Referral???

Hello everyone,

I just came across this forum a few days ago but I managed to get through so many topics and its been so informative, so thank you:)

Last Monday, I spoke with my family physican and he said he would refer me to the bariatric surgery program. Come Friday, I wanted to make sure that they did and I called in and they told me they referred me to TWH and when I asked for a reference ID, they said they didn't get one (????) so I called TWH and they said I am not on their list (using my last name) and that I should check with HRH so I did and I am not even in the system and both hospitals said that I should have a reference ID. So I called my doctor's office again and they said theyll call me back and they did half an hour later and they said that the bariatric network requested blood work and urinalysis and they will give a reference ID when thats done. So is this the norm?! Anyone went through something similar?

The reason I did this was I had problems with referrals before and I just want to make sure this one gets through and once it does ill happily wait for things to move along.

Thanks

Hi there and welcome to the group!

I am going through TWH as well. Here is my experience so far...

1. Family doctor referral to program Sept/Oct 2017
2. letter and package to fill out came in mail from TWH ( with my MRN#) mid to late Nov;
3. Orientation at TWH early Jan 2018 and received paperwork for next 3 appointments and requisitions for blood work then;
4. Social Worker appointment through telemedicine/telehealth early Mar; Nurse and Nutrition class in April (nutrition class you have to go to hospital and they give you your next few appointments );
5. July and August I have my dietician and psychologist appointments, hopefully I get moved on at that point and get to meet with a surgeon but everyone is unque in their process

A lot of the journey so far has been "hurry up and wait", but there are a lot of little changes in your habits and mindset you need to be making along the way in order to be successful afterwards you the sounds of it.

Not sure if my timeline eases your mind for wait times or not, but every Center seems to have a slightly different approach for moving people through the steps. Some people wait longer before orientation and some wait between appointments.

Hope this helps.

~ j.

Hi J,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, it helped a lot. Honestly its not about the wait times, getting into this I expect to wait and I plan to work on my eating habits during that time. My intention was just to make sure my referral was sent (had bad experiences before). I was surprised that they requested blood work now, before sending any packages or calling so I wanted to know if any other people experience something similar.

I guess Ill just have to trust that the referral was sent and do the blood work, maybe they do things differently now.

Thanks

Hey, Big Duck.

I had kids running around while I replied to you, so while I was giving you my timeline I forgot to say that if you are concerned or unsure about anything always ask. I trusted that when I spoke to my doctor and we talked about registering me with Ontario Bariatric Network and which program I was interested in, that she would do what we discussed as soon as she was able to.

Oneatatime is right however, if you have had problems in the past, confirming what you want done is probably best. Just keep in mind that after your referral is in it may take a bit before you get to orientation with TWH.

And I did not have to do blood work ahead of time. Maybe it depends on your personal health situation but I have not heard of having to do it before you are able to be referred to the surgical program.

~ j

Hi BigDuck,

Welcome!!! Ok, I would ask your doctor to see the referral. Log into the OBN with you there... it's your right. The reason I say this is because in all my time here, i have never heard of anyone needing bloodwork and urinalysis to get the MRN number and be referred. What I'd want to be sure if I were you is that you are getting referred to the SURGICAL program, not the MEDICAL program. They are very different, and you do not want a referral to the medical program if ultimately surgery is your end goal. It will put you in a major delay, etc.

I am a BIG believer that we have a right to SEE what is being done on our behalf. My doc did my referral right there WITH me, at his side and gave me a print screen of the page that said it was complete with my MRN number on it. I didn't have to ask him to do that... we just happen to be very aligned with sharing information, which is one thing I value in him.

Inwish you all the best. Please self advocate. This is your health and your journey and no one will care as much about it as you do, so care a lot!!!

Hi oneatatime,

Thanks for the reply and your kind wishes. You are absolutely right about advocating for myself, I stayed quite before and it did me no good, I am going to go this Monday and ask for a print screen. I read through so many posts on this forum and I never came across anyone who went through anything like this so it got me really confused.

I really appreciate all the help I got and am getting on this forum.

Kind regards

BigDuck

That does sound odd!

There was an issue with my referral process as well. My family doctor "referred" me to the actual hospital as opposed to the bariatric network. A month of waiting later, I call the bariatric network and they're like "we don't know who you are! Tell your doctor to refer you to us!" so I had a meltdown and explained it to my doctor and he referred me to the network.

I never had to do bloodwork or a urinalysis upon referral. I'm fairly certain that was something I did after my orientation-- once I had decided that the surgery may be for me. But I was sent to Guelph not TWH and the plans might be different.

Hi brynnd,

I am glad I came here, it really is odd. I am going to my doctor today and see whats going on...

Thanks

I had a set of blood work and urinalysis done as per my doctors request. The moment he got the results he sent in my referral. I had to call his office back to get my reference number.

My doctor filled out the online request on the Ontario Obesity Network while I was there too, my only thought is qualifying is based on a combination of BMI and Co-Morbidities, maybe you didn't quite qualify so they requested newer up to date bloodwork/tests?