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I just wanted to share my story, I'm sorry you feel that I'm promoting Slimband. I'm simply letting people know that Slimband worked for me, it has changed my life. If I can help anyone else out there who, like me, has struggled with weight all of their life, that is my goal. I wanted to be of help to anyone that had questions regarding Slimband.

Bandjennafar, I'm glad you are happy with the clinic SLIMBAND. I had a friend who was banded by Dr. Yau and he has lost 120lbs! I did not find out until recently:). Continue to post, I didn't fill out my info until recently and I was posting blogs;) My pic is a photo of my pug;))) as for the original post, I choose SWLC and will be banded in November....

I found this on those specific doctors/centers, definitely have a look. It sounds like SWLC is a much better and safer choice: http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/47736/Dr-Chris-Cobourn-Mississauga-ON.html Plus, it appears Dr. Cobourn uses the proven safe Lap-Band whereas I've never heard of Slimband.

I'm not aware of a new clinic... did you ever contact Slimband and find out what the rate were?

You can contact Slimband in Toronto to find out how much fills are. Local 416.482.2033 Toll Free 800.298.0684 Tom

Hi There, Were you banded at TLBC and being hassled by Slimband and being refused care? I am in Toronto and would be interested in joining a support group.

There's no fill Dr's in Barrie, but Slimband is doing Markham fills now, I find that much easier :frown:

Patricia: This doctor has been used by TLBC (Slimband) from the Toronto Lapband Clinic (now Slimband) for their patients in BC. He does fills for their patients. I know of one lady who goes to him and thinks he is very caring. Payment up front of course. Slimband patients go through the clinic fill nurse in Toronto for appointments. I understand they pay up front too and get reimbursed later if their contract calls for free fills. Also, I was told that this Dr. has been trained by Slimband in fills.

Hi Debbie. Yes I go to Dr. Woodhead (referred to by my clinic) and hopefully a few of his patients will respond to your post. I like him very much. Dr. W. does not have a clinic but he does his surgery at the Delta hospital. I find him very supportive. Here is a list of questions prepared by a successful bandster. I had my band in Toronto, but the distance is so far away that I cannot take advantage of the support so I pay for my fills. I get my support from Dr. W. and the Support group that meets at the Lions Gate Hospital and from the Slimband website. These are just a few of the questions that come to mind that are important in helping to make a decision in deciding which band surgeon and/or clinic to go with: · Is there a fee for consultation? · Are any of your staff at the clinic banded? · What other staff are available to patients such as dieticians, nutritionists, psychologists? o Is there a cost for their services? · Does the clinic have a website and a messageboard and or chatroom available for Lap Band potential patients to access? · What percentage of your bariatric clinic is devoted to lap band patients? · What is your medical education? · What experience in term of years and number of procedures do you have in lap band surgeries? · What experience do you have in performing revisions? · If you are a revision, what tests will you need to have done ahead of time to be sure you can have a lap band? · Do you have any statistics regarding your lap band practice and number of patients who have had slippages, band erosions or other complications? · What type of warranty comes with your lap band surgery? · What type of bands do they use and how do they determine the type and size? · Is there a pre-op diet you need to follow? o If so is there a cost involved? How much? · If I don't follow the pre op diet perfectly am I still allowed to get the surgery? · What tests and paperwork do I need to have done prior to being accepted for banding? o Is there any charge? How much? o What is the time span? · Is the surgery performed in the clinic or at the hospital? · In case of an emergency what is the procedure that is followed? · How soon after surgery can I go home? · What type of accreditation does your clinic have? · How do your operating rooms compare to those in a hospital if surgery is performed at the clinic? · Can you give me references from other patients I may talk to, especially those who are a revision from past weight loss surgery? · How long am I required to be in town before my surgery? · Is there a hotel that is recommended? o If so, is there a preferred rate at this hotel? o Is there a shuttle available from this hotel to clinic and back and how much does this cost? · Are my family members allowed to remain in the waiting room while I am in surgery or are they asked to leave until I am in the recovery room? · How long after I wake up can I go home? · What special medications will I need to purchase before hand? o Gas-x? liquid Calcium? chewable multi Vitamins? .... · How long would you recommend I take off work after surgery? · If I have a hernia do you fix this? o Is there an extra cost associated? · How long do I have to have a caregiver with me after surgery? · Is there someone I can hire to be my caregiver if I come alone? · Do you use latex? · Is there a deposit I have to pay to hold my surgery? o How much? o Is it refundable if I change my mind? · How must my final payment be made -- money order/visa/cheque? o Does it have to be in before my surgery or do I bring it with me on my surgery day? · If I have further questions may I contact you or your clinic with them? Even more important is follow up care: · What type of aftercare program does their clinic have? · What is covered in the cost of your surgery in regards to aftercare? · Is there an after hour phone number in case of an emergency or concern you encounter outside of normal business hours? o Is he/she available on call to answer or return your call? o Who responds to calls? · Do you have support groups available locally and in my area? · Is there a fee for any aftercare services? · How soon after surgery is your first fill usually? · What hours am I able to come in for fills and days? · How often between fills are you eligible for your next one? · How are the fills performed and are they with or without fluoroscopy? · Do you have to pay for your fills or are they covered in your surgery fee? o If they are not covered what is the fee? · If you live far away from the band clinic, do they have anyone local or closer to your home who is trained by the clinic to do your fills? o If so do you pay a fee to them and if so how much? · In case of complications post op, if you had a slippage or worse case scenario band erosion is any further surgery to remove the band covered or would you have to pay? · In case of a defective port or leak is the surgery to replace it covered in the lap band surgery cost? · In case of a defective lap band is it replaced at no cost to you the patient? · If you needed a new band for any reason such as the above or band leak, etc., is it replaced free of charge to you? o If not what type of cost would you be responsible for? · At the clinic does the surgeon do your follow up fills or fill nurses? o If nurses, what training do they have and can you meet them before committing to this surgery? · What criteria do they base your needing a fill or defill? · How long does it take when calling to book a fill does it take to get an appointment? · How much time is the fill nurse allotted to spend with you answering any questions or concerns also? · Are any of your staff at the clinic banded? · What other staff are available to help patients, i.e., dieticians, nutritionists, psychologists? o Is there a cost for their services? · Does the clinic have a website and a messageboard and or chatroom available for Lap Band patients to access? Pick out the ones may help you to make a decision.

