Good morning everyone

hmmmm, I've done computer programming in the past, a program that constantly emails them about bariatric surgery sounds interesting......just kidding. I think I'm starting to simmer down a bit, just trying to take things in stride, it's the government, it should be expected. which email did you use to send, we should all send to the same person in the hopes they will listen.

Hello Bobby, I sent an email to [email protected] and I am in the process of putting a snail mail ltr together to send to Janet Davidson, Ida Goodreau and Dr. Garth Warnock. Addresses are on my profile page in one of my blogs. I have never written to any type of governing board member. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Janice

Hi, Janice it is Nikki I met you at Dr. M yesterday, it was so great to finally meet a couple of people who understand what we are going through. Sim it was also great meeting you and your mom, she seems to be an incredible support person for you and so informed to what is going on with your struggles. I wish I could have stayed longer to go to coffee with you guys and brainstorm a little bit about this situation and get to know you guys better. My first appointment, I thought was not that great, Dr. M was great but not so positive about wait times and when he will get the ok for surgery. You sd that he was going to do people with lower bmi's, what is considered a low bmi? If we had low bmi's we would not be seeking out this surgery. I feel a little discouraged I had a first consult with Dr. Woodhead in May and this seems to be the same situation as that. I also had a consult with Dr. Amson in Sept but I res for Nov as I wanted to see about Dr. M as he is closer to home for me. Dr. Amson's waiting list is also incredibly long and it took me over a yr since Apr 05 just for a first consult to see him. I do have a little info on out of country surgery, it is different from Ontario, BC just started to approve a handful of surgery's this yr compared to Ontario who have been doing it for some yrs now. But there is now a cap on that in BC as too many people started to apply. The forms have to be filled out by a general surgeon, your reg gp will not work they will send the forms back to you; I have tried this and was denied. I also tried to get Dr. W to fill the forms out as he did it for a couple other patience, but there are strict requirements, you have to have a high bmi over 50 I believe or bmi over 40 with a life threatening co-morbidly or irreversible tissue damage. Dr. W would not fill the forms out for me. I also heard that they are no longer approving surgeries for this as they are supposedly making some sort of list to fast track patience that would qualify for out of country for surgery here. Well sorry for rambling, I guess all we can do is make noise lots of it to these freaking people and stand up for ourselves. We need as many people as we can get to start doing these letters; I'm talking family, friends, even the littlest ones in our families to send in letters. I am even doing letters from my daughter and my 2 dogs they have names, the people don't have to know that they are not actual people but my fur baby's the more letters the better. Thanks for listening Long time lurker Nikki

Hi Nikki, It was so nice to hear from you here and meet you in person the other day. I believe the BMI that Dr. M was talking about was below 40- can you believe it!! Like you said, we would not be seeking out this surgery if we did have lower BMI's. Go figure. Thanks for the advice about filling out the forms. General surgeon, okay. My BMI is over 50 so if I could get Dr. M to fill out the forms for me, then maybe I have a chance, even if it is so small. I don't really know any other general surgeons but I will try and see if I can get one to help me if Dr. M. says no. What do you mean by fast tracking patients- I heard this before but do not really know what is involved. What list is this? Is this MSP doing this? How can we get on it if we qualify? Sorry for all these questions. I sent this information to Dr. Amson's website as well I will be posting this news about the WLS delays in Vancouver to all the support groups out there in BC this week. That information is on Dr. Amson's website. I will ask everyone to please write letters and even email them which may be easier for some people who are really busy with work, and life in general. Here are some emails to for these individuals: Janet Davidson, Chief Operating Officer [email protected] Ida Goodreau President and CEO [email protected] Dr. Garth Warnock [email protected] I think everyone has the other part, but I am including it again just in case: Here are the contact persons in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority Dr. M told me to write letters to the following people: Janet Davidson, Chief Operating Officer Vancouver Coastal Health Authority Corporate Office 11th Floor, 601 West Broadway Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4C2 Vancouver Coaster Health Authority: Email: [email protected] Her phone number as per their website is 604.875.4285 Dr. M also said to write to: Ida Goodreau President and CEO Vancouver Coastal Health Authority Corporate Office 11th Floor, 601 West Broadway Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4C2 Phone number as per their website is 604.875.4972 and the 3rd person Dr. M said to write to was Dr. Garth Warnock Surgeon in Chief Vancouver General Hospital 855 West 12th Ave Vancouver BC V5Z 1M9 604.875.4111 Take care and keep in touch. I am trying to stay postive. I remember a quote from an advocacy workshop I attended before. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever does. --Margaret Mead Sim

Hi Slim Thank you for the email address. I wrote each one an email today. I asked WHY?????? can they not help. I also said dont tell me its money because that story is so old and worn out. Thanks again , Sharon