Susan Wenzler has kindly volunteered to become the new coordinator for the Rotorua group. Here's a little about Susan.

I was first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in March 2013.  At the time I had wondered what had hit me.  It took quite some time after my colonoscopy and much trial and error to get my medication adjusted, but, with perseverance, we got there.

At the time I was referred from my doctor to my surgeon, Rotorua did not have an IBD nurse or an active support group.   Consequently, I joined the Waikato support group and attended many interesting seminars. Over three years, these were a tremendous help to both me and my husband, who was my support person.

Three years ago, Rotorua got a fantastic IBD nurse, who was knowledgeable and empathetic. Once I was well again, we discussed rejuvenating the Rotorua support group. Despite several setbacks beyond our control (COVID), we finally got there.  

We began by sending out a questionnaire and got an amazing 80% feedback.

The topics and goals that our community wanted from our meetings were:

1. Information about the illness/seminars
2. Information on Diet
3. Support of others in the same situation.

We have started a new Facebook page, click here to join.

Samantha, our new IBD nurse will be giving out our Facebook page details as she sees clients.  We will be liaising with Samantha about what information patients require and, together, we will be in a position to organise informative seminars for you. 

We are thinking of having monthly coffee meetings in Rotorua. We aim to have dates for the end of May and the beginning of June.  While informative sessions are great, our goal is to get patients and support people talking and communicating with each other, sharing experiences, and creating their own support networks.

Our main objective is to have a community approach so that everyone, patients, support people and medical professionals, can feel there is a safe place to come and chat, receive information and exchange information.