Ottawa Questions!

I finally decided 2017 was the year of me! Ive treid so many diets but now I have a new found focus of working out each morning and preparing for the drastic life style change I want to start.

I attend my orientation in 2 weeks in Ottawa, already did the blood work and Sleep study!

So what happens in the orientation? Is is you and a group seeing if its the best option for you and such. Do they give you your next appointment dates or say you aren't qualified? Just wanting to brace myself for everything.

As well Im from out of town 2-3 hour drive any Ottawa people know if that makes us eligible for Rotel as otherwise we'd be leaving our house super early and rotel is only affordable option

A few other questions if that's okay:

Do the doctors expect you to lose weight the weeks prior to optifast? (I know optifst its expected you wil)

Aside from the appointments of Nurse practitioner, social worker, psychiatrist, surgeon meeding etc. Is there any mandatory tests like a scope etc.

I am not sure if there is a difference - I am in London Ontario, going through Windsor. At the Orientation - it was basically an information session attended by several people, at the end you decide if you want to book your next appointments (if you believe surgery is right for you).

I have not been expected to lose weight, but I was told if you do gain weight you can be sent back to the Dietitian and your surgery could be postponed (this is what I was told) I was told weight maintenance is acceptable as well. I have not yet started Opti - waiting for my surgical education class.

I had no mandatory tests, but I am sure this is individual and based on individual cir****tances.

I attend the January 23rd Orientation session. They will go over the various programs options that are available to you - lifestyle, surgery and another one. They'll talk about the surgery itself (what happens, impacts, risks), and the process leading up to surgery. There's a booklet you can take home and read.

At this meeting you'll select the stream you want to follow - surgery, something else. You can also opt to "think about it" for a period of time and get back to them with your decision. You can bring a friend or family member to the meeting. My suggestion is that you bring someone supportive with you. I was shocked at how many people at my meeting had someone who was trying to talk them out of surgery.

Once you've made your decision, you'll be contacted for an intake meeting with a nurse practioner who will ask you lots of questions and answer any questions you may have about the process, surgery, etc. After that it's a three-hour Pre-surgery 1 meeting. That's another group meeting where you'll hear from a nutritionist, behaviourist and also a kinesiologist. You'll be asked to set goals for yourself that you should meet or be solidly working towards by the time you meet the nutritionist and behaviourist (about six weeks later).

That's as far as I've made it. My nutri/behav meeting is in early April. As I recall, if they give you the ok, then it's pre-surgery 2, meeting with the surgeon and then surgery.

Start at the beginning - you'll get lots of good information at Orientation, and they'll answer any questions you've got.

Kalibella described the process very well!

Count on having to go to the Civic once a month aprox. I think that there's only 2 months I didn't have to go from March to Nov (1st orientation to meeting with surgeon).

They never asked us to loose weight but did ask to start making small changes so that they are already established for after surgery (ex. drink more water, not drinking while eating, increase exercise, cut caffeine, etc.). I actually gained 8 pounds in the fall and they never brought it up at appointments.

It's good that you already did your sleep study because that one takes a while and sometimes that's what makes the process longer for some. I didn't have a scope but my guess would be that those who's blood work indicate a chance of stomach ulcers may need one to make sure all is good or if treatment is needed before surgery.

Have no clue what Rotel is so can't help you with that ;-)

Thanks so much everyone , I'm surprised how fast things moved I got referred by my doctor February 1 st and orientation is march 23 Rd and my sleep test was yesterday :)

The two replys you already got are bang on. See my signature for my timeline as I am 4 weeks post op now.

Being you are out of town, I know they will likely keep you for two nights. My stay was overnight only since I live in town. My Surgery took 1 hour 40 min. They kept me in recovery for 4 hours before moving me to a room because I hve Sleep Apnea.

Enjoy the Journey and Congrats for making a life change.

So in Ottawa what were people's timelines like?

My orientation is March 23rd. Just trying to think ahead for work and arranging special help and support at home :)

I have so many questions im so sorry Ottawa people but it seems a lot of people are GTA on this forum :)

Are the rooms nice for recovery in Ottawa?

How long were you in for (assuming no complications)

What happens at the social worker meeting?

Thanks for answering my questions :)

I had my orientation January 9th of this year at the Civic. I have not heard from the hospital since that day. I called to follow up and left a message but they haven't responded.

Hi i was just wondering why you had to have a scope? And how long did it take to see the surgeon once you were referred to the surgeon. Thanks :)

HI Jeannie

I had to have a scope because of my reflux, when I meet with the surgeon he ordered a scope to check for a hernia. I saw the surgeon 2 weeks after being approved for surgery. Then had my surgery 6 weeks and 2 days after meeting with the surgeon.

OrangeBlossm