Support Group Meeting

This afternoon I went to a WLS support group meeting in Hamilton Ontario. The group was a real mix of people in terms of ages and background but more importantly in terms of surgeries. There were lapbanders, RNYers and a few DS gonna be's.

I've never been a support group kind of person but there is something comforting about being with people who truly know what it is to seek a medical intervention to a condition that was sapping them of life...whatever that medical intervention may be. At the meeting the facilitator asked us all to share something good we have done for ourselves. The point was of course that we tend not to do stuff for ourselves - we are not programmed to do for ourselves first.

My answer... I started this blog. I have never been able to keep a journal. I started a few as a child and teen but they never lasted long. For some reason this blog is different. This blog has been good for me because it has allowed me to explore things that in my pre surgery life I would placate, dull, drown in food. It allows me to share of myself for myself but also for others who are considering surgery as an option. It's a way for me to connect with those that have gone before me - please know that your feedback and comments have been invaluable while I've been on this huge learning curve. This has been good for me.

The other "good thing for me" was that I ordered a bicycle. As a thank you for 10 years of service I got to choose a gift from a catalog. I chose a bike over jewelry and all other frivolous things... go figure but I'm pretty proud of me.

It was a good way to end the weekend. Support is so critical when you choose to have WLS. I have my family, my colleagues, my online fellow Dsers and Ontario losers at ObesityHelps and now this support group. I feel very lucky.