Hello all!  I hope everyone is doing well and although I don’t come around these parts on a regular basis anymore I wanted to inform the locals in Richmond (or any other surrounding area residents willing to travel) that I have started up a weight loss support group for 3 years+ post-op graduates with our esteemed Mary D. by my side. I’m hosting the group through www.meetup.com. The group can be found at http://www.meetup.com/RVAWLSGrads.  Please contact me privately if you are unfamiliar with Meetup and need help accessing the site, setting up a profile and joining the group. 

Meetup is JUST what it sounds, a place where interest groups join together and create “meetups", aka events, to join together with like minded individuals. I’m an Asst-Organizer for two other groups on Meetup and find it to be a wonderful way to network locally and meet new people.

Mary and I have discussed for years that there was a lacking need in the Richmond area for a support group geared for long term post op and the struggles we have as compared to pre-surgery or newly post op patients. I hope to see a great response and to begin, I will be hosting the support group out of my home. As we get our membership numbers up, we will be offering all kinds of different meetups to include other meeting locations around Richmond, group exercise activities, social time on the town for eats, coffee, etc. ALL IDEAS ARE WELCOME. The first meeting will be held Wednesday May 25^th at 630pm. SO CONTACT ME TO GET INVOLVED!  

As for an update on me, things are going good, I saw some maintenance and accountability struggles during my period of unemployment but am kicking it in the bud and getting back on track.  Life is good, I am now living with Keith, my uber wonderful boyfriend, planning a trip to his homeland, Newfoundland, this summer and loving on Nemi and Cali our fur-baby cat’s. We plan on adding a dog to our fur family later this year.  :)

I’m very active in my two meetup groups, one an activities and events group, the other a singles group. I have made many wonderful friends, some that I consider close like family. I completely attribute meetup and them for my successfully venturing out of the box and being a social butterfly again after my divorce. I am a lucky gal for sure!

I hope you are all doing well and pop me a line to let me know how you are doing! Kudos to all the newbies on the board. Hold on for the ride of your life! And a long embracing virtual hug to the veteran VA Board members that I miss so much. I will try to be better about checking in more frequently. The VA Board was absolutely an integral part pre and post surgery and it was always my home base on OH. It makes me a bit sad to see the activity level not anywhere close to what it was 2-3 years ago. BUT HANG IN THERE EVERYONE, there are wonderful people to share life with here even if they don’t stop by all the time.  :)

Lauren

Welcome to the Boards. What part of VA are you in?

Need to remember that they do not offer the sleeve at this point. I am almost 9 mo out from RNY, Done at Portsmouth Naval, Barker is my Dr. I am also TRI, Prime. I wish I had more of an option but I am please with my success.

I am in the Lake Ridge area of Woodbridge as well. Honestly, we want to move. It's not that it's a bad area (we're within walking distance to an elementary school, and there are lots of playgrounds and such), but the daily commute for both me and my husband is really getting to me, and we don't even work in DC, which would be an even more tiresome commute.

We also have 2 dogs (much smaller than german shepards!), and Prince William County (which is where Woodbridge is) has no public dog parks.

If you don't mind the idea of the longer commute, there are some fabulous homes for sale in Manassas as well. Of course, as with any place, be sure to educate yourself about the neighborhood, as every city has its good and its, umm, less good  :P 

When we were searching for a home in Woodbridge, we did not search outside of the 22192 zip code. If you can find a place in Fairfax or Loudon county, your home value will be much more reliable. I know everyone got hit hard with the recent real estate market issues, but Prince William County got hit MUCH harder than others around here (one of the hardest hit in the country). We are now so upside-down in our mortgage that we are now stuck for who knows how many years, even though this townhouse was our "5-year plan" and we're about 3.5 years into it.

 hey VA! *waves*

jus popping in to say hello.

info on me: getting the VSG done with Dr. Mann on June 1st. 

looking and receiving support from all boards :)

thanks for welcoming me!