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I was banded just over two years ago. BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE! Sorry for shouting, but I am happy every day since getting my life back. I check in with these message boards regularly, just to keep on top of things. I find it helps keep me on track. Where are you getting banded? I was at TLBC (now Slimband) and have had a very positive experience.

What is the message board like at SWLC? Does it follow a similar format to this forum? The slimband one is simply not very good. I think it could be much improved if they just made it function in a manner that is familiar to most users.

Hi All, Im new to this forum and used to maintain band-support contact via a dear banded friend who passed away in 2014. I am now taking legal action against Slimband and wondering if anyone is still seeking action against the clinic. I understand that regardless of the Feb 2014 articles, Dr Yau never left the clinic. He was there performing surgery the entire time. My surgery was performed in 2011 by Dr Kundal and 3 Upper GI's over 2.5 years showed it was never in place and the clinic has ignored me this entire time. Im now finding I have to sleep sitting up and spend most of every night choking. If anyone has had any success or is in the process of taking action against Slimband I would be very interested to hear from you.

Hi There, Were you banded at TLBC and being hassled by Slimband and being refused care? I am in Toronto and would be interested in joining a support group.

I'm not aware of a new clinic... did you ever contact Slimband and find out what the rate were?

You can contact Slimband in Toronto to find out how much fills are. Local 416.482.2033 Toll Free 800.298.0684 Tom

Thank GOD I am not the only one! TLBC did not dissolve they had to change the name due to a copyright infingement!!! I was banded in 2008. I was told the exact same thing during the time I was in the middle of a medical investigation. It is totally disgusting that they think they can do this. I was told that i had no furhter support as they just don't have the manpower. I paid 18,0000 for lifetime of support and adjustments. I was given a final FREE fill in December and going forward I would have to pay $200 for fills.. I called back to get some information from my file and was told that I had to pay $25.00 since my file was in archive and purged from the system. As for Nancy, the BEST nurse ever!!! SHE will always be the BEST and Sharon can suck eggs!! I know where she went and she can be easily found if needed. The government will never approve the band in my opion because it will never be successfull in comaprison to theother procedures. If anyone needs reliable adjustments I know where you can have them done by a credible nurse who worked for TLBC at a resonable cost. Now I havent had any adjustments because I not wan to void my warranty BUT as far as Slimband is concerend we have no warranty. I think it absolutely terrible how they have handled this whole situation. I was thinking of getting a new reoporter to do a story. THere were several done prior on the new owner of Slimband.

RoseIvy! That's GREAT news. hmmmmm something seem very fishy. This doctor is also the NEW Medical Director, Staff Bariatric Surgeon at Slimband.. So if I understand this correctly they have set up adjustments through the surgeon at his clinic for $120 however if you want an adjustment at the clinic it will cost you $200. He also works at the Scarborough Hospital as surgeon Dr. Yau. I wonder if he would sign your consent form so you could go have your adjustments done by Sabrina at half the cost.

Dr Yau has left Slimband...... article is at the National Post website today

When Slimband, took over, there was no contract sent to us. Since I was operated on by Dr. Joffe and Dr. Yau, we have to check our contracts for the TLBC. I will check my emails to see if there is any info. We were told verbally that they would continue to take care of us. I was also surprised to see that Nancy was no longer with them. Not sure what happened there.

Marivan I completely agree! But I did call Jill also today and she has told me she is not going to be doing any "Bootcamps" at this time. It has really left a bad taste in my mouth about TLBC! It also brings me back to something that has worried me since the change over to Slimband and that is when I paid my $16,000 and had my surgery in my contract it states that I have a lifetime of post op care of fill and defills. I was worried that Slimband would not honor this but I have spoken to my lawyer and he said that when he reviewed my contract that he felt confident they would honor this. But when you see stuff like this it makes me worried. However I doubt they would want the bad publicly that it would cause to renege on our contracts.

Hi: Dr. Yau is a very reputable surgeon that I recommend highly. The TLBC has good support for people from the Toronto area but their PR needs some work for long distance patients. I am from BC and initially, as I was so far away, I felt alone and stranded with no one to help me. Every tweak felt like an emergency. Now that I have the band for almost two years, I am more relaxed about it. I joined a support group out here started by another bandster. At first there was only 3 of us now we are up to 14 +. Aftercare is so very important. Fills and defills are only a small part of the process. Initially you may need reassurance concerning the band fairly frequently. TLBC has been working hard to improve and their Slimband website is a prime example. You are doing the right thing by checking out the clinic on the web, but you are most likely to get a better perspective by attending a group that is sponsored by the TLBC. By attending the meeting, you will get a variety of opinions. For what it is worth, I would select TLBC or the SWLC which to me has great support groups. Hope this helps.

