My Ottawa Visit With Dr. Dent

What a stressful day today started out as! I think I worried myself almost literally sick over meeting Dr. Dent, in particular after reading those two articles that have been posted about him. I was so frightened to have to put my life in the hands of an individual who apparently thinks very little of us and would prefer to not give the advantage of a by-pass to anyone unless they "deserve" it. According to the articles that is.

I left fairly early this morning after waking up at 5am! I really don't like driving long distance by myself at all. Needless to say, I left too early and arrived at the Ottawa Civic Hospital at 11am or so. When I arrived on the 3rd floor I found out my appointment was actually at 1:30 and I had to wait until then to see Dr. Dent. I did fill out about a half hour worth of paperwork and included my blood work and a letter of reference from my therapist. At that point the worrying increased as I sat and read and let my mind wander. Of course I'm imagining the worst case scenario!

When it was around 2:30 or I finally got in to see him! I was chatting at that point with a really lovely lady who was 4 years out and had her surgery in Rochester. Dr. Dent had been her after care physician for almost two years and she LOVED him. It was interesting to chat with her. Although her appointment was booked for after mine, I was brought in before her! Whoops!

I can tell you, when I finally sat down I started to shake and tremble. I was totally freaked out. I felt my life was in the hands of someone I only knew from articles I had read and from the opinions of people on the forums. Not a lot to go on. I started babbling, go figure, me babbling. lol
He had to tell me it was okay a few times and wanted to go thru my file before I carried on. I asked him straight up if he knew my story and why I was there. Apparently OHIP only referred me to him with no explanation. So I explained everything to him and he was completely understanding. We actually managed to exchange several jokes and he kept telling me my being fat wasn't my fault and to stop blaming myself so much, stating he would explain why he says that later in the appointment.

I was weighed (according to his scale I lost ten pounds already!) and he did my other measurements. He was very surprised I don't have sleep apnea too although my results have yet to come in and it was only the nurse who mentioned I probably don't have it. He was incredibly understanding and actually explained how OHIP is considering him an assessment centre and that anyone wanting the surgery must go thru one of the five centres (I already knew that!)

We went through my file step by step and he was completely blown away by my effort to lose the weight and my level of activities in the past. He was also quite surprised I had a total knee replacement at my age and completely agreed with me that this surgery needs to be done before my other knee gets worse.

It was at this point that he finally said that he believes I need the surgery and felt there was no problem with my going to Utica NY since I had already started the process and been to my initial consultation. He mentioned that there are several doctors in the USA that he would NOT recommend but is a big supporter of Dr. Graber's facilities. It was like a weight had been lifted off my chest! I breathed a great big sigh of relief and started to be totally excited! I tried to stay calm but all I could think of was, oh my god! I was getting the surgeon I wanted!!! Whew! Relief is an understatement!

I proceeded to tell him he was a god and he mentioned we shouldn't go there! lol It was pretty funny actually. He's got a great demeanor and has a great sense of humor. He explained to me that the surgeons at Ottawa are requesting that people with a BMI of 50+ be sent to other facilities whether or not they are out of country. They will do some people up to 55 with certain circumstances but prefer not to. Apparently I was on the cusp and he mentioned that it could have gone either way with me and that I was quite lucky to have had the initial consultation with Fitzer. He was quite happy with his decision.

He told me he was going to dictate a letter to OHIP, my doctor and a copy to me while I was in the office because he wanted me to hear what he said. If you think my blog update is long you ought to have heard the letter he dictated! lol He mentioned that although my surgery could be done in Canada, he doesn't want me to have to wait and marked the letter as urgent to be dealt with asap.

At the end of our conversation when I was sure I was good to go, I asked him about the articles I had been reading and he said he actually did not give any quotes to anyone in particular the Dr. that wrote that blog (I can't remember his name.). He says he feels strongly that he's opened a can of worms that he won't be able to deal with and he refuses to comment on them since he feels it would validate them. He mentioned he hasn't even read it but that the guy comments on him a lot. I told him I was going to post on OH that he isn't anything of what I expected and mention how fantastic I was treated! I went there thinking I was meeting the grinch and he turned out to be santa!!! I'm a good reader of people and I believe he genuinely cares for people and what happens in their lives. He wants me to come to him for my yearly check ups after the first year is done and wanted me to know (from his earlier comment) that my being overweight was not my fault and that because of the information I provided him with that both my sister and I fell into the category of having metabolic deficiencies that are genetically passed on. No matter how much weight we would lose, it would be a constant struggle all of our lives. He wants me to remember to not blame myself anymore.

I'm so happy right now! Tired! Traffic was nasty coming home but it was a great day. Now I wait for confirmation from OHIP so I can send it to Fitzer and my date will be given to me!! Thanks so much for all of your prayers and positive thoughts everyone! I told him I had a lot of people praying for me and such and he said it worked cause it could have easily gone the other way! So most definitely thanks all. He also made me promise to go back to him if there are any glitches. That was awesome. And get this. I am NOT a huggy person anymore. I get all tense over the last few years when it comes to hugging people even when I love to be hugged. Well guess who I hugged? Dr. Dent! lol I surprised him!

I'll keep you all updated!!!