susieq321

I love TLBC and I wouldn't go anywhere else. I had a problem with Nancy not returning a call, but Kathy and Chris Henderson took care of it. I think part of the problem is no one told anyone at TLBC they had some issues with Nancy and if no one tells the clinic she is short with them or not returning calls how do they know? Patrick Yau is very approachable, ask to meet him pre surgery phone Kathy and take care of it. The advantages of TLBC to me, closer to you TO vs Mississauga, if you need to see Patrick he has another office in Scarborough too. Dr Yau has been doing bands longer and done more bands than any other surgeon in Canada. But the big advantages to TLBC is their post op no one has a post op like they do. They have seminars, they have nutritionist on staff, they have Dr Simon on staff, they offer online and phone seminars, they also have a ton of other events specific just to their clients. Online forums etc. But one of the huge advantages to me is that they have a large number of banded staff who understand being overweight and the challenges of the band in a way that non banded people will never understand. Go with where you are comfy, make consults and ask lots of questions, do not make a decision till you are ready and are sure you are happy with the answers. Good luck Heather

Sherri, It isn't that they are getting to big it is that the people at the clinic don't know about what the fill nurses do unless you tell them and you need to put it in writing.... email info@tlbc.ca and tell them about Nancy and the other nurse and your experience. If we don't tell them about our problems no one else is going to tell them for us. And if they don't know there are issues they think the nurses are doing a great job.... and the nurses stay on and do the same thing to more patients.. it is just like a store or bad food in a restaurant.... if you don't tell them it is bad they don't know how would they. Get your money's worth email them... info@tlbc.ca Heather

Peaches you are so right about TLBC.... speed recovery and take it easy Heather

The surgery can be used as a tax deduction as of right now it is not covered by OHIP and in Jan the On House passed a bill saying that from now till the end of time the lapband is excluded from OHIP coverage Good luck and keep posting

Sheila, that one is harder since none of the Toronto banding clinics are taking on patients done by other surgeons because of the risks and a lot of family docs and outside surgeons are not willing to take them on either because if there is a complication who does the patient hold responsible and their malpractice insurance won't cover them. Her best bet may be to talk to her band surgeon and ask them to ask the manufacturer of her band to help them out with people in her area who are willing to work with her. Good luck Heather

I have been banded for over 6 years now my Surgeon is Patrick Yau, I can honestly say I have talked to several Mexican patients who had issues and who came back to Canada to have those issues fixed because their Mexican band surgeons didn't want to deal with them. They lost the cost of multiple flights back and forth to Mexico to hear it wasn't a band problem it was their problem, it might be a fill problem etc with NO solutions until they had a CDN surgeon fix them, and it always took surgeries in every case I know of. I know TLBC used to take on outside patients and one of the reasons they stopped was because the main reason the patients were coming to them was to have their bands fixed because a variety of Drs in Mexico deserted them. At one point in time the Mexican Drs were even referring their banded CDN patients to the CDN surgeons because they didn't want to deal with the patients with problems! Personally I have talked to 4-5 of these patients over the years in email, phone conversations and face to face meetings. They felt abandoned over the years by their initial surgeons who could not diagnose or refused to diagnose and fix problems for them. They had to find alternatives after paying the money to Mexico. As of right now in ON you will be hard pressed to find any band surgeon who will take you on if you weren't banded there and why should they you choose to go with someone else. You choose someone else's aftercare etc. All I can say is in life you get what you pay for! And if I was going to Mexico I would want a lot of things in writing and I would want them reviewed by a Mexican and a cdn lawyer to make sure they are legal. I would want it spelled out what I get, what happens for complications, who pays anything etc. And this is coming from someone who has suffered just about every complication there is with a few exceptions. I love my band I would do it over again in a heartbeat even knowing I was going to have 6 band surgeries, but based on the people I have talked to in Canada over the years I would never ever go out of country to Mexico or anywhere else for any surgery that required follow-up whether it was banding or plastic etc. I would take what anyone was saying who worked for a clinic with a huge salt lick and discount it cause they are making the money not you and if your band fails or you need an additional surgery I wonder if they will be there for you then? Heather

I am traveling and spending time in CO for work and I have been banded for over 6 years do you guys ever get together and meet?

