Dr. Marie Gdalevitch in Montreal Limb lengthening and deformity correction

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Thank you for your honesty. I wish there were some patient reviews of her's in the forum.

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OnceADay's response is fairly accurate, kudos to him for taking the time and effort to be so detailed.

I'll add my two-cents as well. Hopefully, it can help guide your decision.

1. The top concerns with going to Dr. Marie isn't necessarily her skill, it's the system she works in. The absolute number one thing you need to understand is that she's a surgeon for the public in a country where healthcare is public. She is very busy. Even when you're booked in for an appointment, you're in and out. To be fair, all doctors in Canada are generally as such. This surgery is very serious, and requires dedicated attention. Regarding Verdun hospital - while English is understood, not all of the staff know English. For whatever reason, it seems that many (not all) Montrealians are very proud of speaking French, and squirm at those speaking English. This is definitely somewhat of a challenge at Verdun. Also, I invite you to do a search for hospitals and clinics all over Canada. Very, very few will have good ratings due to the demand of patients and supply of doctors. All patients are on a triage system based on severity of the issue affecting lifespan. You could be in agonizing pain, but if your vitals are fine and you're not in a technical emergency that could threaten your life, they will let you sit there in pain for hours and hours.

2. From my understanding, Dr. Marie will only give you her direct contact after she's performed the surgery on you, and that's only for emergencies. For everything else, you go through Myriam, which as I've mentioned earlier, is the human epitome of incompetence. That may not seem important when your goal of lengthening is much more significant, but imagine having constant pains and having to wait on an assistant to reply to your through email to book a check-up.

3. Echo OnceADay's response.

4. Echo OnceADay's response - while healthcare in Canada is free, and literally a life-saver for those in critical condition and no financial stability, it is a painful process for everything else that is non-emergency.

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Thanks BreakToGrow.

Isn't the experience of a CLL patient similar to that of a deformity patient under this doctor's care? I mean this doctor primarily specialises in this type of care, where she has to care for a patient for months. So her reputation in her public practice should indicate how she is in the CLL side of the world too. Are there genuine places to check for feedback received by Canadian doctors?

Would her non CLL patients also have to go through Myriam for everything?

And in cyborg's interview she said she does 40 LL cases a year (CLL and others combined). That seems very less. I wonder how she is so busy if she just does so many cases per year.

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In Canada, there is a significant difference between an elective cosmetic surgery and a referral from a specialist. Basically, these doctors have a massive backlog of referrals (covered by OHIP (free healthcare)) that they have to address. The same actually goes for any cosmetic surgery in Canada. For instance, a facial surgeon in Canada has patients whom are elective and referred. So, a facial surgeon can perform a rhinoplasty on an elective patient for cosmetic purposes, and also referral patients who require it for functional purposes. In Dr. Marie's case, she would have a huge backlog of referrals to address whether they are CLL or functional LL, or other related surgeries to the leg deformity. Also, the removal of the rod is free in Canada, as it's considered functional and is covered by OHIP. The point is, she is a surgeon for ANYONE who is referred to her, for anything related to leg deformity. You will never be a priority unless your life is threatened. It doesn't matter if you're paying or not, it's purely based on severity of the issue. This goes for all doctors in Canada, not just her.

I'm not quite sure who else goes through Myriam.

I completely understand your interest in pursuing this procedure with her. Honestly though, have you ever heard of people travelling to Canada for any particular elective surgery in general? There is a reason why.

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Yes with US so close by it doesn't make sense for foreigners to do it in Canada.

I have some very personal reasons why Canada can be a good option for me. I wish there were some patients of this doctor who would come out and present their experiences.

But There are 3 main problems as we discussed;

- triaging when you require treatment
- doctor's availability and her reliance on her assistant
- need to know French (should you end up with people who insist on speakingFrench)

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Her latest interview



47:20 what surgery centre does she mention? It is in French and I cannot hear it properly.

A bad case scenario with getting LL in Canada is that if there is a covid spike and they take over all private surgery centres again. What will existing patients do for follow-up consultations and any other surgeries that might require emergency care?

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That price (about $70k USD) is incredibly reasonable for a North American first-rate doc using PRECICE/STRYDE.

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i just got an email from Dr G's assistant that stryde is done

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Quote from: wannabeidol on April 25, 2022, 11:46:01 PMi just got an email from Dr G's assistant that stryde is done

What do you mean by it’s done? Are they not doing it in Canada anymore?

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Hi Mr.

Hope this email finds you well. I am writing to you on behalf of Dr. Gdalevitch to let you know that the STRYDE nail has been permanently taken off the market and will not be returning. The main difference between the Stryde and the Precice nail is the weight bearing capacity. With the precice nail, you can only put 85lbs of weight when walking.


On that note, we would like to know if you would be interested in moving forward using the PRECICE nail for your limb lengthening and if so, approximately in which time frame, so we can update our waitlist.


If this is something that interests you, please let me know so I can further discuss upcoming surgery dates or set up another appointment for you to discuss this with Dr. Gdalevitch


Sincerely,



Sabah Feifer pour / for:


Dr. Marie Gdalevitch  FRCS(C)