Expert: Diminishing Dawn - 5/28/2009

Question
hi there  let me start by saying this is a very nice thing for you to do help others with their questions

i am 41 i weigh 240 im only 5 foot tall  and have gained huge amount of weight just around middle i have tryed everything under the sun and just keep gaining  i have sleep apnea and no energy i had gallstones last year and had my gallbladder taken out and at that time i was told i have an enlarged fatty liver im on antidepression and thyroid meds im just wondering how one goes about getting the gastric bypass covered by ohip i just want to be able to run and play with the kids  thanks for taking the time to help me   Cynthia in ontario canada

Answer
Your bmi is around 47 which more than qualifies you for the surgery.  

The process differs depending on whether you would like surgery in Canada or surgery in the USA.

The difference: the US surgeons have more experience and there's a faster turn around time (you can literally have surgery in about 3-4 months time) but the negative is that you pay travel expenses.

Surgery in Canada: longer waits (at least 1 year to 18 months).

For Canadian surgery it is a matter of only seeing your doctor and having him/her make a referral to one of the doctors in the Mis Group (the most popular) see their website at www.misgroup.ca.

For going out of country, it's a matter of having your doctor fill out the OHIP pre-approval form and getting approved by the OHIP board.

Feel free to email me personally for more details

diminishingdawn@cogeco.ca