Stanley, I have been banded 6 years and was around before TLBC, When Dr Cobourn started his clinic there was none of this concern, no one warned patients not to go there. I think what you are missing is the legitimate concern of bandsters based on experiences and what we are hearing in the community and worried that new bandsters may be left in the lurch without a clinic to go to. Good luck on your search, hope you and your mother in law find a solution. I understand why you may be doing the research for her. Heather

Elizabeth, When I was done there was no TLBC, and I was done at Grace the hospital so the bandsters like moi have an agreement with Grace to fix things. But TLBC fixes things for free part of the full coverage service you pay the money for. Heather

Doddie, I don't blame the surgeons who didn't do the insertion of the band i was thinking more for an emergency situation take it with you if you had to go the hospital and that might help them understand how to do a defill if they were willing to watch. I can honestly say about 6 years of banding I don't travel with a band card or the fill dvd and I am on the road over 50% of the time. I take the risk and so far have been ok. Heather

As someone who has every documented complication excepting erosion I know from experience that complications generally do not cause emergency situations including erosion. Erosion is something that happens gradually not over night, slips can happen immediately the only time a slip is an emergency situation is if it slips up and closes off the esophagus (one of my slips went up out of 4 but not an emergency situation) or if the band twists and closes of the opening from the upper part of your stoma to the lower part of your stoma. Or if you self tighten or have a too tight fill and can't keep any liquid down you may have an emergency situation. I know hundred of bandsters and the true emergency situations are very rare. Too tight a band is very real and it does happen all too often whether it is too tight a fill or stress or other emotions causing a band to self tighten over time. I can think of one bandster and one bandster only who had a true emergency situation not related to too tight a band, while she was preggers her band slipped and twisted and blocked the openings and she was hopistalised on IV's since she couldn't get liquids or food down, the iv's were her saving grave and she could have lived with that situation with medical intervention for as long as she needed too. It was a bad time to be sick as the Docs were on holidays and our of the country. She suffered the twisted band for a few days in the hospital as soon as the surgeon came back he took care of her, even though he was still on vacation he heard of her plight through the grapevine. The other true emergency I know of was similar food poisoning and with prolonged vomiting her band slipped up her stomach so she couldn't keep liquids down and the band had to come out. So complications causing true emerg situations are rare ask your band surgeon, the most common is too tight a band, whether from fill or swollen stomach. I know dozens of people with slips none were emergency situations they do need to be fixed, same with erosions remember you don't feel these happening they may happen over weeks and months and only can be diagnosed by someone familiar with what they are looking at on an xray. Emergencies do happen I am not saying they don't I am saying they are rare due to complications. Your best defense is an informed offense, knowing your body, knowing how you process food, knowing how your band reacts. Getting a fill dvd from your clinic if they don't have one ask them to make one for the patients. Know where your port is, understand that it is not a normal everyday needle they use to access it, they need a much longer gauge needle.

Lizzie, The only thing that really requires immediate attention for a lapband is being too tight and not being able to keep liquids down. Slips, erosions and most complications are things that happen over time you don't even know they are going on. Surgery doesn't have to be the same day it can wait. My first slip I was traveling and I knew something was wrong but I couldn't get to TO so it waited a few weeks to get looked at. So don't stress over 90% of the complications they more than likely won't happen to you and won't be life threatening that is the nice thing about the band. The worst you can experience is a band too tight to keep liquids down and that becomes dangerous in several ways, dehydration etc. Heather

Doddie, That is horrid, I hope you wrote and complained about it. And next time you are here demand to see Dr Yau and don't leave till Nancy or whoever finds him. That is his decision not hers to make. Dr Yau is great and he will explain all his decisions to you and why he is making them. You paid the money and flew all the way back here you should have seen Dr Yau whether Nancy thought you needed surgery or not. I haven't met Nancy and I hope I never do.

i have an lower abdominal port and it is a simple procedure quick and easy to move it. I love the abdominal placement and refused the sternum placement too many people tell me sticks out like a boob... IT can be a little harder to find for fills but anyone with experience should be able to find it fast. The only other thing I can say is it tends to move around a little more on an abdominal placement and might flip but again easiliy fixed and mine has stayed in place for years.

