New Member

Hi!

A year and a half ago, I met with a surgeon at The Ottawa Hospital regarding my gallbladder.  She asked me if I had considered gastric bypass surgery and I told her I had considered it due to my weight and comorbidities (Type II diabetes and high blood pressure).   She said if I wanted to pursue it, she would give me a referral and I told her I would like to pursue it.  A few weeks later her assistant called me with questions in order to fill out the referral, then the assistant called me back with more questions a couple weeks after that.  She mentioned something about the referral process changing and that was the reason for more questions.  To make a long story short, nothing came of it.  I had read that I might not hear anything for a while so I let it be.  I kind of thought maybe my candidacy wasn't strong and they dropped me or something.

Fast forward to January and I was meeting with a new doctor about my diabetes, he asked me if I had considered bariatric surgery and that he had a colleague he wanted to refer me to if I was interested (the colleague has a strong interest in bariatric surgery but is not a bariatric surgeon).  I gave him an emphatic yes and I met with the other doctor on February 6.  We discussed my health, bariatric surgery and he said he would refer me.

I wondered if there was someplace to call and check that you have actually been referred?  Besides calling the doctor back and asking if he was able to submit it.  Worse case, I can continue to check the mailbox everyday in the hopes of an orientation letter. 

When I met with the doctor earlier this month, he suggested I check out this website to get more information on bariatric surgery.  I want to thank all the people who have posted.  There are amazing amounts of information I have been able to find that have been really helpful.

Some of the things I have found interesting are:

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) versus Vertical Sleeve (VSG)

Gallstones - I have had bad episodes in the past and apparently the surgery could aggravate them again. Yikes!

Timelines - I love how everyone posts their events starting with their referral through orientation, surgery, etc. 

Just throwing some info out there in the event anyone had questions:

Home: Ottawa, Weight: 254, Height: 5ft5in (165 cm)

Welcome gmrgirl.  You may want to call your local bariatric centre to find out if your referal has been received.  Looking at your stats it appears you will have no problem qualifying.

Enjoy your journey.

Hi, To check you should contact the Bariatric Registry directly. There can be reasons why the referral did not go through. The Registry will decide what centre you are referred to.