Hello everyone I just joined!

[neenagh 0]

Just wanted to say Hi after lurking around for a while.

Not banded yet. Wondering if anyone can help me decide which clinic in the Toronto area I should go with. I'm leaning towards Dr. Cobourn, but have seen other Clinics exist in the T.O. area. Any suggestions, opinions, etc. are greatly appreciated!

I live three hours away, so I don't want to have to go back and forth to consult with all the docs there!

I'm so glad I found some fellow Canadians!

[Leila 0]

I had surgery done with Dr. Cobourn on the 14th, and had a fantastic experience with them. Was very happy every step of the way.

[CLOE 0]

Welcome Neenagh!! I was banded by Dr. Cobourn. I was very satisfied, I found him caring, understanding and compassionate. I felt totally safe going into surgery with him. Others have used other Docters and were satisfied too. Good Luck!!

[argon 3]

I'm a Cobourn-er too. I am more than happy with my choice.

I've never heard anything bad about Joffe/Yau at TLBC either.

If you were able to, I wonder if you could make a trip to both clinics and chat with the staff, etc. Not a formal consult, cause you'd have to pay for that (and you'd lose the money you paid to whomever you decided not to go with), but just a quick look around to see what kind of vibe you get.

Honestly, I chose Cobourn because I didn't get a good response from TLBC. I thought they were who I wanted to go with, because they'd done so many, but I got bad 'service', and went and looked further into Dr. Cobourn, and was more than happy with what I heard, and read. I don't regret it at all.

Everyone else on here that I've heard from has had good experiences with TLBC... and then there's a gal who's had the worst evil woman to deal with over the phone from Dr. Cobourn's office. (I don't know who this evil mystery woman is, I never had her!)

I hate to plug other groups on here, but if you join http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/canadianlapbanders/

this group, 90% of the members are either Cobourn/Mumford or Joffe/Yau patients, and there was recently someone asking "Cobourn vs. TLBC?" ... along with hundreds of peoples experiences of both places. It's worth checking out, and looking back into all the old posts. That's what helped me.

Good luck.

Mandi

[CanadaSunshine 0]

Neenagh,

I'm a Cobourn'er too.

I've complained about my treatment on another thread, but don't take that to mean that he's less than wonderful.

Best of luck to you, and WELCOME!

Sunshine

[Yoda 0]

Hiya Neenagh and welcome!!!!

I'm a TLBC patient (Drs. Yau & Joffe). The website is www.tlbc.ca

I was banded on 21 Apr of this year. So far, so good. I have nothing but good things to say about TLBC and the staff who work there. I'm completely satisfied with my entire experience from pre-op to where I am now post-op. I think either way you will get what you want from either the TLBC or Dr. Coburn's clinic. I can't speak for Dr. Coburn's (cause I don't know) but with TLBC you get free fills for life. So, I would compare things like that and overall price etc (as well as pre-op requirements) before making a decision. And, yup...just walk into each clinic and take a looksie to see what kind of vibe you get from each. I live 2 hrs north of TO, so I can relate to the travel thing.

Either way....welcome and GOOD LUCK!!!

:canada: :canada:

[neenagh 0]

Hey Leila, Cloe, Argon, CanadaSunshine and Yoda!

Thanks so much for your input! I had read about the evil phone lady, and that did have me a bit worried! hehe

Does Cobourn do free fills too? also do any of your docs use staples? I saw some pretty scary pics of stapled incisions on another thread!

Argon, I'm definately going to check out the other group.

You guys rock!

[argon 3]

Yeah, Dr. C has free fills too. I don't think either place uses staples, but definitely Cobourn doesn't. Just 'steristrips", which are super duper adhesive surgical tape pieces.

Mandi

[Yoda 0]

No staples are used at TLBC either.

[CLOE 0]

hey mandi, Do you mean Dr. Cobourn does free fills? If he does, I sure didn't know that, but I didn't ask either. Where's this other group on yahoo your talking about, I never heard of it?

[argon 3]

haha... yup he does!

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/canadianlapbanders/

You'll have to get a "Yahoo ID" to join it. It's a stupidly formatted 'support group', but it's a good place. There's also a new one specifically just for Cobourn/Mumford-ers http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/cobourn-mumford_bandits/ ... not as many people signed up for that one yet though, but it's good for when there are Cobourn/Mumford specific questions that we might have.

Join Join Join!!

*edit - when I first decided to go with him, he was only offering free fills for the first year, but it's since switched to lifetime, so that's coolio*

[neenagh 0]

Thanks again everyone!

[Yoda 0]

It's a stupidly formatted 'support group', but it's a good place. *

Ya, I agree....I signed up for it a long time ago (pre-op) and got so FRUSTRATED with it that I don't go there anymore....just here. It had some useful info but OMG....it is soooooo NOT NOT NOT NOT user-friendly AT ALL!!!! In fact, ridiculously non user-friendly!!!

My opinion!! (strong one, eh?!!) lol

[CLOE 0]

Well I will try, but they don't get anymore computer-stupid than me!!

[Lana Ruth 1]

Dear Neengha

I am impressed at how much you lost so far.:biggrin1: I not sure if its been difficult but 50lb is really impressive :clap2: the most i ever lost is 36 llb myself.

Hi i am new to. I am being banded soon let you know how it is then.

LANA