So I am on the list here in Newfoundland and have my orientation date, does that necessarily mean I am closer to a surgery date? I am obeese. Wow I just said that! I want to be healthier for my children and be happy with my body image. Would love to hear others opinions on the surgery, recovery time and pros and con's. Thanks

the face book group is still active :)

I see no one has replied   :(    . These is - or was a facebook group for bariatric patients in Newfoundland - not sure if it's still active or not. Maybe someone can chime in?

Unfortunately, the wait time for Dr. Pace is actually 4-5 years right now - as he only performs them on Monday mornings. There are a couple of doctors studying under him, but I don't know if they'll lead procedures any time in the near future.

Once your referral goes in from your family physician, it's all a waiting game. I'm not sure if your doc talked much to you about it (mine did a tonne of research to better inform herself, so she could pass along info to me) - but once your referral is in, no one is going to contact you until it's your turn to start the pre-op counseling, diet trial, testing, etc. That could be 3 or 4 years from your referral date!

Hopefully my information is outdated, and you can let me know otherwise... but my referral went in to the HSC in October of 2012 and I have never once talked to anyone from that office.

I'm a Newfoundlander living in Ottawa, and here in Ontario, the VSG and the RNY are both covered by the province (OHIP). However, that's only been the case for the last few years... before that, a lot of people went to Mexico for the surgery.

There are two doctors in particular in Mexico that everyone on our forums rave about. I'd have to check the names but I believe one is Dr. Alvarez. The second begins with "A" as well, but I'm not certain of it at the moment.

In addition, I'll be blogging my journey, much as I did our infertility journey dating back to 2006. I'm in the queue here in Ottawa for the VSG. It takes about one year here from referral to surgery. I spoke to my doctor last January about the surgery, got the referral in February and I'll likely have the VSG in December or January here.

If it's good with you, I'd be happy to be in your support circle, even though I'm not exactly around the corner. Good for you for making this decision!