Rural Alberta...suggestions?

I was wondering if anyone knew who does WLS surgery in Alberta?

I'm in rural Alberta (East Central Alberta) I was going through weight wise in Edmonton, but found the travelling back and forth the be costly and eventually it led to nothing (Admittedly I was in amongst the first group in Weight Wise, I'm sure things might have changed)...but would love to find out if there's someone closer than Edmonton that does it. (Edmonton is about a 2.5 hour drive for me)

Oh I just replied to your other post....LOL

Hmmmmm you gave up Weight Wise??? Can't say that would ever be an option for me no matter the cost and I am 2.5 hrs northwest of Edmonton. It's safed my life .

The program is not the same as it once was and there is nothing closer that I know of.
I got referred in Feb 08, accept in March 09 and started after the birth of my son in August 09. I have my sleeve surgery on  Sept 21. After countless appts, tests, scans, modules and journalling every meal I'm all set and know that with this program, I am set for success.
I feel that without it and just getting surgery I would surely try and eat like my old ways. I didn't lose 100lbs on my own without their help.

There will be a wait regardless what avenue you chose in this province and it's not recommended by the docs there to travel out of country to get any procedure done. Why pay for it anyway when there is a qualified team to do it here AND you get tummy skin removal covered by AB healthcare too a couple yrs after!? 

If you're 215, you are really tiny in my opinion. I was 328 lbs last June and I'm still not to 215lbs. If you are not budging from that number you need to change things up-- decrease the amount of calories you take in and exercise more.

Wish I had a magical answer for you but Weight Wise in my honest opinion is the best option for a program that reteaches you the proper ways to ensure success and has a surgery option. It's not a quick fix solution and we have to retrain the way we think, feel and react to food stimuli prior to undergoing any body changing surgery.

Good luck,

I also live in Rural Alberta, 2.5 hours west of Edmonton and there have been time when I thought is all this time off work and travel worth it and my answer has always been YES. I'd do it all over in a heart beat. I love the programs and the changes they have made are awesome. I don't have much of a support team at home so going to the clinic gives me the support I need to make these life altering changes.

There is a Dr in Red Deer but there is a long wait list and it's not like the  ww clinic at all and another one in Medicine Hat. Other than that you would have to go out of country and I definitely wouldn't recommned that.

You have some thinking to do and some decisions to make and I wish you good luck with that. All the best.

Kee.

Hi Miss_Jody,

I also live in East Central Alberta, had my surgery in Oct/09 with Dr. Farries in Red Deer.  I was on the wait list for Weight Wise in Edmonton for about 1.5 years, decided to try something else & got referred to Dr. F in May 08, my 1st consult booked for Dec 08, approved for surgery in May 09 & had surgery in October.  I actaully got accepted into weight wise the same week I was approved for surgery with Dr. F. lol.  So if I hadn't been referred to Dr. Farries I would be in the Weight Wise program probably still waiting for surgery.... 

I still had to travel 2 hours to Red Deer once/month.  They put you on a program & monitor your weight loss for a while to make sure you can make the changes in your life to succeed with the surgery.  Dr. Farries wants to see you loose about 10% of your weight before he will approve surgery so they want to weigh you every month & check your food diary.  Its tuff some days but as long as you are losing, not gaining you'll be fine & it is so worth the effort! 

I'm about 10 months out from my VSG now & just hit Onederland yesterday! yahooo!  I lost around 35 lbs before surgery & around 90 since.  I'm not the fastest looser but I am so happy right now & I know I will continue to loose as long as I do the work!  I have had no complications at all & can honestly say that the VSG was the best decision I ever made for myself!

Good luck!  Feel free to message me if you have any questions...I'll do my best to answer them for you!

Take care,
Marie

Hi Jody

I am pre-surgery and going with Weight Wise. The program has changed a lot, even since I got started. I was referred to the program in November 08, attended Module one in September 09 and then as a result of the flu shots and pandemic clinics, I was delayed in getting into the clinic itself until April 2010 (people who were in module 1 the week before me, got into the clinic in January). I have been attending appointments with the clinic on a fairly steady basis at least one a month. I have lost 20lbs so far since my first appointment.

I was living 2.5 hours from Edmonton until the end of May, when I moved to Edmonton. So, I am well aware of how frustrating the travel can be. I will say that my own attitude on the travel was that I would be willing to make the trip as far as necessary to save my life and if I had to make the trip over and over, so be it. I wanted the program. I didn't want to hop a plane, get surgery and then end up in the same position later.

I did look into going to Mexico for surgery. I had contacted Planet Hospital and was getting ready to send off my deposit, when I met with my doctor and got the referral to the WW program. I knew I would be waiting, I knew that I was going to be hitting pause on my journey... but I could not wrap my head around the idea of having surgery and failing. I know I have made the best choice for me and I will be successful because I have already made so many changes as part of the WW program.

Best of luck with your journey. If you decide to return to weight wise, know that the program is hugely different. Whereas previously you were left to wait to get into the clinic to start getting the education, now you have to be under medical supervision and attend modules to learn the changes needed to make before getting into the clinic. It is designed to ensure that no one is floundering without care before you get to the clinic (I gained 15 lbs before I got to clinic)!

Take care and I hope you make a decision that works with you.

Just to clear a few things up...I didn't give up on Weight Wise..I missed two days worth of appointments (booking as many as you can in a day, it doesn't take long to reach that magic number of 6 appointments missed). I was willing to do the travel, we were spending on the average $250 - $500  a month, and had we were fine with that. Weight Wise dropped me because I missed 6 appointments (which was done by missing two days out of almost 6 months at that time, I had called both times to give them notice and rebooked on the spot for what I'd missed...well the first day I did, the second they told me that they couldn't rebook because I'd missed too many appointments and was being transitioned back to my Dr.)

Not really looking for "quick fix" or the "easy way out"...I cringe just hearing those terms, I've been researching long enough to know that no matter what method is used there is no "quick fix" or "easy way out". All I was curious about was what options were out there. As far as I knew, my options were to try to get back on Weight Wise or go with a Dr. who is in training to have it done in Camrose. Had no clue if Calgary and Edmonton (and sometime soon) Camrose were the only options or what else was out there.

215 still has my BMI over 35...I'm looking for options, not only for me, but also my husband who's BMI is hovering in the 47 neighborhood. Most of the weight I lost was lost by numerous surgeries/hospital time/recouperating starting with a hernia repair that went into a few surgeries to clear up bouts of infection following the hernia surgery. The rest of the weight I've lost is by following a modified (obviously) WLS diet combined with the Canada Food Guide, I'm kind of struggling to get my caloric count up actually, right now it's hovering at about 990, I would like to see it up a bit more (thinking the body's gone into starvation mode and holding on to everything) and working out doing a half hour of cardio(either jogging or step), combined with 15 - 20 mins of yoga and 15 - 20 mins of strength training, all of this on the Wii Fit.

I'm thinking I was unclear. I really wasn't looking for any magic answers, I was simply wondering what is actually available in Alberta (I wouldn't even begin to entertain the thought of going out of country to have it done...the thought of that scares the crap out of me...I like having my surgeon close enough that if there are complications afterwards, it can be dealt with swiftly.)

At any rate, thanks for the replies :) Glad to hear that you guys are doing well! :) I really am happy for you all.