colleenfrances

I'm curious, did you tell your place of employment about your WLS? I work in a very tiny place with 8 people total. Being the only fat one of the bunch, I'm nervous if I should tell them or not because I'm not sure if their reactions will be supportive or negative. If I'm going to be having surgery and out of work for possibly 2-3 weeks, they will need to know what's going on. I'm not sure if lying/making something up would be best or not. Did you tell your work what was going on? If yes, What did they think?

Edit: Nevermind got mixed up with doctor names

So a month or so ago, I sent a request to join the BariatricPal Team MX WLS Facebook Group and haven't had any luck getting in so far! Bill Yanez sent me a message asking if I was considering surgery with them (Yes, I am! Not any time soon, but hopefully in the future!) and after I replied I didn't hear back! Weeks later I tried to join the group again and nothing. Now the page isn't appearing for me at all. Says "Sorry, this content isn't available right now" Was I banned for something, lol? Just wondering what was going on.

I wonder what might have happened to cause the bleed out. Age, medications, conditions, etc. So us future patients can know beforehand to be a little bit saver. Best wishes to the family. 14 is and awful age to lose your mother.

Little update. He said yes! I got my referral form heading to the Weight Wise clinic in Alberta! My doctor mentioned he really dislikes surgery, so he emphasized I try to exhaust all my other options with the clinic before surgery. Which I will see about when I get an appointment. I feel like I've taken a big step forward!

Hello. I'll start off by saying I deal with social anxiety and have made an appointment to see my doctor on the 25th. I want to finally bring up weight loss surgery but am worried he will feel I have not tried hard enough to lose weight on my own. Last doctor I went to see (was living in another town) and she flat out said no because I had never been on a medicinally supervised diet. And then proceeded to try to sign me up for her clinics program which I couldn't join since I was moving. I'm only 21 (BMI currently 48.9) and haven't been on any heavy strict diets, but I have lost weight in the past from changes to my diet and exercise, but it usually cuts off at about 10-20lbs and then I gain it back. I've done research on WLS for a few years now and know it would be best for me, but what could I say to get my doctor to see that? Seeing him could go completely fine but I just get really bad anxiety when it comes to talking to people. Thanks for any advice.

Hi dawnpop - I'm waiting to hear about my surgeon appt. (Calgary). I've been going through the process since about Sept. I find after all, that the time is much needed, especially for me. I'm still on the fence. Perhaps an interview with the surgeon will make me decide what to do, one way or another. If you get a referral from your doctor and you meet the BMI requirement, you can go through provincial healthcare. Honestly, the wait isn't even as long as it is for knee replacement, etc. Early October 2016 was my first appt. I may see a surgeon in February and surgery could be 6-8 months away. I have no pre-existing/co-morbidities so it could possibly take longer if they need to push other patients up with poor health. So if it does turn out to be 8 months from Feb then it takes me to a 1 year wait from 1st appt. or thereabouts. If you're 100% positive this surgery is for you, and you've done a TON of research, then self-pay may be the way to go for you. That was my initial route. As for places in Mexico - there is a Canadian affiliated clinic there - it used to be WLF (Weight Loss Forever), but I believe they've changed their name. You can google WLF and it should go to the new website. My quoted cost was $13,500, which is the same price as I was quoted from the doctor in Montreal that does it via self-pay. My research turned up nothing in Alberta for self-pay options - other than SmartShape and I think it was considerably more $ and they don't seem to do many VSG surgeries. The Bariatric Clinic, at least in Calgary, no longer performs Lapband surgery as there are too many complications. Thanks for the reply, Tracy! Yeah, problem is SmartShape for VSG in Alberta is $19,000 and public wait times seem long especially when I haven't even been referred yet. I went to my doctor in Edmonton last year around Spring and she flat out said no because she felt I haven't tried hard enough to lose weight on my own. I'm too nervous to bring it up with my current doctor here in Bonnyville. I have heard that going publicly in Alberta could be 2-5 years in waiting time so I knew that wouldn't work for me. I have an appointment coming up soon, maybe I'll try to work up the courage to talk to my doctor about it. I just have a lot of fears of being rejected at different stages in the process.

The wait times or self pay prices here in Alberta are crazy. I've been googling surgeon names from this thread but I'm not sure what websites are reputable. What groups did you guys contact to get surgery done in Mexico?

Whoops. Wrong post

Thanks for the really great responses! I realize that it will take a lot of work along with surgery, but I don't think I'm in a right place and the moment to begin a lifestyle change. College is stressful enough. Maybe in a few months or years I will be ready, until then I will spend a lot of time researching. But when I said "forced" I think I kinda meant diet and exericse without the help and support of my family and doctors. I will need people to be behind me and push me forward. Hopefully in the next few months I will start seeing doctors to get the ball rolling to a healthier life. Thanks everyone!

Hey! I'm currently 18 will be turning 19 in the summer. I've been heavy all my life and I'm at my heaviest now. I believe I'm around 285-300lb. I started college last fall and gain a lot of weight after moving away from home and living in residence here. I'm hungry and tired all the time. I'm out of breath from small amounts of walking. I'm not in a place for a lifestyle change that isn't really... forced? I have absolutely no motivation to go out and exercise and buy healthier foods. I exercised for over a month and a half for 30-40 minutes a night a year ago and I didn't lose a single pound, which really discouraged me from exercising seriously again. Do you think before considering WLS people should have tried dieting and heavy amounts of exereice and eating less? I don't think that's something I can push myself to do without other motivations. I want to start to discuss WLS with my parents but I have no idea what they'll say. My parents are both overweight and will be totally willing to help me become a healthier person, but I'm not sure they will go for it. How do you think I could go about bringing the topic up? I'm in college for another year and a half and thinking about continuing my education afterwards. I'm wondering if maybe I could do it then when I'm 20? I've been spending the last few weeks reading about WLS and wanting to ask my mom about it on the phone but I'm nervous. Any advice at all would be awesome. Thank you guys!