Recent Posts
Thanks Dawn!
I have my appointment with my family doctor tomorrow and I am armed with that article, and directions on how to refer to the Ontario obesity network. I'll update after my appointment!
Eva
Thank you Red!
I have an appointment with my family doctor tomorrow and I have a plan. It's just a referral. He doesn't need to make the decision if I need it or not. Just like being sent to any specialist.
I'll post again after the appointment!
Eva
I found several years after an RNY that booze hit me like crack cocaine. A couple of years later I was in rehab. You will find it a lot more powerful and addictive than it was before surgery. It also makes you gain weight, it irritates your stomach and bowel lining, and if you drink carbonated booze it stretches your pouch. I recommend you stay away from it altogether. If you're going to an event like a wedding, bring a bottle of sparkling grape juice or some other alternative. My two years of rampant alcoholism cost me a lot, and I don't mean money.
Thanks for the info! It's just what I feared, I'm being railroaded into going to a useless hospital that doesn't do the surgery I need and I can't even get to because transit there isn't accessible. I checked the Toronto transit website tonight, I'd have to walk almost 2 kilometres through a bad neighbourhood to get to this hospital and next week's orientation ends at night. The worst part is that OBN totally stonewalls patients and doesn't give us a way to contact them directly. I already know that talking to anyone at that hospital is useless.
I refuse to waste more time on Toronto Western Hospital. Today on the OBN site I noticed that referring doctors can specify which centre to send the patient to. I'm going to call that doctor's office tomorrow and ask if they can submit another referral specifying that I need to be sent to a centre that does the DS, and that the Toronto Western site is inaccessible to me because of my disability. At least the doctor can contact OBN directly. I know it's done in Hamilton at St Joe's and I can get there by GO train. RNY is out of the question for me, I already had that surgery 15 years ago and there's no such thing as putting an RNY back together, it has to be redone with a DS.
If you switch centres you usually need to restart process from orientation as each centre operates independently. Hopefully someone will respond to what centre provides what you want and you can request transfer. No guarantee that you will get what you want. Do your research and have your arguments ready to support what you want. RNY remains the GOLD standard in Ontario
Referral: August 2010 Orientation TWH: May 25, 2011 NP: June 8/11, f/u sleep clinic June 7, abd u/s June 14, SW: June 28/11 Nutrition Class: July 5/11, Dietician Aug 09, Psychologist Aug 25 Surgeon Sept 16th Surgery Date: Oct 11/11 HW:287, Opti wt: 260 SW: 242
My Angel is Sheri TK
I'm an "old folk" who just came back to this board. I had a RNY gastric bypass in 2005 with Dr O'Malley in Rochester NY. I'm back because now my gastric bypass is failing. I went on a diet of my own for a couple of years and lost a lot of the regain, but the diet was lacking in some vitamins and I ended up in the hospital getting IV iron and B12. I tried a lap band but it made no difference, all I lost was a pile of money. I had it removed this past New Years' Eve.
Now I need a Duodenal Switch but I'm having the usual hard time getting connected with a doctor who can do the procedure in Ontario. At least they've added a lot of hospitals and doctors doing bariatrics since I had my op done in the US. Currently I've been referred to a hospital that doesn't do the DS, so I'm anticipating yet another battle royale with health bureaucrats to get sent to the right hospital and doctor.
I'm also looking for some support and inspiration. I'd like to lose some weight on my own without ending up back in the hospital, and I'd like to find out if there's any way I can expedite the DS without wasting months and months going to appointments at the wrong hospital.
I have a 15 year old gastric bypass. I'm gaining weight again and my diabetes and sleep apnea are back. I also had a gastric band which did nothing except cause trouble with reflux and food regurgitation. That was removed on Dec 31/19. The surgeon *****moved my band told me I need a Duodenal Switch and referred me to the Ontario Bariatric Network, since my family doctor was refusing to do so for 2 years.
I just got a letter from Toronto Western Hospital, where I was referred based on my postal code. I have to go in for a seminar next week. I checked their website and they only do the gastric bypass and the sleeve. I don't want a sleeve! I'm getting older (mid fifties) and I don't want to have to fight for years again in my sixties to get a DS after the sleeve fails. I've done a lot of research and everything I've read says the DS is far and away the best option for a RNY revision. I called this hospital but they wouldn't give me any straight answers and just said "come to the seminar anyway".
How do I avoid getting railroaded into getting a surgery I don't want at a hospital I don't want? This hospital is also in a bad location for me because transit there isn't accessible (I use a walker), I have to walk 20-30 min from the nearest accessible transit to get there and it's two hours' trek by transit each way. I don't want to waste years going back and forth for lectures, tests, consultations etc. at the wrong hospital only to end up being sent to a second hospital, jumping through the same set of hoops a second time, and waiting more years for a surgery. I could die of old age first.
Has anyone else had the experience of being sent by OBN to a hospital that doesn't offer the kind of surgery you need? I know they do it by postal code, which IMO is asinine, in fact there's another OBN hospital that's a lot closer to my home. What happens? Is there any way I can get sent to the correct hospital now? Or does the first hospital send all of your results to the second one where the procedure is done? Is St Joe's in Hamilton the ONLY Ontario hospital doing the Duodenal Switch?
I was just referred to TWH for my gastric bypass revision. Here's the link to the Ontario government wait times website, bariatric surgery page. TWH is part of the University Health Network (UHN) so they list it under UHN.
The listed wait time seems a lot longer than the other hospitals, I think this is because they lump TWH in with the other UHN member hospitals. They have sections for "time to first appointment" and "decision to surgery". It took me two months between the referral and receiving a letter from TWH with an appointment for my first information session.
A lot depends on how they rank the patient based on urgency. They have four urgency levels. It's determined by how sick the person is with co-morbidities like heart problems or diabetes. Sometimes they rank at the time of the referral but other times it's determined by testing and consults.
Hello menu clan!
It is finally a bit slower at work so I'm able to get caught up on some paperwork which seems never ending most of the year. It's also nice that the roads are clear everyday... I made it to the gym Sunday,Mon and Tues already this week and my scale is finally moving again after a 2 week stall!
B - protein shake
S - boiled egg
L - chicken breast, tossed salad with light italian dressing
S - grapefruit, turkey pepperette
D - chicken, beansprouts, broccoli, mushrooms
S - greek yogurt
You can only buy Opti from a WLS or office. Their are lots of Ontario FB pages with people who have extra Opti. Check them out
Referral: August 2010 Orientation TWH: May 25, 2011 NP: June 8/11, f/u sleep clinic June 7, abd u/s June 14, SW: June 28/11 Nutrition Class: July 5/11, Dietician Aug 09, Psychologist Aug 25 Surgeon Sept 16th Surgery Date: Oct 11/11 HW:287, Opti wt: 260 SW: 242
My Angel is Sheri TK
