Doing from Ontario

[Guest guest]

I'll try my best to answer your questions one at a time.

How far in advance did you have to book your appointment with Dr.

Goldberg?

We called for the information package in Feb/March ... sent it off

near the end of March ... got called in Mid-April for an appointment

at the end of that month. We couldn't make that one but they called

back in May with a July 2nd appointment. If you go on their

cancellation list, most people seem to get in within a couple of

months after sending in their information. If you go to the back of

the line for your appointment it seems to be considerably longer.

Time, Money and distance have been the issue but we might be able to

swing it. Did you do any of the tests Dr. Goldberg recommends before

you went?

We did all of them.

Did OHIP cover any of the costs for the trip since it is not

available in Ontario?

No. We didn't attempt to get any of the cost of the trip covered ...

however, we found a doctor here who ordered all the blood tests which

is a considerable savings -- because if you have it done down there

it's $2500 (U.S.) There were only one or two tests we had to pay for

out of pocket because they were not available here.

I would doubt OHIP would cover travel or medical costs since most

doctors here don't even recognize this treatment. Besides, autism is

considered a psychological disorder by the establishment, therefore I

doubt they would cover treatments such as this -- even though Dr. G

contends most of these children do not have autism.

If so how long did it take to get the approval for the costs before

you went?

That's the other problem ... even if OHIP would cover some of the

costs, I'm not willing to wait just to save the $450 (U.S.) for the

visit. It's a longshot anyway ...

What hotel did you use in California?

Days Inn, Tarzana ... four blocks from Goldberg's office and 30

minutes from the airport. It seems to be the the motel ... from

what I can gather. About $89 a night.

Did the hotel have a fridge in the room?

Yes.

Whats their policy on noise? For instance my son is very " vocal "

and runs/jumps/slaps things alot and can be very noisy.

I think they'd be okay with it. The manager there recognizes that he

has all kinds of people staying there from all over the world to see

Dr. G and he understands that these kids have problems.

McCreary's stayed at the same hotel and mentioned that no one

complained when their son made a racket in the pool. Our son is

relatively quiet most times.

Did they have a VCR?

Don't know about that ... you can look them up and call. The

McCreary's have the phone number for the place for sure.

What about followup visits?

You fax weekly updates to the office ... and the office calls you

back with feedback. Once a month you have a phone consultation with

Dr. G. which costs $100 (U.S.) I believe you have to go see him in

person once a year, although I'm not sure about that.

If Dr. Goldberg prescribed any meds for your son can you get them

filled in Ontario or did you have to fill them in California?

You have to find a doctor here who will go along with the treatment

and sign the prescriptions for you. We were lucky that the same

doctor who ordered all our bloodwork also is ordering the

prescriptions.

How long was your appointment with him on the Tuesday?

About 1.5 hours ... we weren't huried at all ... he had all the time

in the world for us ... and there were no other patients in the

office the whole duration of our visit. It was impressive.

Did they do the brain imaging tests I've read about?

No. Some people have them done but they cost about $2000(U.S.) I

think. Don't know about getting them done here.

My son has several severe food allergies and the issue of food

while traveling is a big one. Basically he can't/won't eat almost

all regular food - I have to make almost everything for him. Do you

have similar food problems and if so how did it go on your trip?

>

We have the exact same problem. I travelled with a cooler bag full of

ice packs, muffins, chicken and soy yogurt ... and got by just fine.

Having fridges in our room both in Syracuse and LA helped a lot. But

yes, everything ate the entire trip was brought with me except

one bag of potato chips and some juice.

> That' s all the ones I can think of right now. Thanks in advance

for your reply. I will email the McCreary's to find out more about

the clinics.

Hope that helps. None of this has been easy but, as I sit here today,

I'm very glad we went ahead with it.

Dave

> Re: doctor locations

>

>

> Where in Ontario are you?

>

> We are in Ottawa and went to see Dr. Goldberg three weeks ago.

>

> When you say it is " next to impossible " to go to California to

see

> Dr. Goldberg ... did you mean because of the time, the money or

that

> your child could not travel that distance?

>

> We flew out of Syracuse which was far, far cheaper than anything

in

> Canada ($540 US) for both myself and my son. We had to fly three

> flights each way but that actually worked out well since he

didn't

> have to sit on one plane the whole way and he did great.

>

> As for costs, I figure the whole thing -- including hotels and

car

> rentals at both ends, meals, the visit and some of the bloodwork

> which you have to pay for yourself, cost us less than $2000

> (Canadian). Compared to what else we've spent trying to help our

son,

> that is a drop in the bucket.

>

> As for the time it took for our trip, we drove to Syracuse on a

> Sunday afternoon, flew to California on Monday, saw Dr. Goldberg

on

> Tuesday, and came home Wednesday.

>

> There are some initiatives going on right now, however, aimed at

> getting clinics started in Ontario. In fact there was a

meeting

> last week in Burlington to discuss this whole idea.

>

> You might want to email Doug and McCreary

> (dmccreary@s...) to find out more about this. They have also

> taken their son to California to see Dr. G. They live near

> Orangeville, Ont ...

>

> We are aware of several other Ontario families who are at least

> investigating a trip to California or already have dates.

>

> Get back to me if there's anything else I can help you with.

>

> Dave

>

>

>

>

> > Does anyone know of a doctor other then Dr.Goldberg that is

doing

> > the protocol? We live in Ontario so it is just not

possible

> to

> > get to see Dr. Goldberg. I did contact him about 1 yr ago and

he

> > said he would be glad to work with us but we had to go to his

> office

> > which is next to impossible for us to do.

> >

> > Our son was doing fine until he had his MMR and had a severe

> > reaction to it and we believe that the protocol could help

> him.

> > I am going to talk to our doc here about it and see if I can

get

> him

> > to run the tests Dr. Goldberg recommends.

> >

> > We have considered trying the DAN protocol but again there is

no

> DAN

> > doctor close to where we live. There are 3-4 Dan doctors in

the

> > province so we may still give that a whirl - we're unsure right

now

> > about it though.

> >

> > We have him on the gfcf diet and it has made some big

improvements

> > for him but he still has a long way to go.

> >

> > Any info is greatly appreciated.

> >

> > Thanks

>

>

>