TWH funding, wait times, etc

Hey guys and gals, hope you all had a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Joyous Kwanzaa! I've been away from the forum for awhile as I've been acting as caregiver for my stepmom who is in palliative care.

I've been reading backlogs of posts and have seen some mention of a lack of funding at TWH and pushing back surgery dates for people who would otherwise be ready to go. Can anyone give me more info about that? I was referred in the summer and I was hoping that since I'm mostly through my appointments I might be looking at a spring surgery. I want to get crushing disappointment out of the way now if that's not the case (after all things are already pretty tough).

Funding for bariatric surgery at all centres starts in April of each year.  If they run out before then they have to postpone all surgeries until the new funding is available.  I haven't seen anybody post that TWH is out of money but I know that people from up north have to wait as St. Joe's Toronto is out of money. Some of those people have been referred to TWH or Hamilton as they still had funding as of a month or so ago when I spoke to someone that was put off til spring.  I'd call TWH and find out where your file stands. Sometimes we think we are done but one of the team members may end up wanting to see us again.

Good to know, thanks! I'm not actually at the point of booking surgery, but I wanted to have an idea of when people who are ready to go are being booked.

I went to my last surgeon appt. earlier this month and they were booking at TWH for January, but I had some issues to deal with and had mine switched to Feb. 3.  So they are booking for early in the new year.

Thanks so much! That's good to know. Hoping my timeline is still "in line"!

i am not at all familiar with funding issues and wait time issues at TWH.  when i was up for surgery in october - they actually had several dates open for me to *choose* from ... including one date that was only a week away.  

i think you will be fine ... :)  The anticipation is crazy, isn't it!!  ;)

That's great, thank-you!

I was originally in with the surgeons at St. Joes.  they had a big back log so I was transferred to TWH/Hamitlon Group.  originally they had left me with  an expectation of mid to late 2014 for surgery dates.  I had my initial teleconference with my surgeon mid November and I am scheduled for January 2nd, 5 more days, getting excited.  maybe I was just lucky.  however I have heard of  a few people getting put on the back burner, for lack of a better term.  Keep your chin up, it will happen sooner than you think. 

Hey there.  Can you comment on how you got transferred.  I had my orientation  In July 2013 and my first appointment  isn't until May 2014 in Hamilton.  So frustrating when you see people in Toronto getting through so much quicker.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I am from Northern Ontario so all my initial/orientation appointments were done through Sudbury.   They had called me in October and said that my surgery team was booked up until September/October of 2014.  so they gave me an option of staying with the initial team and waiting an additional year, or going with another team and potentially getting a surgery date some time in May.  So I switched, and had an expectation of a late spring 2014 surgery date.  The team from Toronto Western called me early November and scheduled a tella conference at my local hospital to meet with one of the doctors on the team from Toronto.  At that appointment he offered me a January 2nd surgery date, I took it and canceled my trip to Mexico as I wanted in as soon as possible.  So I think I just got lucky, cause I do not see anyone else getting in as quick as myself.  My friend just had hers done last February and the whole process took over two years.  Myself, from requisition from my doctor to surgery date will be just under one year.  Talk to your team and see if there is anything they can do.  i wish you the best of luck,  I know waiting can get really discouraging.