Looking for Self Pay - Out Of Country (Canada) VSGers

Have you looked at Barix in Ypsilanti, MI?  I had Dr. Poplawski.  I've never had any issues with my VSG.

http://www.barixclinics.com/seminar-registration

Good luck!

Hi Merly!  I had looked at him briefly.  Do you know what he charges for VSG?  Thanks for the info.

Sorry I don't.   I know what he charged OHIP, but not if your self-pay.  I know that Dr. Gagner was going to charge me $17k to either make my pouch smaller or redo the VSG as I wasn't happy with my weight loss.

Hope this helps.

THanks again and take care!

Is there a reason you're looking outside of Canada?  Dr. Christou in Montreal does VSG self-pay.  He may not be any closer than some US clinics, depending on where you live, but he's still in Canada.

HI Maria.  If I could pay for a VSG in Ontario I would.  Whether I leave for Quebec, MIchigan or Mexico for that matter they are all out of Province.  I picked Michigan because I live near Windsor and I'm literally 1/2 an hour away from the surgeon who will perform my operation.  I don't want to wait and go through the hassle of trying to get VSG covered by OHIP - only to go through it for months or even years and then get turned away.  I've been researching and contemplating this surgery for a year now and I just want to get it done.  Plus the surgeon I've chosen isn't horribly expensive.  It's performed in a hospital and like I mentioned above, his costs include a year of after care.  

I was self pay with Dr. Christou in Montreal, and was able to get about $ 3-4000 back on my private health insurance and from CRA on my income tax, plus costs of travel, meals and hotel stays for my surgery plus a companion, and again for 3 and 6 month checkups in Montreal ( I went by train for my first check, and then after that drove myself). Ohip was billed by Christou for my actual followup checks and I deducted travel and meals from income tax as a medical expense as the surgery and the follow-up checks were not offered in my city. With Christou you can get surgery very fast without so many pre-tests, just a matter of weeks...do check it out, get the latest info from him as it is not so crazy to have your VSG done in Canada.

Thanks I never even thought about OHIP covering the follow ups.  I will check him out as well.  This is good info and would like to remain in Canada if I can.  Also, I never thought about submitting to my private health insurance nor income tax until I posted this thread.  Thank you all for the info - it has been very helpful.