SET TEXT SIZE

Support Groups

Oklahoma Chapter

PATIENT SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS SCHEDULED FOR 2012

WHEN:

· February 19, 2012– 2:00 pm – Oklahoma City Support Group – A MG film from the 2011 MGFA Annual meeting was shown, followed by a sharing /caring time.

· March 11, 2012– 2:00 pm – Tulsa Support Group – We held our 31st Annual Meeting of the Oklahoma Chapter. Dr. James Dean, neurologist, with the Neurological Association of Tulsa was our featured speaker.

· April 15, 2012– 2:00 pm – Oklahoma City Support Group – The film "Exercise & Myasthenia Gravis: Beyond Neuromuscular Junction" with Richard Macko, MD was shown, with a caring /sharing time following.

· June 2, 2012– 12:00 pm - Tulsa Support Group — A Chapter Picnic in the Park will be held in Tulsa’s Lafortune Park celebrating “June as MG Awareness Month.” Hot dogs, hamburgers and beverages will be provided. Attendees are asked to bring a picnic type dish to share with others. Please RSVP to the chapter office if attending.

· June 9, 2012 – 11:00 am - Oklahoma City Support Group – A Chapter Picnic in the Park will also be held at OKC’s Camp DaKaNi in the Yordi Building (1st building as you enter through gate 1) where we will again celebrate “June as MG Awareness Month.” Hot dogs, hamburgers and beverages will be provided. Attendees are asked to bring a picnic type dish to share with others. Please RSVP to Jeanmarie Carper at 405-285-9445 or email her at jeanmariecarper@yahoo.com if attending.

· July 15, 2012– 2:00 pm – Tulsa Support Group – The film "Myasthenia Gravis and the Eyes" with Christopher Glisson, D.O, Neuro-Ophthalmologist, will be shown. A caring/sharing time will follow.

· August 12, 2012– 2:00 pm, – Oklahoma City Support Group – Our guest speaker will be Pam Forducey, PhD., from Integris Health, Director, IT Applications. She will be talking on “how to handle stress in living with a chronic illness.”

· September 9, 2012 – 2:00 pm – Tulsa Support Group – A film from the 2011 Annual meeting of the MGFA will be shown, with a caring /sharing time following.

· November 4, 2012 –2:00 pm – Oklahoma City Support Group – Our guest speaker will be Dr.. Eduardo De Sousa, neurologist with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center; Director, Neuromuscular Disorders/ EMG Lab. He will be speaking on new MG trials and new medications for myasthenia gravis. With a caring/ sharing time following.

No RSVP unless noted is necessary to attend the meetings. Light snacks will be provided.

Please feel free to bring a snack item to share with others.

WHERE:

Oklahoma City Patient Support Group meetings, unless otherwise noted, are held in the Central Oklahoma Cancer Conference Center, at SW 44th St. & S Western Ave., which is next to Integris Southwest Medical Center. Do not enter the Cancer Conference Center at the front doors, enter through the garden area that is to the right of the front doors, look for our MG chapter’s red arrow signs pointing the way to our meetings.

Tulsa Patient Support Group meetings, unless otherwise noted, meet at Saint Francis Hospital, 61 & Yale Ave., in the Education Center (on east side of the hospital. Park in the employee parking garage that is near the meeting area. Look for our MG chapter’s red arrow signs pointing the way to our meetings.

Support Groups are:

• A place to go for information about your particular problems.

• A group of special friends - good listeners who care about your concerns.

• A group of people like you who share a common problem or interest in acquiring information on a particular issue or need.

• A place to receive assurance, comfort, friendship and social support.

• A place to receive strength and understanding.

Top 10 Reasons to attend a Patient Support Meeting

10. There are usually empty seats, refreshments are often served and there is always a restroom nearby.

9. If you don’t want to talk, you can just listen.

8. People discover that it’s okay to care about oneself.

7. Knowledge is power. Ignorance, unlike MG, is a curable disease.

6. Anger, grief, and loss are common feelings that are okay to talk about.

5. Hope and encouragement are important gifts of the group.

4. Shared feelings, not solutions, give the group power.

3. Living with MG colors life, but you choose the color.

2. One of the rewards of life is that no one can seriously help another without also helping oneself. And the number one reason for attending a meeting:

1. Where else can you go where people will understand what you are talking about?