Hi everyone

HI,

I am just new to the group & to the web site. I have just been scheduled for a bariatric orientation class & the information I was sent suggested I check out a few web sites, this site seems to be the most informative. I am kind of excited & scared with what will be lying a head of me & I have a lost of questions maybe some of you might be able to help with:

Did you have a choice of what type of surgery you got or because OHIP is paying for it the doctors decide what they feel is best and your choice is take it or leave it?

How long did it take from the time you had your first orientation class to your surgery?

How did you prepare for your surgery? Is there anything you know now that you would have done differently? Is there anything you learned during this process that you wished you had learned earlier?

How long were you in the hospital, & off from work?

Did you tell people like coworkers, friends, & acquaintances you were getting WLS? If so how soon & how much did you tell them? & if not how did you explain the time off & changes in your size?

Did you have your surgery here in Kingston? or is the only choice to go to Ottawa or Toronto? If you did have to go to  Ottawa or Toronto how many times did you have to go back there for pre & post operation check ups?

I have more questions but that is probably enough for now.

Hi sorry I have been busy and obviously haven't been diligent in checking the site for questions.  (I thought that they were usually sent to my email address as well when posted here but I don't remember seeing it.)

Not sure if you came to our Kingston Support Group meeting last night or not but if you still need answers to your questions here they are;

No choice in what kind of surgery you get. It is totally up to the discretion of the surgeon and unless they are unable to do the RNY then that's what you will normally get.

To prepare I walked almost everyday with a friend who had surgery a year before me. I tried to eat smaller, healthier portions and I cut out pop in the months between my referral and my surgery.

I find that the biggest perk for me is that this tool allows me to easily control my portion size, which was my biggest challenge pre-op. I have always eaten fairly healthy but I definitely didn't know when to quit eating. If I liked something I would have a big 2nd helping just because it tasted good, even if I wasn't hungry.  Training yourself to push away the much smaller plate when you are no longer hungry is a huge lesson and I continually need to remind myself that I need to keep doing it.

I was 16 months from referral to surgery in December 2010. I had my surgery in Ottawa with Dr. Yelle. At that time I wasn't offered a transfer and I was very happy with the staff at the Ottawa Civic and the WMC. I had 5 appts pre-op; orientation, social worker/dietician, RPN, surgeon and then pre-surgery class. Post-op I had 5 appts; 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year...then I switched my file to Kingston for further post-op follow-up appts.

I was only in the hospital overnight; I had my surgery on December 29th and the 30th is my birthday, and then it's New Year's Eve. I think Dr. Yelle knew I didn't want to be it the hospital...so he offered to send me home and I jumped at the chance.  I live about 1 1/2 from Ottawa and the drive was a little uncomfortable but I was really happy to be home in my own bed.

I work in an office and I booked 4 weeks off work but was ready to go back after 2 weeks. My husband told me to take it easy and we compromised on 3 weeks.  I was tired the first week back but I was going crazy sitting at home.

I told some people but not everyone.  I tell most people now but don't volunteer the information unless it comes into the conversation for some reason.  The people I didn't tell about my surgery was either because I knew that they would try and talk me out of it or they are just in general negative attitude types.  I told people I was being careful what I was eating, exercising and under a physician's care; all of which was true.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

All the best,

Muriel