I would like to hear from anyone who had surgery outside of the USA or Canada. I am Canadian and as this is regarded as cosmetic, we must pay for it ourselves. The cost is @ $16,000

I am hearing it is much less in Mexico & Panama. What have others paid--where have they had it done --Mexcio, Europe Asutrailia etc....and their thoughts and comments.

I am hoping if I go ahead--if there is a savings I can spend some of it on a holiday too:)--a holiday where ever I get it done.

Thank you

Guess what? We live in Canada, they can't refuse us healthcare, we are not Americans!:redface:

You would be surprised what they can do.. i had a minor minor complication post op plastic surgery in Calgary and the hospital response.... go back to Toronto to your own surgeon to have it looked at we want nothing to do with you.... so don't think it is all roses you can be referred back to your original doctor and Tracey is right they only thing they will do is take the band out of you.

I would ask the same question regardless of where I was being banded

1) if there is a complication who fixes it and who pays for the repair (I had 6 band surgeries all complications I knew who was paying) and get this in writing..

2) what post op support do you get this is more important than you will ever know post op is vital to success in most cases

3) fills who pays how much and when... you might need one fill you might need 2 dozen I am over 6 years out and i still get fill and defills and I have been at goal almost 5 years now

4) if you are no where near your surgeon can they arrange fills in advance for you at another office... they all know the other banding docs in most cases other surgeons and they have relationships with the companies that sell them the band they should be able to help you out

5) what band are you actually getting and what is it made of get a name brand band that way if something goes wrong you have a better chance of someone being familiar with the band type you have rather than some no name type that isn't tested, make sure your band type is approved by the FDA if you are american and Health Canada if you are cdn.. and get your band type in writing as part of the contract.

6) if you are going out of country get it all in writing and make sure the contract is legal in the country you are getting the band in and that you understand what you are agreeing too...

usually there is a reason why something is so much cheaper it may not be cheaper in the long run, it may cost you a lot more than you know. I have a friend who worked in hospitals in San Diego and used to see the botched surgerical patients coming back from Mexico for plastic etc and she says she won't even head over for an afternoon of fun anymore never mind get surgery there after what she has seen. This is a foreign country that does not have the same standards as Canada and the US have... some surgeons are great and some are very very bad. Me I would rather pay in Canada and know what I am getting. And I say this as a patient who did it all right and had almost everything that could go wrong go wrong are you prepared to pay to go to mexico for 6 surgeries... I was barely prepared to pay to fly to Toronto for them never mind mexico.

Good luck

Heather

Hi Micheal, Well I had my lap band done here in tijuana Mexico with my Dr. He is such a great doctor and takes the time to explain all the information that you need to know from start to end. Me myself is still in the process of acheiving my goals. I started being a size 24 in womens and went down to size 18 in about one month and half. I trust him very much. You could check out his website at ...obesitychoices.com His name is Dr. Gabriel Gutierrez. My name is Christine. I actually just got my first fill here in Tijuana which is where I am at now. My email is christineibarra@aol.com is you'd like to ask any questions. But I'm telling you check him out. Good luck on your choices

They can't refuse us healthcare which is wonderful BUT band complications are very very seldom ever life threatening. They usually require another band surgery, which our Canadian healthcare will not pay for. They will remove it but they won't reposition it or replace it so you are still out the expense of your band. They won't replace your tubing or port if there is a problem. They will send you back to your banding surgeon. If you have to wait months to save the money for your first first, what will you do if you are one of the ones that requires 14 fills in your first year to even start losing? Personally, if you can't find someone to do your fills locally, I'd be saving to have it done in Canada so you can get unlimited fills or defills when you need them at the expense of a trip only a few hours to Toronto.

If you end up too tight from your fill in Mexico and get back home and need defilled, what will you do? Good luck finding any ER doc that will defill you. Even those of us banded in Canada have trouble getting any ER help from anyone but our own surgeons. The band is not well known here by anyone but band surgeons and nobody will touch us with a 10 foot pole in ER.

I'm not against out of country banding at all, I just think you need to look harder for someone to do your follow-up in Canada. Have you asked your family doc if he/she will do your fills for you? Please don't get a band then not be able to get it adjusted. It wont' work if not adjusted and you just might be setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Before getting a band, find someone to follow up close to you. Make phone calls to doctors/nurses/nurse practioners and ask them if they will do it.

