Where do I start? Mississauga, ON

Hi! I have finally made the decision to have WLS.  Meeting with my GP in two weeks for a referral.... And am glad to have made this decision as I have agonized over it for three years.  I want to be armed with the best info I can find, and what better place than where people are going through this, or have surgery done as well.  I have been skimming though the forums, I love the support I see! I am married, and have 2 kids.  I don't know anyone who has had surgery, I really need any advice or help for someone just starting out!  

How long did it typically take between referral to surgery?  I just started a new job not too long ago and worry about taking time off, but now I have decided to do it, I want to do it! 

Hi there,

First off congratulations on making the decision to have WLS. it's a really big decision. Going through the process myself now I wish I would have done this sooner.

It will take time before you actually have the surgery but its for a good reason. Once your dr puts in the referral make sure you stay on top of them find out when exactly they sent it in. After that you are just waiting to attend orientation. Great session very informative. From there you will get your appointments with all different kinda of people I.e. Social Worker, Nurse practitioner etc... Each center is different so depending on we're you go you will get all the info.

Until then I can only recommend reading this site, attends support groups as they are really beneficial.

Good luck and keep us posted on your journey.

Michele

Ask away, there are many Mississauga residents on the boards.  Mississauga patients are referred to Hamilton and I found the facilities , doctors, nurses, care wonderful. Between referral and surgery is probably around a year give or take several months depending on how scheduling of your various appointments go and/or if you request a certain surgeon. Use the time to research the various types of surgery, pre and post eating, exercise, read the boards - all the apply daily and get a sense of what you will go through and what you need to do to get prepared etc. etc. and to start therapy if you have disordered eating.

Don't be discouraged by the time wait.  It will go by whether you are scheduled for surgery or not. This journey is physical, yes, but a big portion of it is mental.  Start looking at why you eat, what food does for you etc. because the brain is a huge organ in this journey.

There are also two groups that meet in Mississauga that welcomes people from all stages of the journey.  Watch the boards for the North Mississauga Group and the Mississauga Group meetings.

Welcome aboard!  As previous poster indicated, the process takes time so good news is you should be more established at your job.      Best of luck on your journey!

Congratulations on your decision and welcome to the club!

My biggest recommendation is to make sure you follow up to ensure the Registry has your referral. About two weeks after you visit your doctor, call her office and ask an admin to check your file to make sure that they've received a fax back from the Registry to confirm receipt of your doctor's online request. Some people have been "lost" in the process and waited for months unnecessarily.

Most people seem to be getting their Orientation letters within 3 months of getting on the Registry, but I called a few weeks ago and was told that they are running behind and it may take 6 - 9 months. I'm hoping it will be faster. Regardless, time flies.

Good luck!

Congratulations on starting the process!  You will learn lots on this forum for sure. 

As the previous poster mentioned, you really need to follow up through the process.  I've read so many stories of people waiting a year, assuming their referral was in, only to find that their GP didn't send it in properly and they've been waiting for nothing!

So the first step is to get your GP to register here if he/she hasn't already, and submit the referral through here:

http://www.bariatricregistry.ca/registration.aspx

You can check this link using your postal code to see where you might be referred - although sometimes it's not entirely accurate (I'm from Milton and it used to tell me that I would be referred to Hamilton, but my referral went to TWH.  Now it says I'd be referred to Humber).

http://www.bariatricregistry.ca/Ontario%20Bariatric%20Regist ry%20Referral%20Search.aspx

About 2 weeks after your doctor has confirmed that the referral has been sent, send an e-mail to this address:

[email protected].
 

Provide them with your Name, Health Card Number, Date of Birth, and ask if they can confirm that they've received your referral, and the centre you have been referred to.  You'll get an auto response saying they don't respond to inquiries about where you are on the registry, but everyone seems to get a response within 1-2 days. 

Once you know which centre you've been referred to, come back here and post, and I'm sure someone will help with their contact information so you can give the centre a call regarding Orientation.

I hope this helps!  It's a long process, but I find staying on top of it and calling the centre for appointments can help speed it up a bit.

Good luck to you!

Hey welcome!! You've received good info already, including the address for the bariatric registry, so that's good.

As far as time from referral to surgery, i would bet that you can "put off" scheduling your surgery date, if it happens to come too soon. Just let them know that you've got things to sort out with work, and they can work with you. I saw my surgeon in January 2011, and could have had a date at the beginning of february, but managed to get one for the beginning of march, which suited me better.

I have found a couple of great websites before I found this one and printed off lots of great information.....things like protein, types of WLS, pros and cons of having it.  These sites are great just like this one.  Some of the things are American but most of the stuff is the same everywhere.     The sites are Ontario Obesity Bariatric Network ........and  Thinner Times Forum.   I have a huge binder of paper I have printed off and highlighted what I want to go back too.  I went for my referral from my doctor on April 15,  my referral was sent in a week later.  I was talking to the doctors office at the end of May they had confirmation that I am registered and my name and info went to Guelph.  On June 14  I called Guelph to see how long until I would get my letter for my orientation meeting, at that time she told me it could be another 2-3 months.  On June 18 I went for the mail and received my letter.  So that was ten weeks from doctors referral to when I got my letter.  I go next week on the 11 th for my orientation.

A little update! Referral was sent in, went to the orientation session mid-Oct, have an appointment in Jan, another in Feb and I was told remaining appointments would be made in January.  I am hoping to have the surgery done before the summer, but unsure if that is realistic! 

 

I am am curious to know if people have gone through all the testing and been denied the surgery?