who feels obligated to respond to each person with an anecdote or interjection of her own, and, well, you get the picture.

So, how many of you guys have even attended WLS support group meetings?  If you did (or still do), what is your estimation of their value to you?  Are there any really good ones out there?  What is the format and subject matter?  Are there any in-person group meetings that are more helpful than just dialing into one of the boards here on OH?

I had to attend one meeting prior to surgery (mandatory) to satisfy program requirements. I know they encourage the meetings post op but are not required. I have a 2+ hour drive (each way)to the hospital my surgery was performed at. That's a hike,for a one hour meeting. I have yet to encounter issues I would need the use of group support, (7 weeks out) and this site has brought some interesting and valuable info to me at my kitchen table. That's not to say I might need it sometime in the future. I probably would attend a few if it was substantially closer to my home.

I go to the ones provided at the hospital where I had surgery.  They are twice a month and I find them both enjoyable and beneficial.  Once each month, we have a speaker on something related to bariatric patients.  The other meeting is for those who need to ask questions, etc.  No one hogs the meeting, everyone can participate as they wish.

 The support group for the 1st surgeon I had was to far for me to drive in the evening.  There is a support group at the local hospital that's less than 5 miles away.  Bu, they wanted a lifetime fee of $ 1000 or $20 per meeting.  They allowed you to go to a couple meetings free but they were a total waste of time.  

When I had my revision due to staple line disruption, the support group was free and good.  They even provided free parking at Penn Univ Hospital but I hate driving into the city.  And, Philly is an easy city to drive into.  I guess that my negativity is just part of my mental illness since I'm manic-depressive.

If I hadn't gained weigh while being in Overeaters Anonymous, I'd recommend them for people who can't get to a regular OH support group.  I don't believe in 12 Step Programs and my shrinks have told me through the years that they are not as successful as they may seem.  The important thing is that you can sit down with other people who have a problem with eating.  However, most meetings don't let you mention specific foods which seems pretty stupid to me. 

My surgeons have monthly support groups in 3 different locations throughout the state. So, I try to attend the one closest to me when possible.

I've found some of them to be yawners. But others have been very helpful.

I've met my goal weight and am currently in maintenance mode. But, I still plan to attend a support group. I'm in the process of relocating to another state for a new project. I've already found a monthly support group in that location and plan to attend.

I've got too much invested in this WLS game to leave early. So, for now, I plan to keep going to meeting and making sure I'm on the right track.

I don't recall attending a single regularly scheduled support group meeting.  Most of my support has come off OH.

While I have attacined my goal weight, I am not quite a year out yet.  That having been said, I do attend as regularly as possible.

There are 2 meetings a month that fit my schedule -
One is a 'anyone can go' meeting that tends to be mostly women and a number of pre-op people - which is fine with me.  The pre-op aspect helps me stay focused on talking about the tings I eed to keep doing!  Attendance is usually 20-30 people.  This meeting is fascilitated by an employee of the center where I had surgery.
The second meeting is a Men only meeting.  The group is much smaller 5-8 guys, less structured but more 'real'.  This one is a volunteer fascilitator.

I find them both beneficial - but I get different things from the 2 different meetings.


I try to attend both every month.

I attend a local monthly WLS support group meeting. It is facilitated by a volunteer member with a lot of experience. Like most people I was keenly interested in these meetings when I was pre-op. I got most of my information from the OH forums, but I was most fearful that I would miss food so much that I would be miserable.. Nothing replaced the face to face conversations I had with members who told me they had the same fears before surgery but don't miss food at all.
There is another local group that meets weekly (in the mall food court??) It is supposedly more of a social group. I'm wasn't looking for "friends" I wanted information.. so I never attended that group.

My meetings are mostly made up of women and at first they had the same format you described.. where you went around the room and each person described their surgery/their story. After attending severl meeting this got very boring.. but then a member suggested that we change up that routine.. A lot of the "stuff" is boring.. especially when you are beyond a year post surgery, but I usually seem to take some tip away from each meeting.. even if it's just a recipe.   Thankfully the women don't spend a lot of time discussing their periods.. It comes up occasionally and I either roll my eyes or groan and they smarten up.

Our group also has clothing exchange. This was invaluable to me when I was loosing weight so fast.  I in turn packed up my fat clothes for some of the other guys who were just starting. It is a total waste of money to buy clothes when you are changing sizes weekly!!

Now I attend randomly.. in a way I'm "paying it forward" by answering the questions of the "newbies" .. Like me.. they really want to hear what to expect, how to handle different situations etc.   I used to be on the OH board every day (usually my local group) but that has gotten very rare as I get further away from my surgery,, but I still intend to attend the support groups occassionally to keep me focused and to help others if I can
J

I am currently almost 4 months out an have yet to attend any WLS meetings due to scheduling issues. I work weekends and they ALWAYS have the meetings on either a Saturday morning or Sunday morning so I can never go.  I would love to at least try one but sadly it doesnt seem to be in the cards. I get most of my support here on OH as I am usually here daily.