so done with it all

Sweet, Why not check out SWLC's Message Forum for their patients. We have a thread where people post what they eat every single day and it gives a lot of people that are struggling help to see what is normal for other bandsters to eat. If you aren't already a member, go to Lap Band Surgery Clinic | Weight Loss & Gastric Balloon in Toronto, Canada and click on Message Forum and register. The thread is called What are you eating today in the Diet and Exercise section.

I went to Dr. Frank Lista in Mississauga for my tummy tuck and am happy with my results. I will be going back to him to get my breast lift and augmentation done later this year as well. Word of mouth is for sure the best way. Not all plastic surgeons are used to working on people with huge weight losses. I'd not see a cosmetic surgeon either, plastic surgeon all the way.

Click on this link and ask questions of those that have done it already. From my understanding, you download the form from the OHIP site, you have your family doc complete it saying you need the surgery now, you pick a surgeon and put their info in there and then fax it to OHIP and wait for the Purolator truck to deliver your approval. I know they approve to have it done in US but not sure if they approve for Mexico or not, it just says Out of Country. They only cover the surgery cost and you are responsible for all other costs associated such as hotel and travel. Ontario, Canada

OHIP covers RNY (Gastric Bypass), VSG ( sleeve) and DS (Duodenal Switch). You can get on the list for the sleeve in Ontario if you qualify with the misgroup MIS Group or you can apply for OOC (out of country) coverage and have it done in the US. Co-morbidities are high blood pressure, joint paint, heart problems, etc. If you don't have any and your BMI is under 40 then you won't qualify to have it done through OHIP. If you want more info about OHIP coverage, you should join Obesity Help and find the Ontario forum. Tons of people on there have had OHIP covered procedures done in country and out of country and they can direct you where to start. ObesityHelp - Gastric Bypass, LAP-BAND

If you want the sleeve why not get it done through OHIP, they will pay for it as long as your BMI is over 35 with co-morbs or over 40 with or without co-morbs.

I'm flying 3 times in the next month and have flown many times in the past and have never had any issue. My longest flight is 6 hours so perhaps if anyone has flown longer, they might be able to answer what it's like for longer flights.

Sandy, It's funny that you say today you went 6 months without a fill yet in the other thread, you just posted on Friday that you weren't even banded yet and were going to Mexico after the Jill incident. Troll much???

The pop up is gone this morning so maybe it takes 24 hours to register that I actually filled out their feedback form. Heather your post was probably deleted because you had quoted another post that was deleted. Not sure why they wouldn't just delete your quote but leave your original post. Yet another reason I'm liking this site less and less.

I clicked on it and gave them my feedback of this forum and let me say it's not a glowing review and I"m still stuck with the stupid icon there. You'd think once you gave your feedback once it would disappear. On a side note, if anyone knows how to remove your profile from here can you let me know? I have gone through their FAQ and other help topics and i can't find where I can de-activate. I'm so disgusted with this site that I'd just as soon that my whole profile and all my posts be gone. :laugh::thumbdown::thumbup::thumbdown:

Lap-band is self pay in Ontario so you don't have to do anything but find a clinic and book an appointment and go from there. With a BMI of just over 35, you will never get approved for DS. OHIP recently stopped approving anyone for DS with a BMI below 50. You are eligible for RNY or VSG if you have a BMI of 35 plus co-morbidities or a BMI over 40 without co-morbidities. You don't have to go through any programs at all to get a referral for OHIP funded surgeries but you do need your doctor to refer you so if he/she won't refer you without doing this then you are kind of stuck. If you decide to go the OHIP covered surgeries route, you might be better off going to Ontario, Canada That is the Ontario forum link and most there have had surgeries other than lap-band.

