Sugery soon??

Hi all,

I was just wondering if anyone has their surgery coming up soon or has anyone got their letter for info session in March??

Is there a new session in March? I went to the Mar. 1st. 2010 one last year. I don't know if there is one this year though. I think the only way we find out is when we get the letter. My surgery is postponed til mar. or April because of my loss of blood that I had transfussions for. They have to make sure it is nothing serious. And than I will get in right away. I can't wait to get it done.

I guess I misunderstood you when you said March I thought you meant this March. There doesn't seem to be much activity on the NS forum. Do you know if they do the surgery every week?

 Hey there, yeah I was just talking to the secretary today and she said that they have been busy everyday with surgeries since after Christmas break.  She seems to think that they will be done all those who attended the last session in August 2010 soon.  Therefore she is foreseeing that by February or March they will begin tabulating a new list (in order of need of course).  Then those people (around 50-60) will be invited to attend a day long conference before May 2011.  Then within 6 months from that conference, a surgery date (if elected for you) will be scheduled.  

This is my understanding as of today.  
Hope this helps. 

While we were at the first meeting with the 50 people they told us that we would not be hearing from them for at least 6 months. But within that 6 months we got a big survey that we had to fill out and send back to them. We got them around May. I met with the "TEAM" on Oct. 13th. I got approved by them than.Than the 28th I met with Dr. Ellsmere. And a date was set for Dec. 7th. So from the first letter that I got in Jan. 2010 to my surgery date of Dec. 2010 took almost a year.

This is all great information. I assume those in the most need of surgery get the invite and there is quite a list besides them that didn't get on the last seminar, that they would most likely be up next. I wonder what criteria is used to determine those in the most need.  If for example one is a BMI of 40 but has no other comorbidities, is up against another BMI of 40 with diabetis or hypertension I would assume the person with comorbidities would place higher on the list.  So would the bmi of 40 with no comorbidities just keep getting bumped down the list with all the new people requesting a referral. So at what point would the BMI of 40 get invited, would they have to start having problems/comorbidities before they get seen? Just pondering if I even stand a chance to get on list when my referral gets to the office.

It seems to me that they take people with apnea first. That was one of the first questions they asked me about. I don't have it. I have a very high BMI, Diabetes, (controlled) high blood pressure(controlled) I have no idea about the list or how it works but I think you would be better off calling Diane Lawlor and ask her about it. She is the best one to call and ask the questions you are reffering to. Has your referral been sent yet. There is a long list but it is more than who needs it more.

I thought this was the way it worked, too ... but it isn't. I had a higher BMI, but all in all, I have (thankfully) always been a very healthy person. I almost wonder if that is why I got through as quickly as I did ... less risk.

Trust me when I say ... I TOTALLY understand where you are right now ... the waiting truly bites, but have faith in the system. They are doing a pile of surgeries every week now, and your time will come. Then, once it does ... the wait won't seem like it was really so bad after all (well ... kinda).

Have faith.

DD

For those waiting, i just wanted to throw it out there that I had no co-morbidities, and was chosen for that reason...they do include 'saveables' in each group (people they can prevent from getting diabetes, HBP etc.)

That's great news!