Out of Country

Hey Guys, What do I need to get the out of country application going. I am going to see Dr.M sometime in mid-Feb so I was thinking of getting it filled out. Sim, I know you pursued this with Dr.M......could you please tell me what I need. Thanks in advance.

Hi Bobby, You need to go to MSP's website and look for HLTH 2810 called Application for Insured out of country medical services a pdf file ( 72 k) and download it. Take the form to Dr. M. and he will fill it out for you. He will charge $30 cash which you will have to pay when you pick it up. It will probably take a week for him to do as he is in the office only on Mondays and if you leave the form with his assistant, she will give it to him and he will do it for you and have it ready the following week. Also ask for copies of all your tests that were done so you can submit that too. Now I have been quite active on Dr. Amson's support forum as many people have received their approval and I have asked them point blank what they knew. They told me some interesting tid bits which I heard- may not necessarily be true but I ask myself why would they lie so I believe them. Apparently Dr. Amson asked MSP to put a stop on the out of country applications and told them that he could do the surgeries for a fraction of the cost and asked them to give him more OR time instead of sending patients out of provicne which means he may end up doing the surgery. When I heard this I was so angry as he has to realize that he can not do all the surgeries himself. I can;t figure out why? So in a way, he is contibuting to the over all problem. I also heard that with 400 applications they received only 8 got approvedl ast year. But they are doing some kind of a fast track system for those that really need it. So if you have those co-morbibities that are really serious, let MSP know. I would write a letter and attach it to the application with your test results, can't hurt. Please keep us posted Bobby.... good luck and I will keep my fingers crossed. Take care Sim

Well this is just a last ditch effort, either way I will be having the surgery the latest in March. I'm going to head down to Dr.Joya in PV, Mexico. His price is reasonable and I've read some great things about him.

Hi Bobby, Well good for you. My family will not allow me to go Mexico not because of the surgery but they are afraid I will get hepatitis. What a ridiculous thought. But since I need someone to come with me to take care of me for 2 weeks I can't force them to come but I need one of them. I have also heard wonderful things about Dr. Rambaut. Apparently he had the surgery himself so he knows what it feels like and everyone on the Victoria support forum rave about him. What price were you quoted about $14,000 or so? I would love to come with you as I don't want to wait either. Sim

$12500 US, dont' know how much it converts to here, but I would imagine just under $15000.

Hi, I have been out of surgery now 13 days I had bypass by Dr.Joya. Please let me tell you, you will be in the best of hands. I have never been cared for so well in my life. He is the best he is very personal to deal with no big medical lingo that goes over your head. I have no regrets at all.....best of luck Destiny

hey Destiny, Thanks, I think we've been talking on the Yahoo group as well. I sent you an email to ask you about your experiences. I spoke to Gerald today for a good 1/2 hour and he has calmed all my fears.

Hi Bobby, What yahoo group are you referring to. Is it an active one? Can I join? Sim

Hi Bobby, Yeah Gerald is great I spent alot of time talking to him. I had the best experience with Dr.Joya and his team. It is still surgery and it wasnt a walk in the park but I can tell you this it was nice to have a doctor that didnt need to look at a chart to figure out my name and actually cared. He also has an excellent surgical team Dr.Espinoza was truly awesome to me, the surgical nurse when I got wheelled into the surgery room just took one look at me and knew I was scared, she held my hand and hummed a song to me and continued till I was out. When I awoke in recovery she was right there she told me I was fine and everything went well she held my hand again for awhile. It wasnt until the next morning that I found out that Dr.Joya once he was in saw the mess my stomach was in with so much scar tissue him and his team operated for an extra 3.5 hrs and cleaned all that up. I was returned to my room around 4:00am and I was up and walking about 5:00am. As for the nurses they were great they check on you almost every 15 minutes to see if you are comfortable. Lots of times because I was walking the hospital they would come and find me just to make sure I was OK. Dr.Joya came everyday to see me and so would the rest of the team. Nathalie is one of the best she is a great lady. If you have any questions please feel free to get ahold of me I would be happy to answer any questions you have. [email protected] Destiny

Thanks Destiny, I will take you up on that. I'm going to schedule for early March and I will have a lot of questions. Thank god that they fly out of Vancouver and not from Seattle. Problem is that I have to get my passport and that may not come in by early March. I'm just going to ask Dr.Meneghetti what he thinks about my overall situation and then go visit the respirologist one more time just in case.