Donna!

As far as I know the only band clinic in Canada offering lifetime aftercare is my clinic which is The Surgical Weight Loss Centre in Mississauga. This includes any complications or need for replacement and lifetime fills at their clinic in Mississauga. Just one of the reasons I feel our clinic is tops.

Definitely the majority of SWLC patients prefer our own patient support forum where we all have been given the same band rules and instructions. Also our forum is the busiest and most extensive that I know of in Canada for Canadians and we have a great chatroom too. While I do belong to several support sites none compare to SWLC's forum in my opinion.:sad:

Hi Everyone, Just a friendly reminder that we will be having our monthly support group meeting this Thursday June 18th, at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7 pm.) Please contact or look up the location details on the Surgical Weight Loss Centre Patient Support Forum under Support Groups section. Bottled Water will be available and feel free to bring Snacks and drinks or you may purchase them in the store. Our meeting will consist of check-in and sharing with each other our challenges and successes on our bandster journey. Feel free to bring clothes for our clothing exchange also. Please note that this will be our last meeting until the fall when we meet again on Thursday, September 17th. I look forward to seeing all of you and new bandsters too! Please RSVP if you plan to attend, thanks. Regards, Donna Facilitator

As a SWLC patient you are more than welcome to attend our monthly support group meetings I facilitate at a location in Mississauga. We meet on the third Thursday of each month (except July & August.) Feel free to contact me for further info or check out my post on the SWLC support forum. By the way I live in Brampton.

Just a reminder to those patients of the SWLC that our all day Symposium is taking place this Saturday May 30th, in Mississauga. I can't wait to see many of you there that day and the night before for the dinner arranged by two fellow bandsters. Last year's Symposium was awesome and this one is planned to be double the size. Many are attending from all over the country so it will be great to reconnect and meet in person.:smile: Our clinic rocks!

Hi Fellow Surgical Weight Loss Centre Bandsters, Just a reminder to everyone that our next support group meeting is this Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 pm at a Mississauga location. Contact me for location details or check out the SWLC Patient Support Forum message board under Support Group Section. Our guest speaker this month will be Kelly who's new role is Wellness Coach at The Surgical Weight Loss Centre. Kelly will talk to us about her role at the clinic and answer our questions on how to stay motivated, how to handle our challenges and struggles, etc. I hope to see many of you whether new, regular or those who haven't been out in a long time. It's always great to get together and share our journey's challenges and successes as a bandster. Remember to bring your clothes that you have outgrown for our monthly clothing exchange also. To help me arrange seating and planning can you please contact me or post here if you plan on attending this month's meeting, thanks! coffee and Snacks are available to purchase in the store and this month I will be supplying bottled Water at no charge. I look forward to seeing you all Thursday night! Regards, Donna Group Facilitator

Final reminder to patients of The Surgical Weight Loss Centre that our next Lap-Band Peer Support Group meeting is tomorrow night on Thursday, April 16th, at a Mississauga location at 7:30 - 9:30 pm. (Room will be open at 7 pm.) Please contact me for location details. Tammy one of the clinic's beloved nurses will be our guest speaker for the full two hours and will be answering fill and band questions and any concerns. It promises to be a good turnout so please RSVP me by 5 pm tomorrow if you plan to attend as it will help me in arranging the room seating. Also a reminder that next month on Thursday, May 21st, Kelly the Wellness Coach from the clinic will be the guest speaker and will explain her role in helping support you on your journey and answering questions. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow night! Regards, Donna Volunteer Facilitator for Mississauga Lap-Band Peer Support Group for SWLC Patients

Doctor who slept with ‘hot’ twin patients skips reprimand hearing Posted: May 12, 2009, 7:02 PM by Rob Roberts By Joseph Brean, National Post Ten years after Jacobo Joffe started sexually abusing women on whom he performed obesity surgery, including the “hot” twin sisters he described as “every man’s fantasy,” the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario today delivered a blistering reprimand to an empty desk. The no-show of Mr. Joffe, once a respected bariatric surgeon at Toronto’s Scarborough Grace Hospital, was an awkward and perplexing first for the college, which regulates doctors in the province. But Mr. Joffe, having already received the college’s stiffest punishment of license revocation, had little more to lose by skipping his public reprimand, other than any hope of future reinstatement. Discipline panel chair Dr. Marc Gabel said he was “dismayed” and uncertain what to do, so he stuck to a script that denounced Mr. Joffe for his “shameful” behaviour and “obvious knowledge of the wrongness you were involved in.” “You have not only damaged and brought into disrepute your own name and reputation, but cast a shadow upon the whole profession,” he said. “We can only hope that in future you can find a way to correct your moral compass.” The panel last year stripped Mr. Joffe of his medical licence after he pleaded no contest to sexually abusing four women, including the sisters. All were his patients for operations, such a gastric bypass or laparoscopic band surgery, designed to treat their obesity. The abuse spanned 1999 to 2006, and included various sex acts performed in the hospital and his office. In victim impact statements, one woman spoke of going to him at a time of “personal desperation.” “When my life began to get better he took advantage of my feelings of thankfulness toward him,” she said. In the case of the twins, the judgment says Mr. Joffe went to a 2003 Christmas party for lap-band support patients, where he told the twins they were “hot” and kissed them on the lips. From then until 2006, he “attended their home approximately every two weeks and almost every week during the summer months where he engaged in various sexual acts with them...” He also engaged in illicit drug use with the twins, using street drugs he asked one of them to purchase. Mr. Joffe was also ordered to pay college legal costs of $3,650, and $40,000 toward a fund for his victims’ therapy, but a college spokeswoman said she could not confirm whether these payments have been made. Mr. Joffe is also facing a class action lawsuit, filed last month, which also targets the hospital, alleging it “knew or should have known about Joffe’s substance abuse and his predatory sexual behaviour.” The hospital denies the allegation, saying in a statement that it only learned about Mr. Joffe’s misconduct in 2007, and took appropriate steps. Mr. Joffe has reportedly been living in Mexico, where he went to medical school, but keeps a Toronto apartment with a girlfriend who was once a patient.