see...this is a good reason why we need to stop using old threads to post new questions. I don't think Heather realized that she was responding to a post from August 2006!! I took HD Gloria's question out and posted it in a new thread for reply. Same thing with the TLBC and Slimband threads. There have been extraneous discussions that aren't specific to tlbc/slimband .....for example one about body buggs, that perhaps could be the subject of a separate thread.

I am interested in a class action lawsuit as well, banded April 2014 and had it removed October 2016 (by a different Dr in a different province) due to complications that Slimband didn't want to help with. The kicker is... I am still paying the weekly payment for something I dont have and something that never worked properly in the first place

I had this done 5 years ago. Took 2 years of work but I got to my goal weight. The Slimband dosen't do the work for you, You have to do it. And yes there are rules to losing weight, just like for everyone else on the planet. What I love is that sense of being full, which I didn't have, I now do have which to me was most of the battle. I still eat out a lot with my friends, but its nice to be full, see a plate of food and take it home to eat for later without feeling hungry or that craving. Its been a learning curve for sure and a lot of trial by error ( don't eat in front of the TV for the first little bit!) But I cannot recommend this enough. If you are willing to roll up your sleeves and work towards your weight goal. Then you are going to succeed. Simple. If you are expecting the Slimband to do all the work and not change at least a few of your eating habits, then forget it.

Hi there! I got banded at slimband last month.

Hey there! I was banded at Slimband in August 2010. I live in the Kitchener area currently and get my fills done there when I need them. PM me if you have any questions!

I had my band put in by slimband too in 2015...Did you hear anything about fills etc...i dont feel much restriction lately and was thinking of another fill..Let me know if you find anything out.

Heather, What a conspiracy theory you have come up with. You think everyone else is working for another clinic yet it seems you are working for Slimband. If they hired you to drum up business, I think they deserve their money back. You are the worst advertisement for them. It is so obvious that you are pushing them every chance you get. I have in fact read through many of your old posts and you never mentioned them as much as you have in past week. New job for you? I love how you blame every new person of being a plant. You have been a member here a long time but that means nothing at all as to your credibility. You could be getting all kinds of perks for pushing the word on this clinic. I think this whole thread is nothing but a huge train wreck and people just can't look away. Your feeble attempt to start a new thread to keep people away from this one that is full of the truth didn't quite work out for you did it? You see that most people have seen right through your little game and continue to post in the original one. I have read swansong's posts as well and nowhere does it say where she lives so it's a big assumption on your part that she's from Sudbury. Do you have super powers that the rest of us don't have to know where someone is from that hasn't posted it? I didn't think so, just another lame excuse to put the blame elsewhere. You seem like the plant here, just a long rooted one is all. Enjoy your new job of promoting Slimband but quite honestly, you have done just the opposite. Your constant pushing towards it, has totally turned me away from it. I think they need to rethink their latest tactics to get patients because it just isn't working. You are a huge disservice to them and I believe it's been shown here just how much people do not trust you. Lucy

Thank-you Lisa for the clarification. Lisa what would be very helpful is finding out where and what the different bootcamps TLBC/Slimband is conducting. I have been on the slimband website and I can't find anything. I think maybe I should clarify also I was not going to approach Jill for a support group of TLBC, what I throughly appreciated and really benefited from was Jill's background as chef and nutritionist. She really helped me with my menu planning and food choices. She helped me with living with the band. And I found being part of a group that met once a week really gave me the accountability to know I was weighing in and that I had support of my peers to exeperience my success and my pitfalls. I'm still going to pursue the idea of seeing if Jill is interested in doing counceling for obesity, menu planning, and nutritional expertise. So if anyone is interested please let me know. Make it a great day everyone!!

