A Meeting on 1 Sept

Part 2 of 2 parts.

A.J asked for the floor and said he must have known this would happen and previously, others were separated from this group when they disagreed with us and since we have come together in support of Bob, Tim has chosen his side and until he apologizes to Bob and each member of this group, I am in favor of leaving him out. Brenda said then leave things alone for now and wait to see what happens. Jason said Tim has his good points and did the wrong thing this time by not asking the rest of us our feelings and I move he be out of this group. A.J seconded the motion. Allen called for a vote of members and it was 16 to 3. I was asked for my vote and I said I would abstain for now as the majority had spoken.

Sue asked if we could discuss dues and I suggested that at $10 we would raise $250 from 25 members if the five joined us. Dues of $15 would bring in $375. Allen said with the provision of being able to ask for more money next spring, I move for dues of $10 as this time. Brenda seconded the motion. The members voted in favor of this and the discussion turned to electing a treasurer. Some discussion took place of where to place the funds, as it would depend on the fees charged by the financial institutions. Since no dues would be collected this month, we suggested that the new treasurer investigate and report at the next meeting.

I suggested that we also needed to elect a new leader as well and ask A.J and Barry if they would continue in their positions. Brenda said that she would like to become the new leader as she now had the equipment. With that, Jennifer nominated Brenda as the leader and Jason seconded the motion. Her election was unanimous. Max said he would be willing to serve as treasurer unless someone wanted it. Sue had stepped aside for Brenda and nominated Max as treasurer. I seconded the motion and Max was unanimously elected. Barry and A.J agreed to continue in their positions.

Brenda then posted the information about women's diseases men can have. She pointed out to Jason the difference in thyroid cancer and Jason thanked her for that information. Sue then asked Ben how his operation had gone and he said they felt they had gotten all of his breast cancer and would still have the radiation again next Wednesday. Sue said their mother had died from breast cancer and the aggressive type. She said that her mammograms have been negative every year for the last five years and Barry had a negative mammogram on Wednesday while Ben was being operated on.

This had everyone's attention and I commented that as we outlive the ages of our parents, we may well become affected by diseases many of us have not known about in our families. Brenda said that we all need to support each other for diabetes and other diseases and illnesses. She said that Sue, Barry, and Ben all had each other for support, but this does not mean that we can't step up, help, and provide support and this is important for those of us living alone to know that we can call on others if needed.

One of the guests asked to speak and said if it had not been for a few of the members, possibly several of us could have had amputations instead of using crutches for a month or two. This is why we want to join this group and be part of a supportive group. This just emphasizes how important support can become and we feel it is important to be part of a support group like this.

Julie spoke then and said this was not something she had even thought about, and now needed to expand her ideas of support to include other diseases and illnesses a well. She continued that she was happy to see the information up for women's diseases that men can develop and asked if this would include all diseases even women's diseases that only women can have and men's diseases only men can have. Brenda said yes, and Sue said this is why we chose this topic to start the discussion and thank you for asking this, as we all need to be clear about this. Being a member of this support group should mean being supported not only for diabetes, but also for other diseases and illnesses.

Brenda added that this should even include Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. We need to compile a list of family members and who to contact if needed. There is much more we need to do, even to knowing what the final wishes of the member might be as some members do not have family that will follow their wishes. These are topics for future meetings and we have at least opened the door for topics that need to be discussed.

Brenda said the meeting is over and now it is time to clean the room. We will want to use this room again in the future. During cleanup, we could see discussions happening.

After we were outside, I suggested to Brenda that it might be wise to hold my blogs until after their meeting. Brenda told me to post my blogs so they knew the lay of the land and that they were not included in our meeting. She continued that they should know that they are not in control and no longer part of our group.