If you go to OHIP's Schedule of Benefits and look at S120, it states that bariatric surgery is covered except for gastric banding. They specifically exclude it. If I couldn't have afforded the band, I'm not sure if I would have opted for any other option since it was the only one I was comfortable living with long term. If you want to do more research on each of the procedures that are covered, I would recommened joining ObesityHelp - Gastric Bypass, LAP-BAND and going to the Ontario forum. Almost everyone on there had OHIP covered procedures both in country and out of country. Lots apply for OOC since the wait lists are so long in Ontario. I think the procedure you choose depends a lot on how much weight you want to lose and what you are willing to live with. Each surgery requires different post op guidelines and you have to be able to live with those. Some of the surgeries have malabsorption issues and you have to know that you are the type of person that will diligently take your Vitamins daily.

OHIP does not pay for lap-band at all. They pay for other weight loss surgeries though. If you specifically asked for lapband then you were misinformed because it's right in their schedule of benefits that gastric banding is not covered. They cover gastric bypass, duodenal switch and vertical sleeve gastrectomy only.

Most clinics have their own patient forum so you could get the one from your clinic if they have one. There are a few Yahoo groups just for Canadians as well. The first one is the general one, 2nd one is for people under 35 and the next ones are regional. canadianlapbanders : Canadianlapbanders youngcanadianbandsters : Young Canadian Bandsters maritimes_bariatric_patients : Maritime Provinces Bariatric Patients manitobalapbanders : Manitoba Lapbanders calgarylapbanders : Calgary Lap Banders

WannaB, there are many different makers of the band and many of them hold 10cc. I have the old Inamed VG band that holds 10cc and most of us never got much restriction until we were well into 8.3 or more. I"m not sure which one you have and since we are all so different, we can't even compare fills levels even if we all have the same band. You have to find some patience, it's tough to do but try and find some. Just keep getting fills until you start feeling restriction. It's too soon for you to give up. You were only banded a few months ago and many people, it takes months and months to hit the right restriction and then they start to lose. Hopefully you can find proper restriction and in a few months you will love your band like so many of us do.

Doctors do have to treat us in a life threatening situation but who is to say you are going to see a band surgeon when your life is threatened? And exactly what life threatening situation could you be in with a band. There have been patients who went to the ER in tons of pain and the only thing they could get done was have their band removed totally and not by a band surgeon, by whoever the surgeon on call was. Since the clinics are private, it's not like you just walk in their door with your provincial health coverage and get care, that's not how private clinics work. If you are lucky, you could end up in an ER where a banding surgeon still does ER duty but my bet would be his only obligation would be to stop the pain which would result in removing your band. I know that if I end up with a problem and my band is removed for medical purposes, that my band surgeon will replace it at no cost to me. Some clinics do not have the same policy. I am a long distance patient but have no problems at all. I needed a fluoro and I returned to Mississauga and had it done with my surgeon. I got too tight for no reason and I got a defill by the fill nurse locally. I have all my ducks in a row for my follow up even though I live a distance away and I also know that I'm only a plane ride away from my surgeon and I know he will meet me at any hour that I arrive if I'm in an emergency situation. We all do our reserch and the original poster obviously did theirs and they listed their reasons to stay in Ontario vs going out of country. They are her reasons to stay here and there was no fear mongering in any of what she wrote. They are her observations and her conclusions. Nobody is saying don't go out of country, she is simply stating why she didn't. For anyone that lives in Ontario, I don't see any reason to go out of country at all. We all end up having to fly to Toronto to fly to any city in the US or Mexico so it's just as easy to get off the plane there and be done with it.

I've read many pissy posts from people that are unhappy that the Canadian clinics won't do fills for them when they have been banded out of country and not just Mexico. Let's face it, all clinics are business and they have their own clientele so why should they provide a service to someone who opted to give their original business to someone else. If you buy a GM, do you expect to go to Ford to get your work done under warranty? I think not!!! I have nothing against anyone going out of country, that is their choice but when they constantly bitch that they can't get a fill from our Canadian doctors then I have zero sympathy. You made your choice,now live with it.

