Sharing my experience

I am writing this to hopefully help inform others who may be considering weight loss surgery about my experience as I go through the process. I initially received a referral to the Richmond Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Centre in the first week of July of 2013. I was told at the time that there was a 2 year wait list before the initial consultation. I was a bit surprised when I was contacted December 1, 2014 asking if I would be able to attend the orientation session on December 10, 2014 the following week. So the actual wait time for me was about a year and a half. During the orientation session we were informed that the wait time is still around 2 years for Richmond Bariatric and 7 years for Vancouver Island.

At the orientation, there were about another 15 people that were also called in for the initial orientation session. In a private room in the back, our pictures were taken for our files, and our weight and height recorded. Then we sat through a 2 hour information session where we were told more about what will be expected of us, and the different types of procedures offered. We were also given more information about what our pre and post-surgery diet would look like, and the risks and results typically seen with each type of surgery. At the end of the information session, we are then given 3 choice. Opt-in, Opt-out- or take up to 2 weeks to decide if we wanted to opt in. If you don't get back to them within the 2 week time frame, they will assume you are not going to participate and will discharge you from the program.

We were given a sign in package that we had to fill out if we wanted to opt in. The package also contained a list of recommended resources to learn more about the process including Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies (2nd edition), Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies Cookbook, and the Bariatric Surgery Lifestyle Manual and Cookbook (this last book is sold right on site for $10 each). They also recommended using a free app such as myfitnesspal.com, sparkpeople.com, fitday.com or eatracker.com to track food eaten each day. They also recommended some sort of a physical activity tracker such as a pedometer, fitbit, or some similar device of our choice. We were informed that they will do random nicotine tests on participants since you cannot be a smoker to go through the program.

For those of us who decided to opt-in, we lined up to make our next appointments at the end of the orientation session. We were given some forms to have some medical tests completed. These included being tested for sleep apnea, having some blood work done, an ultrasound, and bone density testing. My next appointment has been scheduled for March 19, 2014 where I am supposed to be meeting with an occupational therapist and a registered dietitian. We are informed that we have to bring our diet journal with us to each and every appointment, and if we don't have it they cannot proceed with our appointment.

Hope this helps give a little bit of information to those of your who may be unsure of what the process will look like. I plan on updating this post after my appointment March 19, 2014  and keep others informed as I go through the process. Feel free to ask me questions and I will try my best to answer them.

Good Luck, I can't wait to hear how it all progresses. 

Other option is Self Pay. I did mine in Canada.

Still a serious process . However way less BS than through BC medical and the above pre-op reporting process. I started that too. One time in life that money did actually buy happiness? Can make more money tomorrow. Health is right now! 

My 2 cents to add to the forum........