Hi everyone in Brissy,

I am going to be self paying the whole amount of my surgery from Super. Would anyone who was banded in Brisbane Australia be willing to share the amount that they paid? I'd like to shop around but am willing to pay more for a better surgeon. Thankyou.

:biggrin:

Hi there, I was banded by Dr Blair Bowden, at the Wesley Private Hospital in Brisbane... There are so many outlays of money, but it was a total of around $19,000.. but the hospital refunds about $3000, and medicare give back about $450. The price is a total between the dietitian, phsycologist, the surgeon, anesthesist, the actual band and the hospital. Dr Bowden, also does one public band surgery at the Royal Brisbane, per month, by doing it this way, you will save about $6000- $7000, but you need to book in well in advance to secure your date. My sister is doing this.

I know that Dr Bowden is one of the more expensive sugeons in brisbane, but I cant recommend him highly enough. He was worth every cent..

I hope this has helped you out a little.. Best of luck

xx Nene

Thanks Nene, I really appreciate your reply - thankyou:smile:

Dr Bowden sounds awesome and actually a few people on here have commented as to how good he is. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with DR Copp because I've heard equally positive things about him and he's a little cheaper at $17,500 plus I can have all my appointments in Ipswich which is closer for me. It's all very exciting, I'm just concerned now about getting it approved by APRA and also my doctor agreeing that it's a life-threatening condition. I haven't weighed myself for probably over a year but I know I'm more than 110kgs - still my old doctor wouldn't write the letter so it's made me a little worried.

I can't wait for everything to stop aching and to be able to move around like I am my real age again instead of 70 (I"m not even halfway to 70 yet but feel like it most days LOL). I'm sure you can relate to some of these from the past and I really appreciate your reply. Hope all is going beautifully for you.

Kind regards,

I was done by Dr Martin from the wesley at the p.a. He wasn't to bad but his bedside manner is something left to be desired. Recently I had to have an unfill and because martin was away blair bowden was called and he told my nurse to take it all out so at the moment I've never met blair but I don't like him lol. Money wise, I didn't pay anything mainly because I have alot of health issues, if you do decide to go private find out if you can get it done at the p.a because they do intermediate or something procedures that end up being cheaper for private patients. Good luck =)

Hi Sarah, thankyou so much for that info:smile: It's good to hear all the different experiences in Brisbane. I'm not sure what an intermediate procedure is so I'll have to check it out. Hope you get a fill again soon, that would be very frustrating I'd imagine! Again thankyou!

Best wishes,

Geees Dr Martin has been bloody awesome to me. One of the nicest men I have ever met. He also has another Doctor that does fills when he is busy. I got in with one days notice. I have had to have an adjustment as I was assaulted at work and my band slipped. Dr Martin and Pauline have been wonderful have gone way beyond the call, even rang me at home to check on me afterwards.

For my surgery I paid $10000 in total and i got about 1000 back in total that was all inclusive and fills are covered under medicare permanently. Dr Martin does you as a private patient in a public hospital helps with the cost

So sorry Sarah you havent had a good experience with Dr Martin He is my life saver and extremely supportive for me

Good luck whichever way you go