Sorry it has taken a while to rechedule but we can now confirm there will be a meeting for Hull on Sunday. 21st MARCH from 3.00pm

So if you cannot make the Scunthorpe meeting on the 17th March, you won't need to wait too long.

We respectfully ask you not arrive at the hospital before 2.45pm as the cafeteria will be busy serving staff lunchtime meals.

It is hoped to have a guest speaker on the day and once confirmed, we will publish details here.

Following on from the appointment last month of Linda and Dave as Group Leaders for Cheshire and the Northwest, we are delighted to announce that two more Owlss members have agreed to take on the role of Group Leaders.

Claire, who is currently our Mentoring Coordinator for Hull hospitals and Jules, Owlss Book Club Coordinator are familiar faces at our group meetings held in Hull & Scunthorpe and have both accepted an invitation from long-term Group Leaders, Colin and Debz to join them on the panel of the Owlss Steering Group.

Now there are six Group Leaders, it is hoped, by sharing the duties of running Owlss on a day to day basis, we can provide greater support to our members and over the next year, we will be introducing some new and exciting initiatives to expand our services even further.

Back at Lincoln Court for our March Group Meeting

After having to relocate the January Scunthorpe Group Meeting to the Central Community Centre, we are pleased to announce the return to our regular venue Lincoln Court. We are told the renovations are now complete so it is 'business as usual'.

Details are yet to be confirmed but we anticipate the meeting will be held on WEDNESDAY, 17th MARCH, from 7.00pm until 9.00pm.

LINCOLN COURT is on PETERBOROUGH ROAD, Scunthorpe(For those with satnav the postcode is DN16 2EG).

For a route map, please click on the following link (please give it time to upload):

Owlss has recently been contacted by Laura Sager, Location Assistant for Maverick, a TV production company who are currently working on a new series for Channel 4 focussing on people who are struggling with weight problems.

If anyone is interested in getting involved with the programme, they should contact the company direct for further details (...and don't forget to mention Owlss!):

It is quite apparent from the number of posts on the forum that our members in the Macclesfield area are disappointed that there has been no regular Group Meetings for a while now and with the December 2009 meeting being cancelled at such short notice (much to the annoyance of those planning to attend!), we are determined to do everything possible to prevent this happening in the future.

For a number of personal reasons, Teri has found it necessary to take some time out from her role as Owlss Macclesfield Group Leader. We would like to thank Teri for the work she has done for Owlss in the last year and especially in her capacity as the mentoring coordinator for Macclesfield and hope, when the time is right, she will return to the group and continue to play an active role in supporting members in the Macclesfield area. 

In order to move the Macclesfield Group forward, we are delighted to advise you that two new Group Leaders have been appointed for the Cheshire and Northwest Area.  Linda (username Sashatina) and Dave (username Cobra5107) have both agreed to take on the role of Group Leaders in addition to Teri who continues to be Macclesfield Mentoring Coordinator for the time being whilst we can find someone else willing to take on the position.

As well as the massive media attention focussing on the 'postcode lottery' patients face when being referred for bariatric surgery, in Hull yesterday (21st January 2010), it was revealed that 36 patients awaiting weight loss surgery have been removed from the NHS waiting list.

The Hull Daily Mail reported:

"NHS Hull cuts patients from weight-loss surgery waiting list"

'MORE than 30 people who were on a waiting list for weight loss surgery have been told they must now look at other ways of shedding the pounds.

Health officials in Hull have decided 36 people previously expecting surgery should try other weight-loss options, such as fitness programmes and diet schemes.

NHS Hull, the city's primary care trust (PCT), insists the move – which comes after a review of those on the waiting list – is not a cost-cutting measure.

The review of the patients due to receive the surgery, known as bariatric surgery, was carried out after a new centre for weight management services opened in Hull in April last year.

People in the city wanting to lose weight now have various options, including the Fit Fans scheme that requires them people to join a structured 12-week programme, and Why Weight?, which offers nutritional advice and teaches cooking skills.

Officials have only recently reviewed the cases on the waiting list, which also considered those people placed on the list before April.

NHS Hull then sent letters out to those affected earlier this month.

Whilst surfing the net for the latest information on Bariatric Surgery, I came across this rather intriguing article. If you are a bypass patient, I am sure you will find it most interesting:

"In a study published in the July issue of the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, John Morton, MD, associate professor of surgery at the medical school [Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA], showed that patients who take probiotics after the gastric-bypass procedure tend to shed more pounds than those who don’t take the supplements. Probiotics are the so-called “good” bacteria found in yogurt as well as in over-the-counter dietary supplements that help in the digestion of food."

To read the complete article, click here.