Marivan I completely agree! But I did call Jill also today and she has told me she is not going to be doing any "Bootcamps" at this time. It has really left a bad taste in my mouth about TLBC! It also brings me back to something that has worried me since the change over to Slimband and that is when I paid my $16,000 and had my surgery in my contract it states that I have a lifetime of post op care of fill and defills. I was worried that Slimband would not honor this but I have spoken to my lawyer and he said that when he reviewed my contract that he felt confident they would honor this. But when you see stuff like this it makes me worried. However I doubt they would want the bad publicly that it would cause to renege on our contracts.

Lucy, It was meant to show how absurd accusing anyone of working for a clinic is... Just because some one has had good experiences doesn't make them a plant, it means they had good experiences.. just because someone has bad experiences doesn't make them a plant either it means they have had some bad experiences. Over all my experience with Slimband/TLBC/no clinic prior to that has been amazing and this is coming from a girl who has had 7 complications surgeries that required her to fly back to Toronto to have them fixed.... none of the complications were the surgeons fault and I attribute them to a faulty band and weight lost. Sorry but my experience is the opposite of theirs and i don't mind saying it doesn't make me a sales person it makes me a happy bandster. As for where swansong lives i looked at her profile and it was on there... 50, sudbury , 3 posts and you can even read the posts so that is where I got that info. I don't work for the clinic don't need to work for the clinic don't want to work for the clinic my clients are high enough maintenance without having to deal with patients who are super high maintenance pain in the asses myself included in that, god if I had to deal with people like us all day I would shoot myself.. I have sat in the waiting rooms and listened.. and not a hope... being a software consultant is bad enough people are horrid computers are simple, believe me or not...I don't care my pay cheques are signed by someone other than slimband. You are going to go where you are going to go, I just say go where you are comfy and where you like the staff and the surgeons you will have a long relationship with them. You owe it to yourself to be happy with your clinic and the amount of money you spent and if you have 3-4 choices in your local area why not talk to all of them and then make your choice... I am not saying choose one over the other I am not saying lean to one over the other it is obvious where I would go and where I will take my mum when she is ready to be banded. And I don't care if this thread goes on forever I wanted to start something more positive so sue me, something that was shorter again sue me.. as I have stated many times I prefer focusing on the positive but yes sometimes my annoyance gets the better of me like all people and do you honestly think if i worked at the clinic I could post what I have been posting... and they wouldn't fire me, or at least tell me to stop posting...think about it.. I have always been known to speak my mind and I am not going to change that. Read Canadian lapbanders on yahoo groups or read my posts here you can search my name and you will read that it is not all about the clinics neither are my posts on here for the most part until recently. Sorry when I see something I believe in being jumped on I will speak up... and I don't care who likes it. And yes I will continue to post about my positive experiences because guess what I have that right just as people have the right to post about negative experiences... and when I had a negative experience I posted about that.. and dealt with it and got over it and moved on. People have both.. so what... I have never ever said don't post about the negative I have said post it and move on... So good luck Lucy I hope it works out for you, I hope you meet and exceed your goals and I hope that for any one who is banded whether I like them or not or whether they go to my clinic or not it is a free market system may the best clinic win you business and I hope you do your research and ask a ton of questions and most importantly make the right choice for you and that you are comfy with. But since I came here for support I think I will get back to my basics and start working on my support... Heather

Yes Heather what you post is absolutely true. We should all be upbeat and have spring in our steps as we journey along. But that is not always the way it is in real life. Real people have their ups and down and sometimes this site is the only place to express their feelings. Try to disuade people that post negative thoughts is not helping them in any way. I am thrilled you have seven years of wonderful progress and I personally like to hear about your journey, but I also want to hear from the souls who are struggling. I try to read into what they are saying and hopefully I can give them a little light at the end of the tunnel. The TLBC (Slimband) is my clinic and I still feel they are the best but they have struggled recently in reorganization. The previous posts were people who were frustrated and needed to vent. Going public with complaints about a company after numerous unsuccessful attempts to solve a problem quite often brings a solution. It did in the most recent post. So I would encourage anyone that is having issues to post your concerns and not stifle them. Getting your feeling out in the open is the only way you can solve them. Keeping your thoughts to yourself will only fester and we all know where that leads us ---to more eating.

