I'm new here and very excited

Hi there.  My name is Jennifer,  I am a mother of 2 girls, I'm 46 and weigh 416 lbs.  I am so excited to finally be working toward my real self.

I had my orientation at St. Joe's April 14, 2014.  I didn't get the letter or first appts. until 10 months later.  They were delayed because the clinic moved.  I got the letter Jan. 16th and my appt. with the nurse and dietician was Feb. 4th.

I was so excited to finally be going.  When I arrived there was a long line to register- one of the receptionists was sick.  It took about 20 minutes to get through and another 10 before the dietician took me in.

He says because I'm late (I wasn't) we'll have to cut our appt. short.  He went over my weight history and I brought my list of questions, like we were told to do.  He looked at the questions, answered a couple and said the nurse or the surgeon can answer these.  He was quite dismissive and it felt like he was rushing me out.

Next, I went in to see the nurse.  She seemed really confused, like she was new, but she wasn't.  She did go over my medical history but just glossed over my bloodwork even when I asked.  She couldn't figure out how to work the automatic blood pressure machine.  She didn't even ask if I had any questions.

During these 2 appts. we were interrupted at least 6 times.

Back out in the reception room, the receptionist was busy booking the or and she couldn't stop, so no appts. were booked then.

They did call me about my abdominal ultrasound appt. but not the internist, psychologist, scope or next dietician appt.  I think I'm supposed to go back to see the dietician but I'm not sure.

I did feel confused and kind of disappointed.  I'm going to call the clinic tomorrow to make sure I haven't been lost in the shuffle.

Is this a normal appt. and should I just expect this at each visit?

I'm still really excited to be going through this process.

Welcome Jennifer.  It does seem that my clinic can be very busy at times, and my appointments on Thursday were interrupted several times.  You are right to call and make sure nothing was missed.  Good luck, and once again welcome.

Welcome to the forum! You will find a wealth of experience and support here.

Welcome and good luck with your journey.

Welcome Jennifer! You're fortunate to have found this site early in your journey. You're going to get lots of great information here and can ask any question and find someone with an answer or who has had that issue. 

It's unfortunate that your visit seemed so 'unorganized' and hopefully it was just an off day at your clinic and future appointments are more informative. 

I got great information speaking to a few people I met that had already had the surgery in Guelph. You should be able to find information here or through your clinic about local support groups. I would recommend checking that out. 

Best of luck on your journey! Kim

So you meet with people who had surgery at Guelph hospital.  That's great.  I am very fortunate because my neighbour had her surgery on Jan 19. 2015, so I get to pick her brain.  I believe St Joe's does have a monthly support group.

The dietician recommended that I join the Ontario forum here and there's also a Niagara district site as well.

I'm figuring it was just an off day at the clinic too.

I just had my abdominal ultrasound yesterday and it went well.  I'm ready for the next step.