Staff and Dr Amson

Had my first consult with Dr Amson, I was very impressed with his staff and the doctor himself. I was made to feel welcome and they went out of thier way to make my short stay on the island awesome!
I think it sure would be wondeful to hear some positive feed back to this doctor and his staff!
I will be having the sleeve in approx 1yrs time, sure hope its sooner though........I guess he has done 18 sleeves to date with great success. If anyone would like to chat about thier experience feel free to msg me....take care all

I *HEART* Dr. Amson and his staff!!! Always a pleasant and positive experience!!! I think Dr. Amson is just the best in my books!!! I cannot say enough great things about him!!! I had my surgery 1 year ago as of tomorrow (ok Saturday but I say tomorrow because I had my surgery on a Friday)!!! This year flew on right by!! It has been a great year. I am down 190 pounds and was so hoping to reach my 200 mark but I will get there!!! hehe.

I am so happy you had a great visit!!! I had the rny as the sleeve wasn't offered yet but either surgery is still pretty great!!! Congrats on your upcoming surgery! The year will fly by fast..it may not seem like it but it sure will :)

Carrie
Thank You so much, and Im so pleased you feel the same way I do. WOW......190 pounds, I want to be just like you!   lol
All the best in your goals.
Take care
Penny

Well were do I start......DISAPPOINTED, FEEL BETRAYED FOR SURE!

I really thought and prayed that Dr Amson was telling me the absolute truth when he told me I would be waiting 1yr or less for the sleeve.

After reading about the recent cutbacks......I now realize I will be waiting up to 5yrs....
IM SAD!

I was borderline diabetic....but this past year I have managed it....no longer borderline!
I have carefully watched my blood pressure.....normal to day

My BMI- 42.5

Been over weight for over 20yrs......Im 50yrs old now

I have managed to go from 230-227......

I have osteoarthritis in my knees and back.....have had one knee surgery and have a hell of time walking

I try to stay postive and fight through the pain, staying active is helping me keep the weight maintained but it wont come off....when it does it quickly re-appears!

I work a physical job full time...and collapse when I get home.

I know feel I must EAT  my words and apply to go to the states....in 5 yrs time I will be 55...I want my life back now!

I havent done much research about the states, as I told myself I would never ever ever go.......do they do the sleeve?

I would rather stay a patient of Dr Amsons but, I now realize he will choose others who have been waiting longer then me.....and I wont see an OR room for 5yrs!!!!

Golly.....Ive managed to fight though bouts of despression......THESE CUT BACKS MAKE ME DEPRESSED !!!!

I waited 1 1/2 yrs just to get in to see him.  But the experience with him and his staff was very good.  We watched all his videos and then he came in and talked to us about surgery and said that he would do it for me.   No date was set then, but another appt was made for this Sept 10th.  My appt was for 12:15 and because he was so busy (the waiting room never did empty out while i was there) i finally got in to see him about 2:30, but I did take a book as you never know with Dr. appts.  Think I was maybe in there for approx 15 min at which time he told me that he wanted me to have a gastric sleeve done.  Another appt was then made for next Mar 2010.  But he did want me to e-mail our Minister of Health to complain about wait times for surgery as he said that he can only operate 2 days a week.  There was a lady in there who had been seeing him since 2000 and just got her surgery date of this Dec.  As I was talking to other people in the wait. room that seemed to be the consenses of them, that you will not get surgery right away, but will have to wait a long time.  Did they give you a surgery date when you seen him.  I was told by a lot of the people there that he really likes you to go through the hoops.  Loose weight, exercise etc etc.  I did take a binder with me with a food journal and a program that I have joined at our local gym, but he didn't really seem very interested.  I did ask him about a surgery date but he just told me that I would be put on the list.  So it could be a very long time.  I am exploring other options for this as I don't want to wait another 2-4 yrs to have this done.

I did take my jounal...which I started almost a year prior to the initial consult...inlcuded my weight loss, exercise, food, knowledge about the surgeries, my history etc etc etc
I was the first patient in....harldy anyone in the waiting room.
I bought his video, we did not have a group session.
He did not set a date but did tell me within a year
To me...going to the states is not an option when we have a great doctors here, I would never
want to have surgery in the states...has never crossed my mind. ONLY if it were an emergency.
Financially I cant afford the lap band...wish I could...being a mom of 5 boys, when I separated from my first husband..... I totally walked away...
left him the house...only left with the children.
I never looked back....did it on my own...no support financially. I not the type of person who likes fighting in front of the kids...therefore I never went to court., never asked or demanded anything. In my opinion he should have stepped up to the plate automatically. He did not, my kids have the greatest respect for their mother today. I have respect for myself......anyways.......Im broke...and cant afford the lap band...lol
I really dont think Dr A was putting me through the "hoops"
Dont listen to what everyone else says...judge for yourself....do what you need to do....think positive thoughts
Hope this helps

As I said my experience with Dr. A. was great and first time visit was the same as yours with no wait time, although that never bothers me and I too bought the video.  I always take a good book as stuff happens and they can run late.  I did do as he asked and e-mailed  him and cc  to Keven Falcon as i certainly agree that our wait times are terrible and the surgery would certainly I think take care of lot of health issues that we may get from being obese.  But for me i am 60 and even tho I work out faithfully 3 days a week at the gym and really watch what I eat the meds I take keep the weight on.  If I didn't work out it would be way worse I know.  I have a degenerative disk disease in my spine and if I don't get this extra weight off as I get older I may end up in a wheel chair so I really don't want that to happen.  I hope that you do get your surgery soon, but for myself I think that it will be a longer wait and my back just can't afford it.  I don't have the health issues that many do.  Cholesterol (good and bad)  are good, no diabetes, heart good and I am lucky as I can explore other options that my own Dr. suggested to me and its not a lap-band but a sleeve that Dr. A says that I should have done.  I agree that our Dr's here are good, but I just can't afford to wait more yrs before having it done .

Oh my Treenie.....I really hope you get in soon....sounds like you need it now!
wishing you nothing but the best

That's the thing tho.  There are people way worse off than I am.  Realistically I could wait, but I don't think I am going to.  So will explore other options that are open to me.   your home life sounds like my first marriage as well.  I think we all (or some of us) get the bad ones first go round.  Good thing the second one is great.
Treena

Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit with Dr. A.

Just a word of advice tho... Dr. A has around 200 patients waiting for surgery ahead of you and currently he is performing maybe 2 WLS surgeries a month.  The wait is aroun 3-4 years.  There are 2 other surgeons in Victoria Dr, Tang in Amson's office and Dr. Malik both of them have shorter waitlists.