Surgeon appointment booked! Frustrated with the long wait time

I have my surgeon appointment booked for June 23rd at TWH.

I guess since at my psych appointment last week he said I'd be approved I was expecting it would be sooner than 3 more months of waiting.

How long after the surgeon appointment can I expect to start the Optifast? My 40th birthday is August 10th and I'm stressing about the Optifast diet or Surgery date being over my birthday as it seems really likely that may be the case. I just feel having my 40th at the same time as surgery is going to add to the stress and it's an overwhelming feeling.

Edited: my meet the surgeon date has been moved to May 5th. Looks like even with the earlier appointment my surgery won't be until September at the earliest.

Hey, congrats on getting your surgeon appointment. I had mine via Telehealth, so it was a little different for me, but I had my "meet the surgical team" appointment about a month after the surgeon appointment, and started Opti the day after that second appointment. with surgery 3 weeks after.

This is the best thing you could do for yourself for your 40th birthday, and Opti isn't that bad (I liked it). You can do this.

If you're really worried, you can call for cancellations to see if you can get your first appointment moved up.

Good luck!

Thanks Kathy! So you think 2 months out from the first surgeon appointment would be realistic?

I guess I'm just digesting (pardon the pun) the idea of another long 3 months to wait for this next appointment. I was told, once approved, it would be a month long wait to meet the surgeon not 3. Also wasn't aware that there would be any additional consults after that. I'm seeing people talking about surgery class or like you said team meetings. Looks like a lot of people waited yet another 3 months from surgeon to surgery! I thought this was the last step pre-surgery and not long between meeting the surgeon and the surgery itself. I asked about cancellations and she said they rarely get them at this stage. All a bit discouraging.

I'm over 300lbs right now and have one really painful knee so getting around is a major chore and a rambunctious 2.5yr old to take care of (I'm a SAHM). I just want to get this weight off.

As for my birthday you are so right. I just hate my birthday and always find it stressful. Hopefully if I'm on Optifast I won't find it so bad. I'm just hoping the birthday doesn't amp up anxiety too much.

People who met the surgeon at TWH 2 weeks ago were booked for surgery early August, so unless something strange happens I don't think you will get an August surgery date if you meet the surgeon at the end of June. TWH seems very backed up :(

Yes! This is what I'm noticing. Not what I had expected at all. I'm not super mobile right now so looking at another 6 months out is so frustrating. I take care of my son who's 2.5 and I feel so bad for him that I can't do more. Looks like I won't be having the surgery around my birthday after all. Maybe his. :(

Twh is booking in mid August now. I would say that you would be looking at surgery around mid October maybe even November. Unless they open up hospital/surgery space elsewhere to help with the backlog.

Waiting is killer for sure!

That's what it's looking like from what I'm reading looking around here (I just joined here today). Why are they so cagey with this when you speak to the receptionist or specialist? I've asked every person and point of contact along the way about timing and NO ONE gave me the slightest impression I would be looking at another 8 months from being approved to the surgery date. I just wish they would have let me know. Feeling pretty disappointed right now. Hopefully they get some surgery space elsewhere like you said. Ive been trying to lose weight since my son was born but my knee is so bad I don't have much more stamina than daily activities because of the pain and am tending to yo-yo up and down without ever losing much. I'm so ready to see some real results. Going to be hard waiting. I feel like I'm at my wits end. I went from thinking I was 8 weeks out to 8 months out in a day.

In the US we deal with insurance requirements. I had my meet the surgeon appointment in June and was booked for surgery in December.

I used the time to make some of the changes that helped me to be successful. I gave up all "white" and starchy foods. No rice, potatoes, bread, corn, peas, wheat flour, sugar, cereal, cookies, cake, ice cream, candy, etc.

I also gave up Diet Coke and all caffeine.

My surgery ended up being in October because there was a cancellation. After surgery I did not have to experience a withdrawal from carbs and caffeine because they were out of my system.

I also felt much better once I was over those withdrawals and waiting for surgery was not stressful at all. Using the wait time to learn your new way of eating can be very beneficial to your long-term success.

Yes, I do realize there are some advantages to waiting. However I have waited what feels like forever already. I actually took the first steps over a year ago, had my orientation, and then decided I wanted to lose the weight on my own in an effort to have another baby. I'd lose 10lbs with so much restricting and effort and then put it back on with little to no effort. 6 months of yo-yo'ung later I decided it would be best to lose the weight first and have the surgery so I went back into the program in the early fall. After years of dieting (Dr. Bernstein etc - not sure they have that in the US, but basically a long term ketosis diet) plus a bad knee injury which is making getting around difficult my metabolism is running at a snails pace. I'm going to physio for my knee and am in a medically supervised weight loss program now with my husband and he's also in another program for food addiction as he's the one in our home who most craves/needs to have the junk around the and we know that's going to divide us after surgery so we are dealing with it now. He's actually lost over 100lbs since we met! I'm already using MyFitnessPal to track and cooking most everything I eat, or at least being aware of what's in it. Drinking kefir to try to get some good bacteria into my gut and taking probiotics, increasing insoluble fibre, and making sure to eat snacks with protein throughout the day etc. I have all the books and I feel like I've done the work! I just want the surgery. With all the added time our hopes of having another baby get less and less. We also want to move before my son starts jk and the extra time is adding strain to those plans as well. All this keeping me up all night last night. Not to mention all the TMI issues I have at this weight that just make life uncomfortable, embarrassing, and me miserable. Waiting isn't helping me at this stage, it's coming with some unpleasant consequences, and another 8 months feels like an eternity. My only hope is they go back to referring overflow elsewhere as it looks like they've done in recent months to deal with the back log. I'm more than ready to get this show on the road.

With all of that preparation, surgery will be the thing that finally gets your weight off. I spent years in denial at Weigh****chers and looking for other magic solutions.

After surgery, the only differences were that I was not hungry and what I did eat did not get absorbed. Weight loss has been easy and maintaining has been easy. It will be ten years in October.

I hope a cancellation comes up for you and you get your surgery quickly.