How long?

Hi All.  New to the boards and new to this Bariatric Surgery journey.  Just met with my GP in Duncan BC and have asked for a referral to the Bariatric Program.  Just waiting for sleep testing to complete my referral.  Have spent a little time reviewing posts here but was wondering if there are people out there who have gone through the Bariatric Program at Royal Jubilee in Victoria and how long their process has been?  How long from referral to getting an initial appointment?  How long after orientation, etc before they got their surgery?  Any info appreciated - thanks!

Hi and welcome!

There is no definite time but it seems to be roughly three years from referral to surgery right now. I waited for almost two years to hear from anyone. I finally got the invitation to the orientation and just attended it yesterday at RJH. It looks like it will be roughly six months until my assessment and then if I'm accepted maybe a few more months until surgery.

Keep coming back to this site for more information, it's an amazing resource.

Good luck!

Welcome! Rhiannon is pretty much on track there with around 3 years, it seems to be moving faster recently so possibly 2 years or even less I can tell you my surgery is in 2 weeks and I had my orientation at RJH last Summer so 8 months from orientation.

Mine's been about a 3 to 4 year process but I did get caught in the change over from Dr Amson running the program to it being run by the RJH.  My referral went in late 2012 and I got notification in May 2013 of a booked appointment with Dr Amson (for 1.5 years later!!!). I finally met with Dr A in December 2014 where he told me I was approved.

Unfortunately, it didn't count any longer and I  had to re-enter the process.  I had my orientation on June 25 2015 and I'm finally meeting my surgeon, Dr Lam, on April 11th 2016. 

It's a long road but that does help weed out those looking for an instant fix. You need the time to build new healthy habits to succeed in a new way of life :)