Newbie with questions

My doctor has just refered me for WLS.  I guess I have questions about it, as she said it would be a 2-3 year wait for Moncton and tere ws no mention of Bathurst.  My doctor thought of the Lap Band for me, I am about 380 pounds, type 1diabeties and some other health problems, and to be truthful that seems less scary to me. 
Any help would be wonderful.
Tamera
P.S.  Also, does anyone know what medicare (NB) will cover?

Hi Tamera!

Welcome!! 
Great to hear from you...on the other side of the river!   You Dr. might not know about Dr. Savoie in Bathurst.  So, to get a referral there, you need to call your Dr and ask for it.

There are 4 different surgeries on offer in NB.
Band, Sleeve, RNY and DS.

The band and sleeve are similar in that they reduce what you can eat, and there is no malabsorption...so when you do eat...all the calories are absorbed as normal.

RNY and DS reduce the size of your stomach and they are both malabsorbing...meaning that even what you eat is not all going to be absorbed into your system.  Typically the thinking is that what you eat will be reduced by the smaller stomach and then the absorption is supposed to make maintenance easier. 

What is really important to understand, is that all 4 surgeries have pros and cons and successes and failures. 

All of the 4 surgeries have tendencies to reduce or cure type 2 Diabetes...but type 1 is a different kettle of fish...so I suggest you do searches on words like "type 1 diabetes bariatic surgery" in google and see what all you can find...I found this quite quickly...but it is 2004.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/27/10/2561

so watch the year on the medical journals.

I hope you can join us on Saturday, it will give you a perfect chance to meet people with the 3 main surgeries.  The Band, RNY and DS. 

The research phase that you are just entering, is a long road...but the more info you get...the better you will feel about the choices you and your Dr. will make.  And that will make you the most successful!

So welcome aboard!  Your life will change forever for the better by getting this surgery...and getting to know these people on this forum!

Take Care,
Catherine

Hi Tamera,

Welcome to the group!  The Doctor in Bathurst is just setting up his bariatric practise so you may want to find hid info on one of the threads here and give it to your doctor so she may also send a referral to him.

I would suggest you look at all the information on all the different types of weight loss surgery and see which would work best for you.

Plus we are having a support group meeting in Fredericton this Sat - check out the details and come on over.  Great place to meet others on the same journey, ask questions and make supportive friends!

Regarding Medicare - if the surgeon approves you for the surgery then Medicare will cover the surgery costs (in NB).  You would be responsible for any travel expenses, meals, liquid diet supplements etc.

Hope to see you on Sat!

I had the RNY done in June 2007 and have met goal...as far as what medicare will cover unless things have changed since I had mine done..at that time medicare would only cover the laproscopic RNY which is what I had done..the lap and others weren't covered then..so I don't know if things have changed on that front since..

I had an easy time with my rny..I didn't even bother filling the presciption for painkillers he gave me..I just had some back pain for the first two days after which the nurses said is common.

I did quite a bit of research..and was on the waiting list since 2002 and never thought it was gonna take place especially since after I was given a date they called and cancelled it and couldn't give me another date..thankfully I got in 3 months later..

Wow....you had a date, were cancelled, and not given a new date...that must have been really tough.  Congrats for hitting goal, how much have you lost, it has not been so long eh...little over a year.  Thatis great!

How are you doing Tamera?   Still a newbie with questions?  or getting to be an old knowledgable thing?  Will we see you Sat?  Bringing mom?  I hope so.