Hi: Dr. Yau is a very reputable surgeon that I recommend highly. The TLBC has good support for people from the Toronto area but their PR needs some work for long distance patients. I am from BC and initially, as I was so far away, I felt alone and stranded with no one to help me. Every tweak felt like an emergency. Now that I have the band for almost two years, I am more relaxed about it. I joined a support group out here started by another bandster. At first there was only 3 of us now we are up to 14 +. Aftercare is so very important. Fills and defills are only a small part of the process. Initially you may need reassurance concerning the band fairly frequently. TLBC has been working hard to improve and their Slimband website is a prime example. You are doing the right thing by checking out the clinic on the web, but you are most likely to get a better perspective by attending a group that is sponsored by the TLBC. By attending the meeting, you will get a variety of opinions. For what it is worth, I would select TLBC or the SWLC which to me has great support groups. Hope this helps.

I called TLBC (or slimband as they are calling themselves now) and I asked to speak to Jill. The girl on the phone went quiet and then said "she doesn't work here any longer". I said "I hope she is okay", again the total quiet and no comment! It's like she died and they don't want to say anything. I really liked Jill and I hope that she left for her own reasons and not because she was in any way pushed. I spoke to the new nutritionist Jody Hill and she also wouldn't say anything about whether Jill was all right or not (I know, none of my business, but you would think they'd have agreed on something to say about a well-loved member of their staff). I explained that Jill was in the process of referring me to the hospital at Yonge and Elginton for a metabolic rate and Jody had no clue who that would be and suggested first that I'd have to pay for this (Jill had said that it is covered by OHIP) and then suggested that I see a naturapath! I told her that one of the ways a friend convinced me to spend $16,000 on this op was that I had likely spent more than that over the years on various alternative doctors that hadn't helped anything but to make my wallet thinner! So I am not going that route ever again. She asked that I give her some time and she'll get back to me. I also asked her about the rumour about the 3 year limit and she assured me that patients that had their operations when TLBC promised "Life time" care, would be still covered. I understand that they don't want people in and out after three years and I also want to have this weight off in under two, but if in four years I have to have a de-fill for a medical reason etc, I was promised it was covered. Apparently it still is. So I am very sad to hear about Jill and once again, their bizarre way of dealing with things. I'll let you know if I get any help from Jody. I have to agree with you dodie, I think Dr Yau is first rate but his clinic is a bit funny. Mary

Doddie, Thank you for the offer, right now forgive me if I am annoyed frankly I think Cindy is a plant... three posts all negative and meant to stir the pot please that sounds like a rival clinic to me. I was talking to a friends who isn't banded and she actually gave me the idea... I told her the scenario and she said the best offense is a good defense... so it sounds like this person is a plant trying to stir up ill will towards your clinic and like she might be employed by a rival clinic lets face it banding is big business worth a lot of money and as a clinic if I can steer people away from the busiest clinic with the most patients then they up for grabs for the others clinics to make money off of. Was a 50 years Cindy even banded last year who lives in Sudbury? I don't know only Slimband and she does.... and I am guessing based on her accusations of me that the answer to that is no. I have had a very different journey than most, 7 complication surgeries but overall my journey is relatively easy. I just have the need to refocus my energies on my journey. And I will do that however it works for me.. I have been posting on myslimband since it is a different forum and I wanted to try a different crowd than the Yahoo group with a different perspective than I was reading.. and so I came back here too. For me it works to go back to my basics but I also want to add a few things in there and I am struggling with how to add a love of fitness in there... So for now I think I will keep posting everywhere it suits me and sorry if that annoys the people who aren't happy but it makes me happy and just for kicks everytime I read something negative I think I might just find a positive story about Slimband/TLBC from my present and past and maybe even the future as it happens and post that for contrast.... Slimband has done awesome things... they have done a ton for their patients over the years. But there will always be patients who fail to meet their goals and blame everyone else for the reasons why instead of themselves. And I so understand about venting and getting it off your chest I don't understand focusing on the negative. People will post what they want positive or negative... I am just choosing to focus on the good instead of the bad because I know in my life it is how I get to the best places for me to be. Again Doddie thank you I will continue posting and taking what works for me out of this discussion and the others on the site..

I wish I had not gone through with getting my slimband as it was nothing but problems. Are you comfortable sharing how you went after them? Thank you

Hello all: Update about my Endoscopy procedure last two day ago: Melissa was right! My procedure was absolute went well and really quick. No pain during this procedure. However Dr. Hong did noticed i had inflammatory and infection cause the slimband. The Doctor did saw me puke after i took slip of water after the procedure. Best news is the surgical removal is next Monday! ( SO QUICK I KNOW!)