Advice Needed

Hello all
I have been registered at Guelph since October - was advised that it would be one year until orientation, which was disappointing, since I knew someone who had everything done in less than a year in 2011 (prior to the registry site). Anyhow, I see from this site that St. Joes surgeries seem to move faster. I am wondering if I should move my application to St. Joes. Does anyone have experience in changing hospitals, or know that the surgery would in fact move quicker at St. Joes.  Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. I am reading up on WLS (some of it is a little scary) while waiting.  Thanks.

 Hello and welcome;


      I too am going through Guelph, and yes the wait is very long however, just recently Guelph has stated that Hamilton will be helping them out with there case load by taking on 10 patients a wee****il
they catch up.  As far as transferring centres im not sure how that process works but i do know it won't 
hurt to ask Guelph.


All the best,


Stephanie

Thank you so much for that information - I feel a little more encouraged now. Perhaps, I will call Guelph next week to see what I can find out about transferring. I am so impatient, I am even investigating the Mexico surgery - I watched a program on Global - the show 16:9 and the information was very interesting - cost is a concern, but have asked the firm "weight no more" to provide some details. I really want to have the surgery at home, but I am not in a good place right now.  Thanks so much for your time Stephanie.
Regards, Alice

Hi.

I had my surgery in Ottawa nearly a year ago, after an 18 month wait.  I can't speak to the experience at Guelph or St. Joes, but I can say that you can't really predict how long the wait will be no matter where you go.  It depends on the number of referrals they receive, as well as their capacity to perform WLS at any given time.  If they hire another surgeon, the wait decreases.  If one of their sugeons breaks an arm (as happened in Ottawa last year), the wait increases.

I was very impatient to have my surgery.  In fact, I missed the cut-off for OHIP-covered surgery in the US by about 2 weeks, and was devastated that I would need to wait. Some pre-ops will cringe when they read this but, in hindsight, I'm glad that I had to wait.  It gave me plenty of time to research the surgery and all of the post-op lifestyle changes required, as well as time to be sure that this was the choice I wanted to make.  I went into surgery confident that it was the right decision for me, and was as prepared as I could possibly be for life post-op.

I'm glad that you are reading up on WLS.  Keep in mind that the risks increase and decrease depending on your individual health issues (e.g. heart disease increases mortality risk, no comorbidities drastically reduces mortality risk).  Best of luck with your process!

Hi Allie,

I recently switched my file from Ottawa Civic to Toronto Western due to my family support being in the Toronto area. I was instructed to go to my orientation session in Ottawa and then ask for the switch. You have to get approval to switch from both hospitals and have a reason. And be sure to FOLLOW-UP. Ottawa civic called me back to say I was transferred to Humber Regional, I didn't say too much as I was still in the Toronto area. However when I called Humber to see if they had my file I was instructed I wasn't on record there! The staff were nice enough to follow-up for me and the registry itself called me back in 5 minutes. She informed me that I was in fact registered at Toronto Western. So always follow-up to make sure your file has been moved. Good luck!

hi Allie-56
Just to let you know St.Joes in not necessarily faster, I was registered Aug 2010! and in January 2012 I finally finished my last appointment with surgeon. Since Jan 3rd, 2012 I am waiting for my pre-op and surgery appointment. I think sometimes its alot of luck. Its a wait to get started to get the first appointment then it seems to go quicker from there on...hope this info. helps.

This doesn't sound right - have you contacted them for an update?

Hi PatXYZ,

I dont know if your comment was directed at me. But, I have heard from others on this site that it has taken up to 9 weeks to get the call. I had called the office about 2 weeks after, and they had told me dont call us we will call you. So, it made me nervous to call again as they seemed really ticked off that I called the first time and I didnt want to be in their bad books. If I didnt hear from the office today. Do you thnk I shoould call? or leave a message on their machine?

Yes, I would call. Sherri Noseworthy, the Nurse Manager is now handling the surgical bookings. It's possible that something got messed up when she took it over from Krista. I'd leave a message on her voicemail just checking in as it has now been 2 months since you signed your surgical consent and have not gotten a call.

Just be very polite and pleasant and just say you wanted to check in. This is a good time to do it as they should be getting April dates this week or next.

Thank you PatXYZ, I called I was nice and they were nice too :) I am on the list for April, booking manager will be going through the list to make and confirm appoinments. Thank you for your advice, I didnt know Sherri Noseworthy took over for Krista. I am a little more at ease now knowing I am on the list and can expect a call soon. I am getting nervous and excited.
Thank you again, very much!! for the nudge.