Just found the Manitoba forum today

Hi everyone 

I just stumbled across this Manitoba section of the forum today after reading a post on a facebook page and "falling down the rabbit hole", so to speak, following links, etc., etc. I have spent about three hours reading various posts on here!

I am  amazed to learn that there are surgeons performing VSG surgery in Winnipeg.  I had an appointment with my family doctor two months ago to get some tests done for possible surgery at a hospital in Tijuana, Mexico. He didn't mention anything the about surgery being done here, even on a pilot program basis. I was/am fully prepared to spend the money to go to Mexico (about $7500, plus air fare), but I will now be making a call to St. Boniface Surgical Associates to find out how long the wait would be to have the surgery here. I suspect it would be a long time, though.  I could have the surgery in Mexico within about four weeks after booking.  The facility I have decided to go to is an Accredited Centre of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery and other people who have gone there have had a good experience. The surgeon there is one of the top 15 bariatric surgeons in America according to Newsweek. 

I started researching the LapBand at the Maples Surgery Centre a couple of years ago, but that was around $18,000, so I decided that was definitely not a realistic possibility.  The price has remained the same, as I just checked again this summer.  I was also advised by people at another centre of all the issues and problems that can occur with a lapband, so I have checked into the gastric sleeve and that seems like the best option with the least possibility for complications.

Having the surgery paid for by Manitoba Health and having it done where I live would obviously be the best option of all. 

This looks like a great place to go for support with people who live nearby, which is something that is obviously not possible  from the facility in Mexico!  I will be checking back regularly to see what's new. I'm glad to have found you! 

Dianne C.

Welcome Dianne!!!! 
Glad you found us, i've been here for just over a week now i guess and i love it!!! it's addicting..lol  always reading, reading and more reading and the people here are wonderful, made a great friends already!! That's too bad you didn't hear of the program sooner and have to be so far from home to get your surgery, but at least you'll get it done none the less.  I personally haven't had my surgery yet either. Hoping for a date soon though. If you have any questions at all feel free to ask, everyone here is so helpful and wonderful and very informative! 

glad to meet you, 
Nicole 

Welcome to the forum, it has made my journey much, much easier the the help from these great girls. Hope we can help
Shan

 Welcome Dianne. The Manitoba Forum is fantastic and full of fantastic people. If it wasn't for the surgery being offered in MB, me coming across this forum a year ago, reading all the stories from the people on here that were willing to share their personal struggles with complete strangers, then I don't think I would be where I am today.  I think I would have simply resigned myself to a life of obesity.  (Not for lack of trying) 

Quite the shock I'm sure to find out that the surgery was now offered in Manitoba.  It's too bad your doctor wasn't aware of this.  I'm not sure how long the wait time is now, but when you find out, do tell.  I'd be curious to know.  I personally was refered December 2010 and had my consult with Dr. Vergis this past September.  In the next 3 weeks I have appointments with the nutritionist and psychologist and then I will just have to wait for a surgery date. 

welcome, i'm fairly new aswell, and i love it here, all my questions are getting answered, and when more questions come up, the answers soon follow.
i aswell have to travel for my surgery, just not nearly as far, i'm currently in edmonton doing some classes that are mandatory before my assessment at the end of the month. my dr refered me to this program, and i was shocked, like you, to learn i could have had it at home. but we must do what we must do, as long as we get the help we need right?
 hope you enjoy the sight
take care and good luck in your quest! 
niki

Hello, I am happy that you found us! The last I heard, wait times to get surgery in town is about 1-1/2 years now. I know that a year and a half sounds like a long time when you can get it done is a month but at last here it is covered by the Manitoba gov. The program does have criteria that you have to fall into. YOu have to have a BMI between 35-47, be a female under the age of 55 and have to have at least 1 co-morbility. Good luck on whatever you chose to do.

Michelle

Thanks, everyone, for replying! 

I really don't think I'm willing to wait a year and a half for the surgery, so I still will probably follow through with my plans for Mexico. The sad part is, I do fit the criteria for the Manitoba program! My BMI is just a smidge under 47, I'm 53 years old and have mild hypertension and mild sleep apnea. With the wait probably a year and a half, though, I would be creeping very close 55 years old by then. 

It's annoying, though, that I didn't hear about this program earlier. I suspect Manitoba Health didn't publicize it at all because they would have had thousands of women being referred!! I work in health care (administrative side) at CancerCare at St. Boniface Hospital and hadn't heard a whisper. I still would not have known if I hadn't stumbled on this forum after following a few other "clues".

I'm probably going to resign myself to forking out the money to have it done out of the country, but at least I know there is somewhere to go with local people who are going through the same types of things and are here to chat with.  That makes me feel much more comfortable. 

Have a great week, everybody!

Dianne  

I just talked to Andrea at Dr. Andrew's office.  There is currently a one-year wait after referral to even get into one of the information classes, then the one-on-one consult with the surgeon and surgery is booked after that, so it looks like a year and a half is about right. Mexico, here I come! I'm just not willing to wait that long.

Dianne C

If the money was an option, I'd be there with you IN A HEARTBEAT!!!!!!  I still have about 6 months of waiting (hopefully sooner) and it is killing me.GO GO GO and get it done.  The line here moves painfully slow.  I have been on this forum for months and months and it feels like I'll be in line forever.  Two ladies I work with decided to go the Mexico and it took 6 weeks from decision day to surgery day.  That was this spring and they are almost at goal and look/feel great.  I am ssooooooo envious but am determined to stick out the waiting in good humor.  hahaha.

Don't delay - get your VSG today!!

Hello D! 

I presume we share a name?!?!  I think I will be taking your advice! LOL. I hope you get to have your surgery soon. That waiting list is a killer. They could be doing surgeries all day, every day nonstop and probably never run out of patients who need it, sadly.

Hubby and I discussed tonight the fact the surgery is being done here in Winnipeg and being paid for by Manitoba Health. However, he also totally understands that I don't want to wait for a year and a half. As he pointed out, the place I've found costs only half as much (around $7500) as what I had first expected to pay, so it doesn't seem so awful. We have enough Air Miles to pay for my flight. I keep coming across sites for other surgeons and keep e-mailing them for prices, too, but I'm not getting sucked into any place with really, really cheap prices.

I've started doing some part-time work from home in the evenings and weekends to make some extra money. 

I could have had the surgery booked within four weeks, but my sister-in-law has offered to come to Mexico with me and she can't get away until January.  I also didn't really want to have surgery right before Christmas.  I can get through Christmas with no one being any the wiser and won't have to start the preop diet until after.  I hadn't planned on telling anyone except my husband I was even looking into this surgery, but made the mistake of posting on a Facebook site and my sis-in-law saw it! Now I'm glad she did! (And I took the posting down really quick!) 

I will keep reading & posting. 

Dianne