Hi Everyone, I'm...

Hi Everyone, I'm new to this and have alot of ? I've been on a waiting list for over a year and every time I phone to find out where I am on the list I get the same answer that they are revamping the program to make the wait time shorter. They are doing the Edmonton area first then will work out from there........I'm tired of waiting......So I have decided that I will pay for my own surgery...Now the ? start....has any one been to Dr.Joya in Mexico.....or any clinics any where!!!!! I would love any help or advice.......I should also say that I'm going to do the LAP band. Thanx:bow:

I am also going to mexico to get the lap band done.There are a lot of drs there who do it and I'm not sure on who to go to.Someone told me there is a dr in denver co that does it for 9500 bucks, the waiting list there is about a month or so. I would rather go there then run down to mexico. Some of the places I checked into in mexico are 8000 bucks plus your air fare. I don't know what it costs to fly there but for 1500 hundred more I'm leaning towords denver. I can't get it done untill dec. So I still have time to check it out more. I would love more help and advice too but it doesn't seem to be to many people on this site. Check out lap band talk,theres more people on there and more info.Please keep me posted on what you find and I'll do the same. Thank you!!

sorry tracy, i meant to send my previous reply to laura.

hi, thanks for your reply. I found a message board on this website called"south of the boarder" They are all people that have gone to mexico to have there surgerys. They have some really intresting stuff to look at. You should check it out.Laura

Hi there. I had the Lapband put in a year ago February. The wait time for me was around 6 weeks from the day I phoned to inquire until the day of my surgery. I went to The Surgical Weight Loss Centre in Mississauga. They are excellant. The surgery cost me $16,000.00 and it was worth every penny. They are professional and helpful with questions. You can chech out their site at www.lapband.ca I was thinking of Mexico prior to going to Toronto but I have heard so much negative with trying to find someone that will do the fills after and also there were some language barriers. To me, that alone is worth the extra. Hope this helps in your search. If you would like any other questions answered you can email me at [email protected] D.

The doctor in Denver is Dr.Kirshenbaum. Both my daughter and myself went there for our surgery. The total experience has been excellent. The surgery was done at the Crown Point surgery center a new facillity. I was in and out in 3 hours. The next morning I was back with my daughter . The price is 9950$. All his staff are great.I considered Toronto but the cost was so much higher and Dr.K came very highly recomended. I decided it wasn't worth waiting in Alberta for a couple of years. You can find them @ Lapband rockies.com. Good luck in making a decision. O by the way our incisions look great. You can tell he's been a surgen for years. The stitches are done on the inside. If you look on lapband talk theres a scars thread and I just can't believe how awful some of them look. Lizzieann

Hi , I just wanted to know how you and your daughter are doing after your surgery. It must be a couple of weeks now. Do u have any pain or anything? Have u guys lost any weight? Any promlems at all? Do you feeel hungry,I guess that's hard to answer you havent had a fill yet.Who will be doing your fills? Good luck. Tracie

hi tracie, i am scheduled for surgery on june 3 at the swlc in mississauga. one thing i thought i'd share with you is that although alberta health care will not cover the cost of surgery, they will cover the cost of complications i.e. if you need scopes, surgery, etc. if the surgery is done in canada. it will not cover you for surgery done outside of canada. if you had to go back to mexico/denver/wherever following surgery due to complications, i doubt you find any insurance to cover you because it is now a pre existing condition. dr. farries in red deer is a good one to look into, i didn't want to wait so i am self-pay. his clinic is new so doesn't have the waitlist there is in edmonton. i went to the edmonton clinic, they would take me on because i am "too healthy" i.e. no co morbidities. hope this helps, good luck.

Hi Lizzieann, thanks so much for your advice. How long where you at the hospital, and who did you get to do your fills in alberta?Did you take another person with you or just your daughter?How long from your first call till you had a date? I talked to my family Dr. about going out of country and she did not like that idea.......but she not the one that has to sit and wait for some help. Also can I ask how much you have lost? Hope i haven't bombarded you with too many ? Laura

To Laura Turner Hi, I called the office in Denver about the 3rd week in January. They wanted to book surgery for february, then we decided to wait until April 3 for my daughter to turn 18 at the end of march. It went very fast and was very uncomplicated. We had no serious health issues that reguired further testing so we had a teleconfernce with the Dr. and then we met at his office the day before surgery. I was in the hospital for 3 hours total. My daughter had hers the following day and she was a little more sleepy so she was in about 4 hours. We are 6.5 weeks out. Most of our weightloss has been the first 4 weeks while we still had restriction from our surgery. My daughter has lost 24lbs and I have lost 19lbs. We are having our fills done in radiology in the Grand Prarie hospital . We had to have a referal from our family Dr. to have it done in the hospital with flouroscopy. I am so glad we are going there . We are getting a fill once a wee****il we have good restiction. I have a 14cc ap band with 7cc in it. I have a bit of resriction but I can still eat bread no problem . We go back on wedensday for our next fill. We are lucky to get fills so often. The reason for the band is to get restriction for weightloss, its not fair to have to wait for months for decent restriction. Afterall most of us have paid a lot for the band and we want it to work for us. Going to the US was a great decisionfor us. The price was right and he is a longtime surgon. The hospital was new and the care was awsome. You get your own nurse the whole time your in there.Hope this answers some of your questions. Lizzie ann