Tax time - can we claim? Accountants, please "weigh in" (bwah ha!)

[TheProfessor 378]

Hi everyone,

As a resident of Ontario, and despite having the majority of our Health Care covered by the federal government, (yaay, Canada!) I paid for my lap-band procedure out of pocket.

Now that tax time is rolling around, I'm trying to figure out how to claim my WLS expenses. I didn't pay the full whack up front - I was financed through a 3rd party (CreLogix).

So my questions:

1. Should I (or can I?) claim the full amount ($16K) up front on my taxes, even though I have not paid anywhere near that due to paying a down payment and monthly instalments?
2. OR should I claim only what I had paid to date once the 2014 calendar year ended?
3. My surgeon was paid the full fee up front through my finance company (CreLogix). Who should I hit up for a receipt - my surgeon, or my financer, Crelogix?

Any Canadian who has experience with this OR expert advice want to "weigh in"?