Hello there

I have just been dipping my toe into looking at WLS as an option and have so many questions and am hoping this is place to pose them?!

I have been reading up on this site and couple of others, looking at blogs on you tube etc, for the last few weeks and guess it is time to plunge in and I apologise in advance for the length of the post!

Ok, so a little background about me, I have always been big (although not really fat until puberty hit at 10 - turns out I have PCOS but this wasn't diagnosed until a couple of years ago).

I have tried (and failed) with diets since my early teens - portion control is my main problem and if I am honest I am an all or nothing type of girl and do use food as a comfort. Anyone else like this - how do you cope after surgery? What do you do to fill that gap?

Once I fall off the wagon that's it! My best weight loss was when I ate less than 1000 cals per day and did loads of exercise. I lost 75 pounds and kept it off for about a year, but bad habits snuck back in, as did the excuses ....

Anyway I have been really lucky and had no health issues even though I am morbidly obese BUT I became properly poorly at the beginning of this year (not actually related to being obese at all) and was in intensive care for a couple of weeks and it has left me with a few health issues not least diabetes (they can't decide if type 1 or 2) but my consultant for this is fairly convinced WLS will help either way.

She said a bypass (although after reading up I am maybe leaning towards sleeve, obviously need to talk to a specialist about this).

She gave me the name of Prof Francesco Rubino at Kings College hospital, London - anybody had him, I am trying to arrange a consult at the moment??

Rather than wait ages on NHS (at least year according to my GP) my hubby and I have decided to go privately (although it does scare me to use our savings on this) I am located in Kent, S E England and have also arranged a couple of initial consultations for the beginning of September, with clinics locally. Anyone based in the South East?

I have a list of questions but I guess I am asking, what do you consider to have been the most important questions to ask. from your experiences?

What would you have asked or considered to the most important thing when considering a surgeon/clinic?

If you paid privately, what did you pay for surgery, what did include in terms of aftercare? Were you, are you happy with the care you received?

Do you have any regrets about surgery? Who did you tell? Did you have any complications (this is a major worry for my husband)?

We have a young son and after scaring everyone silly in January, I just want to be healthly and around for him as long as possible.

We also would really like to try for a sibling for him .

Any other advice? All gratefully received!

So sorry for never ending questions ...

Thanks

Freckle

Edited August 22, 201510 yr by Freckle Hopes

Welcome to the forum. I am 5 weeks out from sleeve surgery best thing I ever did. I have had no complications. I am self pay based in Pembrokeshire west wales.

I have had fantastic support from my partner, I only told my best friend and close family.

My surgeon Mr hasn't was fantastic and answered all of my questions.

I am sure that some of the other UK girls and guys will be along to answer your post

Ps you will be looking around the 10 k mark for surgery in uk

Hi Chrisredjeep

Thanks so much for the reply and congratulations on the weight you have lost so far, you are doing amazingly!

I was thinking it would be about 10k so at least I am in right ball park!

How long did you wait between your initial consultation and actually having the op?

Did you speak to a counsellor or anyone before going ahead?

Thanks

The most important question I asked my surgeon was "How do you handle pain management?" My concern was that I read where so many people in this forum suffered accumulated CO2 gas in their shoulders post-op. The doc uses CO2 to inflate the abdominal cavity to make it easier to manipulate his instruments and see what he is doing. Apparently, many surgeons just close you up when they are done and tell you to walk it off.

My doctor said he would extract as much as possible before closing. Consequently, I had no shoulder gas at all.

Good luck with your surgery and recovery. It will be money well spent.

I had my meeting with the surgeon 28 May and had op 16 July. Could have been sooner but I needed to be around for birth of daughters first baby. I did a good bit of reading about the peeve and as I have been fat fighting all my life I just felt that this was the best resort for me. I looked into lap band about 5 years ago but did not go forward . My surgeon Mr hassan won't even do lap band any more. The dietician has been ok with advice but we don't have to jump through as many hoops as over the pond folks do !

Thanks for the info Miss Mac I will definitely be asking that question!

I have been researching the 3 surgeons who do ops locally to me and have come across a worrying news article from a couple of years ago. It involves all 3 who worked at a local NHS hospital and casts doubt on their care and integrity, although not for bariatric surgery.

It has put me off rather, although I had already booked an appointment with one of them at a local private hospital. I will go to the appointment next week and reserve judgement I think. Mr Google has sent me a little bit doolally and into worry mode just lately - my fault entirely, but it does seem as going private and paying yourself as opposed to going down the NHS/insurance route is a bit of a minefield at times...

Any thoughts? Has anyone had doubts about a surgeon and then met them and then felt better??

Thanks

Freckle

Hello @

What would you have asked or considered to the most important thing when considering a surgeon/clinic?

Honestly? Gut feeling, previous records of surgery complications and if they listened to me!

I paid £10,000 and I am very happy with the team I had. They are registered as an international centre of excellence for bariatric surgery by the Surgical Review Corporation, which assesses the safety and quality of bariatric centres across the world. I chose to do most of my ‘meetings’ by telephone as I had done a lot of research into having the sleeve before even picking the phone up and I couldn’t keep taking a day off work just to go for a chat. I appreciate it’s just more than a chat but I felt it was all done well by phone anyway. I called a few places before the one I chose and just liked the first lady I spoke to, Ali and the fact she had had the band and then the bypass, so she could speak from experience.

Do you have any regrets about surgery? Who did you tell? Did you have any complications (this is a major worry for my husband)?

I am 6 weeks out in 3 days and don’t have any regrets about the surgery. I had a bit of a wobble on day 3 when I was sat in my hospital room and for a split second thought, “OMG this is FOREVER”. Like I say, only a split second and then all was well lol. Initially I told a few friends, my boss and of course the hubster but as the date got nearer I told more work colleagues.

I haven’t had any complications at all. None, Zip. Nada. Nothing. I think I had an amazing surgeon and couldn’t praise him enough. Plus I have worked hard myself and kept to the plan! I was constipated for a while but that’s just part of the package not a complication.

I can understand why you want to do this. My Dad died when he was 50 and I am 54. My second son is getting married soon and they want to start a family straight away. My Dad never got to see his grandsons and it hit home that I want to be around for a long time to get to know my grandkids!

It’s natural to have fear and anxiety around this decision. It’s a major change for the rest of your life but I seriously feel that if you do it for the right reasons, it’s the best thing you can do for not only yourself but your family.

Really nice to meet you