Ang1982

I posted this in the Canada forums but thought I would put it here too in case there is anyone that might have information that doesn't browse the Canada forums. So last night I was explaining the surgery, etc to my mom and she had a couple of pretty legitimate questions which I was hoping perhaps someone here could help out with. 1) If I get my surgery done out of Province/Country - currently looking into going to Dr.Kirshenbaum in Colorado - and self paying as BC Med does not cover it - nor does my extended medical through work . . what happens if something goes wrong during the surgery such as lets say for example: a heart attack (for lack of something better, unlikely since I'm 25 but it's the first thing to pop into my mind) and now they are treating me for that - Will I be getting hospital bills up the wazoo? 2) So say I get my surgery done whether it be Toronto, Colorado, wherever (basically anywhere out of Province) if there is some sort of issue with it that requires emergency rectification that I cant make it back to the original surgeon in time to deal with - would I have to pay my local hospital the cost of having to deal with it? And would they just remove it? 3) Similar to question 2 - if you have to have a port replaced or anything of the sort done due to errosion, slippage, etc. and you go back to your original surgeon - do you have to pay for that too? Or is it considered "warranty"? Thanks for helping with my questions

What a bitch! Do not let someone like that get you down, the others provided some great advice (I'm not banded yet so I won't go there) and OH Julie was much nicer about what you could have said than I would have been. Keep your chin up and get back on the horse!!

Good information! Thanks Doddie, you are always such a great help Didn't realize you could write part of it off if you get it done in Canada. That too is interesting.

I think the thing that worries me the most about going out of Province/country whether it be mexico or somewhere in the US is what if something happens during surgery and I going to end up bankrupted in unexpected hospital fees? And then the other thing is - even if I had surgery somewhere like toronto, what if I had to have emergency surgery (god forbid, knock on wood) here in BC if something went wrong, could the hospital/healthcare charge me if it was related to WLS which they wont pay for?

For the record my dear, you are much to hard on yourself. You are a very cute, yes pretty, lady and you need to cut yourself some slack :confused:

Thanks for the reply! It's great to see responses from patients of Dr Kirschenbaum. I guess its just scary to think you can put out so much money up front and still have the possibility of having to pay MUCH more later if something goes wrong ya know?:faint:

Hello! Thanks for posting this, I have been looking into it and have "got it covered" (I hope). I know aftercare is almost more important than the surgery itself so I have done my research and there are three different doctors/clinics within a couple of hours of where I live that are options (two just over the border in Washington and one in Vancouver). They all state that they have to do the consult first but have said that for a brand new patient its uncommon that they wouldnt take you on. I know at least one of them will not accept patients banded in Mexico which is why I am looking at Colorado as the surgeon there has pretty competitive pricing.

Thanks for the response, it's a bit different as I would be coming from Canada where we dont really "buy insurance" as we have the government healthcare (which does not cover Banding). I'll have to look into travel medical insurance I think and see what that covers.

Colorado does it for $9950 USD where as I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) TLBC (? heh) is around $16,000 CAD? And unfortunately, that cost difference might make the difference between getting it done and not. I would much prefer Canada but that might not be a possibility.

So would the "standard" travel insurance cover that I wonder. Perhaps I'll have to pop in at an insurance broker and ask. As I am not sure that if you are already there for another procedure if that falls under the travel insurance that you can buy or not. Thanks for the reply!

Congrats!!! You should be very proud, keep up the good work!!