I did say that you will have to make sure you are covered from any defects or problems should they occur, and of course you must get it all in writing before hand.If I did have any problems I will fly back to Mexico because as you said the complications are seldom life theatening. As for being too tight, I will stay 1 or 2 days after being filled and have a mini holiday. Bythen I'm sure I'd know if I was too tight, wouldn't I? (I don't know , I'm not banded yet) If I get banded in Mexico why would I get my fills at home and ruin the warrenty. If the doc in mexico pokes your tube, he will be replacing it same as if your port gets infected. I'm not worried anymore about getting fills at home cause I know I can go to Detriot and have it done (my family doc said if he had more patients with the band he would get training to do it too), but like I said Ithink the same doctor doing everything is better in the long run

Fills are different for everyone. For some, they kick in immediately and for others it takes 2 weeks and then there's always self tightening that can happen months down the road. Some people get so tight they can't even get Water down and this is months after a fill.

Getting your fills at home might not void your warranty if the surgeon in Mexico approves of your fill person in Canada. I get mine done by someone other than my clinic, but he's been approved by them and my warranty is fully intact. If you go to Detroit, will the mexican surgeon still keep your warranty?

I've seen people trying to recruit fill docs in Ontario for the mexican patients all the time. There's one nurse that works for Dr.Kuri that is always on the look out for anyone that will do the follow up on their patients. I would hope if they are trying to recruit fill people, that the warranty would still be good.

The only reason I mentioned finding someone here to do your fills is because you said you would have to save for 2 months to get your first fill so obviously, you would have to save to get one every time if you had to travel back to Mexico. Detroit would be closer for sure since you could just drive it. Make sure if you choose the Detroit option, that your mexican surgeon uses a band that is FDA approved since places like Fill Centers USA will only do follow up on FDA approved bands. Right now there are only 2 that are FDA approved, the Allergan and the J&J. If they give you a generic brand or one of the many other bands on the market, you won't be able to get a fill in Detroit either.

Just make sure you know what you are buying so it makes your follow up so much easier.

I did say that you will have to make sure you are covered from any defects or problems should they occur, and of course you must get it all in writing before hand.If I did have any problems I will fly back to Mexico because as you said the complications are seldom life theatening. As for being too tight, I will stay 1 or 2 days after being filled and have a mini holiday. Bythen I'm sure I'd know if I was too tight, wouldn't I? (I don't know , I'm not banded yet) If I get banded in Mexico why would I get my fills at home and ruin the warrenty. If the doc in mexico pokes your tube, he will be replacing it same as if your port gets infected. I'm not worried anymore about getting fills at home cause I know I can go to Detriot and have it done (my family doc said if he had more patients with the band he would get training to do it too), but like I said Ithink the same doctor doing everything is better in the long run

I think you are smart to only have your band doc or someone he trains playing with your fills... but I am over six years out and my last four trips have been to get a defill, I haven't had a fill since 2005 and the only reason I needed a defill was because my band selftightened months and months later... I hadn't seen my surgeon in over a year and there I was getting a wee bit of a defill because it selftightened and with some people it is much worse than others.

Just make sure you have a contingency plan.

Heather

Thanks, very interesting to know that I might be able to go elsewhere for my fills. As for the band , my doc uses the inamed band.I also didn't know about self tightening, why does this happen? I am still learning new things all the time. I'm really glad I can find different views on things from this fourm. Thanks

Inamed and Allergan are one in the same. They have changed their name recently so your band will be one of the FDA approved ones. Do you know if your surgeon is using the newest bands by this company? They changed bands over a year ago to the ones called Advanced Platform (AP). The Canadian surgeons don't use the old Inamed ones at all anymore, they are all using the AP bands since they are the new and improved models.

Self-tightening just happens sometimes. Sometimes it's stress that causes it, sometimes it can be allergies and sometimes it's just nothing that causes it. I had a fill in November 2006 and then had to be defilled in September 2007 because I got so tight that it took 4 hours to drink 8 ounces of anything. There was no cause for it, nothing wrong with my band at all, it was just being fickle. So after 10 months of it giving me no grief and just being at a very good level, it got very tight.

Thanks, very interesting to know that I might be able to go elsewhere for my fills. As for the band , my doc uses the inamed band.I also didn't know about self tightening, why does this happen? I am still learning new things all the time. I'm really glad I can find different views on things from this fourm. Thanks

If you figure it out let me know, nothing seems to change in my life but my band it is a fickle bitch as one bandster said... stress, periods, altitudes, who knows... all sorts of things can cause you to self tighten sometimes it releases a day or two later sometimes it just stays tight, mine likes to self tightened and stay together so no biggy.

For a lot of people it is stress and periods that cause it to self tighten, I can take all the stress in the world most of the time and sometimes something will set my band off... but then I tend to live a stress filled life that drives mere mortals insane as do most people.

As long as you are prepared you should be fine, but as Tracey and I both said the best offense is a good defense so knowledge is power and being informed paramount.

good luck

Heather