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Suzie, My enbocrinologist sent in a request to medicare to pay for wls in 2006. It was not approved until 2007. I had my initial consult with Dr. B on November 20, 08. I had the 8 hr info session on Dec 2, 08. I went for consent signing on January 12, 09. I have to go for pre admission on Jan 27,09. I will need to go back again once more before surgery on February 12, 09. Hope this helps give you some hope.

Dr. Beausoliel is doing my RNY on February 12 2009. as long as I don't gain weight between now and then. I am so excited. I will start my 2 week optifast next thursday. I've been waiting 4 years too.

Doddie, you are such a sweetheart. You answer every question and you give great encouragement. The banders should be so glad that you are on their site. I will leave this site now because I wil be having bypass soon. Take great care if yourselves banders and especially you Doddie. God's speed.:biggrin:

I am a nurse (since 1987) and no the stomach is not removed in RNY bypass. It is removed in duodenal switch and is it stapled in half and part of it is removed in vertical sleeve banding. The RNY bypass can be reversed but unless there is a serious surgical need, it mostly never is. I suppose if one were to get cancer and need more nutrition long term, RNY bypass can be reversed. Nothing is removed but it would be a difficult procedure. Like tubal ligation can be reversed, not easy but can be done. I have decided on which surgery to have. I am having RNY bypass on February 12. I start my 2 week slimfast diet on Jan 29. :biggrin:

Thank you Doddie63. That is a very good idea. The list. The bypass is reversible. Nothing is removed. If medically needs it can be reconnected. A few years ago the bypass was not reversible. The band can become embedded into the stomach and become nearly impossible to remove. I was a nurse and did rotations in the O.R. and saw embedded foreign objects inside the body. They can become encapsulated. I like the idea of losing at your own pace and being able to not get a fill if you are going on vacation or something. Waiting untill you return to get your fill. That is nice. Also if you become ill, you can get it unfilled to allow you more nutrition. Thank you all for your answers. :grouphug:

Wow, thank you all ever so much! I see there are many happy bandsters out there. I am glad that you took the time to answer me. I appreciate it. :thumbup: It makes my decision a bit easier.:cool:

Thank you guys for your informative input. I appreciate hearing from you.More food for thought. Pardon the pun.

I live in New Brunswick and in order to get medicare to pay for my wls, I had to prove that I had tried unsuccessfully to lose weight over the last 5 years with documentation. I had reciepts from weightwatchers, curves, gym membership reciept along with every diet book written in the last 5 years and documentation from my family doctor dated 5 years ago where I had requested a referral to a dietition for diet consult.I needed all that to get my endocrinologist to refer me to a wls surgeon. I have spent the last 2 years with regular appointments with his weight loss team. I also have type 2 diabetes, had a heart attack in May, have arthritis and failed back syndrome. I walk with a cane and can only stand for 10 to 15 minutes. The province will pay for either the bypass or the lapband (including the band itself).

I would like to hear from anyone no matter the loss. thank you for being the first and so far only one to respond. Wow, 10 pounds is a great start. Plus what you lost pre-op. You are on your way.Feels good to see the scale numbers go down. I've been dieting on my own since June and so far at my lowest I had lost 38 lbs but now as I always do, I am starting to climb again.

I was hoping to get some feedback from this site. I got about 25 replies from the bypassers.

I am still trying to decide which wls to have. Band or bypass. It's driving me nuts! I've asked this question an my bypass forum site too so please don't think I'm picking on banders. How much weight have you lost in how long? I will not be happy with losing 1 pound a week. I need to lose 155 lbs. If I have to deprive myself and watch every morsel I put into my mouth, I'd like to think I saw some rewards from it at good pace. I've been weighing the pros and cons of both surgeries. Both can be undone so that's good and both have scary complications that's bad. I'd like some insight from this site. Bypass forum site answered and with the exception of one, everybody loves their decision.:thumbup:

Congratulations on getting your surgery and back home for Christmas. Why did you choose lapband over bypass? I'm trying to make that decision now.I'm tyring to get points of view.l

Pearl, if you want to calculate your BMI, go to weightlosssurgery.com and you will be on Dr. N. Cristeau's site. That is who trained Dr.B. and he follows Dr. Cristeau's methods fairly close. The booklet you get from Dr. B suggests you go to this site. On this site you will see a section that says "calculate your BMI' all you do is click on that and enter your height and weight and it will tell you your BMI. Your type of surgery will be based on you age and your bmi. Over 55 BMI 60 BMI means your body mass index. This is what your percentage of fat is based on. Unfortunately, this really is not real accurate because if you were a body builder with less than 10% body fat full of muscles and weighted 250 pounds, your bmi would say that you was overweight when we know that you aren't. BMI makes no allowence for bone structure or muscle mass so it is inaccurate. It is based soley on height, weight,gender and age.