Saskatchewan?

[amberganej 0]

I read in the paper that they are only doing 100 Lap-Band Surgeries in Alberta per year and that you cannot pay for them they are only doing the ones covered by the provincial health plan. So it will go highest need first kinda thing. I highly doubt that they would accept someone out of province if they are only doing that many.

[Terranne 0]

I'm going to Dr. Kuri in Tijuana, heard lots of recent wonderful things about him and his facility, haven't heard any complaints so far. His web special is $7500 USD right now which is great. You can book as early as you want provided that you either don't have to do the preop diet or you give enough time for that (2 weeks).

I'm on day 3 of the pre op diet today...not terribly hungry yet but extremely tired and a bit weak.

I will get my fills done by an RN (Lorna) in Saskatoon for $50/each. She had her surgery done by Dr. Cobourne (I think) a couple years back and has been going back to get training on fills from the doctor himself. She's very helpful and informtative. I think she posted on obesityhelp.com under the Sask. forum if you want to look there.

Terrie

[Doddie63 6]

Hi: I go to the Lions Gate Hospital support group for gastric by pass patients and banding. I will get more information if this lady shows up at the June meeting. Yes I am saying that there is a way to be referred to an AB clinic even if you live outside the Province. The medical system is a Federal system not a provincial. The provinces manage the money but Ottawa funds most of it. The lady that gave the information applied to both AB and the Provincial Government. The BC Gov't has approved her for getting the surgery in Washington state. It was shortly after that, she received word frm the AB clinic they would interview her for surgery. Weight has a lot to do with attending the AB program. She is over 400 and has severe sleep apnea. Anyway will check it out. Doddie

[Buffie 1]

Hello fellow Saskatchewanians! I live in S'toon and my family doc does my fills for free, she was on board with the surgery right from the start and learned VERY quickly how to carry out fills. She's awesome. I'm very happy with my band and it's nice to see other people from SK learning about the band and going through with it, it has changed my life.

Take care everyone!

[Terranne 0]

Hey Buffie!

Your family doc does the fills??? Where did you get banded? How long ago?

[Buffie 1]

Hi Terranne,

My family doc does my fills (I've been with her for 20 years), she just watched the video I had from my surgeon (Drs. Yau/Joffe at TLBC) and figured it out. It's really not that complicated, I think most doctors are worried about liability for the most part, she's always had no problems at all with my fills. I was banded June 16/06 in Toronto, I don't regret anything. I love my band!! Good luck with your upcoming surgery, I KNOW how excited you are. Your life will change in ways you never imagined. I never thought the band would "work" for me, but it does and I'm very grateful for it. Good luck!

[Doddie63 6]

Hi Buffy: Glad your family doc has no problems. Is you band "anchored". I have to go back to TO because mine has flipped. Doddie

[Buffie 1]

Hi Doddie,

Uh, I HOPE my band is anchored, I thought that that was the standard practice now. Are you talking about the band or the port? I hope they're both anchored. What happened when it flipped?

[argon 3]

Hey Buffie! Glad to see you're doing well and so chipper!! And yeah, she meant the port. Your band is anchored, and your port SHOULD be. I don't know, is it considered anchoring, or just stitching into place? Didn't you say, Doddie, that he's experimented with a new way of attaching the ports, and its been proving to be a problem?

[Buffie 1]

Hi Mandi! I hope my port is stitched into place, it sure feels like it is. You are doing INCREDIBLE! WOW, I'm so happy for you! I've been doing much better, I think I told you that I have type II diabetes, it took me a few weeks to get things under control but I'm feeling much better now. I'm on an oral med 4 times a day and I take one shot of long-acting 24 hour insulin before bed. The insulin really did the trick, although I still have to D I E T. I have 15 gram of carb at each meal and 3 15 gram of carb Snacks per day. 15 grams of carb isn't much. My weight loss has kicked into gear again though which makes me happy. I finally broke 200 pounds, which I haven't done for 20 years. So how are you doing? How have you been feeling?

[Doddie63 6]

Sorry didn't proof read what I wrote. I meant port has flipped. Apparently it is a new practice not to anchor the port. This is thought to prevent the tubing from breaking loose. However, the flip side (pun intended) is the port can flip making it impossible to have a fill. Will find out in june what its all about. Doddie.

[Yoda 0]

The medical system is a Federal system not a provincial.

Doddie, I'm sorry but I have to disagree. The medical system(s) in Canada are 100% provincial....they are NOT federal. Yes, some of the $$ is transferred from Fed to Prov gov't but it is DEFINITELY a provincial system and run provincially. If you say this out of AB person was referred to AB....then I suppose that is possible under some special circumstance/program or something though I find it odd. And, yes, some provinces will refer persons to the US for surgery (any type) if they can't support/provide it. But that is a different thing from referring them to another Province....(only because those provinces have their own "people" to look after). I just want to clear up any misconceptions anyone may have about our (Canada's) health care system.....Provincial!!! (though, of course I agree it "should" be federal).

[Yoda 0]

BUFFIE BUFFIE BUFFIE!!!!!

Soooooo good to hear from you! Thanks for posting!

You, my friend are Kickin' some SERIOUS *SS !!!!! Awesome job.....!

:clap2:

[Gaffer 1]

Hi: I go to the Lions Gate Hospital support group for gastric by pass patients and banding. I will get more information if this lady shows up at the June meeting. Yes I am saying that there is a way to be referred to an AB clinic even if you live outside the Province. The medical system is a Federal system not a provincial. The provinces manage the money but Ottawa funds most of it. The lady that gave the information applied to both AB and the Provincial Government. The BC Gov't has approved her for getting the surgery in Washington state. It was shortly after that, she received word frm the AB clinic they would interview her for surgery. Weight has a lot to do with attending the AB program. She is over 400 and has severe sleep apnea. Anyway will check it out. Doddie

I doubt that she will be getting a band in Alberta. I would be willing to bet what is happening is that she is getting Gastric Bypass in Alberta or Washington, paid for by the BC government. This is not unheard of, but as far as I know BC does not fund the band, but they do fund bypass.

You are correct in that much of the money for health care comes from Ottawa, but really they have no pull in the way that it is spent, as long as it conforms to the Canada Health Act. I highly doubt that she would be getting any surgery paid for by AB if she is from BC. The health care systems in Canada are considered to be provincial.

Andrew

[Buffie 1]

Hi Yoda! Thanks for the comment, I feel great. I've decided that this new diabetes thing is somewhat of a blessing since it's kicked my weight loss into gear again. My sugars are between 3-8 and I feel MUCH better. I was anywhere between 8-19 before. I was kind of at a stall before this all happened. I've gone for a couple of small fills (.2 cc each time, I find if I get any more than that at once it's too much) and that's really helped as well. I was starting to eat too much, too fast, swallowing too fast and too much at once. I'm sure I dilated my pouch because I could eat WAY too much food at once. I wasn't gaining weight but when I really looked at how much I was eating it was disturbingly too much. So now I've tried to slow down and watch Portion Control again, the fills have really helped a lot.

I have question. What quantity are you eating eating at each meal? I was looking through my TLBC literature the other day and it said 1 cup. Is that normal for 1 year out of surgery? Is anyone else eating 1 cup? At Breakfast I can only eat yogurt or pudding, it's like my band is tight in the morning. Is anyone else like this? And why is that??

Thanks again to everyone, it's nice to be back.