I am new here and I have my first appointment on Friday and I wanted to know about the options of having DS as I am in Canada and from what I have researched there are not many surgeons in Canada who do this surgery.  Is there anyone here on the DS board that is from Canada and has the DS surgery can you please share the steps you needed to take so I can be more informed for my first appointment.

And I thank everyone for all the great information I have read on this forum and you have all helped me to make the decision that DS would be the best surgery for me!

Thanks

J

Unless you have a really high BMI it's nearly impossible to have a OHIP cover a DS...your best bet is to go to Montreal and have Dr Gagne do it or in mexico and have Dr Ungson do it. Both options are self pay.

I have a really high BMI and due to this I am pre-diabetic, have high blood pressure, acid reflux and take cholesterol pills.  Are you from Canada? I only ask cause you had DS surgery so if you are how did you get approved or did you self pay?

I'm from Ontario, I ended up self paying...I've read there has only been a couple of DS surgeries done in Ontario (covered by OHIP) I heard the BMI has to be in the high 60's...

If I may ask unless it is too personal how much is a DS surgery if I was to self pay? I think it is sad that the DS option is not as available to us.

Dr Ungson charges 13k US for open (excluding airfare, bloodwork and meds)

I heard Dr Gagner charges around 20K

Cylent thank you so much for the information and for your time I appreciate it very much.   Keep up the great work you look great!

Thanks

J

You're welcome and thank you :) If you have any other questions feel free to pm me.

There are tons of Canadians that have been to my surgeon Marek Lutryzkowski in the Metro Detroit area in Michigan.  Not sure where is Canada you are, but the office is familiar with getting your insurance to pay for the procedure in the US.

Best of Luck!

I'm also from Ontario and self paid with Dr. Ungson in Mexico after researching other options.

I haven't found one Canadian RECENTLY approved through OHIP to have DS. The reason I capitalize the RECENTLY is because OHIP used to cover DS through an out of province approval process and even though the surgery wouldn't be done in Ontario, you'd still be covered to have it done elsewhere.

I've only been on this forum for a few months myself but have seen this question raised many times and the general consensus is usually that noone really knows for sure if it's covered. Several people say it's covered if you have a really high BMI as Brian mentioned above but my starting BMI was in the low 60's and I was told it wouldn't be covered.

The other thing you need to know if you do qualify due to having a high enough BMI, then most DS surgeons will do the surgery in 2 steps. Once your BMI goes over 60 it becomes an even higher risk to do it all at once. So you would need to have 2 surgeries. First one would be just the sleeve portion (like a VSG) and then after you'd lost some weight and lowered your BMI then they will perform a second surgery to do the switch part to add the malabsorption component.

These are things to consider especially if you'll be travelling for it because it would mean paying travel costs twice. Even with my surgery I was taking a chance of having to do it in 2 steps due to my BMI but Dr. Ungson was fantastic and successfully did it all at once.

I had the DS but as Ms PoolShark mentioned it was prior the the changes OHIP have made. Are you in Ontario? If your BMI is high enough you'll need to find a doctor willing to support you and really really fight - and even then I'm not sure. The one person I've heard of being approved in Ontario recently to go to Dr Gagner had major complications from the RNY that without a fix could kill her. There have been reports of 1 or 2 people getting the DS done in Hamilton (I think?) with Dr Hong (again I think?). However, I would say he likely has very little experience doing the DS - and I wonder about the training he has had - though I have no knowledge one way or the other. Are you in Ontario? If you're in a different province then your experience will vary greatly - Quebec I'm pretty sure it's an approved procedure but the wait time is very long (over 2 years I think). Many other provinces won't pay for it but I think some do.

Is self pay an option?

LOL  DS in Ontario seems like an urban legend...hopefully that'll change

You may want to send an email to Dr. Michel Gagner gagner.michel@gmail.com who is in Montreal Canada.  I know he will work with canadian insurance.  He answers all his emails in a timely manner.  I know he has had patients where canadian insurance has approved the surgery.  I'm not familiar with the details though.  Send him an email explaining your concerns, and see what he says to you.

Best wishes to you.


Donna

Thank you everyone for all the information it is greatly appreciated, I am in Ottawa Ontario and I have my first appointment on Friday so I will bring some of my concerns and questions and see what the new guidelines are for OHIP.  I also have private insurance with sunlife though my employer so I will also check to see if they cover DS surgery and if not I will have to look into self pay as I believe it would be the best surgery for me.

Thanks

J

J

I wish you all the luck in the world. A high BMI will help you. Please go in as educated as you can. There are doctors in Ottawa involved in the bariatric system that are dead opposed to DS. Fingers crossed you get a more informed and unbiased one who actually believes patients have a right to have a say in their treatment. Since the whole change to OHIP I have only heard of one virgin (non-revision) DS being performed that they covered and it was actually performed by a surgeon in Toronto who I had never heard of.

All the best and let us know how it goes.

B.

Thanks for the positive vibes.... I will for sure post once I know more about what is going on and go from there, I guess I will have to go over all the pros and cons once I have had my first appointment and have as much information as to what can be done for me.

Thanks

J