More Elective Surgery Delays Possible

From CBC News:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/08/17/alberta-s wine-flu-pandemic-preps.html?ref=rss

 

 

Alberta would be ready to postpone elective surgeries and call on retired doctors and nurses if the swine flu pandemic hits the province hard this fall.

 

Dr. André Corriveau, Alberta's chief medical officer, said Monday the province is ready to respond to a potential worsening of the H1N1 outbreak.

 

The biggest challenge would be dealing with the escalation in demand for medical services, while health-care providers may get sick themselves.

 

"If things get out of hand in terms of cancelling elective procedures, we can use some of the resources that are freed up that way to provide more intensive care to people who are sicker and calling in other people to help with the vaccine programs. So these things are all being looked at," he told CBC News.

Xcalibur---did you get a date yet....are you on your way? I remember you were thinking September...hope so. I think the wait times after approval are growing to 4-6 months.

Unforunately, no date yet.  The last update from Lorraine suggested late fall, which is early November to them.

You are right about wait times approaching the 6 month timeframe.  Krista (my dietician) mentioned that yesterday at the post-surgical eating session that my spouse attended.  However, what was interesting was finding out that your place on the waiting list is not scheduled from the time you are approved for surgery, but actually from when you first saw the surgeon.  For me, it makes no difference because I was approved at my first visit with Dr. Karmali.  However, in the case of my spouse, she first saw the surgeon well before I did, but wasn't approved until a month after I was approved.  So, there is a chance that she will get booked before I am.

Update: I got a call from the RAH this afternoon. They wanted to schedule me for Sept 16. Unfortunately, I am getting married on Sept 26 and felt that it was too close to book just in case there were any complications. Plus, there is somthing to be said for celebrating with family instead of a can of Ensure on your wedding day. So, I told them that we should look to early November.

I feel better that I was called in for September. Makes me feel that things are not as bad as I anticipated.

By the way, Dr. Karmali has an opening for Sept 16.

Wow that is great news! I hope that everything will go great! Just waiting for my turn to come around! / Dr Karmail is my doctor too!

Hi Xcalibur2572
Are you on the road to surgery yet???

Hi NewLeaf:

As fate would have it, I got my surgery date today.  I am booked for November 4.

I am starting my full liquid diet tomorrow for 4 weeks.  So, tonight will be the last supper.  It's hard to think that I won't be eating solid food for the next 6+ weeks.  So, it makes me wonder what I will choose when I get home tonight.  :)

So, I am pretty happy  Trying not to get stressed about the projects at work that I need to finalized before I go under the knife.  After surgery, I'm going to be taking 4 weeks of vacation leave.  So, I probably won't be back at the office until the new year, which is nice.  I'm hoping that in 2 months, I will have some good progress to show when I do get back.

Anyway, now the fun begins...

Cheers!
-- Xcalibur

Congrats Xcalibur--hope your last meal was amazing! You have a long preop diet. I wish you well. I have heard of 2 or 3 weeks but not 4. How are you going to manage?

Let us know if you are rady to eat your own arm :) Don't you have sick time with your job?

I know you are going to do amazing...

BTW did your partner get a date around the same time?

Take care

Hi NewLeaf:

Yeah, 4 weeks...well, 27 days to be exact.  Only the 3 weeks is part of the official pre-op diet.  The extra time is to help bring my weight back in line.  Since my last appointment at the clinic in early July, I have been struggling to maintain my weight.  In fact, I was slowly gaining 1-2 lbs a week consistently.  Not to mention, the havoc that happened with my wedding and reception, plus a ton of water weight.  Needless to say, after 2 months of sliding, I was up significantly and in danger of having my surgery cancelled.  At least that is what I have been lead to believe.

Anyway, when I got my date, it went into a panic.  So, I called my dietician and talked to her about how this could play out and who makes the decision to cancel the surgery.  It will be the surgeon's call, but I am not sure when.  It could be at the PAC (pre-admission clinic) this week or at the final weigh-in at the WW clinic the day before surgery.  I don't know.  I'm just playing it by ear.

With that said, my dietician suggested that I start the liquid diet early.  Thus far, it's been a good process.  I don't feel lathargic or have hunger pains that I figured I would, which is surprising.  It's going almost too well.  For now, it feels like it's only a matter of time before I am on the other side.

Yes, I have medical leave with my employer.  So, I'll get the 2-3 weeks and anything else should there be complications.  The reason my leave is so long is that I've got a lot of accrued vacation time that I need to spend.  So, I figured it would be cool to be away as long as reasonably possible and come back to the office looking slimmer.  We'll see how that transpired in the new year.  :)

I just talked with one of the clinic dieticians.  My regular one was sick.   We went over the liquid diet plan for the next 5 weeks.  Pretty straight forward stuff.    One disappointing thing is that if I am ready to knaw my arm off between now and surgery is that I CAN'T supplement in anything like jello or broth.  I can after surgery, but not now.  I am not entirely sure why.  So, I will email my dietician about that.

Finally, my wife does not have her date yet.  There seems to be a major hiccup happening in the process with her.  We thought that she was approved, signed the papers, and was waiting to get on the list.  She never made it to the list.  Last month, the clinic called and said that her surgeon wanted to see her.  First available appointment - Nov 2.   I may just have to go with her to see what kind of nonsense they are trying to shovel.  Stay tuned.

Cheers!
-- Xcalibur