[farve4ever]

Hello everybody!! New to this forum and am looking for locations in canada or the u.s where they do the gastric surgeries. Is there a website like this? Congats to you all who have lost weight and good luck to those fighting the battle!!

[fr1endly2]

WelCOME to the boards.....
i am sure members from all over can help you
we do have some canadian members...
what part of canada so some of the people
in the states can recommend by location!
HUGS and i look forward to getting to know you
lisa

[DocSanae]

Welcome to the board, thank you for joining us.
Please pull up a chair and make yourself at home.

Are you from Canada? We do have people from Canada who've had surgery there, as well as those who have had their surgery in the U.S.
Check some of the links in the ads column, I think there are lists of bariatric centers in some of them.

((((((((HUGS))))))) May your search and research go well.

[Kat]

Are you talking football farve?

[farve4ever]

I am from Saskatchewan. We used to have a doctor here, but he has stopped taking patients. Yes i am talking football. Go packers!! Anyways i saw a doctor here and she is against weight loss surgery because of it's complications. Thanks to those who responded!!

[Kat]

I'm from Packer country so thought maybe you were too.
Why is your Dr. against the surgery? What tabout the complications of being overweight? Do you have health issues aside from being overweight that would give pause to the WLS? Have you thought of a 2nd opinion?

[FemmeMode]

...WELCOME!!!

There are people from ALL OVER the world on this board.
So, I don't know anything personally about Canadian Dr's ....but, if you are looking or need support in your journey...this is the place! We are a small group...and without this board...I don't know how I would've made it thru the last 10mos.
I am 9mos 3wks post op...and have lost 137#'s...I'm thrilled...and adjusting very well.

Would love to get to know you...
hope you find your new Doc...and that you'll find the support you need to get yourself to a healthier "YOU."

Glad you found us!!

[farve4ever]

I do not have any complications right now, but have been warned they are coming if i don't change my lifestyle. I am 37 yrs old, single and weigh 368 lbs.I was 394lbs , joined ww and dropped to 307 lbs.For whatever reasons i gave up. I have a wonderful family who means everything to me and that in itself should be enough to give me the strength and will power. Plus the warnings from my doctor. I just need that extra push for some reason. My doctor here said you only hear about the good stories in wls and not the bad ones and that the complications are way to high. But like Kat said "what about the complications of being overweight". I turned to this forum for support and a little more knowledge about wls. And where i can get it done. Why do some people go to Brasil? Thanks again to those who have responded!

[Spikey1341]

Welcome to the forum. I have a question for you. Don't you have socialized insurance in Canada? If so, won't you have to pay for the entire surgery if you go out of the country?

You can use the links here like Doc said, or try Googling 'Weight Loss Surgery'. You may find some good surgery clinics in Canada.

Just a thought.

[DocSanae]

Gatric bypass is a major surgery, so there will always be people who have complications, no matter how good the surgeons get. However, the more experienced the surgeon is, the less the possibility of complications.

Another thing is, any major surgery carries the danger of complications.

With weightloss surgery, one point to consider when discussing the possibility of complications is whether the person has certain co-morbidities or not. Diabetes, hypertension, respiratory and heart disease increase the possiblity of complications for ANY major surgery, not just gastric bypass. Because the number of this surgery is increasing by leaps and bounds, and it can't be denied that, since this is an elective surgery, as the popularity of the surgery increases, people who are not well prepared both physically and mentally for the surgery itself and the major life style changes that must be accomplished in post op life also increases, as well as those who have spent years and years of research and self search before making the choice, the ill prepared will be at a higher risk for complications.

Information and data that are gained through hear-say are confusing to say the least, both for patients and for drs. Ill-informed drs will be as much harmful as the ill-informed patients themselves.

If your dr is against the surgery because of what the mass media reports as a high ratio of complications, ask your dr whether the rate of complications is high or low compared to other major surgeries, such as heart surgeries and lung surgeries, or any other surgery that involves a reconstruction of a major organ. In other words, plain numbers can be misleading. You have to compare it with other numbers to really understand whether a certain procedure is effective, or dangerous.

For myself, while I will whole-heartedly suppor any patient who has done thorough research and soul searching, has made serious and honest but in the end unsuccessful attempts at losing their weight the conventional way, if I perceive that my patient who asks for a referral for surgery does not understand the serious work that has to be put into the success for this surgery, I will subtly tell them to research the surgery more seriously, not just the good stuff you see, but the tough side of the life changes that you need to make with this surgery.

That said, it sounds to me that you may have some degree of depression that has made dealing with your weight difficult. (No offense to you, a lot of overweight people do deal with depression, which makes things harder to deal with, so if there is an issue there, you may need to get some professional help for that as well to further insure the success of your surgery if are able to have it.)

As for people going out of the country for surgery, the reason is mainly financial, if you are self pay, the cost is going to be less in places like Mexico and Brazil.
However, you are going to need life long follow up by your surgeon, plus, if anything happens, especially within a few years of the surgery, the first dr to consult with should be your surgeon, so, quite honestly, I would not recommend surgery with a surgeon with whom you can not have relatively easy contact with.

(((((((((HUGS)))))))) I hope you will be able to find the answers you need.