BritAbroad

Hey guys, update from me. I went ahead and had my surgery with smart shape at the false creek medical centre in Vancouver with dr hsu. I've had a lot of issues with smart shape from an admin stand point. They communication between the east coast head office and west coast practice has in my experience been almost non existent and I have had to do most of the leg work. My surgery was also cancelled 2 days before it was scheduled because another doctor cancelled his surgeries for that day and they didn't want to pay to open the operating room for one person (me). Needless to say I had all of my time booked off work & approved, as did my other half so I had to kick up a massive fuss to get the surgery to happen on schedule. I've also experienced issues with booking fills as the lack of communication had meant requisitions have not been sent from head office to the west coast clinic on time etc. It has also been frustrating that I cannot contact head office after 1pm ish PST because they are closed for the day. With all that said, when I have actually had contact with the medical staff at false creek they have been very knowledgable and have actually apologized for some of the administrative missteps. My surgery went off without a hitch and I was well looked after by the nurses, surgeons and anesthetist. I'm due for my second fill tomorrow and although I have put on weight so far post surgery, I'm looking forward to getting some restriction, which I currently don't have. I hope this helps others thinking about going with smart shape. I think if you're on the east coast you should have no problems and I've heard lots of good things but just be aware that on the west coast you really have to keep on top of them more.

Good luck with surgery! I had mine 2 weeks ago today at false creek and am feeling good!

Hi all, I had my LB surgery a week ago and am recovering well. I have no problems with full liquids and and yesterday tried some purée. Sometimes I have been getting some discomfort in my chest that feels a little like indigestion & I am wondering if this is actually what my new "full" feels like, or if it's just part of the healing process. My band was put in empty, so in theory there should be minimal restriction, but I'd be interested to hear from other banders how they know when they are full? Thanks!

Hello! 6 days post LB surgery here! I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to post. I am in the phase where it is still a little unbelievable to me that my life could change and reading your post helped. Thanks!

Great to hear everything went well and you are up and about. I'm now 6 days post op and really bored of the liquid diet! I don't have any Fluid in my band yet so also dealing with some hunger, but after the 3 weeks of liquid, I'm really just desperate to get onto the puréed stage and mix things up a bit! One small side effect I've had is some heart flutters/random heart beats. I went to the doctors and he said its common after anesthesia and will most likely go away, but they will monitor just in case. Counting the days until I can have my first fill!

Hi all, I am 4 days post op and have woken up today with very strong heart flutters/palpitations. I have had these on and off in a small way since surgery but today they seem very strong. I will of course be seeking medical advice, I also have hashimotos disease (underactive thyroid) and medication for this could be the cause also, but I just wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this at all? Thanks very much!

Not feeling too bad - bit sore and my shoulders were really hurting yesterday but much better today. I find standing and walking around really helps. Overall - no major pain or problems! How are you feeling? I was very anxious in the run up to surgery and apparently this is common.

Hello! I had my band fitted yesterday & would love to stay in touch! Good luck for the 7th - let me know if you have any questions

Hi everyone, I just wanted to send a quick update. Surgery (eventually) went ahead yesterday afternoon and I'm back home now, in some discomfort but generally feeling good. On reflection, now that it's done, I would say sleevy wonder was right - although admin was a complete mess from day 1, my surgeons skill was never in question and in fact both surgeons came in to apologize to me for all of the errors and said that it should never have happened. So, now it's time to heal and get on with the next chapter of my life! As always, thank you for your replies. Having these forums is a godsend!!

Thank you all for your replies. I think I am feeling all of your different advice at once, but yes, I will try to evaluate everything calmly today and see what they say. I guess it's not the day itself that matters, it could have been scheduled for any day, it's just having that confidence in them that they care about your procedure. Anyway, setting a positive mental attitude for the day and we'll see how it goes! Thanks again for your support when I need it

Some of you may have seen my earlier post about my experience with Smartshape. To cut a long story short they have cancelled my lapband surgery on Wednesday because the surgeon is no longer working that day. 48hrs notice. Considering I'm paying $16k, I'm furious. Among other things I have scheduled time off work, as has my boyfriend. This is the latest in a long line of smartshape fuck ups where nobody seems to know what's going on. That said, I'm now incredibly nervous to have the surgery at smartshape at all and have lost all confidence in them. I've paid them such a chunk of money and I doubt I could get it back without suing (my contract with them includes the stipulated date). Has anyone else used smartshape? Can I be confident that actually, despite the horrible admin experiences the surgeon will (eventually) look after me? Will they even care about proper aftercare? Everything is screaming no right now and I'm really really nervous. Thank you for your help

Thank you, I really appreciate that.

Hi all, I've just had an email from smart shape to say they are cancelling my surgery scheduled for this Wednesday (2 days time). I'm devastated and furious. The reason they have given is that another surgeon has cancelled all their surgeries for this day and they won't open the OR for 1 person. Given the amount of money I have handed over ($16k self pay as I'm in Canada) I'm appalled at how they have treated me. Throughout my whole experience with smartshape I have been passed from pillar to post. People don't seem to know what their jobs are and I have spent most of my time chasing people to do things they should have already done. As I'm having my surgery on the west coast, there is definitely an issue with smartshape being based on the east coast and taking over operations. The staff at the local facility don't have a clue what's going on and communication channels are all over the place. With that said, today I'm trying very hard not to break down. I'm miserable on the pre op diet and just feel like this is the last straw. I have time booked off from work and have rearranged all of my meetings around this date. How can they do this to me?!

Thanks! I've done better since I posted this but it has been so hard. I'm now 20lbs down (surgery is on Wednesday) which is a bonus but I can't wait for the next month to be over!!

Hi! I'm in downtown Vancouver too and would love a group to meet up with. I'm having LB surgery this Wednesday!