Hello from Ontario, CAN

03-07-2005, 07:22 PM

Hello. I was looking into gastric bypass surgery 2 years ago, however at the time I was 18 and felt that a permenant operation like that was not what I truly wanted.

Anyway I was told briefly about Lap Banding by the specialist I saw who also does gastric bypasses and he sort of ruled it out seeing as at that time it was $15,000 CDN.

I am trying to find out if there is anyway possible to cover the expenses for a LB procedure? I am not sure if there are any other Canadians on here that might know but I figured it was worth a shot.

I already know that OHIP does not cover it, and I believe I was told that health benefits are also not covering it here.

At any rate any help or comments are greatly appreciated. I am essentially in a state where the surgery would turn my life around as I am 20, 6'3 and either reaching or surpassing the 500lb plateau :straight...take care!

Oh and I will be discussing this with my family doctor on Thursday, but I wanted to get a move on my research.

New Hope · 03-07-2005, 07:53 PM

Hi, Jeffy, best of luck to you! We do have some canadians here. "Iamcanadian", and "~C~" come to mind. But I know there are others. Please keep us posted how things are going.

Get together as much stuff as you can find to document your need for banding...health problems (yours and your family's), current prescriptions, limitations being caused by your weight, any weight loss programs you've tried...meds., dr. supervised, liquid diets, weight watchers (group support plans), etc. I know my surgeon (name posted under mine) has a very thorough pre-op questionnaire on his website. You might want to check that for more info.

lapbander081004 · 03-07-2005, 11:48 PM

Jeffy,

In a day or two you can reach Iamcanadian25 here. She is being banded today and will probably be off a few days. She might be able to help you out.

Believe she is bing banded by my Dr. I know she came to the pre surgery confernece I spoke at.

~c~ · 03-08-2005, 07:14 AM

Hi I responded to you earlier but just saw this post.
I used www.medicard.com.I applied on the phone and got approved the same day.They sent the payment directly to the doctor and he called back with a date.The whole thing,booking the surgery,getting approved and having the operation took less than 2 months.
Loosing the weight is taking longer than i wanted/expected but this is mostly restriction issues and off/on motivation on my part but still slow loss is better than slow gain right?!
Which doctor were you hoping to do the Lap Band?
Good luck and if you want to PM me with any other question or concerns, feel free Jeff!
Chantal

03-08-2005, 09:18 AM

I too am from Canada(ontario) and had the band placed in Aug. I still have not heard ANY coverage of the band as yet in Canada(none, nada, niente!! LOL).

Good luck with your journey and feel free to email me!
Sacha

Mita · 03-08-2005, 10:36 AM

Just wanted to say welcome

Zoe · 03-09-2005, 02:09 PM

Hi Jeffy -- We Yanks have different medical coverage problems, so I'm glad Chantal and Sacha posted here. Greg, thanks for mentioning Iamcanadian25 too.

Let us know what you find out. Good luck!

**Iluvharleys** · 03-09-2005, 02:41 PM

Jeffy I just wanted to Welcome you and wish you luck.

dylansmom · 03-09-2005, 04:01 PM

Best wishes to you on your journey. I so hope that you can get the coverage that you need to have your lap band surgery done. I'll certainly be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

~Kelly

P.S. I forgot to say, "Welcome to LBT too!"

03-09-2005, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~c~

Hi I responded to you earlier but just saw this post.
I used www.medicard.com.I applied on the phone and got approved the same day.They sent the payment directly to the doctor and he called back with a date.The whole thing,booking the surgery,getting approved and having the operation took less than 2 months.
Loosing the weight is taking longer than i wanted/expected but this is mostly restriction issues and off/on motivation on my part but still slow loss is better than slow gain right?!
Which doctor were you hoping to do the Lap Band?
Good luck and if you want to PM me with any other question or concerns, feel free Jeff!
Chantal

Hi Chantal, thank you for getting back to me so quickly. After I speak with my family doctor tomorrow and get the name of the specialist I saw a couple years ago I will try applying to Medicard to try to get a loan for the procedure.

I do have family who can easily afford the cost of the procedure, however, I would not ask them for help because they may not agree with my decision. My only concern is I have a newly formed credit history that is less than a year old so my loan may not be approved. Worse comes to worse I will have to try and get another family member to cosign.

I have not actually looked into a specific doctor. I figure that the specialist that I saw who practices in my area would be my ideal choice. I suspect that my doctor will contact the specialist's office and set up an appointment for me. I can then inquire with him as to how much experience he has with lap banding procedures.

Again Chantal, thank you very much for your help thus far.

Jeff

03-09-2005, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJDouglas

I too am from Canada(ontario) and had the band placed in Aug. I still have not heard ANY coverage of the band as yet in Canada(none, nada, niente!! LOL).

Good luck with your journey and feel free to email me!
Sacha

Hello Sacha...in all my research that I've done on the Internet I have not come across any web site that states any coverage in Canada as you've stated as well. I wish this were not the case. Hopefully the information that Chantal has given me with regards to Medicard will help me with this endeavor.

Thank you very much for your reply and I will keep your mind if I have any further questions.

Jeff

03-09-2005, 08:21 PM

Thank you very much to everyone else who has welcomed me to the forums. After any with my family doctor tomorrow and sanity stated I will come back and post anything that I find out.

Take care.

Jeff

03-10-2005, 05:21 PM

Well I saw my doctor today and he didn't have a ton to say on lap banding. He looked through my file and looked over a letter the surgeron I saw 2 years ago and he agreed with my decision and he asked one of the other doctors if he was aware of any federal coverage, which there wasn't. So I have to hope I can get a loan through MediCard which Chantal mentioned.

I also was told by other doctor that the surgeron will do lap banding and has done several of them so that is reassuring. Now I have to wait to meet with him, hopefully get a loan and then go in for an ultrasound on Monday morning to check for gall stones to see if I can have laparoscopic surgery. If not then I face another tough decision.

Thanks again to everyone.

Jeff

dylansmom · 03-10-2005, 05:34 PM

Best of luck to you! I sure hope that everything will work out for you just as you want it to. I'll continue to keep my fingers crossed for you!

03-10-2005, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dylansmom

Best of luck to you! I sure hope that everything will work out for you just as you want it to. I'll continue to keep my fingers crossed for you!

Thank you very much! ;-)