hello! anybody else here

I hope none is offended, but is there anymore people out here not from the nashville area that are constantly here? or is this a small group that no one else seems to want to hang out here? there has to be more than the usual faces I see here everyday. like it's their own club. hello, is this thing on out of the thousands of people having this surgery, I only see the repeats! I really don't mean to offend,I just wish there were more others on here. has anyone else noticed this? have a wonderful day to each and every one! 

I'm probably not who you want to hear from since I post or reply often here but we do not get a lot of responses from the lurker's that often.  I am not offended at all in fact would like to hear from newbies/ lurkers as well as to how we can make our little board better.

There used to be more from other locations.  But what we see often are people, after they have surgery, do not come back.  They got the information they needed, and support, and hopefully they are plugged into their local support groups.  We don't really know where they are...  But, there are also some from Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis but they don't come on frequently as they are busy.  Many of us who know each other "in real life" or locally don't post that much cause of work, illness, etc...  but we do try to stay abreast on what is happening with them...  for example, Kym who lives in Lawrenceburg has had surgery and very busy with school as well...  we don't see or hear from her lately but do call to get updates.  We miss her like mad!  I wish I had a better answer for you...  What would be great is for people in your area to get together for lunch also, and for all of us to share what happens at each location...  kind of like a network.  And, perhaps if the connection were better, and included more people, we could have a get together for all of us on the TN forum.  I know distance is a real bummer. We hope you stay around!  Please don't leave us!

I think you'll find that some people on any message board are just more vocal than others. There are many people who lurk and only post occasionally. We wish more of the lurkers would come out and play more often. We really are a very friendly group. I think you will also find more people from Nashville because there are just more WL surgeons in Nashville than most other areas. There are some of Dr. Colquitt's patients who participate. I don't know where they have been lately. If it seems the group of us have our "own club" perhaps it's because we do chat so often and have gotten to know each other. Also, we do get together in person at least once each month and that really helps strengthen the friendships. I know AnnRenee was trying to get a monthly get together started in your area of the state. Perhaps you can contact her and help get that off the ground. Then there could be more activity from other areas of TN. Personally, I would love for us to have very active groups in many areas of the state and perhaps put together the occasional all state meet & greet. I'm sure we could get a group from Nashville to drive to Knoxville for a luncheon sometime. I would love to meet our eastern peeps in person.

     I agree with what everyone has stated thus far, but one of the things that I have noticed is that it tends to come in waves.  I have never known any of us to not want or even deter others from another area of the state to participate on the TN Forum, we all have the same thing in common and welcome everyone.  We occasionally even see others that will peep in and they are from other states and we have always responded to help regardless as to if we know them or not.  We may seem like a clique to you, but rest assured, we are not a closed clique, we are very open to EVERYONE and this is what we all depend upon as part of our success!!!!  

Just a Note:
       I have seen you post quite often and actually really have never paid much attention as to where you live, because I simply just considered you as a part of our, and I say this loosely, "Clique".  I am sure that many others feel the same way, Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!!!

Hi Mommafive, I had my surgery in Maryville just south of Knoxville by Dr. Colquitt.  I only recently moved to the Nashville area.  It was a hard decision to make as I love the east side a lot.  I am from the mountains of West Virginia and I miss them in the Nashville area.  But with my having a rare form of leukemia, I felt I needed to be closer to my two sons, daughter-n-love, and two grandsons. I am hoping for a granddaughter in May, but should it be another grandson, he will be loved just as much.  I'm not happy where I am living, but I make the most of it.  I come to the eastern side every three months to see Dr.'s that I didn't transfer as I only see them every 3 months.  I also get away from the projects of Lebanon, and enjoy spending the time with my dearest friend of 31 years.  Like a little vacation to rest, get stressed free, and have some fun.  I tried helping Annrenee get a group for the eastern side to meet once a month for lunch and that way they could get to know those that are in this area, share recipes, share ideas regarding proteins, clothes swap.  But there's several in the Johnson City side that finds it just hard to drive to Knoxville.  I had it in Morristown as a central location. If you have any ideas, please feel free to share them with us on how we can make our wonderful site better. May God be with you, Kathy

Hi Kathy, I work in Morristown. Do I understand correctly that there is a support group there? I would appreciate any information you can give me. Thanks! Dot

I guess I fall into the catagory of people not from Nashville.  I live in cosby which is near Newport.  I am sort of new.  I do alot of lufking but have been coming out of my shell alittle more.  My surgery is Jan 21 in Maryville.  I have only been to one support group, I use this message boaard sort of as my support group.  the only support groups that I have found are in Maryville which is a ways to travel especially at night. I'm on the boards everyday and sometimes many times a day. Sue

I have been lurking! I am from East TN. I am scheduled for surgery 1/30/08. I am 47 and started this journey when I hit the scales at 350+ last June. I was surprised last week by a call from my surgeon's office that the insurance appoval had gone thru. So, this lurker is coming out asking for input, feedback all the good and bad I can expect. I appreciate it! Dot

mommafive5, I am new to this as well.  I just think it is wonderful to have a group of people who like to post recipes, suggestions about activity, diet hints and general conversation on this support group.  I know I have limited time to post or read the postings due to work and life in general.  But I have been welcomed with each questions I have asked.  I hope to get to some of the next group meetings and outings soon.  I would like to meet the people on the other end of the computers around TN. Please stay online and we can help each other.