Hopefully this doesn't get lost at the bottom of this thread and people still see it. So last night I was explaining the surgery, etc to my mom and she had a couple of pretty legitimate questions which I was hoping perhaps someone here could help out with. 1) If I get my surgery done out of Province/Country - currently looking into going to Dr.Kirshenbaum in Colorado - and self paying as BC Med does not cover it - nor does my extended medical through work . . what happens if something goes wrong during the surgery such as lets say for example: a heart attack (for lack of something better, unlikely since I'm 25 but it's the first thing to pop into my mind) and now they are treating me for that - Will I be getting hospital bills up the wazoo? 2) So say I get my surgery done whether it be Toronto, Colorado, wherever (basically anywhere out of Province) if there is some sort of issue with it that requires emergency rectification that I cant make it back to the original surgeon in time to deal with - would I have to pay my local hospital the cost of having to deal with it? And would they just remove it? 3) Similar to question 2 - if you have to have a port replaced or anything of the sort done due to errosion, slippage, etc. and you go back to your original surgeon - do you have to pay for that too? Or is it considered "warranty"? Thanks for helping with my questions

Enjoy your visit and coffee with your friend. Who better to sit down with and ease your fears and concerns then your good friend who has been through it all

*hug* Crispy, please don't take this as me "attacking you" or anything just trying to put some perspective into things.. I've not had the band but am trying my hardest to get the finances together to be able to. "I should try another diet again" - isn't that why you are looking at lapband in the first place. I know personally that I've tried the various diets and methods and sure you can stick with it for a while and you do well but eventually... it just stops and *I* need away to be able to "not just stop". I've tried various different things, some successful, some not sucessful and others that were temporarily sucessful then brought 5-10lbs of revenge back with it. Why do you think you cant do it? Will it be easy? Heck no, it's not supposed to be easy, it took a life time (assuming) to get here it's not going to be a cake walk to get it off. But ifyou are given a tool that gives you a HIGHER chance to suceed then just "another diet again" isn't that worth it? Are you willing to give up some of your favourite foods (granted not all and I'm sure some day you will be able to have SMALL tastes of these) to be able to walk into ANY mall and walk into ANY store and know that you can buy their clothes? NOT feel embarrassed going to a movie and barely fitting in the seat? Know that you can comfortably sit on a bus/airplane? Isn't that worth giving up Cheesecake and Starbucks (two of my personal demons) for? I think so. You have been given a chance to recapture the rest of your life. Grab the bull by the horns and kick its ass!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!! And you have sooo many great people here to hold your hand along the way. Don't give up. We're here cheering you on every step of the way!!!:clap2::clap2::clap2:

Great thanks! I actually live in Chilliwack BC, but I'm looking into getting banded by someone not in BC and will need to find a fill doctor. I wonder if they will see people who were not banded by them.. guess I'll have to call and find out. Appreciate the response. I see you were banded in Surrey, are you a fellow Canuck? What was your overall opinion of Dr Leung? Ive heard he lacks a bit in the bedside manner? Also, I have heard he is getting up there in years so if he retires will his band patients be referred elsewhere? I know he does not take other surgeons band patients for fills. Thanks! Angela

Hello my friends! I have been doing some searching on the internet as to different financing options available in Canada and thought I would see what you guys have to say in case I am perhaps missing something. So, if you got financing help did you go through a bank personal loan? Has anyone used Medicard (or whatever it's called)? How much did you finance? How long is your finance term? Are you comfortable telling me approx how much per month you pay? Thanks in advance!!!

Hmmmm 70 and about to retire that's kinda scary! Hah, although really how much do I care about the guys bedside manner if he gets the job done and well? I'll give them a call when I get home from work today. I've heard from someone else that Dr.Woodhead isn't getting much OR time, wonder what the deal with that is?

Paula, Thanks for the input, much appreciated. I'm definitely closer to him than Dr. Woodhead seeing as he's in Surrey and Woodheads in Delta and I live in Chilliwack! Hehe.

Looks like today is surgery day, hope all went well!

Argh, the current dilemna that I am facing is that I am already 3 years into a 6 year car loan that I pay approx $524/month for. And unfortunately I do not have a house to use for equity as I am just a renter right now. I'm trying sooo hard to not get discouraged... but it's not working =/

Thank you both for your responses. After hearing more and more about aftercare and the importance of being close to someone who deals with that I am reconsidering my thoughts of going to Mexico.

