Hi all,
Yes, I have been seeing Dr. Venter since 2005 when he was out on West Broadway, then he was at Orchard clinic in Burnaby and now he has his own clinic out in Point Grey where he can focus on his CFS, Fibromyalgia patients. I can't say enough about how great he is. He is the best doctor out there dealing with CFS. Whereas most general practioners know nothing about chronic fatigue, Dr. Venter totally understands and knows all about it. He is constantly keeping up with all the lastest developments in the research and treatments. I got severe chronic fatigue back in June 2003. It was so bad I was literally a vegetable experiencing long periods of paralysis. My family doctor, (who is a good doctor), gave me various tests which of course all turned out to be "normal": therefore; he could do nothing more for me. I saw a Naturopath who tried various things which normally help people who are tired but nothing made a difference in my case. Then by fluke my aunt in Calgary was listening to the Dr.Art Hister show and lo and behold Dr.Venter was a guest. She pasted on the info. and I was able to start seeing him. Although I thought I had been tested for everything under the sun- it turned out I hadn't so he had me go for numerous bloodwork and even an MRI to rule out any possible causing factors for the fatigue. He is an excellent doctor who truely cares for his patients and genuinely wants them to get better. He actually takes the time to hear you out and to explain things to you. He has truely been a lifesaver. I shutter to think how I still could be how I was 7 years ago. I have made huge progress-still have a ways to go but everything is moving in the right direction and that's because of Dr. Venter. I would insist that anyone who actually has CFS or Fibromyalgia see Dr. Venter. Yes he does collaberate with Dr. Hymes out in Maple Ridge (and no you don't need to take the Albion Ferry anymore the new Golden Ears bridge has replaced that). Dr. Hyams has been in the field longer than Dr. Venter and I did see Hyams a couple of times but I honestly didn't care for him as much (no offense Dr.Hyams) and I did find his receptionists to be scattered and clueless a few times (once we had a trip all the way out there for a "precription" according to the receptionist ) only to find out we could order the supplement on line or over the phone. Dr. Hyams also only sees CFS patients one day a week so scheduling can be an issue. Anyways, I totally recommend Dr. Venter and now that he has his own clinic you can book an appointment there Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. He is totally legit so no worry there although I can understand new patients being concerned about paying the 350 for the new patient seminar but this includes a variety of things and would be an excellent crash course for you and family in knowing how to approach CFS. I think one of the scariest things about chronic fatigue is that you feel so helpless and your loved ones don't understand and don't know what to do. So if Dr. Venter had had his clinic set up 5 yrs ago and had been offering the seminars at that time, it would have saved me a lot of aggravation! At any rate, I have found him to be very understanding of my family's low income situation and has worked around it. I'm sure that if you can't manage to do the seminar you can just see him on regular basis and learn as you go. Of course appointments are covered by MSP but as with all doctors (including Naturopaths) any vitamin injections, supplements etc must be paid for, any special treatments such as neurofeedback are not covered. Luckily this past year my family was able to afford to have my brainmap done and undergo subsequent neurofeedback treatments and this has helped me big time. I have had a lot of improvement and was actually able to visit some relatives in the Maritimes this past summer- something that was totally unthinkable before. Wow, I have written a book here! Anyways check out Dr. Venter's website F2c2.ca you can always email him any questions you have and he does appointments over the web too. Best of luck to all you out there dealing with CFS!
