Filling Out those Applications

After waiting over a month without a response to her request for more information our family doctor finally called the Red Deer Bariatric Specialty Clinic personally. She told us about it at out last appointment last week, she said that they were rude and abrupt and still didn’t provide her with any more information.

That being said we have informed her of our decision to go to México for surgery. While she understands our desire for surgery and even recommends the surgery itself, she cannot recommend us going to Mexico. None the less we told her that we didn’t feel there was any other real option and that we were going ahead. Now all we are doing is making sure that medically we are as healthy as possible by getting blood labs run to ensure all levels are correct and everything is working properly.

On this last Friday we finished filling out our passport applications which you can obtain off the internet at (for you fellow Canadians) the Passport Canada website. You can fill out and print the application straight from your computer or look up one of their locations to pick-up an application. Last Saturday we went and had our pictures taken at Walmart for $18 because it was closest but Costco would have taken them for $6.99. Remember don’t smile. Then on Friday we finished filling out the applications and got our Gurantor to sign and date where needed.

Remember to read the instructions carefully and most likely repeatedly when filing out the forms. There are so many specific things that you have to do or cannot do, which means there are a lot of things that can go wrong. I know we printed off multiple copies of the forms just in case we messed up and we are still concerned that something is going to go wrong.

We are going to submit it in person and the place that we are going is only open on the weekdays so we are just trying to find a time to go. After we are approved we will be contacting the company again to set a firm date and then book our plane tickets.

Fingers crossed and wish us luck.

XOXO, Evie & Ally

In-Between with not a lot of Options

We are kind of in the in-between right now, waiting for more information from the Bariatric Specialty Clinic, while looking into other options as well. There has been no further word from the clinic to our family doctor in response to her request for more information, and the only other place that is out there is a weight management clinic and they don’t offer surgery. As of right now Ally is looking into our Mexico options for surgery and I am trying to find out the name and contact information for the head of the Red Deer clinic.

There are two main places we are researching more intensely after vetting quite a few. They are “A Lighter Me” and “Global Healthcare Connections.” When we contacted Global Healthcare Connections Ally spoke with the CEO and founder, Adele Kulyk. She was very informative and answered all of our questions. After a long conversation Adele sent us an e-mail containing various forms to fill out so she could determine who is the best doctor and how much it was going to cost. Unlike some of the other companies we had researched their forms actually asked for things like health conditions and any complications you potentially have.

Adele said to fill out and send her the forms and that she would call us the following week. We both filled out all of the forms and sent them to her and waited for her call which never came. That was over a month ago and we have never heard from her since whether by phone or by email.

Ally is still researching A Lighter Me but it seems to be our best option with a great price and everything is included. For now we are working on our funding, having set up a crowd funding page but not having much luck there. We are not sure that to do unless we each take out a personal loan and I am not sure that is an option. But we are bound and determined that by the end of March we will have had the surgery and be back home on our way with our weight loss.  

XOXO, Evie & Ally

Fingers Crossed

After doing research on the many options for surgery we have decided that we are going to do it privately and in Mexico. There are many different places to do it thru down there and we are making sure to do all our research into all the different options.

While looking into it we have found that it is quite expensive and we are not going to be able to fund it by ourselves. Ally has researched all the different avenues for funding the surgery, including personal loans, and we have decided to go the crowd funding route. We have set up a page that we are excited about. Both of us hope you will visit and pass it on.

Our crowd funding page on GoFundMe.com: Evie & Ally's Strive for Health

XOXO, Evie & Ally

A Letter with No Answers

Our doctor phoned and requested to see us as soon as she received the letter from the Red Deer Bariatric Specialty Clinic. We made the appointment and went for very long and intensive appointments.

When we first got there they (both our doctor and her resident) asked us lots and lots of questions trying to figure out what the problem could be that they felt the need to dismiss us from the program. An hour later they still did not have the answer. As far as they could see there was no problem and we were good candidates.

The letter they received was basically a form letter saying that they dismissed us from the program, we could come back in a year and a half, and there are no prerequisites to us being referred again. There was also a referral to an eating disorders clinic even though they said we don’t have an eating disorder (we got the feeling that this was just something they referred everyone to who was dismissed from the program). After all this she said that she is going to write a letter to them requesting more information. I am not sure how much luck she is going to have as this is the letter they told us would have all the answers.

After a lot of discussion Ally and I have decided to look into surgery in Mexico. We are tired of putting our life on hold and waiting especially when we can't see what the problem is and there is no end in sight.

XOXO, Evie & Ally

Not a Finish Line in Sight

When we showed up for our appointments we talked to the receptionist again about making an appointment to see the surgeon but she was insistent that the nurse wanted to see us. The receptionist told us that the surgeon was going to be on vacation for the next month anyway, and when we asked when he was getting back she said she didn’t know and that we should talk to the nurse.

Ally was supposed to see her Nurse first while I saw my Dietitian, then after we would do the opposite with Ally seeing her Dietitian and me seeing her nurse (mine was out). We were surprised when Ally`s nurse Darla came out and asked us both to follow her. She told us there had been a change and that we would both be seeing her. As they had not phoned and told us of a change we were confused.

She sat us down together and said “at this time we are dismissing you from the program.” To say we were shocked is an understatement. We asked her why and she gave us this whole spiel about it being a team decision and how we never should have had our scopes, all without actually giving us an answer. If we should not have had our scopes then they subjected us to unnecessary medical procedures and with Ally’s issues with sedation that was extremely dangerous and potentially life threatening, which made all of this that much worse. When asked how this had happened in between the surgeon asking to see us and now, she said that it was a team decision and when they got together they decided that now wasn’t the best time for us.

