so done with it all

I looked all through the CTV website and it seems after so many days they archive all the segments and then you have to pay to view them. Not worth 2 cents to see it after the fact. It was all a big smoke show pushing CIBO and her pushing her book. It was probably SWLC that had that on their website since they used to charge a consultation fee that went towards your surgery price if you booked with them but now all consultations are free. The pre-op diet is also seperate because not everyone does the same thing. Some people do no Optifast and others do between 2 and 4 weeks of the stuff. Some people opt to purchase it on Ebay instead of through the clinic. Be prepared to pay lots of consultation fees once you start looking into PS. I haven't come across one yet that offers free consultations but I figure it's worth the money to find out I don't want to go to this one or that one. Their time is money and I know that nobody gives anything away for free but I just hope that I find the one I really like in the first 10 that I visit since that will be about $1000 right there that could go towards my PS work.

Mary, You might be shocked how many people get snowed by celebrity endorsement of things. I did my research as well and I came across Yau and Cobourn. Met with both, equally impressed with both and just had an overall better connection with Cobourn but would never ever diss Yau since I thought he was great as well. My decision came down to personal connection with the surgeon and since I knew this was a lifelong relationship with him, I picked the one I had better chemistry with..we think alike and our personalities mesh well so everything has gone smoothly since Day 1. I plan on researching PS the exact same way and I am not going to just pick the PS that someone else uses without doing my own research. I think I'll be even pickier with my PS choice than I was with my banding surgeon choice. The PS work is going to show a lot more than my band does so I want to make sure I don't pick a quack. I'll see if I can find the link again but CTV only leaves them on for so long.

I spoke with my surgeon when that article came out late last fall and he told me that OHIP reimbursed the patients $750, which is the OHIP fee they would have paid the surgeon and anything on top of that amount, they had to sue the doctor for, which none did. I never want it covered either for my own, very selfish reasons. Some WLS are covered and I like the fact that some are and some aren't and I have the choice to get it when I want it. Had I wanted any of the covered ones, I would have self-paid out of country as well so I didn't have to jump through OHIP hoops and wait years. I'm not a good circus clown and don't do hoops well. I'm happy that some WLS are covered for those that can't afford it but am also happy that I was able to get my WLS of choice when I wanted it. If OHIP were to allow the band to be covered and still allow private clinics like they have in Quebec then that would be okay as well but for now, I like things just the way they are.

The price increased a few months ago but if you did your consult prior to the increase then you'd get the price from the time of consult.

I don't live in Alberta so can't comment on any of that but I did have severe obstructive sleep apnea with my pressure on my CPAP being 16 or 17 and I had lapband placed with no problems. I don't think anyone but an anesthesist can make that call so I would ask to speak to one or get a 2nd opinion from your own family doctor regarding that comment. I've had numerous surgeries with sleep apnea and have never had a problem. It almost seems like a copout for him to say that.

I'd just give them a call and by the sounds of it, they will rectify it. It's probably usually 2 weeks and that's why the accounting dept. would be looking for it now but if you had made other arrangements, they may not have known or did not see the note that you had different payment arrangements. I had to give my deposit the day I booked and then balance in full was due 2 weeks prior to surgery. That is usually the norm but if special arrangements are made, I'm sure they will honor them if you contact them.

The balance owing is usually 2 weeks prior to surgery not 2 days. Are you sure that it was in fact 2 days prior to surgery since that is unheard of. They usually give you 2 weeks because if for any reason, you didn't pay up, then they could schedule someone else for that spot. 2 days prior to surgery doesn't seem right to me so perhaps you need to get this clarified.

Doddie, it is covered in NB. It's like it is in Quebec, all you do is pay for the band itself so around the $5k mark. My friend was done in NB years ago by Beausoleil before the waiting list became unreal. I read of one going to him now through the NB healthcare program and they have to wait 4 years or something insane like that.

Mandi, There's a chick on OH lap-band board that had it done by Beausoleil and I read she paid $4500 but she has never mentioned how long she had to wait. Perhaps you can look for her on OH, her username is Krista C. I believe. I just checked out her profile on OH and she's from NB not NS but did use Beausoleil. I am pretty sure there is a yahoo bandster group for Maritimers. You might want to check them out and find out from them if it's covered in NS as well as NB.

Heather is right, you really need to escalate this higher. I checked TLBC website and it states right there that Kathy is strictly for pre-op so once you book you are probably supposed to speak to their post op staff. I was banded elsewhere and as soon as you are booked, you no longer deal with the pre-op person, you deal directly with the nurses and dietitian. Perhaps Kathy is passing on all your emails to the proper people and the are the ones not replying. Back to the car analogy, once you buy the car, you don't go back to the salesman if you have a problem right, you go to the mechanics. In this case, Kathy is the salesman and their other staff are the mechanics. I would think once all your pre-op questions are answered and you are booked, you should be speaking with someone else. Contact the clinic and ask them who should be doing what so you know who to lodge the complaint against. I know the chain of communication for my clinic and when I don't hear back, I know directly who to contact to complain. Perhaps you need to find this out for your clinic as well. Be persistent and go above the rest. A week to hear back is BS especially immediately post op.