Yes Heather what you post is absolutely true. We should all be upbeat and have spring in our steps as we journey along. But that is not always the way it is in real life. Real people have their ups and down and sometimes this site is the only place to express their feelings. Try to disuade people that post negative thoughts is not helping them in any way. I am thrilled you have seven years of wonderful progress and I personally like to hear about your journey, but I also want to hear from the souls who are struggling. I try to read into what they are saying and hopefully I can give them a little light at the end of the tunnel. The TLBC (Slimband) is my clinic and I still feel they are the best but they have struggled recently in reorganization. The previous posts were people who were frustrated and needed to vent. Going public with complaints about a company after numerous unsuccessful attempts to solve a problem quite often brings a solution. It did in the most recent post. So I would encourage anyone that is having issues to post your concerns and not stifle them. Getting your feeling out in the open is the only way you can solve them. Keeping your thoughts to yourself will only fester and we all know where that leads us ---to more eating.

Don't be fooled. He works at Slimband. See below. I find it really sketchy that when I call Slimband and ask where I can go to get a fill (because they will no longer support me) they say go to Hazati at the GreenStone Health Clinic. So Slimband won't treat me and give me fills and defills but one of their doctor's will?!?!?!? To me, it seems that not only is Slimband not honouring our agreement for a lifelong support system but one of their surgeons is taking even more of our money for fills. Ali Hazrati MD, MSc, FRCSC's Experience Medical Director, Staff Bariatric Surgeon Slimband Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Health, Wellness and Fitness industry January 2013 – Present (1 year 4 months) Toronto, Canada Area Minimally Invasive General & Bariatric Surgeon The Scarborough Hospital & Slimband Clinic Nonprofit; 1001-5000 employees; Hospital & Health Care industry 2011 – Present (3 years)

I am a former Slimband patient would would like to share my story so that I can help others avoid what I went through. At the end of the day, the decision is yours to make but having some honest perspective is important. I had my Slimband surgery on March 30, 2011 and had it removed 5 days later. Biggest mistake and largest regret of my life. I was in constant agony and was nauseous from the moment I woke up from surgery to the point of having the band removed. Additionally, I had to fly back to Toronto to have the band removed as local ER's consider it a cosmetic procedure and they aren't interested in any of the literature that Slimband sends you home with. During the 5 days I had the Slimband, I was unable to keep even Water down and was severely dehydrated. It was an incredibly traumatizing experience and not what I was expecting or was told to expect. To add insult to injury, I am trying to work with Slimband on some kind of refund. I am not looking to get 100% of the $16,000 back or be reimbursed for my $2,000 travel/accommodations costs back to Toronto, but the surgery was just one piece of the total package. I will never have access to all of the support, doctors, require fills or take advantage of any of the items they sell you as part of the package. All of a sudden, the attentive folks that wanted my money will not return my calls or emails. This is not a story of bitterness, this can happen and it can happen to you. I know very well all of the reasons why this surgery seems so appealing. All I am asking is for you to consider if this is really right for you and are you prepared to lose this much money if something goes wrong.

Hello, I have just joined this forum and find it most informative. I am very happy to see that most of you have had good experiences at the Slimband clinic in Toronto. I am visiting my own GP tomorrow to get his input and then I will hopefully be able to book my own surgery soon afterward. Best of luck to you all and I look forward to sharing my own experiences with you soon.