Since I live in Ontario and had to make my pros and cons list 4 years ago about whether to stay in the province or go to Mexico or the US, I have to say, your list is almost identical to what mine was. I didn't see any point in leaving the province when there were 2 very good clinics here. There are more than 2 clinics now but I only had 2 options back then. I am 6 hours away from the clinic, have had to be defilled a few times in an emergency and I went to the ER and demanded they defill me. The nurse gave me a hard time but I informed her it wasn't her call and that I would speak to the doc on call myself and he defilled me with me guiding him. Others have had problems getting defilled in an emergency but I stood my ground with them and they did it. I have lifetime fills/defills at the clinic, I have lifetime follow up, I have a network of fill docs/nurses all over the country if I happen to be out of town, I have full use of their dietitian and wellness coach, I can speak to my surgeon whenever I need to, I have access to the emergency phone number 24/7 and the list goes on and on. I had no reason to leave Ontario other than the cheaper price and when I weighed it all out, the extra money spent to stay in Ontario was invaluable for peace of mind. Best of luck with your decision on which clinic to go to. There are a few good ones in Ontario and perhaps you should do consultations with all of them since most offer free consults and you'll immediately know which one is best suited for you. I did a consultation with each of the 2 clinics and I knew immediately where I was going and have never looked back.

Here's a link to one of the many stories that ran the day after his hearing. Sex with patients costs doctor licence

Lucy, Anyone can join the SWLC message forum if they are considering banding. There are sections that are for the public and sections for patients only but you will gain a ton of knowledge about the clinic and the surgeons by reading in the public sections. Just register at SWLC - The Surgical Weight Loss Centre Forum • Index page and you can start posting and asking questions there also. You can go into the chat room as well and chat with many banded patients and sometimes Dr. Cobourn will come in to answer questions as well. It seems busiest in the evenings and especially Sunday evening from about 7pm until 11pm EST. If you have anymore questions about SWLC, feel free to ask.

There's a fill nurse in North Bay for SWLC patients so if you are their patient, just contact the clinic and they'll give you her details. If you weren't banded there, your family doc might do it if you ask him/her.

Hi Lucy, I was banded at SWLC just over 3 years ago. It was just a small clinic when I was banded and have watched it grow tremendously since I was first banded. They now have 3 surgeons that band patients so obviously they are very busy and reputable indeed. Even after 3 years, I am still treated very well by all the staff. They offer lifetime follow up to their patients and as you said they have trained fill docs/nurses all over the country. I am not out of province but I am 8 hours away from the clinic and they have now trained 2 nurses close enough to me that I can get a fill/defill without having to return to the clinic. I would do it all in a heartbeat again and I'd not choose anywhere different. In my opinion, SWLC offers the best of everything. Good luck in your decision.

Mia, This is the Canadian section so we have no clue about the US Income Tax system. In Canada, we need the detailed statement but I'm sure your surgeon would know if you need more than what he provided to you. I hope you get to use all your medical expenses the way we do.

I lost 170 lbs in about 17 months. I have maintained that same loss for over 18 months now. No regrets at all for me with the band.

Jorja, I'm happy you got some resolution to your problem. Happy holidays and happy losing.

Mary, I think she has been talking to people for sure just not the right people. I have spoken to Jorja in private and I know what she has had to do in the past and that was go over a regular worker's head to the top. When I read Jane's reply, I took it as stop talking to the workers and start talking to management. Of course everyone is free to vent here and look for support, that's what the board is for. I never found anyone to be negative to Jorga in any of the posts. I think we all just write differently and at the end of the day, we are all just giving our best advice in a bad situation. Honestly if this was me, I'd be their biggest pain in the ass that wouldn't go away until someone spoke to me. I'd fill up email boxes, voicemail boxes, you name it and I'd do it to be heard. I can hear the frustration in Jorja's responses and I'm sure she's at the end of her wits but today is a new day and hopefully she finds the strength to keep pushing forward with this and demand to speak with management.