DSFacts Web Site
I was on the DS forum, and I read a post by a Bev C talking about her web-page. Well, I came to find out that she started the DSFacts site. Anyhoo, I opened my big mouth and told her that we now have a surgeon in NB who performs the DS procedure, so she asked if someone could help her out and come up with something that she could put up on her site. I told Bev that I would see what I could come up with, and that I would post it here so everyone could have some input in it if they wanted to.
So here's what I wrote up, and I'd love to get your comments to see if it sounds lucid, and if I am missing any important information, or you can just tell me that I smell. I'm ok with anything. Well almost, I'd be sad if you told me that I smell.
Duodenal Switch in New-Brunswick
There is currently one surgeon who performs Duodenal Switch surgery in New-Brunswick. His name is Marc Savoie, and his practice is in
Dr. Savoie is only doing laparoscopic lap-band procedures for now. He does the Duodenal Switch as an open procedure. There is a 5-7 day hospital stay, and he recommends taking 3 months off from work.
Dr. Savoie will start performing surgeries in early 2009 as soon he sets up his surgical team. His contact information is: 506-548-9960 (phone number) and (506-548-1898 (fax number).
Patients from New-Brunswick
In March of 2008, the New-Brunswick Medicare process changed in that Medicare no longer needs to approve any weight loss surgery. You have to get a referral for surgery from your family physician to send to Dr Savoie. Dr. Savoie’s secretary will set up a consultation appointment, and then it up to Dr. Savoie to approve you for surgery.
Patients from outside New-Brunswick
Please follow the rules and regulations of your provinces health plan for out of province coverage. Make sure that your doctor documents your obesity related co-morbidities in your application. Also, if you are taking NSAIDs for pain relief, make sure that your doctor mentions that in your health plan application as well as DS is the only surgery that allows you to keep taking this type of medication. Since a lot of health plans will only allow surgery if it is performed in a hospital, make sure that your doctor mentions that Dr. Savoie performs his surgery at the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst, NB.
Be pro-active and get your family doctor to send a referral to Dr. Savoie’s office so that way you can be on Dr. Savoie’s list while you wait for approval.
In the Meantime
Dr. Savoie does ask if you have sleep apnea. If you have never been tested before, he will ask for you to get tested so it would be a good idea to have a sleep test beforehand in order to not impede your surgery time. Remember to ask to be put on the cancellation list.
Need Help?
Join the Obesity Help New Brunswick forums.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/NB/
It looks pretty good...but are you sure he only does the DS open? And generally recommends 3 months off work...I wonder why? In NB for surgery in general is it a long time like this? I was back to work 4 weeks after surgery and I had complications. I would expect 4 to 6 weeks to be normal.
...just great write up...just curious about those two points... :)
Take CAre,
C.
DS Surgery June 2006, Been fine every since. Weight stays the same. Rarely remember I had surgery.....except for the daily vitamins.
Thanks! :-)
The only reason that he does open DS for now is that he feels more comfortable with that procedure. He told me that he may start doing them laparoscopically in a years time or so once he gets used to the equipment and his team. When I went "Eek, what about the scarring? (because you know how could I bare have another scar on my already stretch-marked piece of bread-dough belly? :-D) and he answered "what the difference between one 6-7 inch scar compared to 6-7 1 inch scars?" and I had to agree with him on that one. :-D
I was pretty shocked at the 3 months off as well, but he's pretty adament about it. He told me that the least amount of time he would give me is 1 month, but he was really against it. He said it's because of how tired and weak you feel for the first 3 months, and he wants you to not to feel stressed during this recovery time. If this 3 months doens't intefere too much with my mortgage payments, I'm allllllllll for it. :-D Even the hospital stay is for 5-6 days, which is a long time, but it's good in case any leakages happen. Even open-heart surgery patients only stay in the hospital for 4 days, so I guess that he means business with patient recovery.
Dr. Marc. E. Savoie
The reason is because there another specialist and surgeon in Moncton called Dr. Marc Savoie. He is a Urologist.
My Family doctor already told me: Always make sure you mention is inital and location to every doctor that needs to send something to him because confusion and mistakes are bound to happen.
When i was having surgery, I would have been fine with the Open as well, it was mainly because it was the surgery I was insisting on, so if Open was safer, so be it.
And as for the 3 months, thanks for the clarification, I do believe it will be a longer recovery with the open, so the exra time will be excellent. And....yes, I did go back to work after a month, but I sure was tired.
and...when you talk about leaks...I had my surgery on a Thursday, and then the leak was discovered on Sunday....so I was in hospital 16 days in total. So...sometimes this hospital stay does grow a bit.
Take care,
C.
DS Surgery June 2006, Been fine every since. Weight stays the same. Rarely remember I had surgery.....except for the daily vitamins.
