Who on here had their surgery at St. Joes in Hamilton and who was your surgeon.

 I am just curious how many regular posters on here had their surgery in Hamilton and if you had Dr. Anvari or Dr. Hong and how your experience has been postop and weightloss success in general and whether you had any complications. I see alot of posts on here from people who had their surgery in Ottawa or Toronto or Guelph but I don't see that many posts from people who had their surgery in Hamilton. I just thought if might be interesting to compare experiences from the different centres. I of course have a vested interest since if approved my surgery will be at St. Joes in Hamilton.  

I had my surgery in Hamilton with Dr. Anvari.  I met him for the first time as I was scooting my butt onto the operating table so my conversations with him were limited.  I had my surgery 2 weeks ago so I can't really tell you about weight loss.  I am down 35 pounds since I started optifast.  I have had no complications so far and I am following the post-op diet to the letter.  The nurses in Hamilton are probably the worst I have encountered.  I can't sugar coat that.  They aren't helpful, grouchy and some are just lazy.  Be prepared to do everything yourself.  At one point I had to tell the nurse to leave me alone for 2 hours because she woke me up every hour through the night for nothing.  Anyway, that's a whole other story.  Anvari is great.  He had about 3 interns in there with him learning to do this surgery so I met alot of different surgeons.  Best of luck to you. :)

 Thanks Trudylam for the feedback. I will look forward to your posts and progress reports. Hopefully I will join you on the bench soon. I am curious if you are hungry at all on the restricted diet. Hamilton seems to be much stricter than other centres I see discussed on here. How many days postop did you have pain? 

As far as hunger goes, there really isn't much.  I do get a little hungry but some water or a jello seems to help. I started the full fluid stage today so I can have yogurt and strained cream soup and stuff now.  It makes me feel like I am eating real food again! LOL 

I am 2 weeks out and I still have pain.  When they do the surgery they put a port site on the right hand side of your abdomen and they have to go through the muscle.  This seems to be where they do most of the work.  It's the muscle underneath that hurts, not the incision.  I am just taking it slow and it gets a little better every day.  Some people have had much less pain, I must be a slow healer. :)

Hey,

I am going for surgery there on July 22nd, so I will let you know.  I also work for St. Joe's as a nurse .... as for the above post, it'**** and miss.  Some people have some really bizarre expectations about what nurses should and shouldn't do.  Keep in mind, these nurses were not originally trained to take care of Bariatric patients ... the program is new and the training is ongoing.  It's a learning curve for everyone involved.

I don't think my expectations were bizarre.  A wash basin now and then, maybe a drink of water, a hand to help me pull myself up when I couldn't move.  Maybe they will get better, I hope that's the case.  I have all the respect in the world for nurses, it just seemed that I got all the doozies.  All the best on your upcoming surgery, the surgeons are fantastic. :)

 Thanks for your reply Tammy. I was wondering if maybe some of the nurses are judgemental about the WLS and that affects their attitude towards the pts. Some people think this is an easy way out and don't understand our struggles. BTW I am also a nurse but have spent most of my career in the pharmaceutical industry. What area of the hospital do you work in?

I work at the West 5th Campus ... Specialized Acute Psychiatry.  Great job .... I am having some difficulties and I am on modified right now.  I have severe plantar fasciitis in both feet and a hernia, so I have some restrictions.  I can't wait to get back to work full force.  I am going to take about 6 - 8 weeks off post op just to make sure everything is healing.    I also want to make sure I am getting in enough proteins to make it through a 12 hour shift :)  I think everyone is guilty of having negative feelings towards overweight people .... even those who are overweight themselves.  I know those nurses didn't sign on for bariatrics ... it was just a regular GI unit, but as nursing changes what seems like every day ... everyone must adapt. 

hey my name is Paula and I had surgery Dec.9 2010. I started out at 303 pds and have lost 88 thus far. My dr. was dr. hong. He did not speak to me much ..just a little before surgery. he is obviously amazing because ive had no complications..touch wood and im feeling freaaakin amazing!. i go to the gym 3 to 6 days a week for an hour and a half and i love the natural high from it. meer thought id enjoy exercise so much. The only regret is not having it done sooner. I am enjoying life and doing things i couldnt before . things as simple as bending down to tie your shoe or fitting into a booth at a restaurant were very hard 6 mths sgo. now i move with ease and sit wherever i please!!!!! lovin my life!

|I had surgery june 11,2010 with dr hong...LOVE THAT MAN!! luv him ....meet him at the office had a good chat even let me drink alcohol before surgery lol I was going away to barbados and he let me start optifast 1 day late too since i would be in barbados...

After surgery my family was happy he came out talked to them and told him how everything went!!!....the nurses on the floor where AMAZING!!! really awesome

I had a few complications i was at the clinic at least once a week or every 2 weeks never an a problem as soon as i called explained what was going on boom get me in right away and saw hong everytime....i ahd 2 scopes done due to a stricture dr hong follow me up good. until august 1o when i got to his office now sicker than a dog...he said ur having surgery tonight i will stay late and do it admitted me right away....i cried uncontrolably and he sat there and listened to me and calmed me down and told me not to worry that he will make me better and fix what was happening.
I couldnt get surgery until aug 11 because after the bloodwork came back i was in too rough of a shape to be put under.....so he did it aug 11 at 7pm my family said by 8pm they had a phone call from dr hong saying everything went great...my family was in london i was all alone that day in hamilton plus we had no idea when they will do the surgery....
the next morning at 9am Dr hong came in before he went to the office and checked on me!...can i say anymore how amazing he is!!!!.....both times i had wonderful nurses....
now i am doing great i can eat no issues have not had any other complications...krista was also great every time i called she got me in that clinic ASAP...the only ppl i think are kinda not very nice or sorta give a not caring attitude about you individually as a patient are the nurse nada and the nutritionist i forgot her name it was in the tip of my tongue....

hope that helps......but that is my experience everyones experience is different...