Morning all ,


I'm a 16 year Canadian Forces member who  has chosen to go ahead with WLS, after multipible deployments in Afghan, Dubai UAE and Haiti I'm finally in a static posting and am ready to make this change in my life. I'm wondering if any pre or post op Mil mbrs can share there experence and there timeframe. 

I'm seriously considering self pay.


Any help would be great 


Cheers 

MCpl P.K. Byrne

Im not a member of the military but wanted to say if you dont get any responses...the rest of us can certainly try to answer your questions so u can have an idea. Good luck

 Hello P. K..

I have a friend in the military and he had blue cross pay for his with no out of pocket, so your insurance should cover it. If you choose to go through medicare the wait is about 5 years. I have been waiting 7 years due to the fact my initial referral was lost. I have just signed my consent papers and I am in the home stretch, I guess it is a 2 or so wait from this period. I cannot wait to be a successful loser instead of the regular loser I always was hehehe.

If you like I could contact my friend and see if he would be interested in sharing his experience with you?

Let me know... Danielle

Evening Danielle,

Let me first say thank you for your response , it seems almost impossible getting any info about fellow CF members getting WLS. I would very much like to hear your friends experence.

I'm off to Ottawa(CF's head hospital) on Tuesday to see an internal medicine specialist on Tuesday it's the third hoop i've had to jump thru so far , month ago my MO/GP approved me for referal to the base chief surgeon who rubber stamped me and passed me off the internist in Ottawa this tuesday.

Please ask your friend what his timeline from first request to post op? I also fall under Blue Cross. just wondering if this speeds up the process or slows it down. I'm determined to go ahead with surgery self pay or not by Xmas I will be on the bench!

Any info your friend could share would be a blessing. I'm posted to NB or NS in 2013 so I really want to be post op by then


Cheers

Patrick Keith

 Hi Patrick,

He is stationed here in NB. He is due to move next year as well. I will give him a call tomorrow and get him to come on here (he has a profile but does not come here often). He has lost a lot of weight. It seemed to me as though it was quicker for him to go private (Blue Cross) and he is at his goal weight now.

I have to admit, I was very jealous of him getting his WLS and I had to weight (lol) so long. I am in the home stretch now hopefully I will get done in the next couple of months.

I will follow up with him and you tomorrow when I talk with him.

Take care,

Danielle

ok iam military . i had my surgery last 18 months . and you dont have too pay , go too the Mir and ask your doc , telll them what you are looking for. the army wont pay for the band  but will pay for  the by pass.after you see your doc they do have you do a couple steps before ottawa will approve but its all coverd by blue cross.any thing else just ask , not sure how many days i will be here heading away for 7 weeks

as far as time frame from the time your base Mo approves it might be 1 yr. they will send you too see a specialists . and then wait for Ottawa too approve it if the specialist does think you are good for it, then they will make a appointment for it , if you are posted to NB or NS your Op will be in Montreal. ok read that you see the specialist on tues. so it might be 6 months after he approves it.

 Hey Scully, its great to hear from you ! .Your the first mil mbr i've heard from. 

I'm off to Ottawa tommorow to see the internal medicine specialist, I guess it's her that agree's yes or no with surgery? My MO and my base surgeon already approved me and referred me to Ottawa. 

1 year eh? Any way to speed things up? i'm willing to self pay if its going to be that long. I'm promoted and posted back east in 2013 so i was hoping to have surgery by Xmas leave.  I'm fine with RNY but if i self pay i want to go DS.


Thanks again for your time, means alot to know there's other CF members out there that struggle with there weight , it's been a life long struggle for me, tours in Afghan, then Mirage and then deployment to Haiti post earthquke made being obese all the tougher.

How was your recovery time? Did military have any other specialists other then internal medince you had to see

Sorry about the questions but  a CF post op'er is a rare thing indeed. 

no she will be the only 1 you see , and it took me 6 months too get into see 1 . so your half way there. once you see her you should be about 6 months away maybe faster.if she thinks its a good idea you will be getting it .and  no self pay wont be faster because the clinic will still want you to do stuff. just keep in mind once they tell you are approved and tell you where your going too have it done get over too your base MIR at the ordely room  and make sure the blue cross rep pays for it. other wise they could take their time .which will make it longer.

