Bari-Buddies: Walnut Creek Weight Loss Surgery Support Group

Our little gastric bypass/weight loss surgery support group is really growing!  It is so exciting.  I know a lot of people, like myself, had surgery in San Francisco or other areas far away from their home and can't make it to support group meetings, so it's nice to have a local group of people.  I am also really excited that a couple of people have found the group through my blog.

We meet once a month -- the first Tuesday of each month from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, California.  We welcome pre- and post-op patients.  We have gastric bypass, lap-band and gastric sleeve patients in attendance.  There is no cost to attend.  You can also bring friends and family for support.  In fact, we encourage it! 

Please join our Bari-Buddies group on Facebook for more info.  Even if you aren't local, we share recipes and other fitness or health related advice for weight loss surgery patients. 

https://www.facebook.com/BariBuddies

http://lolorashel.blogspot.com/2011/04/gastric-bypass-support-group.html

See you next month!

Gastric bypass support group

As some people know, I help facilitate a gastric bypass support group in Walnut Creek, California.  I started as a member pre-surgery...over eight years ago.  I met a lot of great friends that way.  The group was mostly made up of Kaiser members who were being sent down to San Diego (to Pacific Bariatric) for their surgeries.  Kaiser now does all surgery in-house (and locally), but our group still remains.  A lot of people (like myself) had surgery in San Francisco, and didn't want to travel to the city on a work night for support.  It was nice to have a local group to meet with.  We are one of the few free groups who allows anyone to attend.  Most of the local groups limit membership to those who had surgery through their program. 

Anyway, a few years ago, the facilitator, Ginny, moved away and asked one of the members, Sandy (who had surgery around the same time I did) to take over for her.  Sandy then asked me to help her out.  So, for the last two and a  half to three years, Sandy and I have been co-facilitators.  The group size fluctuates.  For awhile, we got pretty small and thought about possibly shutting it down.  But we now get between 8 and 12 members attending each month.

Last night I started a Facebook group to help keep people in touch during the month.  It is called Bari-Buddies Walnut Creek (thanks to Burnette for the cute name idea!).  You can join HERE.  I know that having support after surgery is one thing that helps us be successful.  Sometimes getting to a meeting in-person isn't always an option, so online support is the next best thing. 

Hope to see you all at a meeting soon.  If not, I hope to see you on Facebook.  :-)