Congratulations!!! Dr Birch is my surgeon too and I really like him.  He seems to genuinely care about you and any questions that I have he has answered them right away.  

It is great that you have support.

Hope everything goes well for you in your journey.

Baby steps, just a 9 -12 month wait for my RNY.

I am really happy to be progressing and Dr. Birch was wonderful. My husband also surprised me by asking really good questions at the information session and really encouraged me to keep moving forward. I feel good knowing he understands what this means to me and he will help me the best he can.

I will continue to make healthy choices and move forward in my journey.

Tammy

If you go on the Alberta Heath Services web site you can get the info on the Weight Wise Clinic in Edmonton. There is also a referral form that you can print off and bring into your family doctor to fill out and refer you to the clinic. The wait time isn't that bad and doing the clinic and classes will be helpful in the long run.

You also have the option to go to the USA or Mexico, many people have found success by going that route.

Like other's have stated the lap band isn't high recommended anymore due to the low weight lose, high regain rate and complications associated with it. I have met many people through weight wise that have had the band which failed them and then had to have it removed and wait 6 months before being able to be revised to either lap band or by-pass.

I personally have the gastric sleeve and love it. It took me a lot of research before I choose the sleeve but at 3 years and 2 months out I still love it and the choice I made.

Good Luck.

Kee.

I was self pay because I did not want to wait and I chose the vertical sleeve gastrectomy.  These are difficult decisions for all of us, but I would recommend looking carefully at all types of surgery in great detail before finalizing band as your choice. As Kelly mentioned, it is by far the most problematic procedure with the lowest weight loss success rate.  In addition, it is the only procedure that  will require additional surgery for replacement of the band in 5-10 years.  Also, finding someone who is skilled at doing fills can be very difficult.  There are very few people anywhere who can do them properly, particularly in Canada, so that is something you want to be very confident about before committing to band procedure.  

Thanks so much for the advice. Do you contact info for any of these clinics? I'm really having a tough time finding a place I can go to to speak to someone face to face

thanks

t