Banding in the West

[JAC 1]

There are no private clinics in AB as the AB government is paying for the procedure if you are lucky enough to get to see a surgeon. I have heard the wait is about 2-3 years and the restrictions are different in each area of the province. Canadian law does not allow for private clinics to offer a procedure that is also publicly funded.

There are several of us who did not want to wait or did not qualify who went to clinics in other provinces, ON, or to Mexico or the US. We are now on a journey to see if somehow we can squeeze back into the health care system here.

I don't know much about BC, but I have heard of three locations and also of some of the patients there going to the North West Weight Loss Center in Washington. If you are looking into price, don't forget to figure into the cost the time and money for fills as they are an important part of the process.

If you are near Calgary, I invite you to join our Calgary support group.

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

Julie Crawford

Nov 6/06

Dr. Ortiz, Mexico