Help with referal

Hello everyone,
I moved to Calgary a year ago from Texas after marrying my husband who is a Calgarian.
I am currently 5ft 7in and about 420 lbs. I was recently diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes, PCOS and have had other complications caused by my weight.
In the states, if you don't have insurance there is no way in hell you will get a bariactric surgery, unless you want to pay upwards of 10,000 dollars. After moving to Alberta, I started considering getting the surgery done here. My doctor is all for it but has been unable to get ahold of anyone that does the surgery and is covered by Alberta Health Care. She is new to Calgary as well so I am not sure if it is just her that is having a hard time with this process or if this is a typical occurance.
She has refered me to a weight loss clinic but they do not actually do the surgery.
Does anyone have any info on who I can have my doctor get in touch with?
I have tried every diet immaginable and working out, but nothing ever works long term. This is my last hope and I would love to get healthy and be able to get pregnant.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, and congratulation to all of you on your journey.
-Kellie

Hi there

In order to be a candiate for surgery you need to be referrred to the diabetes and hypertension program at the Richmond health centre

I am currently in the program and have been selected for surgery this year. This program is like a PT job they say and it really is. Every 2 weeks you go in for a class, you need to a do a food journal, you need to attend the classes. For the surgery to be covered by AHC you need to complete this program.

To give you a little more info, there are 3 surgerons in calgary that do these surgeries, Dr Church, Dr Debru and Dr Mitchell. If you are referred to them directly they are just going to forward your dr over to the diabetes and hypertension program.

It is a wonderful program

I will tell my doctor about the program. I already meet with a diabetes counselor at Bowmont Medical clinic every 2 weeks and go over a food journal, so hopefully this won't  be too different. How long do you have to be in the program before you are reffered for the surgery and are approved? 

There are also 3 surgeons that do bariatric surgery in Red Deer. Dr. Farries, Dr. Gregg and Dr. Menezes. I believe they take referals on May 1 every year. In their program you go on a diet of 1 cup of food 3x a day, food journaling and monthly appointments until approved for surgery. You must show approx 10% weightloss to get aopproved and show that you can stick to their guidelines!! You can phone the clinic and ask for sure about the referal date and then have your doctor do the referal at the appropriate time!! Good luck to you and if you ever have questions just ask!!! http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/services.asp?pid=service &rid=1044655 this is the link to red deers website with all the qualifications needed for surgery listed, phone number shoudl be there too if not it is 403-356-4200. They  re great about answering questions over the phone!!

Here is what I can tell you, first of all you are lucky you are looking into this now. The program starts in May, when you are start the program just so you know they make you sign something that says even if you do everything right that does not mean that you will get surgery. This year when I started there was 300 people-ish for 25 surgeries lucky for everyone in the program they double the amount of surgeries for there was now 50 surgeries. In the 6 months that we went through the program there got to be less and less people every week. I am not sure what the final count was come surgery decision day but I would guess between 60-65 so don’t be discouraged if there are a lot of people when you start the program.

Kellie,

My name is Sheila and I moved to Calgary in 1996 from Oklahoma to marry my husband who is from Vancouver.  I had my VSG surgery on July 27, 2011. 

If you would like to email me I would be happy to help you any way I can.  I know what it is like to be in a new country with no one familiar around you. 

My email address is: [email protected]  I would be happy to meet you in person. 

Sheila

 

After you are approved for surgery by AHC do you get to choose the type of surgery that you get such as Lap-band, the gastric sleve or gastric bypass? or do they tell you what you are going to get?
I have done a fair bit of research on the different types but I am curious as to what the people on this site have experienced with each one.
Since I am currently at about 420 lbs I think either the gastric sleeve or bypass would be best for me. I am a bit concerned that the new pouch will get stretched back out though and I would gain whatever weight I lost back. The only thing that appeals to me about the lapband is that it is able to be tightened if you are not losing enough weight.

Kellie,

I think the first step is getting your referral into the surgeon's office.  Once you get there you will find out all you need to know.  When I was referred to Dr. L. Farries in Red Deer, I went thinking I wanted the LapBand, but after the initial consult, I changed my mind to the sleeve.  You and the surgeon will discussion the best options for you.  You will ultimately have the final say. 

I had the sleeve, and trust me, I think it will be very hard for me to stretch it back to the former size.  I think once all the internal swelling goes down, you are able to eat more than a few bites at a time,  but I don't think you would be anywhere near what you are able to eat now. 

Anyway, good luck.  And remember if you would like to speak to a fellow American living in Calgary having gone through what you are about to embark on, I am hear to talk and support you.

Sheila

I have tried searching for the Richmond Health Centre to give the information to my family doctor so that I can get a referal.
Does anyone have the info for them?

I heard from my doctor today. She had been trying to refer me to the Weight Management clinic in Calgary and last week I told her about the Diabetes and Hypertension program that I was told about in this forum. Today she told me that she spoke with the Weight Management Clinic, and that I would herar from them in January with surgery as early as April.

I am wondering if anyone else has had this experience. I don't want to get my hopes up with this only to be let down.