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.

A Meeting for September

On Tuesday, I received an email from Brenda announcing a meeting on Thursday evening, September 1. The agenda was almost identical to the one Tim and I had laid out on the previous Wednesday. Brenda did ask that I not publish a blog until after the meeting was history.

I had several others call to make sure I would be there and would not accept anything but yes I would be there. Because of those that called, I decided to go. When I arrived, I did get a shock. All 19 were there and several non-members. The five that had foot problems had made it, as did Allison, Suzanne, and Beverly.

Sue started the meeting and asked if anyone was opposed to dues. No one spoke. Next, Sue asked if anyone wanted more or less than the $15 that had been discussed. Several asked if more dues could be raised later in the year if it was needed. Sue said this was not under consideration at this time, but she did ask if there was approval for more next year if it was needed. Everyone agreed, but asked if we could have the vote when needed. No one opposed this.

Brenda now said that the funds would be used to pay speakers and said that the discussion had been for paying each speaker a specified amount. Now we need to have a discussion about this. Now there were several questions. Allison asked why and if this would create conflict between Suzanne and her. Suzanne said it should not as she was now employed full time working as an instructor at the university, and as such she would not have time for anything else. 

She continued that she was here only to see what the decision was about Bob. Beverly asked if this could be moved up as Suzanne had at least two and a half hour drive. A.J moved that this be accomplished and Jerry seconded this. Sue asked for a vote of the members and it was unanimous. Brenda said this is the reason Sue was in charge this evening and moved that Bob be a member of this group in good standing. Barry seconded and the vote was unanimous. Allen called for me to give a speech and I tried to wave him off, but Sue called on me.

I said that I was very surprised when Tim told me I was being asked out of the support group. I admitted that I must have gathered a few enemies and they were hiding behind Tim now. Allen spoke then and said he now understands why Tim said I was out as several of the newer members did not like my attitude about dietary supplements and felt it was none of my business. One had even said he could get a majority to vote me out if necessary.

A.J asked what is wrong with this. He said we don't agree that these people are right and we feel that Bob is right that doctors need to know about dietary supplements and what conflicts they can cause with prescription medications. This brought a round of applause and Beverly said this was what she wanted to hear and she said she felt this was what Allison wanted also. Allison agreed and said Beverly and she had agreed that we would accept the fee and asked me not to disclose it.

Suzanne thanked everyone and said she would stay in contact with Beverly and Bob, but she would not be available to any support group. With that, she asked to be excused and left.

Beverly said this could reduce the amount of dues necessary and as far as she was concerned, this would be the only group that she would speak to about diabetes. Allison said the same applied to her for nutrition. She said that Bob has told us that he would not prevent us from speaking to any group, but we want you to know that we will limit it to this group only.

I then asked to speak and said I don't want this and felt that the group led by Glen and Dr. Tom's group had not caused me any harm and if asked, you should speak to these groups. Allison said she had not thought of those groups and would consider them when asked. Beverly agreed with Allison and thanked me for reminding them of these two groups.

Then I suggested that the meeting move forward to have the dues approved for speaker fees. Sue then said we have another item that needs discussion and that is the membership of Tim if he asks to be in this group. I asked why this needs to be discussed now as he has not been invited to this meeting and is not here to defend himself – he is one of the original six and there may have been a reason for his actions. Allen spoke then and said yes, he may have been for trying to keep both sides together, but he failed at that and should not have taken the other side by saying what he did.

Part 1 of 2 parts

Our September Meeting

Our September 12 meeting was different to say the least. Most of our members were present, but we were surprised by the number of new people present. Tim introduced everyone and said that we have 14 possible new members. I recognized six of them as I had met them over the last few years. I knew they had type 2 diabetes. Three had not wanted to join earlier as they were still working and did not want the additional time taken from family. The wife of one of them was there and she said she now had type 2 diabetes.

Sue said she knew four others and thanked them for coming. Barry and Ben also knew them and said they could join when a vote was taken. Tim stated that he had invited five of them and one was one I knew. They all wish to join and this is the reason we do not have a program, as we want to spend time with the potential members before asking them to join.

Then Tim asked how many were receiving veteran's benefits and four indicated that they were. Three others said they were also veterans and were not receiving benefits. Tim asked Allen and Barry to ask them questions. With that, we dispersed into groups and started to get to know each of them.

About 30 minutes later, Tim called us back into the meeting and asked if there were any questions. Only one question and that was about dues. Tim said we do not have dues presently and we ask people to bring their own snacks if they need them. We ask everyone to pick up any trash that may be found at the end of a meeting and to put the chairs up and help with cleanup.

Then Tim asked for a show of hands from the new people that still wanted to join. When all hands were raised, he said then the current members will vote on acceptance. When that was unanimous, Tim asked if we wanted to change leaders for the coming year. Brenda moved that we keep the same leaders and Allen seconded the motion. A show of hands confirmed that we all agreed. This meant we went from 28 to 42 members.

Next Tim asked each of the new members to give him their email address and phone number. He explained that these would be used for sending out notices of a meeting and for emails after a meeting about what happened during the meeting so that if someone needed to miss a meeting, they did not need to feel they were being ignored and would know what happened. He explained that some of us exchanged emails between meetings about meeting topics and special things we might want covered. He continued that if someone is hospitalized, and wants visitors, this is a way to spread the word.

He collected the information and then said that they each would receive a master email list of all the members and their phone numbers. Then he asked if he should ask Beverly to give the presentation that we canceled at the last minute the first Saturday in June. Everyone agreed and then Tim asked Brenda and Jason if they would give their presentation in November. Brenda said that would be okay and she and Jason were ready, but could polish it after the long delay.

Tim stated that the meeting was over and cleanup started.