Orientation Scheduled.

Hi All,

I went to my doctor last summer (I think august some time) and talked to him about wls and the red deer clinic. He sent in my referral and today I received a letter in the mail saying my orientation is set for April 15, 2016. So about 8 months from referral date to orientation.

Does anyone know what the next steps are? once I have gone through the orientation and we have decided to go ahead how long might it be before the surgery itself?

After your orientation you have to call the next day to book an appointment mine was 2.5 months after my orientation date. Then you meet your nurse then every month there after you have an appointment with the dietician, nurse, phycatrist and so on.  You have to loose 10% of your weight also. 

You can check out my blog as I have written everything down. 

How come it takes so long to get an orientation date? 8 months from referral seems kinda crazy.

Hi there.

My WLS referral was sent in by my Doctor exactly a year ago today. My first appointment (orientation)was August first appointment with nurse in September. The following month I met with the nutritionist.See them both every 6-8 weeks.I he done all the necessary testing. I also saw the psychologist as well . Got the call from edmonton this morning and I now have my surgical consult in June. They said if the surgeon approves my surgery right away,the surgical wait list was 14 months. 

You can expect to wait at least a year from your first appointment before you have surgery (probably closer to 18 months now due to flood repairs).  You'll have at least one appointment per month, rotating between the different specialists and you need to be signed off by everyone before you can be approved for surgery.  Below are all my appointments so far:

April 23, 2015 - Referral Red Deer Clinic

May 1, 2015 - Blood tests

Oct. 21, 2015 - Orientation

Dec. 16, 2015 - Intake appointment with nurse

Jan. 13, 2016 - Surgical Consult - Dr. Gregg (said I'd probably have surgery by the end of the year)

Feb. 5, 2016 - Dietitian 

Feb.12, 2016 - EKG 

Mar. 2, 2016 - Mental Health (no further appointments required for this)

Mar. 24, 2016 - Scope

Apr. 8, 2016 - Blood tests

Apr. 13, 2016 - Followup with nurse

May. 12, 2016 - Followup with dietitian 

Hi

judt wondering when you did your first set of blood work was the req from your family doctor? My first clinic is on March 30. I went to the lab today to get blood work down as I'm trying to be proactive and the lady drawing my blood said the req needs to from the baratric clinic not my family physician. 

What is the first intake appointment like, what should I expect?

Thank you

Happy Easter ð?'?

The req for my first blood tests came from my family doctor, as the clinic got in touch with them to request what they need, so the lady drawing your blood was wrong :)  The other reqs for my blood work have come from the clinic but the results still always go to my family doctor.  The clinic can just look up any of your results on the health system, so they want everything to be sent to your family doctor to keep them in the loop.

The intake appointment is with the nurse you'll have throughout your time at the clinic.  You'll sit in a room together going through paperwork and discussing your medical history, past diets, weight struggles, and current lifestyle.  She'll explain the process with the clinic and requirements, and answer any questions you have.  Then she'll decide what your next steps will be and help with booking your next appointments (which will depend entirely on your discussions/paperwork you went through together).

Best of luck!

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix

Thanks so much. I'm very excited to go to the appointment. How us everything going with yours? Have they given you a surgery date? 

Leesa

Hi Leesa,

Everything is going good, I had my scope last Thursday and everything was normal so that part is done now.  I meet with my nurse again in April to see where I'm at and if I can see the surgeon again to be signed off.  I'm no longer in a rush for surgery though, I just started a new job and after about 6 months I should be able to work from home when needed.  So I figure sometime in October or later would be fine with me :)