With every appointment we had and every person we say they had nothing but positive things to say, about how well we were doing and what good candidates we were. To go from that to this just floored us. She said that there was nothing that she could tell us, that we could have been told this over the phone. We didn’t understand why we had not heard any mention of this before, why no one had told us there was a problem. Ally asked if we could make an appointment with someone who could tell us more about this decision and she said that we would no longer be allowed to make appointments to see anyone and they would send our Doctor a report detailing out dismissal from the program/clinic. At one point she said that we were not ready for surgery and when we asked about the report from Dr. Singh, she said that she didn’t have the report and that it wasn’t just his findings that they went off of (obviously he was in favor of us having the surgery just like he told us). If they aren’t going to listen to their own experts then what are they doing?

At the end Darla told us that we could be submitted back to the program in a year and a half, but that we would have to go thru the entire process all over again which includes the waiting list, orientation, Dr. Singh and another scope. The last thing we asked is if there was anything we had to do before we could come back and she said no. If there was nothing for us to work on before being readmitted to the program then why have we been kick out?

When we left we were really depressed and couldn’t even talk about it right then. We don’t know what happened. Everything they asked us to do we did, all of the appointments (which cost money to get to all the way out in Red Deer, not to mention parking), we lost our 10%, did the scope and put a lot of effort into making sure that we were ready and prepared for the changes that were to come, and all of it for nothing.

XOXO, Evie & Ally

Down The Hatch

In May we were told the date of our Scopes were going to be February 4, 2014 and that we were on the next day cancellation list. On June 26^th I got a call telling me that my scope was going to be in the morning on June 28^th. I was so excited. This was the last step needed to get my surgery.

I went in that morning and checked in. They took me to a room with a chair where they asked me to get undressed and into a hospital gown and robe (which by the way were really small). After they asked me some questions and took my blood pressure…or at least they tried. It took them nine tries, two cuffs and three different positions to finally get the number. Then they tried to get my IV line in (just some fluids to begin with), turned out to also be a non-starter. They finally warmed up some blankets and took me over to the area where they get you to lie down and wait before going in for your scope and they tried to get it there. Two tries latter it was in, they ended up having to go in my wrist because they couldn’t get it anywhere else. Although worried because I heard that it hurt worse than anywhere else, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not the case.  

After 2 hours of waiting (they said the surgeon had an emergency), I was wheeled into the procedure room. The surgeon was there and asked when I was seeing him next and when I told him I have a Nutritionist appointment next month he said that he wants me to call and make an appointment to see him as soon as possible. The anesthesiologist told me about the drugs that they are going to be using, and they had be sign something. Telling me to roll over onto my side they gave me two sprays of something into the back of my throat to numb the area and then that was all she wrote. Next thing I know I am waking up alone back in the waiting area.

I think I have a vague memory of maybe struggling a bit but I am not really sure. I waited alone for about an hour until I got it in my head that it was time to go. My pulse monitor had already fallen off so I decided to take the tape off of the IV to make it easier (and faster) for them to take out the line. Cue my mother (be prepared with someone to drive you home after the procedure) to come in and just about have a heart attack thinking I am taking out the line by myself, which she then goes and tells the nurse who was not a happy camper. Half an hour later we were on our way back home no worse for the wear. On the way home I did notice a bit of a sore throat so we stopped for something cold.

Ally got her call on July 9^th saying that her scope would be on the 12^th. Her scope was more routine than mine. They didn’t have a problem with her blood pressure or IV, although the surgeon was late again. He told her he wanted her next appointment to be with him and then after the throat spray she doesn’t remember anything. Considering whenever she had gone in the past she is always resistant to the anesthetic this went really well. She doesn’t remember anything, there was no negative reaction and they didn’t report any problems.

When we called to schedule an appointment with the surgeon we were told that we had to see a nurse first and she would say whether we were ready to see the surgeon on not. We didn’t understand this as the surgeon told us to call and make an appointment to see him right away but there didn’t seem to be anything we could do about it. Right now we both have Nurse and Dietitian appointments scheduled for later in the month.

XOXO, Evie & Ally

Padded Rooms and Eating Habits: Part II

After our appointments with the Psychiatrist we headed over for our June appointments at the clinic. Ally was seeing the Dietician assigned to her and I was going to be seeing my nurse. When we got there I was informed that the nurse was out for the week and that my appointment had been changed to another session with Patti. I was upset that no one had called to tell me of the change, and I had just seen her; but as I was going to have to see someone this month and she was the only one available I didn’t really have much of a choice.

Ally had dental surgery a week ago to get her wisdom teeth out. She ended up getting a really bad infection that spread and is having a really hard time eating. The Dietitian, Laura, while not very sympathetic didn’t really care that Ally couldn’t eat as long as she began drinking protein shakes. Other than that she gave her a recipe handout, recommended she begin with the prenatal vitamins and drink 10 cups of water a day. When ally got her weight she had lost 5lbs putting her weight down to 264lbs.

As for my appointment with Patti there was not much to talk about as I had just seen her not long before. We discussed potential stressors coming up, such as looking for a house and moving, and eating habits and why I choose certain food over others. At the end of the appointment Patti took my weight down and I had lost 3lbs putting me at 377lbs.

Ally and I left the clinic feeling like we hadn’t accomplished anything with these appointments. We had both the previous week gone to a clinic for a prescription for the prenatal vitamins and the Boost Protein Drink, and are just waiting for the special authorization to come thru on the protein drinks.

XOXO, Evie & Ally