What happened on what was supposed to be my day!!

Sorry to take so long to let you all know what actually happened.  I'm still in a haze about it all, to be honest.  To make a long story short, when Dr. Savoie inserted the cameras he saw that my liver was twice the size of a normal one and my spleen was also grossly enlarged.  I guess they go hand in hand in liver disease of this type.  There was no way he could proceed and we all know why that is so no need to elaborate.  I have a diseased liver, cirrhosis, I think, but it's due to being obese.  He said I would not be able to ever have a lapband now but there are other options for me.  Unfortunately, I was so gob smacked I didn't ask him what kind.  He is going to refer me to the surgeons who trained him and thinks they MAY be able to do another kind of bariatric surgery.  When he first told me, I decided straight away that I wasn't going to be bothered with any more surgeries. The following morning, he told me the liver disease was reversible and doubted very much that I could lose enough weight on my own without some kind of bariatric surgery.  He couldn't guarantee that the clinic in Quebec could help but seemed convinced that was the best route.  He emphasized that it was serious enough to warrant the surgery if I wanted to get my health back so I'm once again considering it.  I see my family dr tomorrow AM and hopefully, will have a veryyyyyyyyy  longggggg talk about what the heck is going on and why this wasn't discovered in all my blood work and other testing I've had over the last several years.  I knew I had medical issues and on one hand, it's a relief that someone has finally identified something.  I still think there are other issues happening inside me and have to get that across to my family dr somehow.  I am so dumbfounded that it would be caused by my weight because it's not that bad all things considered.  It could be way worse..my BMI has been on the borderline forever and I was worried if I lost too much weight they wouldn't consider me for surgery.  Go figure.....

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers....I don't know where this is all going to lead to but I will continue to read of your successes and wish you all the best.

Goodness you must still be in shock. I am very sorry to hear what you have had to go through the last lil while.

Thank god this has been discovered and now you can get the proper medical attention to get healthy.

Personally I would think that you would be aiming to deal with specialists from here on out - I dont think our family doctors have the expertise to deal with complications/issues such as this.

Did Dr Savoie tell you he would remain involved with your case until there was a resolve- Casey did he tell you if he was going to consult with Dr Christou in Montreal - you are able to email Dr Christou from the website

www.weightlosssurgery.ca

I am saying a prayer for you and thankful that you were able to post your update and that although you didnt get the lapband you are here to tell about it -

Please hang in there - make sure you take notes and write things down- see if someone can accompany you to appointments - its hard for us to absorb info under stress and remember what the heck they told us - jot down your questions as they come to you and bring your notebook along as your guide when you meet with drs- are you able to contact Dr Savoie's office to ask him to go over this again for anything that you are missing or forgot to ask him ?

One day at a time girly and sending you healing vibes. 

take care & hugs
deb

Thanks Deb for your encouragement......is Dr Christou the dr Dr. Savoie trained under?  I've been trying to find out who that is.  It was a question I forgot to ask at the time.  Frankly, at the time I had the good sense to say yes to the referral while my brain was saying NO MORE DOCTORS...NO MORE HOPES CRASHED.  I've been thinking about calling his office to find out but if you can answer the question, or anyone for that matter, that would be great!  He said he was referring me to the team of doctors in Quebec where he trained because they were trained in dealing with risky cases whereas he and Dr. B were not.  And they were a team vs a solo act like here in NB.  I left thinking that he meant Quebec city but maybe he meant Montreal.   Still hazy, that day!!!

As far as specialists go, I wish I could just deal with them.  Much as I love my family dr, he tends to shy away from referrals until the last minute but he does have great relationships with them all and once the referral is made, I'm usually in within a month or so!  He's waiting for the official written report from Dr. S before he proceeds.

And Dr. S won't be involved any further past the referral.  My family dr said based on what I could tell him that it sounds like I would be bumped up pretty quickly through any waiting list given the severity of my comorbidities....so that may be some good news. 

One day at a time for sure....

I dont know if Dr S was trained by Dr Christou or not - I do know that Dr B was but not sure about Dr S - somebody might be able to tell you .

I know there a couple centres that are teams in Quebec - you might want to post on the Quebec forum its not as active as some boards but I pm'd people directly when I was trying to gather my info/research about surgery with Dr Christou - so being the impatient person I am - I would go through the postings on the  Quebec board find people that had surgery with Dr C and then pm them instead of waiting for people to get around to chk'ing out the board !

I know kinda went stalkerish there when I was in my info gathering stage - but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Good luck with everything - one day at a time.

hugs
deb

Maybe RnY would be a better option for you.It is still the gold standard by which all other wls are compared to, It does have a better and faster weight loss in the first year. After the first 18 months, you have to take control and manage more yourself, but most RnYers will lose a substantial amount of weight in the first year or so.  Maybe he meant that you needed DS. I don't know a lot about that one but I see where DSers lose a substantial amout of weight too. You will have to find out which one he means. I wish you all the best with this stunning news. Have you researched the other wls?  Will  medicare cover the costs?

From what little research I have been able to mentally handle to date, it looks like it would be the VSG option for me but that's only one site I've looked at.  That sounds very radical to me so I'm hoping there may be a better option!!  And Dr S said it would definitely be covered by Medicare! 

Hi Betty , glad to see you come on & do some writing . You must be feeling a wee bit better. Now for you to get things on the road with the other doctors. The best word that I can get from your report is REVERSIBLE ....that is worth its weight in gold.
Good luck  & don't forget to write & let me know what is going on with you  .  You will have your own success story  also to share with us ...love you.

Thanks, Jessie...you are my hero.  And I patiently wait for your turn!  I feel a little better after seeing my GP yesterday.  He said if it was as serious as I say,  my case would probably get pushed up the waiting line rather quickly but he didn't want to elaborate until he saw Dr S's report.  Guess he didn't' quite trust a post operative, emotional psycho lady's rendition of what I was told after surgery!  Can't say I blame him!!!  And you'll be the first to know, my guardian angel.....love from your guardian angel!!

Betty , you are sounding much bettter today. I am glad that your Dr. is listening to you . You will get your surgery , I am sure .   Keep  your chin up there's  good things coming your way !!

It sounds like you had an interesting op experience!!!  You must have felt so discouraged at first, but it sounds like Dr S had your best interests and your health at heart, thank goodness!! 
I thought the liquid diet 2 weeks before hand was supposed to help...now I'm nervous!!  Dr B has a certain kind that his patients use now, is called Medi-Cal, and we have to order it from Quebec, 200.00 for two week supply.  Its a powder you mix with water, apparently tastes horrible, but cuts you to about 900 cals per day (if I'm remembering right).

Kudos to you for sticking it out and not giving up!!  You are indeed an inspiration to me, if not the rest of us...!!

Laura