I have a consult date:)

Hi all, I went to my doctor 2 weeks ago and she said she was going to try another doctor in BC that might do the surgery on someone over 50 and low and behold today she called me and said that she had a reply from Dr Amson in Victoria BC and I have a consult appointment with him on Aug 12 2008. I know this is a long time to wait but I feel it will be worth it in the long run. Has anyone from Manitoba gone to him and if so, do you have to travel there every three months after the consult for appointments as indicated on some forums from BC have stated?

Dear Christine, My name is Sim white. I live in Vancouver so I am responding to your question. I did live in Winnipeg from 1966-1991 so I am a former Manitoban. Dr. Amson has over 600 patients waiting for the surgery. Here there is only one surgeon that is approved to do the WLS where the government pays unless you don't mind paying from out of pocket to do a lapband in which case there are a few more surgeons who perform that type of WLS. If you go onto the BC message boards you can read more about it. Also go onto victoriabariatricsurgery.com- this is Dr. Amson's website. It is a very active forum. I don't want to discourage you about waiting for him but patients are generally waiting at least 1 year to see him for the 1st consult and then at least 2 more years to get the surgery. And due to our terrible health care system here, a lot of people get their appts cancelled as he gets called to surgery. There is not enough OR time. For example this month all appts were cancelled due to him doing more surgeries which is great to hear and everyone's appts had to be rescheduled. Most patients unless they are really sick wait 3-4 years. I sent a referral in to see him in the summer of 2005 for my 1st consult and now I finally have an appt to see him July 10, 2007!! If you can afford it you may want to consider going out of country. Many people are going to Mexico. You can also go to Quebec and see Dr. Christou where he does the surgery privately. You can get in within weeks or a few months. But you have to pay about $15,000 approx. Anyway, good luck and if you need more help or have more questions feel free to email me or ask on his website. Take care Sim from Vancouver

thanks for the info Sim, I think I will just wait it out for now with DR Amson.

Hello Christine I live in Ontario and was approved by Ohip fot out of country consultation for a Doctor in Michigan. I would talk to your Doctor and see if he/she knows if Manitoba health coverage pays for it. Michigan is well know for bariatric surgerys. Good luck in your quest. Michelle