Curious about where to start..

beautifulconfusion
on 5/31/09 2:18 am - Sydney, Canada
Hi. I am 20 years old and very interested in gastric bypass surgery; Roux en-Y.

I weigh appx 309 lbs and am 5'11", female with a BMI of about 43.1... I am extremely out of shape, suffer from constant shortness of breath, extreme mid-low back pain from carrying excess weight, joint pain (knees), depression and anxiety about my weight. I've tried losing weight more times than I can count. I also have a thyoid condition and am taking Synthroid, and see no results.


I am very interested in weight loss surgery and was wondering if someone could help me to understand where to start. I live in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and am covered under my parents' very good health plan with Bluecross. 

Is the surgery generally covered or partially covered by insurance? Are there any surgeons performing this surgery in Atlantic Canada? What is the appx out-of-pocket cost? What is the wait time for surgery/consults? What are "info sessions" that I have seen mentioned on this forum?

Thank you very much.
:)

(deactivated member)
on 6/1/09 9:36 am - Canada

Hi there,

I would suggest trying your post on the NB forum. Here in NS the only weight loss surgery performed is the vertical sleeve, but i believe in NB the gastric bypass is available. They may be able to help you out there.

Good luck and all the best on your journey....

cheers,

Liz

Balla
on 6/4/09 9:43 am - Halifax, Canada
I too just recently started discovering the route to take in NS. From what I understand the weight for surgery (only sleave here in NS) is years, unless you have diabetes. When I phoned the other day to inquire about a consult since my gp sent my referal months  ago, I was told unless I have diabetes then I will not here from anyone until at least 2012. I
knew it was going to be a long wait but not that long. To me if I am even considering taking the drastic measures of surgery waiting years is not an opition.
Although I have no coverage, I started looking into private surgens. I came to the conclusion that there are not many opitions for that in Canada.
Tons of places to go in the states and Mexico but I personally was very uncomfortable with leaving the country.
There are a few places in Toronto and Montreal that will do several different surgeries privately.
As for getting it covered, I have been told if you have a really really good ins you may get it covered if you prove it medically necessary, other then that you pay. From my research it can cost less then $10,000 if traveling out of the country. If you stay then you are paying a min, of $16,000.

All of this is through my own research and tips from other members here so I am sure if you look harder you may find differences/other opportunities.

Feel free to ask any other questions :) I will try to answer if I can!
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