New here...saying Hi! :)

Hi All!

I'm living out in East Central Alberta. At my highest weight I was 265, been struggling and got it down to 215...but there I stay. I keep eating the same way and keep working out, even if I don't go down, I sure don't want my weight to go back up!!

I'm looking into WLS...however not sure who by,  and where in Alberta I can get it done...so looking into that, at this point, will go from there, I guess.

Other than all of that, I sell Tupperware, have a wonderful supportive husband and 3 great kiddos. that's about me in a nutshell :)

There are not alot of options in AB.
Weight Wise in Edmonton after a wait of one yr after a doctor referral and then about another yr to go through the program before surgery. Not everyone is a candidate and the admission to the clinic has changed too. There is a Obesity Scale model on the capital health webpage regarding bmis and comorbidies etc. I've heard when I was there that just becasue you're overweight you might not qualify.

RedDeer has a doctor with a long wait list and so does Medicine Hat.

Haven't heard much from Calgary.

Weight Wise is your best bet . A sound program, tools and a wonderful support staff!

There's supposed to be one of the surgeons in Camrose going to be starting to do them next year (already have a referral for him) but not sure how crazy I am about being "one of the first" that he does (I mean I know that he wouldn't be doing them if he wasn't qualified...but still)

Either way, guess I'll keep chugging along and see where things go with it.

I was in the WW program before, and because we're so far out of Edmonton, I used to book as many appts as I could for one day...which worked...except for the "can't miss 6 appts. thing"...that I didn't understand fully. When you book like I had to, if you have to cancel one day, well...there goes 4 or more appts. (nurse, nutritionalist, OT, PT, etc.) I had to cancel one day because of a job interview, and the second time I had to cancel because our entire house had the flu, I was over the 6 appt. limit and was transitioned back to my Dr.

At any rate, thank you for the reply :) Good to meet you

Hello Jody,

I live in Camrose and was wonder which Dr. here will be doing them soon. I haven't heard any such news myself. 

I am seeing Dr. Farries in Red Deer and His Team is amazing.. we call them the dream team. His office only accepts referrals on the first monday in may of each year. then you'll be seen with in the year.  He has his own specail diet that you must follow.

I do refer alot of patients into Edmonton to the Weight wise program as they are a very good
Clinic also.  Either way I'd say you'll have about 2yrs wait for surgery. It'll fly by.

Best wishes Jody.

Chrissy

Ok so I just walked back from the Specialists office and your right, Dr. Leoni might be doing Bariatric Surgery . His nurse isn't in yet today so I couldn't talk to her yet. However I work in this clinic and although we love all our surgerons the same....I wouldn't let him near my with a 10 foot pole!  Just a warning to anyone who might be considering him. I was told that the dietary part would most likely be taken on by one of our family Dr's here in the clinic and that the Surgical part would be done By Dr. Leoni.  To be honest I don't think its a great set up and I wouldn't recomend it to anyone.


PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH !!

Well...my experience with him hasn't been bad, but he seems so busy that he doesn't do a lot of the aftercare himself. (he did my hernia repair on May 4th...have had some trouble since then with it, but presumed that the way I heal is the problem). It's funny, since my surgery I've heard from both sides of the fence with him...some, like you, wouldn't let him near them, others are baffled saying what a great surgeon he is...so not really sure which way my opinion goes...I had a lot of trouble, but part of it is all in how I heal, he seems really busy, so not a lot of time to answer questions, etc.

It sounds like you're happy with the Dr. in Red Deer, I would be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on him so far, I may see about getting my husband referred to him instead of Leoni.

Jody I sent you a message. message me if you have any questions.