Doddie, She's here to push her book and to speak about having the band so she's not representing Inamed at all. She didn't even mention CIBO's actual name, she said she was holding an information seminar with Tom Saridis, who we all know is the founder of CIBO and she pushed her book. She didn't discuss anything about the actual clinic other than her comment about it being the best in Canada. Hard for her to comment on a clinic that isn't even built yet. They have a name and some offices but no surgical suites. All their hype about their clinic is just that hype and nothing more. They are up to maybe 10 bands at most by now and aftercare is still in the very new stages so hard to comment on it when very few patients and very little time. It's all a paid for smokescreen and anyone with half a brain can see through it all. Just be glad we were banded at some of the best clinics in Canada already and didn't have to try and decide now with all the advertising they are paying for to get their name out there. Actually most of us are smart enough to see through it all and probably would have still picked our respective clinics with proven stats.

Tom bought her to speak so highly of his clinic. She's here on her own not on behalf of Inamed. Her opinion is so contradictory considering in one breath she says she has never been to another clinic then in the next breath, she says it's the best clinic in Canada. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the inaccuracies in her comments.

Tom is with CIBO and she was referring to him since she is the guest speaker at his open house this weekend. That's the only clinic she has been to so rather biased to say it's the best in the country when she's not visited the others that use the same band. Also she is a spokesperson for Inamed not a medical personnel so her opinion means very little. She is in Toronto to promote CIBO and nothing more. They had to bring in a celebrity to speak for them to try and get their clinic on the map.

SWLC has either already stopped or is about to stop taking any other patients from other clinics. I believe they did it as a favour to Inamed but it's more trouble than it's worth. Fill centres USA will do you but then you have to travel to them as well. Maybe find the one nearest you and figure out the cost to get there and then compare that to flights to Mexico and you will have your answer as to where to go.

Freedom, all the patients from the London area go back to either Mississauga or Toronto for their fills. The clinic I was done at, trains doctors/nurses all over the country to do fills just for their patients but there are none in your area at all because they all travel the 2 hours back to the clinic for them. Even if your family doc is not supportive of this type of surgery, will he not do fills for you since you already have the band anyway? He might not agree with your decision but ask him why he wants to punish you for making what you thought was a good decision. I'd keep asking him to help you out or see if he can refer you to another doc who might be supportive of the band. If you don't ask, you'll never know.

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.

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 have loved mine for 2 years 5 months 2 days and 1 hour and have never hated it. I've had days where I've had to allow it to be boss and that's fine with me. Sometimes I need a swift hand over me so that's what the band is to me. I'm probably indifferent to it most days since I don't even think of it anymore. It's there and does its job but it's never a love/hate thing for me.

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.

Each doc or nurse trained by my clinic does charge their own fee for the fill or defill. They can range from $50 to $150. It's still a lot cheaper than going back to Toronto each time. As long as the clinic has trained them, then they cover any complications from fills. I can't speak for TLBC but I know that is how SWLC works with the medical staff they have trained throughout the country. Doesn't matter where you get your fills done as long as it is someone they trained, you are covered for any repairs they might have to do because of a fill person. If you go to someone not trained by them, then you might in fact void your warranty with them unless you get something else in writing stating that the person doing your fills is still covered under your warranty.

The fill person in Timmins is strictly for patients of the SWLC since they trained them to do fills for their patients and they are only liable for anything that happens to a SWLC patient's band. If you find a local doctor that will do your fills with the TLBC cd or dvd, just make sure you have something in writing from TLBC that any fills done by that person will be covered by the TLBC warranty. I have one so that if my doc punctures anything on mine, it's completely covered by the SWLC.

Fills are not painful at all. It hurts about as much as them drawing blood for tests. I don't even feel the needle going in at all. I've been banded almost 2.5 years and just had my 6th fill. Everyone is different so you have no idea how many fills you will require but they are necessary to make this work.

Chubba, if you are about 8 hours north of the city then you must be up near Timmins. Depending on which clinic you get banded at, they do have fill docs/nurses in the north that they trained but they strictly fill their own patients. I get my local doc to do mine but my clinic has one trained in Timmins, North Bay and Sudbury so I know if I can't see mine quick enough, I can make a quck 2 hour trip instead of 6 and get one.

It was a SWLC event for their patients and guests only. It was a wonderful time and very informative.

Donna there were a few threads about CIBO. There was one last week posted about them and Dr. Joffe. The man said his wife had first hand knowledge that Joffe was in the OR but the patients had no idea.