Anyone going to the Orientation in Ottawa tomorrow (Friday)?

I'll be there!

With bells on.

Say 'hi' if you see me! :D

Would be interested to see how different they wait times are now, compared to when I had my orientation 5 weeks ago.

I'm hoping my wait won't be too long considering I don't have heart or stomach issues, diabetes, sleep apnea, anxiety, depression, etc. The less specialist appointments, the better! I'm naively hoping I can just skate through...

I am the same, but I think the initial wait is to get that first nurse appointment!

My orientation was July 6, 2012. I went to the nurse appt on Wed. As a followup I have to get a papsmear (I previously had irregular cells). She said the surgery puts your body in a state of shock initially and provides a breeding ground for pre-cancerous cells that may be dormant to develop. I also have to go to a follow-up with the sleep apnea doctor. I had a sleep test in July and the result was mild sleep apnea. They won't make me wear a cpap but the nurse wants me to get the followup report just to close the gap. She said it's all about not leaving anything open that could be questioned as to why there is not a final report on an issue in my file. I am also scheduled for an abdominal ultrasound. My beh/nut appt is scheduled for Feb 5th. She said my expected timeline from now until the day of surgery is 6 months.

That's interesting about having to do a pap! I have had irregular paps as well. I would never have thought to bring something like that up. That is certainly good to see they ask about it!!

what time? I'm in ottawa for a ps appt and would like to meet some fellow wls peeps

 

So I went to the orientation.  There weren't many people there. Maybe 16 or so and that included a few support people, I think. The RN said there were a lot of no-shows.  She said she is currently seeing people who attended orientation from June-August now and said the whole process should take up to a little more than a year, not much more. VSG was touched upon very briefly. She quoted 3 deaths in 850 surgeries.

She also said no caffeine or carbonated beverages after surgery as it acts like "sandpaper on your digestive tract". I just made note of that since I have read some conflict around that issue on here and giggled to myself during the orientation. :D

Onto Step 2...

 

I drink caffeine free diet coke on a regular basis and when I told the nurse about that she said it was fine as long as I was getting in enough water (not including the coke) and if I started getting cramps or pain to stop drinking it.

I have to shake up the bubbles a bit or it is very painful.  It is funny to hear contradicting stories.

 

 

Oh I am glad to hear about the caffiene free diet-coke. I have drank that before and liked as a substitute to the real thing.