St. Joe's Hamilton is Driving Me Insane!

I just can't grasp what is going on at St. Joe's Hamilton. I called Krista yesterday looking for an update on whether they had heard anything from OHIP yet on my approval for DS, and also whether I needed to go to the thrombo-embolism clinic before I could book a surgery date. Krista seemed confused but said she would speak to Dr. Hong and get back to me.

So this morning I get this really condescending message from Krista, speaking to me as if I am a child saying "If you're having DS, Dr. Hong will be doing your DS, you will not be going to Montreal, understand? Dr. Hong will do it. He wants you to go to the Thrombo-Embolism clinic for your Von Wellger-what ever it is Disease". She didn't clarify any of my concerns or answer my questions.

I called her back and explained that I'm well aware that Dr. Hong would be doing my surgery and that we had never even discussed Montreal and I don't understand what she's talking about. She seemed confused about whyDr. Hong would need OHIP approval then, which I had to explain to her! I then asked her if I could simply go to the Thrombo-Embolism clinic in Toronto instead and she basically threatened me, she said if I wanted to have surgery I needed to do what the surgeon wanted. I told her I was happy to have whatever tests and consults Dr. Hong needed, but as Toronto General, which is one block from my house, also has a Thrombo-Embolism clinic, can I just go there? She said no and won't ask Dr. Hong. She wants me to go to the Thrombo clinic, then go see Dr. Hong for another consult and then come back a third time to do the surgical paperwork. I told this is completely different than what I was told in my appointment with Dr. Hong.

It's just so frustrating. I wish I could speak directly to Dr. Hong, but I can't get access to him. I'm considering calling his private office and asking his assistant to have him call me.I don't know what else to do and I feel like it's getting ridiculous. I'm now 13 months since my referral and my window for surgery (Before Feb 8th to give me 8 weeks before my jaw surgery) is getting smaller by the day.

Any advice?

I don't have any advice for you, just wanted to send you my support. 

What a ride, and a pain. 

I would call his office directly instead of the clinic. It seems to me that DS isn't a normal procedure for the clinic and as such, may not yet be in tune with your specific needs and instructions. I think that there shouldn't be anything wrong with contacting his clinic and speaking directly to them. 

I don't know if it's different at St. Joes, but at Humber, I only contacted Humber if I needed something related to Dietitian/Social Worker/Nurse, and contacted my surgeon's office directly for anything else as all of his appointments and surgery bookings are through his office. 

Also, could you contact him by email directly. I tried googling for it to post for you but couldn't find it. It seems that anyone at St. Joes though has an email of [email protected] if that helps....

Hope everything gets sorted out!
 

No advice but I wanted to say that I'm sorry to hear the runaround that you are getting.  Some of these administrators seem to have a God complex and enjoy the power they have to control our lives via surgeries (of course many are great and others, have bad days), but I feel that in the position they are in they should be more compassionate!

Thanks everyone.

I got through to his office directly and spoke with his assistant. She's great. She was able to clarify two things for me:

1) Dr. Hong has not yet signed the consent for surgery. After meeting with me, he took my hematology report to an internist and they decided to send me to a hematologist at the Thrombo-Embolism clinic. He wants me to go to the St. Joe's clinic specifically and will get results back from there sooner. Once he has them, we will meet again for a final consult before surgery and as long as the report says they can properly manage my Von Willebrand's during the surgery and post-op, he will sign off on surgery at that time.

2) Apparently he does not have to send anything off to OHIP for approval. His assistant tells me that they can bill for it in a manner that doesn't require prior OHIP approval. Explicit OHIP approval is apparently only needed when people are referred to Dr. Gagner in Montreal. So, I guess I'm not waiting for OHIP approval then.

I really wish that when things change considerably after you've met with the surgeon that they would contact you and give you a clear update of what exactly is going on instead of getting different stories depending on who you speak with!

Well in that case I think this calls for a celebration!  Congratulations and here's hoping your last tests go smoothly!

Holy heck Trish!!  What an ordeal! 

How fast can you get yourself to hamilton?  Get that done and you are good to go basically right?

I am frustrated for you and your experience but excited that you seem to be good to go now?!

Thanks, I won't really be able to celebrate until I get the all clear from the hematologist and have me second consult with Dr. Hong. I feel better after talking to his personal assistant today, but I've been told too many different things throughout this process to really trust anything until I sign the consent for surgery and it has "Duodenal Switch' written across the top in big, black letters. Once that happens, I've got a bottle of rose champagne I brought home with me from France in September and Rog and I will thoroughly enjoy it!

Sorry to hear about the frustration. My experience with Krista is that she is not very professional. I hope things work out for you.

No kidding. She actually called my genetic blood clotting disorder, "Von Welgener-whatever it is thingy". She was not listening to me at all nor was she understanding what I was saying. Very frustrating.