After RNY
Educational Conferences
April 23-24, 2004
The following photos are from the WLS Educational Conference I attended at the Grand Casino in Hinkley, Minnesota. This event was originally under the auspices of the OSSGMN online group and was referred to as the Spring Thaw. It was mostly an excuse to get together to celebrate and support each other's efforts. But over the years, it has grown into a major conference with many educational breakout sessions, a spa room that includes massage, and an expo of vendors who are either weight loss surgery patients, or people selling weight loss related products.
It is a day-and-a-half event that kicks off with a dance on Friday night. The theme was "the 70s" and included a costume contest and dance contest. Then, Saturday morning, we all got together to hear the guest speaker -- Carnie Wilson. After her funny, informative and sometimes moving talk, we all (approximately 250 of us) got to meet with Carnie, get her autograph and have our pictures taken with her.
During the afternoon, we boke out into educational sessions, which included: Getting My Body Prepared for Surgery, Discussion on Underwater Weighing, Now You've Lost All That Weight... What's Next? (a life skills discussion), Plastic Surgery Presentation, Plastic Surgery Roundtable, Support-Halves Roundtable, 3-Years and Out Roundtable, and The Men's Point of View.
Then, that evening, we had a nice buffet dinner which was followed by a Fashion Show with people who were at least one-year out from surgery, an auction to raise money for next year's "thaw," and another dance with the live band Random Axis. It was a great time and I was very happy I was able to go. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
cons of weight loss surgery, check out the new book by April Hochstrasser:
The Patient's Guide to Weight Loss Surgery, Everything You Need to Know About Gastric Bypass & Bariatric Surgery.
My photo is featured in the section of her book titled "Success Stories." (Disclaimer: I get no royalties or remuneration of any kind if you buy her book.)
