who went to winnipeg?

Winnipeg gastric bypass is fairly new yes?  How many have gone there and from start to finish..how long?

yes, it has only been in the lasts few years. personally i am still at the referral stage so i have no experience, but a good friend who had her surgery done about a year ago said it was approximately one year between getting the referral and getting the surgery. i assume wait times are changing as more people are referred to the program. i hope it isn't much more than that, but i could easily see it being longer if the program is pretty full.

another friend went to regina and her wait time was approximately 2 years.

In the past, the wait time from referral to acceptance/rejection  letter was about 2 months (just a confirmation that you have met the criteria and are now on "the list")  It is about 10-12 months until your information session (presentation that tells you more about the program) then surgeon one-on-one appt, if you are still considered a "good" candidate, then the sessions with dietitian or Nutritionalist (nut) , psych evaluation  and I hear a Kinesiologist.   At any point any of these professionals can pull you from the list if you need something extra (ie: if you gained any weight since referral, need therapy or courses that they feel would be beneficial to you) or if they feel you are a little delusional about what WLS can do for you lol.

So basically you can be looking at about 1 1/2 - 2 years.  But things are changing rapidly so depending on what the criteria currently is, this timeline may alter.  I could very well be missing something so chime in if I have it wrongo bongo people!

Hi.  I did have my surgery in Winnipeg just over 3 weeks ago.  I tried to reply to the private message but couldn't. The time is about 1-1.5 years.  I stalled my own process because when I started losing weight to get into the program I thought I was doing well and was afraid of surgery. Then my weight loss stalled and I got discouraged and gained some back so I called the clinic back and said I would like to continue on the process and they let me. I didn't cancel myself off the list, I just said I would call when ready and it worked.  From the time you start seeing the team it can be 6 months because there are scheduled appointments every 2 months. That's to make sure you are following a process with diet, exercise, etc.  Getting used to the process ahead of time helps with post op. 

Oh yeah!  And even though i was afraid of surgery, I'm so happy I had it.  My recovery has been going very well and I go back to work next week!

where do you live "losing for life"?  . After you got your approval letter, how long before you got your first appt? .

Hi. I live in Winnipeg.  It was 2 or 3 months from the time my doctor sent my referral letter to the appointment with the surgeon.  Dr. Hardy is who I saw first and she considered me a good candidate.  I had to lose some weight.  Then I called the office and asked for a 'hold', I didn't want to be taken out of the process but I was losing weight alright on my own.  The office said to just call when I was ready. It was over a year before I called back because I had stalled on my own progress and even started gaining again.  From the time I called back, it was about a month to see the team.  Since my weight loss was enough from the first time I saw Dr. Hardy and I was still exercising regularly it was just over 2 months from that first appointment that I had my surgery.  I was told there would be 3 appointments 2 months apart but I was on the list for so long I guess they decided I proved doing the pre-work already.  I had lost about 50 pounds when I saw the team.

they asked you too lose some weight because you need to be a certain bmi right?  I can lose weight easily,,,I just keep gaining it back. because I just keep returning to my old eating habits,,agghhhh!

Not sure why they ask you to lose weight because you have to be at a BMI of 47 or lower to qualify. I think they want to see if you are going to comply and stick to the regiment they give you. I am really hoping when my turn comes that I won't have to lose any more weight considering I have lost over 40lbs to qualify for the 47 BMI(currently on the waiting list for when criteria expands). Still have a couple of pounds to go, have a weigh in at the Dr's office on the 5th so really hoping.

Also finally got a consult for my gallbladder. I was really worried about this when I saw what you ladies had to say. Hopefully I can do a 2 for 1 but if not then I want the gallbladder issues done before I start dropping lots of weight.

The weight loss prior to surgery is to make your liver shrink so it is not so much in the way during surgery.

Well, I'm guessing there really wasn't alot of people on here that went to winnipeg then?