Support Group

Hi All,

Went to the monthly Support Group meeting yesterday...they are talking about changing it to an online forum and education session that you can log into and post threads that will be answered by Stuart the nutricianist who runs the support group and Dr Ashton to try to reach more patients as the groups are currently quite small. I enjoy going and chatting about issues with the other patients and the education sessions are useful. I get the impression though that Stuart prefers to keep a tight reign on things and not let us chat too much...he seems frustrated when he can't get a word in edgewise...get used to it...it's a group of mostly women...we like to talk! and we like to share!

I also get the impression when I talked to Stuart in the break about my plans for the next couple of weeks to get back on track, he really didn't want to have to listen to it. Surely that's his job...or is it just me he finds tiresome...I don't know but it doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy feeling! Saying that he is very nice and very good at his job so I've decided to give him break...he might have been having a bad day.

There is a lady who goes who is a GP by profession, she's very nice and has been having a hard time appying herself to the diet side and also has found that she has no restriction despite having a whopping 10mls put in her band!! This week she told me that she'd found out she has a leak in her band and has to have the port and tubing replaced. Hence the lack of restriction! She seems quite down about it as she has struggled so long and now has to not only have more surgery, but pay for it and she also has to pay for a locum to cover her surgery whilst she's off as she has no holiday pay left. The surgeon and anaesthetist have both said they'll give their time for free so the cost I think is for the hospital...she'll get confirmation soon as to how much it will cost her, so fingers crossed it'll be low or even gratis! If the band proves to be fauly I'm sure she'll have some legal recourse.

We were discussing it after and I mentioned the newly introduced guarantee. A girl who had her surgery the same day as me said that she had signed the new contract with the guarantee!!! How frustrating to think that I should have been told this was coming in and wasn't. I only signed my contract a week or two before the surgery! I can assure you that if I do need the revision surgery I shall be making a fuss about it. hummmph!