Anybody in or near Puget Sound that would be interested in having a regional support group?
Feel free to post here or email me.
Administrator
Anybody in or near Puget Sound that would be interested in having a regional support group?
Feel free to post here or email me.
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Moderator
Yeppers here. Any way we could tap into the local Sjogren's folks for their input as well?
Every day with DES is like a box of chocolates...You never know what you're going to get.
Dry Eye Patient
I'm from Vancouver BC and would love to do a little cross border travelling to take part in a DES support group.
Dry Eye Patient
hi Rebecca - sounds like a great idea. I know of another person who really has had her dry eye trouble. She was referred to me by my dry eye doc to give me support when I was first diagnosed with ocular rosacea so she might be intested as well. And, if a local dry eye doc is requested for a gathering, I could contact Dr. Laukaitis in Kirkland to see if he would be interested in taking part. I haven't been to see him for about 2 years now as I have been very stable, but I do need a new restasis rx so will need to contact him in the next month or so anyway. keep me posted and let me know if I can help. :-) Lynnie
Administrator
Hi Lynnie - sorry it took forever for me to respond!! I would love to have Dr. Laukitis involved in a meeting. I am hoping to get some possible dates lined up soon & I'll let you know!
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Dry Eye Patient
I would be interested in participating in a support group if it's not too far for me to drive. My ideal location would be Bellingham and if you need a place to have a meeting, St. Joe's Hospital has a community center where they let groups use meeting rooms and I think it's free.
Dry Eye Patient
I would love to go to the Puget sound support group and if I win the lottery this week I will be there! If nothing else this site has expanded my knowledge as I had not previously heard of Puget Sound but Wikipedia came to my rescue. It sounds lovely.
Administrator
All,
I have not yet managed to schedule a DryEyeZone meeting. HOWEVER, I've just recently made contact with the local Sjogrens group leader, who is very nice and working hard for local patients.
They have a meeting scheduled for:
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15th
10:30 am to 12:30 pm
in Lake City (Seattle)
and have kindly extended the invitation to anyone at DEZ who would like to come. (That includes you, hangus, if the lottery comes through for you - then we'll get to see whether you live up to that pic!) Guest speaker is... yours truly
and as you may imagine it will be a dry eye focused meeting.
I will post details shortly in a separate thread including RSVP information.
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Just found this post...back in 2007...I guess not enough interest? Laukatis? Really...I found his office not very well informed of the whole dry eye thing. I asked him so sign a form for work so I can take a day off of work...my eye were just too fried! And the doc looked at me and said I had never heard of someone going on disability from this...really? Another friend had surgery with him and she said he is rude and some other problems with him...cant remember what they were..but we were both complaining about him...
But anyway....would love to see how the support groups went....
Moderator
I had a consult (referred by another doctor) with Dr. Laukitis for my migrated/lost plugs. He was very nice, well informed and diagnosed me with ocular rosacea which no other doc had done. His practice now is limited to mostly cosmetic plastic surgery but he does do some oculoplastics.Originally Posted by regina
Every day with DES is like a box of chocolates...You never know what you're going to get.
I was also sent there from my optometrist since he was supposed to be a dry eye specialist...and like you said it was cosmetic plastic surgery office...and he dumped me on another doc in the office to help me with diagnosing dry eye...he was worthless. Maybe if it was him doing the check up ...it would have been a better outcome...
Dry Eye Patient
I notice these replies are all pretty old and I'm new to the forum. I'd love to find a support group in Western Washington/Puget Sound. Any current interest?
Dry Eye Patient
I'm in the Tacoma area, havent heard of a support group.... Rebecca is also from the Puget Sound, maybe she will shed some light!
Administrator
I went to the Sjogrens meeting several years ago over in Seattle and it was great but I find it difficult to get to Seattle these days so I haven't been since. I tried to do something at my place once a couple of years ago but there wasn't really any interest at the time. Maybe it's time to try again? Sure seem to be seeing/hearing from a lot of folks in the area lately. I would love to find a way for us all to get together.
Maybe one get-together and then talk about whether it's practical to do something more regularly? Could do something here at our place (in Poulsbo). For those east of the Sound, we're about 12 minutes from the Kingston ferry terminal and 25 minutes from the Bainbridge terminal. Or if anyone has other ideas about locations do speak up! Libraries are often a good place to try to get a room for free that we can use.
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Dry Eye Patient
I would definitely be interested and your area is fine with me! Thanks Rebecca!
Dry Eye Patient
Sorry to be so long in responding. I'd be interested too. Most times work for me. Poulsbo's best for me (I'm in Kingston) but I can also travel. If there's interest, there's a spot on the Sjogren's Foundation website for support group meetings.
Dry Eye Patient
We've already talked but I would love to have a support group!
Administrator
I'd love to get something started. I don't have time/ambition to get really organized at the moment but I'm happy to dive in with something simple and soon if there are even a few people interested.
So I'll just go ahead and float an idea, let me know what you think:
WHEN: Saturday, March 19 @ 12 noon
WHAT: Potluck lunch and support group meeting.
WHERE: At my place in Poulsbo (email for directions).
KIDS welcome (10 acres to explore, chickens and my daughter for company)
If anybody east of the Sound is motivated to join, we're 12 minutes away from the Kingston (Edmonds) ferry terminal and 30 minutes from the Bainbridge terminal.
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Dry Eye Patient
March 19th sounds great. I live right near the Kingston ferry, so if anyone from the east side wants to walk on, I'd be happy to pick you up and take you back.
Dry Eye Patient
I can't do the 19th, I have a friend in town, but I could do anytime after noon on the 20th. I'm sorry to complicate things! If we can switch time/date, that's great, otherwise no pressure!
Margaret
Administrator
20th works for me. Bomag?
Anybody else in Kitsap? or anybody across the sound want to join us?
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Dry Eye Patient
Sunday, March 20th, noon, works for me!
Dry Eye Patient
I know noon might be too early for you...what time can you make it?
Thanks,
Margaret
Administrator
Oopsie - sorry I forgot to check this again. Yes, a little later would work better, would 1:30 be OK?
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Dry Eye Patient
Sunday Mar 20 at 1:30 is fine with me.
Dry Eye Patient
1:30 works for me too!
Do we want to put a thread in the open forum just in case people don't scroll down (like me) to the support group site?
Margaret
Administrator
I totally hate to do this especially at the last minute but I'm going to have to cancel. I started coming down with something last night and now it's totally laid me out. Flu or something but whatever it is it's nasty.
I could do the first weekend in April either Saturday or Sunday if that suits everyone? Or if not just float a date that you think is good...
Sorry for the last minute change!!
Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone
Dry Eye Patient
So sorry to hear your not feeling well, I was bummed that I would not be able to attend because of work and distance this time maybe the future date will work better. Lots of others at work and church have been getting nasty respiratory viruses, today the sun is out here in full force(Enumclaw) hope it's shinning where your at today too, it does wonders to help you feel better.
Dry Eye Patient
You poor thing! I caught it last month and was laid low for 2 weeks. I hope you fare better. I'm hoping to be out of town the first week in April, but it's not a done deal yet. Pretty much any other weekend after that should be okay. If I have to miss it, I'll catch you next time. Take care.
Dry Eye Patient
I can't do the first weekend of April, will be trying to go out of town myself, but have other weekends open too. I can also throw my house out if that's more middle ground for more people to attend. I live in Gig Harbor, BUT, I don't want that to complicate things more either.
Get better soon Rebecca!!!
Margaret
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