I'm in the process of booking my surgery with Slimband right now. My surgery is scheduled for April 16th and I'm really looking forward to it. So far my experience has been a bit of a roller coaster. It went like this: 1. First point of contact was with someone called Tara (I think). I'm not entirely sure what her name was but I'll tell you now she was super pushy and VERY rude to me. I was debating between having my surgery in the UK (where I'd been living for the last 7 years) and having it done in Canada. She was so rude to me about choosing some 'foreign' doctor to do my surgery and tried to scare me into believing that NO canadian doctor would take care of me after I'd had surgery abroad. I explained to her that I already had a doctor lined up as a family member had their lap band done abroad in January. She still didn't believe me. She told me she'd never heard of any doctor willing to clean up some other doctor's mess. VERY rude, very pushy and a complete liar. I was not impressed. BUT I wanted to know the cost and she wouldn't tell me so I asked to speak to a 'consultant'. 2. I spoke with a consultant called Niki. She's actually the woman from the TV ads and on the website. She was completely different to my first point of contact. She was pleasant and listened to all of my questions and answered them to my satisfaction. She explained that even though I'm based in Ottawa, they have 'outreach programs' and a doctor in Ottawa that does fills/defills for Slimband. Well, it seems it's the same doctor I was going to go to when I was thinking of getting my surgery in the UK. Anyway, Niki gave me plenty of information and helped me through the application process. That being said, when there was a delay with a fax I should have sent the sales person pressure came out of Niki as well. She pulled out classic sales tactics 101 and tried threats, fear, implying she did me a favour, and strict deadlines. I ended up sending her the information she was after and literally haven't heard from her since. 3. Now, the thing that's weird for me is that throughout Niki's sales pitch I was told that Dr Patrick Yau had completed over 3500 surgeries and that the rest of the staff had completed nearly another 1500. I made it clear from the start that if I was going to go with Slimband I wanted Dr Yau. I've tried on multiple occasions to get confirmation that Dr Yau will be performing my surgery and even suggested that if he's not available I'm prepared to wait and all communication has gone cold. No response. 4. I received the 'services agreement' and in the agreement it says that any member of their surgical staff that they deem suitable may perform my surgery. I wasn't told THAT during the whole sales pitch! 5. The services agreement also outlines an 'explanatory binder' and a 'surgery DVD' that I should receive but I haven't yet and when I've asked about it twice none of the contacts have provided an explanation. 6. I tried to join Myslimband.com and post questions and comments but for some reason I can't post anywhere. I sent a message to Amy the administrator a couple of days ago and haven't heard anything back. It seems pretty silly to me to have a 'forum' when only SOME people are allowed to be involved in the discussion. So, here I am living in Ottawa awaiting a surgery from a COMPANY I'm not entirely sure I want to work with. All of their staff have told me to email them with questions or concerns and their website promotes their 'support' for their clients but since I've signed the $16,000 away, I haven't really had ANY real answers to my questions. I'm trying to be balanced here so I will say that I've had my blood work done and it has Dr Yau's name on it but I wonder if any other Slimband patients have had his name on their forms and had their surgery done by another doctor. I've also got the pre-op diet information sheet which is easy to understand and follow. I've started today but I've got some questions and since non of the Slimband staff are replying to my emails and I don't have any permissions in the Slimband forum I came here. Not only am I nervous about this life-changing surgery and the $16,000 debt I've just agreed to I'm totally confused because I've got plenty more questions AND I don't even know who my surgeon is going to be. I've found some answers here so this forum has been a pretty big help. Keep looking around and you'll find more answers yourself. I don't mean for this to discourage you or anyone else considering Slimband because when the contact silence finally ends I'm sure I'll end up happier but I guess I just feel a bit trapped now when I should be feeling anticipation and some relief for the life change ahead of me. Good luck!

I'm going to Slimband... I spoke with Kathy, and she was fantastic! Any questions I come up with she answers them pretty fast. I'm glad to see some positive reviews about the actual surgery through slimband, although after reading some of the posts about the inital consult kind of get you thinking. Good Luck to everyone!!!

Dr Yau was my surgeon 3 1/2 years ago and the aftercare given by the old TLBC and the new Slimband is like night and day. Today the staff are trying very hard (and succeeding) with their advice and support. They are now using webcam sessions as a way to supporting long distance paitients. I find them very helpful. I would recommend Slimband as a choice.

See this Dark Haired beauty on the SLIMBAND ad? well thats my FILL nurse in Toronto Canada. I went for a 1/4CC fill yesterday, and also a consult appt with Jill the Nutricianist. I am going back on the Pre-op diet for a week or two then I am going back to T.O. for a weight-in. This way I will be accountable. I've had a sloppy summer food wise, no gain, but no losses either... I just beat myself up thinking about all that money that I have wastd! Well, no more. I really only go "out of control" from 7 - 10 p.m. Well as Jill pointed out that only 3 hrs out of 24!!! dah... not so much of a change needs to be made to get back on track. Develop different strategies for coping during those 3 hours.... Eat a bag of salad with Bals. vin dress, eat some frozen fruit(slowly and chew) I am going to track all my meals and then SHOW them to HER on my weight in day. If I can just tame the sugar monster the rest will follow!! Now I have to go back and re-read pages 748 and forward... Hugs to all

Hello all: Update about my Endoscopy procedure last two day ago: Melissa was right! My procedure was absolute went well and really quick. No pain during this procedure. However Dr. Hong did noticed i had inflammatory and infection cause the slimband. The Doctor did saw me puke after i took slip of water after the procedure. Best news is the surgical removal is next Monday! ( SO QUICK I KNOW!)

I don't think any elective surgeries are being booked right now as so many have been cancelled that they have a BIG backlog when they start up again... Also, no court cases are being held right now either. I have contacted a couple of lawyers and they never got back to me. Also, I was told not to go after Slimband but the maker OF the band as one went bankrupt and the other is still operating.

His name is Dr. Patrick Yau. You can read about him in the article I posted. The article also quotes, "Credit Medical and Slimband director Michael Scot-Smith is a former developer who was convicted of real estate fraud and sentenced in 1993 to two years in jail. In 2000, he was convicted of obtaining bank loans under false pretenses. He didn't respond to Marketplace's requests for comment." I think Michael Scot-Smith is the person to go after as he's STILL collecting money through Credit Medical loans. He's the one with the money. Please read the article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/gastric-band-surgery-marketplace-1.4479735

just a mini update. got a call from Slimband saying that all was set and I will be getting my preop package soon. I asked if it could be rushed since we're going away all of July and I'd only have a few days to get the blood work done and anything else they needed. she said she'd see what she could do to get it to me before we leave.

I wish I had not gone through with getting my slimband as it was nothing but problems. Are you comfortable sharing how you went after them? Thank you