WLS Out of Province programs, referral info

When I spoke with them yesterday, they had mentioned that a few adjustments had been implemented in order to smooth out admission wait times. 
My letter I always recieved from Mb health states that WW will arrange for you if available to take all at once and that is just what I did, 4 at a time for my first visit then following visits I took whatever I could in one day until I completed them all.

Before referral you need to attend a min 4 workshops, begin food journal, exercise regime and tracking daily. When you look at it this way it all this isn't really that much work prior to referral

like i mentioned earlier any program you decide to attend has the right at any point to say NO. it's a fact that many don't realize and consider one program safer over another. When I went to my new program I was informed at any point i can be refused, its a risk you accept if you are ready & willing to get WLS. i wanted the best surgeon to operate on me not just the safest bet for my acceptance to recieve surgery, this should be a deciding factor when researching a surgeon.

This is my concern here..even if I was to be referred to Alberta, I would have to probably use up most of my vacation time to travel for the workshops..plus the expenses of going to the workshops only to possibly be denied..out of vacation time and out of $$ and then have to wait for another possibility. (yes the knowledge I would gain would be terrific and I would welcome that too) If I was doing mystuff from Winnipeg, the expenses would be less and Im pretty sure I wouldnt use up all my vacation time (days trips mostly, right). If I was denied at some point, the expenses would be a lot easier to live with..However, if I could somehow scrape up the money, use my vacation time for the surgery and the recovery, I would be extremely happy. (the money thing is tricky though)

The fact that my doctor didnt even know about this trial program let alone that being referred out of province was a possibility is something I cannot obsess over. I have to do most of my doctoring at walk in clinics as my doc is impossible to get into and no one else is taking new patients so how could I have had the time to even discuss this with her? I have researched for awhile now and cant believe I missed this kind of information..I guess I assumed that those in the medical field would certainly have an inside edge on any information such as this...

Oh the things going through my mind right now...

Tough call that money factor..

Putting out a true effort in making the simple lifestyle changes that WW will ask of you only goes in your favor. But alas for some the money factor can make it hard to decide which is very understandable.

Whether it be here or there.. I personally would be seeking the best available for pre-surgery and post surgery regardless of location.

 my ears were ringing... lol
well heres my take, if you are interested in my take that is. 
for my husband and i to go on each trip to edmonton here are what we are spending-
600-900 on airfare, which the majority is being reimbursed by mb health, a min of 150 in taxis just to get from the airport to hotel( we stay at the best western city centre in, close to the royal alex hospital where the ww clinic is) our next trip i have budgeted 440 for taxis as we are attending 3 module/workshops and they are located all over the city, 100 a night for hotel (you have to request a medical rate)  we always stay at least 1 night but no more than 3 nights at a time, but im not sure where my dh will stay while i have surgery, 80-100 on food a day , keep in mind its both me and hubby and we either eat on the go between apts or upstairs at the hotel. the only reason mb health pays my dh airfare is because my dr requested i have an escort for mental health reasons, otherwise an escort would not be paid for. overall we are spending close to 1000 a trip, that does NOT get reimbursed. so after all my trips i probably will have spent around 7000 for this surgery! it would have costed less to go to mexico!
 but heres the thing, its a REALLY GREAT program! great drs and very thorough. i am lucky to be part of it and im very happy with it. now had i known going into it all my options i may have chosen mexico. i was refered in june of 2010 and will now be having surgery in the next 4-6 weeks ( i think) to think i could have had this done a couple years ago saddens me. but i am not complaining. i personally think we should be thankful that they have even started a program here, yes it needs improvment but wow! thank god its finally here. what i wouldnt do to have it done here , close to my home, mom, daughter and my hubby wouldnt have to miss valuable class time at school. if my bmi wasnt so high when i started this i would have happily waited so i could have it here. but even though they may be opening the criteria, i am already so invested in edmonton i might aswell go thru with it there, plus like i said, it a really great program.
niki

Hi Niki 

I hope you have receipts for all of the extra expenses.  I think almost all of these expenses can be used as an income tax deduction for health care expenses.  You only get a 17% credit, but at least it's something.  

hey Niki ,
 did you apply to westjet or air canada for med escort so your dh fly at little to no cost(taxes only) yet?

Nikki, thanks for posting all that valuable information. I agree, you are lucky to have gotten as far as you have with the Edmonton program and I would follow it through to the end as well. If I had a choice I would much rather be able to do it closer to home as well, but its really not looking that way now with the increase waititmes. Good luck to you with your journey!

 thanks ladies, we just heard about the tax thing on our last trip, we never even thought of it before than. our bad!
and sexy me, i totally forgot you told me about applying to west jet for my escort to travel for free. i guess this all could have been easier on us. crap, now i feel like a big boob! 
we are hoping that we can work out something with our tax guy when the time comes. can we even get receipts from taxis? will definatly try this weeks trip.
at least we kept the hotel receipts. i think....
good luck to all of you aswell,
niki

We claim alot of medical expenses for our son so this is what I can tell you. You can claim your mileage for trips to specialists/Dr's outside your community. We can also claim 2 meals if our appointments fall during a meal time( I think they give you a set amount for each meal) and 2 because he needs someone with him.  We have claimed medical equipment and items like pullups etc because he is over the age of 3.  I don't think we can claim parking but might be different if you are out of province. Somethings might also be included under your private insurance. We got 80% reimbursed on all the medical equipment we bought when my hubby had hip replacement surgery. We also claim any medication, or portion of,  not covered by Pharmacare or Blue Cross.

Hope you are able to claim as much as possible...

Karen

Yes, you absolutely can get receipts from taxis.  Just tell the driver you need one when you pay.  Lots of people use taxis for trips that are expenses for their companies, etc., so they have to have receipts. Hopefully those would be eligible for your income tax deduction and if they aren't, oh well, you have an extra few pieces of paper!