Review of Hackensack Support Group Meeting

I finally attended a mthly support group at Hackensack Univ Hospital last night.  It was from 6:30-8pm (Hackensack cancelled it's meeting last mth, Morristown is just TOO early & Montclair, who is the closest, snubbed me & told me that they do not welcome outsiders to attend).   

I wasn't really impressed.
WHY?

There was a large turnout (like 45 people), but 3/4 of them haven't had the surgery yet.  And for almost the full hr & half, they were the only ones speaking & asking questions.  In fact, in the last 15 min of the meeting - the NUT asked the pre-ops if they had any more questions.   I am all for pre-ops attending support group meeting....but COME ON - this wasn't a "Post-Op Support Group" meeting.  It was a pre-op Q&A meeting.  For over an hr I heard  "does it hurt?", "what does full feel like", etc.  Those were thing that should have been covered at orientation. 

How does that help me - who is 9 wks out?  
It didn't.

I asked two questions towards the end...and to tell you the truth - I didn't really feel comfortable doing that.  I really feel support groups are necessary for my postive outcome, so I'll attend another meeting next mth...but I really do hope that the NUT gears it more towards the post-ops & not the pre-ops.  Just my opinion.

HI  - THERE IS A SUPPORT GROUP IN PARAMUS - I CUT AND PASTED THE INFO BELOW -  IT SAYS FOR PRE AND POST OP - YOU CAN CALL GIO AND FIND OUT WHICH ONE IS FOR POST OPS ONLY.... GIO IS GREAT - HE RUN THE MEETINGS AND IS REALLY HELPFUL.... A support group for pre and post operative patients meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month from 6PM to 8PM at the Kraft Center, 15 Essex Road, Paramus, NJ. Contact Gio Dugay, NP at 201.670.5624 for further information.

I think there are meetings in Livingston connected to St. Barnabus and they divide the groups into pr and post.  Not sure when they meet.

Michelle,

 

May I recommend the Saint Clare Dover group? They meet the 4^th Thursday of each month from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. They seem to be a smaller group then the one you attended, and are seem very interactive (I go to the band classes held right after them, and sometimes “over hear” their jovial conversations)

 

 

Where is the meeting located?  I'm coming from work in manhattan, so I have a feeling that your meeting might be just too far to be able to get to by 6pm

Withour traffic, it's approximately 60 minutes from mid-town Manhattan ... Here is their information  http://www.saintclares.org/stclares/services/services_ak/CWL S1/CWLS_Support_Groups.asp

I have attended this meeting twice and plan to attend monthly. I am pre op, and there are a few other people who are pre op. Most seem to be post op.  But the nutritionist  gears the discussion toward a theme. Last month she passed out unjury samples and recipes.   All people seem comfotable asking questions.   The discussion is lively and friendly. Ididn't think it was over run by pre ops. You may like this meeting. I had some nice discussions with people while waiting for the meeting to begin also.

Hi Laura - I must have missed the theme (I did arrive 5 minutes after the meeting started) - what was it? All I got out of the meeting was a dicussion of "what to expect" by the pre-ops.   Please dont get me wrong that there is anything wrong with that....but IMO, that should not have been 90% of the meeting.   I was the person sitting at the end who asked the question about drinking wine at office funtions.  When I asked my question - it was already 7:45pm & truthfully, I did feel like I was butting in to a coversation with the NUT and the pre-op sitting directly opposite me who brought her son.

I am sorry...i was talking about the St. Clare's Dover meeting!  i have never attended the Hackensack support group.

Ah... okay... now I know who you are.  I "butted in" a couple times on your questions... I was at the end to your left. Like I said in my other post, most of those people that night were unfamiliar to me.  Probably a lot of them were there to fulfill their pre-op meeting requirements? ~wendy