Frustrated with WW Edmonton

 I am getting frustrated with the WW program in Edmonton
I had my first appointment there on Apr 26/12....... saw the Internal Med Doctor Dr Modi on June 28/12 for the first time...... everyone has told me I am right on track, doing great, I'm right where I should be in the program....... Dr Modi at the first visit told me I will see her in 1 Month and if all is the same I will have my referral to the surgeon and probably have surgery before X-MAs or early Jan

I have saw  Dr Modi again on July 26/12..... she said everything looked good but couldn't do the referral that day because she needed the other area (psy, diet, nurse) to sign off, as there was a delay because my psy and nurse quit and I had yet to meet my new ones...... she told me to come back in 4-6 wks...making it end of Aug......and she would do a referral then and I would prob have surgery Feb...... well the front desk wouldn't let me book with her until her next opening which was Oct..... I made them talk to her nurse who told them I misunderstood and to book me in Oct.... I even asked my new nurse to check into it...... but with nothing more I could do I waited

Now I finally got my appt with Dr Modi again on Oct 2/12..... only to find out that she is pissed that they didn't book me sooner (her nurse and front desk got a ear full from her lol)....... and then she tells me yup all looks good come back in 4 weeks and I will refer you then to the surgeon, and prob have surgery in May/June

Like seriously what am I doing wrong...... when I ask they say I am doing everything they ask, and am right where I should be....... but yet I keep getting delayed for surgery
If I don't have surgery until May/June that will put my over 1 year since I started...... frustrating when I see people going through in 6 mos

I have very few health problems other than my high blood pressure and I am only 33 yrs....... I asked my family doctor what she thought and her only thought was maybe they want to see if I can do it without surgery....... which is fine by my (cause really if I don't need surgery I don't want it... but I do feel I need it) but I need a plan..... I don't do well with the unknown, I need the straight truth always weather its good or bad thats just how I am with everything lol

I feel I have asked lots of questions about this to Dr Modi and the other staff, but I keep getting the same answers 
I'm just having a hard time staying motivated when I feel I have no direction to go in and when I think I have a plan they change it on me

Thks for listening.... or reading lol my vent

 my referal only got bumped one month, but i feel your frustration....My referal went in the end of May...from my referal date to surgery will 6-7 months, my actual clinic time was only 6 months (Dec to May)  I've had a few phone appt's with my dietician and my nurse...but thats it...
When I called the surgeon office last week, she said i was 7 on the list and i should get a call by thanksgiving...well here's thanksgiving and when i spoke to her yesterday she said there was some emergency surgeries and she hasnt booked anything new, so i'm still at 7. *sigh*
she's hoping i'll  be in before christmas....but hard to say now...

 Can you talk to your psyc/diet/nurse and see what their hold up is to agreeing to referal? 
I know once everyone agrees to refer, they all sit down together and discuss it before putting the actual referal in...

I wonder if they arent putting more and more people in, and not enough surgeons to fulfill the actual surgeries...its like the system is bottlenecking.

I know in Grande Prairie here, they've opened a new clinic and people are getting in quite quick, but are still being sent to Edmonton for surgery....so then these people are taking up doctors time as well...sounds like they need to open up more OR room, or hire another surgeon....or?....  I dunno...

I don't have any answers for you, but wanted you to know that someone is reading and totally understands your frustration. If I hadn't given up on them and headed south I'd be pulling out my hair too. (Instead I'm 3 months out and 43# down)

I hope you get to come on over to the loser's bench soon!

Kelly-Anne

The same thing happened to me at the grande prairie clinic I had all my apps pretty quick and the it came time to see the internal a f it was a 2 ,moth wait for my first appt and they said I would be required to see him twice. So I started doing the calculations and figured I probably wouldn't get surgery till next fall because I think the wait right now when you go ally see the surgeon is about 6-7 months. I then had to make the decision what I wanted to do for my health and lucky I am blessed enough to go the self pay route so I a, getting surgery Oct 26th. But I hear what your saying the WW times canbe very frustrating.

Where are you going for your surgery and which are you having? We flew to San Diego, then went by van to Mexicali, where I had my sleeve done by Dr Aceves. Best decision ever!!

I was referred to WW in 2011 and had my first appt in jun'12.  I went to 3 more appointments and still had no clue when or if I would be getting surgery approval.  Luckily I was looking into other options and after
meeting and speaking with Kelly-Anne I decided to self pay and go to Dr Aceves,  I called in September and got to pick my date. October 10th it is...this is how I like to do things.  I want to be in charge of picking my surgeon and date and not be at the mercy of "the system".

 I do want to say I feel your pain and understand my decision isn't necessarily viable for everyone.  I wish you luck.

3 sleeps until you head off! You must be so excited! Got your phone charger and an extension cord packed? (I forgot to get your # for texting) GasX? Comfy jammies? Stuffy?

Barry and I took our iPads and he frittered a lot of his time watching art videos on YouTube. My niece (came as my sister's support person) brought her laptop and spent her time watching a season of one of her favourite shows. Ronnie and I walked, gabbed with other patients, sipped herbal tea and slept. Google translate is SUPER useful. The cheat sheet is great, but sometimes you want to say something that isn't on the sheet. (Like "may I have more tea please?" The nurses seemed to appreciate my efforts to communicate in their language.)

 Yep, 3 more sleeps.  Hard to believe it is here already, and that one week from right now I'll be enroute home!

Gas-x check
Jammies - check
Ipads and chargers - check

I think I'm good to go Kelly-Anne, I'll MSG you my number.

Thanks for your help.  Coffee when I get home?

You betcha! I'll buy.