Hello, I will start with just a quick intro to what brought me here/about me... I am 25, my entire life I have struggled with my weight, I was a bigger kid yet still quite active until I was blessed with puberty and a large chest which plagued me and my athletic activities all through my teens. At 19 I had a breast reduction - one of the best things I have ever done! As the years went by my weight crept up and up, a few years ago I successfully lost 50 lbs through Weight Watchers and have not gained it back (yay!), however I have since fallen off the WW bandwagon and have just managed to maintain not gaining any weight or losing any either for that matter. Weight Watchers was great at the time however now, I can't really afford to pay $15.00 every week to go right now. I tried Medifast for a month and hated it but it worked and I lost 20'ish lbs, however due to the fact that I couldn't stand to eat/drink it I didn't do longer then that month and the 20 lbs I lost came back and brought 10lbs worth of friends. I am currently a member of Curves (signed up a few months ago) and as much as I love the concept of it and the place itself I HATE going and feel miserable before, during and after everytime I go. Yet here I am locked in for $45 a month (hence why WW isnt an option these days) for the next 9 months or so. I have been eating not so well lately and I know that I need to change it and I have the information required to change it (I kept all of my WW info, etc) and it is something that I am working towards getting better at I dont know why it seems to be such a struggle for me. My boyfriend is amazing he loves me exactly the way I am and thats perfect yet its also hard because he doesn't give me that extra "oomph get your but in gear and eat better shove" that sometimes I need. I feel like I have been spiralling down lately, I look in the mirror and I want to cry and recently I saw a picture that wasn't taken directly of me but I was in the background walking out a door with my back to the camera and the first thing I thought was wow, is that really me? Is that how I look? My best friend has had the gastric bypass and we were roommates at the time and I've seen first hand the effects the harshness of the surgery and the after effects and I know that is not something I could ever do (not to mention I could never get the required recovery period off work). She suggest that I check out the Lap Band and find a forum to get some information as it was one of the options that she had looked at before deciding on gastric bypass. I know the Canadian Govt would cover the cost should I chose to do so... So why the big post? I guess it's more a way for me to just "get it off my chest" regardless of whether or not anyone takes the time to read and respond to my small novel. Any words of wisdom, advice, info you can give would be appreciated. And is there anyone in the Vancouver, BC area that has had it or is going to have it done? What surgeon are you seeing/did you see? Thanks for listening. In need of an emotional and physical overhaul, Angy :cry

Doddie, thanks so much for the input, I will do my research etc as to what my plan will be. My next step is meeting with my own doctor next week. Unfortunately when it comes down to it is a car more important then my health? No of course not; however, the car loan I was referring to is already 3 years into a 6 year loan so it's not like I am deciding on getting one I'm already half way into it and there's no backing out of that now. Thanks again for the info

Hi Peaches, by all means please jump in. I appreciate all the input and support I can get. Just to clarify you got a loan for a 10 year period? If you dont mind me asking - how much was the total amount of your loan for (assuming it wasn't a personal loan from family/friends)? And what kind of monthly payments do you have/ which financial company? If you would rather PM me the info, that is if I'm not being too nosey, I would greatly appreciate what kind of numbers I would be looking at. I'm starting to think this will be my only option but I'm currently in the middle of a car loan so there's not a whole lot of spare cash flow at the moment around here haha.

Thanks for all the support Doddie. I am trying not to give up hope. My doc appointment is for next Tuesday and I am going to be asking for a referral the two doctors in the lower mainland that I have found is Dr.Woodhead and Dr.Leung. I phoned Dr. Leung's office just out of curiousity and his receptionist (or whoever answered the phone) informed me it was not covered by medical. But I am going to try my darndest (new word?) to see if I can get it covered. I actually also phoned BC Medical and they told me it was not covered as well so you are not out of date at all. May I ask why you chose to go to TLBC instead of to someone like Dr.Woodhead in the first place? And how long from your decision to get it done to the actual process was your wait? Thanks again. Angela