Hello all!

i haven't been on OH in a while and after a 20lbs gain I figured I need to go back and refocus myself. 

I didn't have my surgery in Canada, it got done in Vegas and at the time there wasn't a Calgary support group for WLS, the closest one was red deer. Just wondering if that has changed at all in the last few years?

Thanks!

lindsay

i am sure you will be able to find a family doctor in Calgary who will handle your post surgery care.  I imagine most local plastic surgeons will only provide after care for plastic surgery they or their associates have performed. You might want to pose the question on the Alberta forum regarding Calgary family doctors that handle post plastic surgery care. If I hear of any other possible solutions I will send you a message.  Good luck and keep in touch.

I am looking at plastic surgery hopefully next year in Mexico with Dr. Sauceda. I know a few people who have recently had plastic surgery with him in Mexico, and have used their local family doctor for post surgery care.  Who are you thinking if having surgery with?  Have you asked your family doctor if he would provide post surgery care?

I have been wondering about going to Mexico. I would love to meet with you to talk about your experience over a coffee. You name the place and I'll get the coffee :-)

Hi there Andrew!

I was through the Red Deer Clinic.  My first appointment in the clinic was on September 4th.  I know I saw the surgeon end of September I believe and then got moving on my plan from the dietician.  I lost my required 15 - 20% and saw my surgeon Dr. Farries again December 16th.  I know at the time I found out that the other two surgeons there have a shorter wait list after approval for surgery is given by the surgeon.  Dr. Farries is definately the longest wait.  He also took off all of January so that put his surgeries even farther out.  I ended up having my surgery on April 9th.  So it was about 7.5 months from first appointment to my surgery date.

What they tell you at the clinic is that the average is around a year for the time period.  As listed above, it depends on you.  How fast you get off the required pre-surgery weight, how fast you can get through your appointments, if you have other medical issues that might take time, and also luck.

Make sure if you are able to put yourself down on the cancellation list for the gastroscopy as well as for surgery.  I got in WAY faster for the gastroscopy due to a last minute cancellation and my work allows me to be flexible and I was able to get there with two days notice.

I would suggest to you though to take your time.  It isnt any race (even though I assure you I was very concerned about timelines as well).  We didnt put on the weight over night it doesnt come off in a hurry either.  Take time to fully listen to all the professionals at the clinic tell you.  Embrace the new diet.  Learn all you can BEFORE you have the surgery so that afterwards alot of the questions people have are already answered for you.

Good luck to you!

Shelly