lee749
Here is my timeline of events that has lead me to the place I am in now.
Early Spring - 2006 - Went to my family doctors and happened to notice that he had written in my chart "morbidly obese". My heart sunk and I knew I needed to do something.
Late Spring - 2006 - Saw a commercial on TV for a bariatric center that did lap-banding. I checked it out on the web, but it wasn't covered by OHIP and too expensive for me to pay on my own. I ruled out the possiblity of having any type of surgical intervention.
Early Summer - 2006 - I caught a few minutes of a TV program (I have no idea what it was) where a doctor was being interviewed. I only heard a few minutes of it, but what was most important was that what he was talking about WAS covered by OHIP. Hmmmmm.....
July - 2006 - Went to a family function and had pictures taken. I was shocked when I saw my pictures. I was ENORMOUS. I hadnt been on the scale in quite some time, and I knew that I did NOT want to go now.
August 2006 - Start looking on the internet for more information regarding this "mystery procedure" that OHIP would cover, that would help me get this weight off once and for all.
Thursday August 31 - Still not knowing if this is what I wanted, I made an appointment with my family doctor to talk with him about WLS. He didnt know of anyone who did it, and also said that OHIP would NOT pay for it in the United States. "If you can find someone who does it, phone the office and my secretary will send a referral." "OHIP only pays for hips and knees in the U.S."
I spent the next few days researching, and decided that Dr. Reed in Guelph was my best choice. He only takes bariatric patients on day out of the year, and that date is just a few days away. He only accepts referral calls on the Tuesday after Labour Day. I had to contact my family doctors office first thing Tuesday morning with the information so she can call Dr. Reed's office right away.
Tuesday September 5, 2006 - Phoned my family doctors office at 9:00 a.m. sharp from my cell phone while at work. I spent a good 20 minutes dialing constantly until the secretary answered. I explained the situation to her, and told her I would fax the information to the office right away, so she could phone Dr. Reed. Later that afternoon, I got a call from the secretary, to tell me that my appointment with Dr. Reed was in JUNE 2007!!! That seemed too far away for me, and after doing even more research, I learned that OHIP DOES pay for bariatric surgery in the United States, and that I could probably be all done and on my way before I even have the initial consultation with Dr. Reed.
Friday September 15, 2006. I make an appointment with my family doctor, and I bring with me the completed forms for Out of Country coverage. He fills out the necessary blanks, and signs it. He says he will be surprised if it is covered.
Saturday September 16, 2006. I fax my OOC forms, as well as my personal letter to OHIP.
Monday September 18 2006. My doctor receives a reply from OHIP asking for more information, and corrections to the original form. They want to know my height and weight, and a copy of any recent consultation reports from Ontario physicians related to co-morbid conditions. No one tells me that he has received a reply, and it sits on his desk for a while.
September 28, 2006. I make an appointment to see the doctor on an unrelated matter, and he mentions that he had a letter from OHIP regarding the WLS. I take the request for more information home, refill out the forms, and make another appointment to see my doctor, for him to sign the new forms.
October 15, 2006 - I get the new forms signed, and I refax the updated forms and a copy of my latest sleep study dated August 16th 2006 (I have sleep apnea) to OHIP.
October 18, 2006 - I get a reply via Purolator (I cant pick it up till October 19). I am approved for consultation ONLY with Dr. O'Malley in Rochester NY.
October 19 2006. I call Dr. O'Malley's office to make the arrangements. I am booked for December 28th at 1:00 p.m. for the initial information seminar.
December 28th, 2006. I go to the information seminar and get the information I need and some forms that I need to have my family doctor fill out. They want to know what my diet history is, as well as my co-morbidities.
January 4th, 2007. I fax the required information, as well as copies of many of my weight-watchers record books back to Dr. Omalley's office.
January 18, 2007- I go to my first nutrition seminar. I am to record all my food for one month and bring it to my next appointment.
Friday February 16 2007-My first individual appointment with the nutritionist. She says my food journal looks good and that I am well on track.
Friday March 23, 2007 - My second and final appointment with the nutritionist. She says things look good and she will recommend me for the surgery. I also have my psych evaluation today. It was easy. She will also recommend me for surgery. They tell me it will take two weeks for all the paperwork to be in place before they can apply to OHIP for final approval.
Monday April 9, 2007 - I call Dr. Omalley's office to find out if the paperwork was ready yet, and they said no. It should be in soon. It can take anywhere from 2 days to 4 weeks for OHIP to approve the surgery. Thats okay because I dont really want to have it done till late May anyhow, and it appears that they can book the surgery within a couple of weeks, so its all good.
TWO WEEKS LATER - I called Dr OMalleys office to see if there is anything yet, and they said they havent sent it in yet because they are waiting for the actualy, physical, psych report to come through before they can send it. And it appears the Psych doc is on holidays for two weeks. So I wait some more. I was so upset that I cried
TWO WEEKS AFTER THAT...Finally the report is in and everything is sent.
TEN DAYS LATER - Dr. OMalleys office calls to say I am approved and I book my date for July 18. I could have had it a month earlier, but I chose a later date due to some family issues. My preop appt is July 9.
JULY 9/07 - My preop date. I have blood work, chest xray, and ecg done. I also meet with a physicians assistant and he asks me general health questions for a "History and Physical". Pretty standard stuff.
JULY 17/07. I find out at 2:00 p.m. that my surgery is booked at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow and I am to be at the hospital by 7:30. I go to the RIT hotel since I have to be at the hospital by 7:30 a.m.
JULY 18/07 - I get to the hospital late (GPS got us lost!!!) but it was okay. They took me into a little preop room and had me undress and put on a gown. They took my vital signs and started an IV, then brought my sister in to wait with me. The anesthetist and Dr O'Malley came in to see me. Dr O'Malley was upset because the consent I had signed was not in the chart, but he tracked it down and all was well. The anesthetist gave a shot of Versed, which is a very strong sedative. The last thing I remember was giving my sister a kiss goodbye. The next thing I remember was waking up in my room. Everything went fine and I was in some pain, but not too much. I was up walking by that evening, and went for many many walks around the ward. Everytime I got up to pee I would do some laps. I loved the morphine!!! Most of the pain was gas related and I could usually walk it off. By late the next afternoon, they discontinued my IV and started me on oral meds and sips of fluids. I started on pudding and yogurt Thursday evening and it went down fine. Friday was more pudding and crystal lite, and then I was discharged. I found that if ate the pudding off the tip of a plastic knife I could take a tiny amount at a time which is necessary.
JULY 20/07 - All is well. I am shocked at really how little pain I have had and how smoothly things have gone. I am able to eat everything I am supposed to but it does take me a while. I am discharged from the hospital to the hotel now. My good friend and fellow WLS pal Jen Snelgrove came and picked me up and took me back to the RIT, but not without a 45 minute stop and walk-about at Walmart to get some prescriptions filled. I was pretty bushed by the time I got to the hotel, but that was to be expected. The next 5 days were spent lounging at the hotel. I went shopping for a couple of hours on Sunday, and then again on Tuesday. It took a couple of days to get the hang of how much I can consume and how fast, but by Monday I would say I had it all figured out.
JULY 25/07 - My first post-op appointment. I check out of the hotel and head back to the doctors for my visit. The nurse practitioner asked me a few questions and then said I could advance to the next diet. The PUREE diet!!! She takes out my staples, and annouces that I have lost 16 pounds since my preop visit. Now that I can try pureed food, I bought a cooked chicken from Zehrs and pureed it with some Clubhouse fat free gravy. I ate 2 oz of it with no trouble at all.
