The meeting was very good, more than 25 people attended.  Was scheduled to last 60 to 90 minutes, but lasted over 2 hours because everyone was so interested in sharing.  Will definately go again.  Actual time/day has not yet been set, but I will be contacted by VCH when it has been set-up.  Will let you know when I hear anything from them.

Hello Everyone

Just wanted to remind everyone about the next Vancouver weight loss surgery support meeting it's on Thursday July 7th at 7:00 pm, at Mt. St. Joseph's Hospital, take the elevator up to the 1st floor, Sister Germaine Roy conference room. This meeting is open to preops, postops, spouses, support people or anyone looking into weight loss surgery.

Mark the date on your calendar.

Suzanne

any questions please email me at [email protected]

Hello everyone!


I just had my 2nd appointment with Dr.Amson today and it went alright...he was quite surprised to see my diet/exercise log and confused about why I'm not losing weight despite exercising and only consuming about 800 calories/day for the last 6 months.  He wants me to try the Optifast liquid diet using the powders for a few weeks to kickstart weight loss and wrote me a prescription, but I can't find a pharmacy anywhere in my area (around Lougheed Mall in the Coquitlam, Burnaby area) that carries it or has suppliers that do.  

Any suggestions? 

Hi Jillville!

I'd be into getting together :)

And I'm going to check out both of the support groups that are semi-close to me (Richmond and Vancouver) so we could always meet there too.

How did your 2nd appointment go?

Hi Darlis,

The surgery went well.  The first 24 hours I was as sick as a dog, so nauseated I couldn't sleep except in short periods of maybe 20 minutes immediately following throwing up - which happened about 15 times in the first 24 hours post surgery.

Dr. Ponce is really the best, so set your mind at ease on that front.  Other than that, I had quite a few moments of fear and upset because nothing happened the way it was supposed to.  It was all planned out that I would have the surgery at Angeles Hospital, and Dr. Ponce apparently wanted me to stay three nights instead of the usual two because of it being a revision instead of just a simple sleeve.  Then I was supposed to stay one night at the Hotel Lucerna before flying home. 
Lana picked me up at my hotel the morning of the surgery, and when she brought me to the hospital I found out it was one called INT (which specializes in kidney disease), and that I would only be there two nights, and that I would be staying with Lana (at Grace Guesthouse) instead of the hotel!  Well, as you can imagine I was really freaked out - I had researched where I wanted to have the surgery done and paid an additional $1,000 to have it at Angeles Hospital.  I'd never HEARD of INT!  The last thing you want is your plans changed, when you are in a foreign country, on the day of your surgery, and there's nothing you can do about it.  Well, Lana and the one english-speaking doctor, Dr. Friday, put my mind at ease (sort of), and we went ahead. 

The big problem seems to be Dr. Ponce's assistant Marlon / Tommy (pick a name), *****ally seems a bit unscrupulous.  I have reason to believe it was planned all along that I would have the surgery at INT, and I was tricked into believing it would be at Angeles.  Well, lucky for me I had Lana there to walk me through it all and explain what was going on, and Teresita to take care of me afterwards.  Lana's going to make sure I get my refund of that $1,000, which Marlon has promised will be wired to me by the end of the month.  We shall see...

The nursing care was great - when I rang the buzzer they came within 10 seconds ****ach time.  The language was a small problem, but most of the nurses knew some vital english words.  It would help to learn some terms in spanish - pain, nausea, pillow, towel, etc. so you can ask for what you need.  And some great tips that I'm sure you've seen elsewhere on this site are to take your own pillow, lip moisturizer and slippers.  And reading materials...the darn T.V. in the hospital never would work, and there wasn't anything on the channels offered at the guesthouse that I wanted to watch.  I'm sure glad I stayed there though, rather than the hotel.  I don't know what I would have done without someone to take care of me and provide me with freezies, jello, broth, etc.  And take me to buy new shoes, after the hospital lost mine when they moved me from one floor to another!

Well, I don't have time to write the whole story now; I will do that in the next week or two.  I wish you all the best with your surgery!
Best wishes,
Rachel