I'm bacccckkkk....

I did see someone coming out of the doctor's office who did blind me with their beauty, but I"m not sure if it was AnitaLynn or not. I was the sweaty thing fighting with the registration form in the corner. Man, it was hot in that waiting room. I hope that I didn't look too rabid. :-D

Dr. Savoie seems to be a very nice man, He trained with Dr. Picard Marceau in Ste Foy, QC, which is who Dr. Beausoleil trained with. He said that he is working with Dr. Beausoleil in order to offer between all of the different types of bariatric surgery. Dr. Savoie does lap-band, vertical sleeve gastrectomy, and duodenal switch (Scartears, you were right in saying that he did VSG. :-) ), and Dr. Beausoleil will continue doing the lap-band and RNY.
Dr. Savoie is only doing lap-band laparoscopically right now, which is totally understandable as he wants to do them open for the first while until he is more comfortable with doing them laparascopically. As he said to me "What really is the difference between one 6-7" scar compared to 6-7 1" scars. For the duodenal switch, he suggests 3 months off from work, as he said that I'll feel tired and weak for a while, and it's better to rest. I'm not sure what he gives for time off for the lap-band procedure. I also forgot to aks him how long of a hospital stay it is for the procedures as well.

He asked me about my eating habits, how much I eat, how often do I eat fast-food, how much pop I drink, what co-morbitites I have (more about that in the next paragraph),  what previous weight-loss things have I tried, and how much had I lost on them. We talked about what procedure would be best for me. He takes his time, and explains everything, but you have to ask him questions too.  He also asked how long I've been overweight, and I told him "Since birth - I was 9 lbs!"

I have to go for a sleep-apnea test, so that will hinge on when I can get the surgery. If I can get the testing done right away, I can get operated on around Xmas time, but knowing the waiting time that we have for specialists, I think that I may get operated on in the New Year. :-D
If I didn't have to get the sleep apnea test done, my next step would be to get the hospital testing done and the appointment with the dietician, and then after that the surgery time. After care for surgery is a visit to Dr Savoie every 3 months for the first year,  every 6 months for the 2nd year, and then once every year after that.

I thanked him for coming to NB, and he said that he knew that there was a great need for another WLS here. He said that he knew for sure that Dr. Beausoleil was happy that he came. :-D He also knew about obesityhelp.com, which was cool. I showed him my "Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies" book, and he really liked that as he looked at the explanations for all the types of surgeries and he said that they were right on the target..

I also told him that I wasn't going to cry or hug him yet, as it still hadn't sunk it that I was finally going to get the treatment for a disease that I had all of my life. I'm still numb about it.

And Charline? Because I know that you're waiting for this most of all ;-) - I think that you'd find him just as cute as Dr. Beausoleil. :-D

I'm probably forgetting other stuff...

Thanks for the post....I'm anxiously awaiting for my darn referral letter to be sent off.  As far as I know, my Dr's receptionnist hasn't even sent it yet.  I have so many questions to ask them...I've been reading the boards and absorbing as much information as I possibly can. 

I'm very happy to hear that both Drs are nice and take the time to walk you through this to make sure you understand the implications.

I see sooooo many posts on the general forum from people who would probably not have gotten wls if they had stopped to think about the implications and post-op committments required.

Oh well, I will start calling my Dr's receptinonist next week and every week after to see if the referral has been sent.  Maybe if I pester a little bit it will make her move a bit faster.

It's so exciting to hear you're on your way....I am going to look forward to following your progress.  I think I might start a video blog at some point when my referral is finally in.  Maybe if I committ to doing something like this which will be odd at the beginning it will happen sooner so I can't back out 

Anything to make me think it's going to happen quickly...

TTFN

Ooh, I think that a video blog would be an awesome idea, and what a fantastic way to remember your journey later on, especially when somedays you may feel down and feel like maybe you haven't come too far, you could always refer back to the tapes and see how far you've really come.

Dr. Savoie's office gets a hold of you very quickly once they have your referral - my doctor sent mine down one week, and the next week they gave me a call.

Also, when you go in the building you'll see stairs right away - go further in the building and there's an elevator. This was a very important find to a lazy butt like me. :-D

Hi, this is Cat....I was with Anita yesterday. Did another lady come in with you ?  She sat almost directly across from me & there was someone at the counter . I didn't see you only from the back.   We left as soon as Anita came out of the office.
Well, I can't wait til mext week to see what he says to me . I hope that it s all good news. I wonder if  those Dr's every refuse anyone?
Congrats on getting this far......

Thanks for the congratulations! I have to send you congratulations right back atcha for getting an appointment. :-D I really think that as long as you can prove that you're willing to loose weight that he's willing to help. :-) The receptionist is super-nice too, but unfortunately I didn't catch her name.

I had my appointment at 4pm. My Mom and her friend were with me in the office, but we were spread on both sides of the office. :-D

 I hope I didn't permanently scar your eyeballs, PN.  It's been known to happen.  Were you the lady all dolled up with her husband (or sig. other)?  

Just to clarify, which surgery are you hoping to get done?  DId you say that he is doing the lap band laporiscopically, and all others open?  I ask because one of the features of the band I like is that it is done laporiscopically (spell).  If it was done open, I'm sure I wouldn't have it done.

5000 days later, I'm finally waking up enough to answer your questions. Sorry about that!

You didn't scar my eyeballs at all, because I think that I have to wait until another time to be blinded by your beauty because I wasn't the dolled-up lady. :-D I was there with my Mom and my Mom's friend.

I'm looking towards getting the DS procedure, so that's why I'll be opened up from stem to sternum. I talked about the DS procedure with my GP today, and he said that if he was going for the surgery that he'd have to think long and hard about getting opened up, but he said that he'd probably go for it if it'd give him the chance to get rid of the co-morbidities that I have. Dr. Savoie totally does all of his lap-bands laporascopically (however you spell it :-) )

Now as I'm reading this I'm getting more anxious to get this done with Dr. S.  I know the band will probably be out of the question for me but I'm happy to know he's done plenty of DS and also the RNY. 

Another reason for me to be anxious is that my mom is also being referred (we have the same Dr.) and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it goes fairly quickly because if it takes too long she will lose the option of getting the RNY if she wants it.  I see her struggle with her knees and feet every day and I would happily give up my spot if it would make it faster for her.  She's only 52 years old and I want her to be able to come along with Dad, the kids, my DH and me to do all kind of things to enjoy ourselves more.   I'm reading these posts and getting all geared up to make sure someone moves things along at least at a decent pace.  If we're lucky we'll be able to go to our appointments at the same time so we can car pool.

Imagine what an awesome journey we will have!

I think that it's just too awesome that we (no matter what doctor we are going to) are all going through our surgeries around the same time - we can all go through our journeys together.

I talked with my GP about the DS today, and he is all for me getting it, so I'm very happy about that as it makes me feel less worried about it. My parents are also all aboard me getting it, so even though it's a lot longer healing-time, I think that I'm happy wiht my decision.

 

Congrats to all of you who are finally getting in to see Dr. Savoie.  I hope it all goes well for all of you and will keep watching to see what happens.  It is interesting to see the difference in the way these 2 doctors do things but overall I think its great that everyone is finally getting close to this much needed surgery.  Good luck to all of you.
Ann