 Hi Patrick,

Scully is my friend... Ask him anything you want to know... Good luck with everything. Feel free to message either one of us about anything.

 Thx koko you have been a huge help .

Thanks to Scully for letting me peak inside the CF process

 Hey Patrick,

On the meantime, I suggest you get as much information as you can as to pre-op diet and you post OP restrictions. I am still Pre-Op but I have been waiting so long, I have had time to make better choices (i.e. cut out carbs, starches and I have introduced veggies, and that was very hard for me.) Also start an exercise program outside your regular PT, I have a Wii and do a Wii Active 2 workout everyday, I started with beginner and as large as I am now, I am able to do intermediate. I break a fierce sweat and burn about 300 calories (if not more) per workout. Make small changes now.... I say small I mean small, because I tried to make a lot of changes and abandonned that as it felt futile. One thing at a time, it will make the transition from the you that you are now, into an even better you.

P.S. I don't feel deprived, I am able to enjoy fruit as my 'sweet treat' and I don't miss candy/sweets. If you want a crunch, stay away from chips, I eat almonds, or popcorn or anything else that you feel the need to satisfy your craving. Also one more thing... I eat ALOT now, or so it feels. I used to skip breaky and lunch and only eat supper. If you do this, start eating about every two to three hours.... not large meals. I have suggestions if you want some. I have a long way to go myself... but wanting a quick fix is nothing if you can't follow through with changing some habits. That was the hardest for me... and I am not done trying to perfect my pre-op eating. 

Oh and if you enjoy pop, start weaning yourself off of it now... because it is definteiy a no-no post op. Not even diet. It will stretch your pouch and gives you no real nutrient value.

 Morning  Danielle


Just wanted to update on my internist apointment in Ottawa yesterday . 

Happy to report she thought I was a perfect candiate, she approved me 100% and while it will take her up to 2 weeks to compile and submit her reccomendation the next step is the request fwded to Blue Cross and my meeting with the surgeon of there choice. 

I'm still 110% committed to DS but I need to start accepting the fact that the military will be pushing RNY. I offered to self pay in Mexico but the military won't support out of country surgery. 

Here's hoping I can push the timeline forward from this point. Really want my surgery before Xmas to allow myself to recover before my posting in 2013. 

Please thank Scully for his time and info and i look forward to his response from a private message i sent him yesterday!

Goodmorning Patrick,

This is awesome news, and I am so glad for you. This is a huge first step.

When I talk to Scully next I will tell him you sent him a personal message if he has not already received it. I initially wanted the DS too, but I am going for the VSG. The lap band is not a choice I wanted EVER, I have seen many people not succeed, mainly because my friends mindset was get a quick fix, and then get it removed, they were not committed to making any of the changes. I am sad to say all the friends I have known to have lap band, have lost a lot of weight and regained it all plus some, it really was a sad thing to watch. It was also not a good thing to watch them eat more fattening food thinking the band will fix it all. These were not the typical lap band patients BTW, many Lap Bands have done wonderfully and succeeded quite nicely, but you have to make the changes and be committed to them first and foremost. Surgery is only a tool, you must meet your responsibilities too. At least that is what I kept telling myself until I am finally committed to eating properly and exercising daily, no matter how tired, lazy, I am, and OH how I can talk myself out of exercise... but I drag myself.... I feel better for it.

VSG eventually can be migrated to an RNY when weight loss stalls. I am very obese, and this is something that is to be expected, although I will do what I can just to make the VSG my last one. 

I was considering Mexico at one point myself, not anymore, I am in the home stretch here and hoping to have my operatiion in the next month or two *fingers crossed*. Now that you have doctors approval, it should go quickly for you. Private pay is the quickest way to go, sad but true.

sorry for taking so long to reply iam on op nanook in inuvik right now . i did send a reply  try this web site and look it over www. weight lost surgery.ca  i think they will pay for  DS  but i know they wont pay for the band.

Hey Armyguy1976,
Just wanted to let you know that you can self pay with Dr. Christou in Montreal. I had the VSG on March 13, 2012. It only took 6  weeks from submitting paperwork to surgery. I have absolutely no regrets. I don't think he does DS, but he does the RNY and VSG. Going to Montreal would definetly solve your out of country dilema. Heres a link to Dr. Christou's site http://www.weightlosssurgery.ca
Good luck with whatever you choose.
Lisa