Newly Accepted/Victoria Waitlist

I have recently received confirmation from my GP (February 16, 2018) that I have been "accepted" to the Bariatric Program at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria (I live on the island). I have ALOT of questions and unsure if it is acceptable to call the program at Royal Jubilee to ask. Does anyone know if I can call, my Dr. is less than helpful in answering specifics.

My acceptance letter indicates that there is currently a waiting period to access the program of approximately 2.5 years. Does this mean that I will not hear from anyone for 2.5 years? My goodness this is a terribly long time, wish I had the money to pay for the surgery myself. Any insight on what to expect now that I have received the confirmation of acceptance into the program would be great. Is there anything I can do to "fast track" to my surgery?

In reading some other posts I also see that there are people that are registered for both Richmond and Victoria, but live on the mainland and will take whichever comes first.....I don't think I had this option with my GP, but she didn't ask either. I think it is slightly unfair as this kinda clogs the waitlist situation. Anyone in that situation where you are on both waitlists. I am wondering if I should be doing the same thing.

I think you can just call. I haven't even gotten my GP to submit a referral and I called the Richmond office directly and they happily answered all my questions. The wait time is very discouraging, also you cannot even get it faster by paying privately in BC, they only go through MSP. The only private clinic in Canada that I have found is in Montreal.

I would put yourself on both lists; I don't think it would harm either list, as soon as they see you have been accepted in a different facility, they would most likely move on.

Good luck!

Unfortunately this is the case, the wait is very long. I was referred to Richmond in June 2016 and haven't had a call back from them yet. I see Dr. Zentner and she's been immensely helpful with the Victoria program. I do believe she is leaving the program though. I was referred to Victoria in August 2016, was called for orientation August 2017, orientation was January 2018, saw nutritionist feb 2018, approved for surgery feb 2018, are dr amson April 23rd. I logged my food from day 1, have slowly lost 30 pounds but show d compliance and how ready I am. I believe that is why I got pushed along a little quicker. I do have diabetes and sleep apnea as well which is considered treatable by the surgery. I would ask the bariatric clinic if they recommend any programs you can be referred to.

Wow that is excellent, you only waited 1 year to get the call. I do not have any conditions related to my weight am currently 296 pounds and trying to not feel discouraged. Thank you for tip about logging your food diary, if that will help I will start immediately as well...I may arrive at the clinic with 2.5 years worth of food diaries but at least they will know I am serious. I will make the call about program referrals to help me until I enter the program. Good luck to you, so happy for you.

I waited two full years before my orientation. They called me about six months before my orientation and told me to start tracking using myfitnesspal, to order/read the book weightloss surgery for dummies, to seperate drinks and food from the same time and to chew 20x.

By the time I had the call six months later there wasn't much left to tweak, so my surgery was scheduled just 2 months later.

Once you hit orientation the wait looks different. It's first ready first to surgery, rather than waiting in line.

Who was your surgeon? I meet Amson in April.

I had Dr. Sampath in Richmond.

Thank you for your response, it gives me hope that once I get the call all will proceed quickly (I hope). The wait leading up to the orientation call is what is going to kill me, just seems so far away. I wonder if the process is similar in Victoria as it was in Richmond for you?

I have no idea about the processes on the Island, I only ever was a part of the Richmond program.

Hi Carla. I had my surgery Nov 9th, 2017. I was on a waiting list for 2 years, and then it took a year on top of that for preparation tests, dietician visits, counselling, and Dr. visits

It's worth the wait!