Newbie :)

Hi there!  I am a newbie to this forum and loving it!   I am a 30-year-old mother of two boys (aged 5 and 8) and am married to a wonderful husband of 10 years.  I just went to my doctor last Monday and got the referral sent in to Halifax for the VSG.  I am just wondering about the whole process and how long it usually takes to hear back for your initial appointment and what that entails.  I know most of you have already done this so I am looking to you for support.  What does the whole process look like?  I am excited to get going and cant wait for my journey to begin! 

I am currently enrolled in a research project too through the Capital Health, if you are on the VSG link from the Capital Health it is listed over to the right hand side and it is called the Research Recruitment.  I meet with them on November 10th and have our discussion and am excited to partake.

Thanks for the info!  Cant wait to be on the Loser's Bench with you! 

welcome      i`m also  from stellarton   and have a gastric sleeve   although  i had mine done in moncton long story     but you will meet alot of very nice people here   jacqueline

Welcome!  This forum is great!  So many wonderful people and all of them know what your going through - it makes life much easier!  I think there was quite a detailed discussion of the process & length of time it takes (for wls) somewhere on here in the last page or two of topics, so you might want to check that out - it takes a lot longer for some of us than it does for others...  Glad to meet you! 

Patience would be the buzz word I would suggest you make peace with... and maybe education. You should seek out and read as much info on the process that you can. Go into the VG's site and print off the whole program - they will want you to assemble a binder with all of this info in it. Also - you'll need to record your food/water/exercise. Consider this a test of your commitment. This seems to be key with the team that Diana Lawlor heads ... they want to be certain you are 100% commited.

The waiting list apparently has a whole lot of names on it. They take 50 at a time for the sessions and work from there (guessing, I would say this is a 6 month process from session to session - but that is totally a guess). The manner in which names are selected remains a mystery to me. For me, I had the referral in Sept of 09, was invited to a session on the 1st of March, was called to a clinic appointment Sept 29th and a surgical consult Oct 13th. My surgery is scheduled for Nov 16th.

This is apparently pretty fast. I guess that makes me incredibly lucky. There are people in the forum that have been waiting for a very long time.

I know for me, the not knowing how long the process could take was disturbing ... once you get your letter inviting you to the session, it is about 4 - 8 months before you know if you are approved and may possibly have a date for surgery. I hope that helps a little. Hang in there ... be positive. The time will pass anyway, at least every day gets you one closer, right?

Best of luck!

D

Thanks D,

I really think it is the unknown like you said.  Not that I am looking for an exact time but just the reassurance I guess.  And I think that once I hear back the first time, I will feel alot better. 

I have my binder assembled and read over it quite frequently, so I feel I am prepared for the steps involved..so that is a start! 

Thanks for all the encouragement.  It is nice to know I am not alone!

sasmom