I am glad you are writing, I had issues when I was traveling into town getting a hold of Nancy and left over 4 messages with no response I finally went another route to get a hold of someone who answered me in minutes instead of taking over a week with no response. But I was lucky I knew of another route to get my problem solved not everyone does. If we don't write and formalize the complaints the higher ups at TLBC won't know what is going on and then will never fix it. I have dealt with Kathy and she is amazing at solving issues and does it fast. But if we don't tell the problem children's bosses what is happening they will go on thinking those people are servicing their patients and doing it well. I have always found businesses pay more attention to a written complaint than a phone call... they feel the need to respond and address something someone takes the time to put in writing. Heather

Sorry Doddie, I hadn't realized how far back in the thread I was when i posted this. H

Rose we missed you at the lunch on Sunday... H

Actually Doddie, Small correction, Nancy has nothing to do with Canadian Lap Banders. Kathy owns the yahoo group but she has owned it for years long before the clinic existed and it was the only form of support for bandsters. It has been around longer than lapbandtalk I think. And while Kathy owns the group she doesn't limit who joins or what is talked about. I think most days she is too busy to even read the group. Heather

June, I have been banded over 6 years with about 150 lbs lost with relative ease and maintained... it varies you have to work at it. But you need to work with the bypass and any other WLS. The band works...

Seena, you may be the only person they call back, a friend of mine called to get details and they never would call her back she left tons of messages. So she went with where I recommended. I agree with the others about the post op, your immediate post op sounds good and hope it continues for you. You can do the whole experience without it, hell I did but it is harder. My only worry seriously is can Toronto support 4-5 clinics. Two are big but there are several others and if CIBO goes under what will you do? I have an agreement from Scarborough Grace that they will always support the bandsters done at the same time and I know I can see my band surgeon in his office outside of the clinic so I know he will be there for me. In my experience wait and see what happens as you start to lose and are 6-12 months out and hope the support is still there for you as well as the clinic. I have heard rumours they lost their funding to build. I have no idea if this is true but i have friends in the medical community and when we were talking about it the other day they we saying what they were hearing is CIBO may not be around for very long. Again it is a rumour and take it with a huge grain of salt.. but I hope for your sake it stays around. Good luck

Lizzie, email info@tlbc.ca and file a complaint if you don't tell them what is going on they will never know. Behavior like that is unacceptable there are a ton of ways she can help you. Good luck Heather

Peaches, I speak from experience sometimes it takes longer to figure out what is happening with the band that other times. I had mine slip 4 times, my port has flipped a few times, tubing disconnect once, a total band replacement and god only knows what else. Once they figure it out it works and works well. The trick is living with it until they figure it out, I know it doesn't help or make you feel any better at all but it is the truth, every time something went wrong it involved a flight from where ever I was in the world to Toronto and usually another surgery. Dr Yau is a great surgeon stick with him, talk it out with him or his staff and they will figure it out. I was in for a fluro on Monday but I didn't see you I must have been in and out. Heather

Whoever you choose you will have a relationship with that clinic for a long long time. Most of the Drs who do fills for TLBC or SWLC will do fills for either patient base so location of the clinic shouldn't matter that much. Go with the clinic that makes you feel the best and offers the most that matters to you. It is about way more than the money, it is about knowing you will be taken care of by your choice in clinic.

Any of the clinics can help you with getting funding. But if you don't have the cash it will be a monthly payment no matter where you go. TLBC has a great program for patients I am sure SWLC does too. Good luck I would only go to a Clinic that is a proven commodity these days where I knew I was getting a standard of care that met my expectations.

Canadian Lapbanders organizes a lunch every month and they move it around the city so it hits the west end, east end, and central areas as well. Anyone is welcome to join I know Laurie who organizes them was going to post on Lapbandtalk as well. I think this months is in Ajax at Applebees but I don't know the date.