This doctor sounds like a complete butcher and imbecile, very scary... Who the hell would want to risk using him with his track record for wls never mind plastics. :mad2:

I don't know of any clinic that will do fills or look after you if you end up with complications in the greater Toronto area. I hope you consider carefully being banded so far away from where you will be living it could be a recipe for disaster.

Moonbeam, fills help to get you to good restriction but they won't take away the head hunger. The band really is only a tool albeit a good one, it does take motivation and discipline to get good results.

Here is a link to the info on The Surgical Weight Loss Centre's Symposium being held Saturday, May 30th, in Mississauga for patients. Hope to see many at it! - Symposium Speaker Schedule and Program | SWLC - Surgical Weight Loss Centre Forum •

Hi Great North, yes last year was super! I'm looking forward to seeing new and familiar bandsters and hearing from the guest speakers. I'm glad the clinic runs these annually now.

Yes the wait time is pretty short at The Surgical Weight Loss Centre in Mississauga. I can't say enough great things about my clinic and their aftercare support.

This is a copy of the email I sent out to members of our support group for anyone who lurks on this board from our clinic: For patients of The Surgical Weight Loss Centre in Mississauga: Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of Spring! Just an early reminder that we will be having Tammy a beloved nurse at The Surgical Weight Loss Centre come out to speak with us as our guest speaker at our next meeting on Thursday, April 16th, at 7:30 pm, (doors open at 7:00 pm.,) Sue, one of our other wonderful nurses would of joined her but unfortunately will be out of town. I hope as many people as possible will come out to chat and ask questions of Tammy, I would appreciate if people could RSVP me up to 5 pm the day of the meeting so I can get an idea of the numbers to expect when I am configuring the room seating set up that night. We will be continuing with our ongoing clothing exchange, so feel free to bring items that no longer fit you and look through the lovely selection of items available. coffee and other refreshments continue to be available for purchase at the hot deli food counter on the main floor. For those who were not able to attend last month I will have available additional handouts on "Emotional Eating" I made up that was our topic last month. Please contact me for the location info if you don't already know it. I will be contacting Tammy with the types of questions and concerns pre-op and post-op bandsters have for her so feel free to email me anything you would like added to the list. This night will consist of a relaxed evening with Tammy open to addressing any of your queries so please come out and give and receive support! Hope to see many new and familiar faces including those who haven't been able to attend in awhile, we miss you! I will post an additional group reminder the week of the meeting but please circle this date on your calendar, thanks. Regards, Donna Volunteer Facilitator for the Mississauga Lap-Band Peer Support Group for SWLC Patients

I just replied to you on the other thread, so now that I have your email info I will add you to the contact list. I will also send you a copy of the group information. I look forward to meeting you in May! By the way do you know about the Symposium the clinic is having on Saturday, May 30th? If you haven't already registered be sure to contact Catherine at The SWLC to do so.

Hi Hannah, I was banded at the SWLC clinic three years ago and started the Mississauga support group for fellow bandsters of the clinic. The clinic sponsors the support group but does not run the group at all, it is a peer support group. I facilitate it at a location in Mississauga in a community room. If you would like to be on my email contact list for monthly reminders of our meetings feel free to send me your email contact info at donna-06@hotmail.com . Our next meeting is on Thursday, May 21st, at 7:30 pm and our guest speaker will be Kelly who is the Wellness Coach at The Surgical Weight Loss Centre. You are more than welcome to attend.

Have you considered going through OHIP to get your VSG as they now cover it at specified doctors? Many people who get the sleeve use it as a first step in later getting the full DS (duodenal switch) as the sleeve will stretch out after so long which may result in not reaching your goal weight or result in some regain.

Good luck finding a doctor in Ontario who will do your fills and aftercare if you go with a band clinic in Mexico. Most people have had a lot of difficulty so research this carefully before making a decision. Best wishes,

Hi Sweet, As you are a patient at the clinic where I was banded you are welcome to attend our monthly support group in Mississauga. The next meeting is this Thursday, April 16th, at 7:30 pm and if you pm me I can give you the location details or they are also posted on the SWLC mesaage board. Donna Facilitator Mississauga Lap-Band Peer Support Group

Heather I believe you meant Dr. Thomas Bell he is located on Avenue Rd. and I sent a request for info. Thanks,

Thanks Heather, I will check out Bell. I did just view Sammy Sliwin's website and it is very informative and impressive.

Heather I will check him out, do you know if he is experienced with many facelifts? I will google him for his website. Forest Hill you say? Darn he may be too rich for this poor gal. :eek:

I find this new format very hard to read and view. :thumbup:

I definitely will be getting a lower facelift within the next year to three years. I would love to know who people choose for this and definitely only go with a plastic surgeon who is well qualified for.