Initial Assessment in Chichester on Friday 10/01/14

Hello

This is my first time on this site so please forgive me if I get anything wrong or if I duplicate something that has already been posted.

I am very anxious about my first appointment on Friday and don't really know what to expect. I know the morning is meant to be spent seeing the dieticians, anaesthetists, medics and psychologists - but what happens in the afternoon? Will you see a Consultant or just someone in the team? I have specifically requested to be referred to Guy Slater as I 'spoke' to him in a web chat after one of the Fat Surgeons programmes. I asked about WLS and Lymphoedema and he was very encouraging and said he had personally operated on 4 ladies with the same condition as me, with a good degree of success.

I am also Type 2 Diabetic, have Obstructive Sleep Alone a and am on warfarin for life following a DVT in my right leg that travelled up to become a Pulmonary Embolism (blood clot on my lung). I am just wondering what my chances of being accepted might be, and I would be very grateful for any advice or information.

Many thanks

Alison

Hello Aliphant1964

I had my bypass at St Richards in 2013 & they were fantastic.
Once you have seen all the team in the morning you are sent away for lunch so that they can discuss whether they all approve you for surgery, then the consultant will call you on one at a time to tell you their decision, if you get the go ahead you will then see the dietician who will explain the milk diet etc. surgery is normally within 12 weeks. Hope this helps & if you have any questions there are many who can help

Redorlando

Welcome to the site. I'm afraid I can't tell you what your chances are. But I can tell you that Mr Slater does take on people with multiple and complex co-morbidites. They are there to help, people don't get turned down as such, but conditions can delay procedures. But the team are there to work with patients. When I was there two people where told they weren't ready. But no one was actually turned down.

In the afternoon you will be told by one of the team whether you have been approved for surgery, and what procedure you will have. Then you will see the dietician who will give you your pre op and post op diet instructions. Then you will see one of the surgeons (may or may not be Mr Slater, they take turns) who is there answer any questions you have.

The Chichester team are great.
I'm being revised from band to bypass on 14th Jan with Chris Pring. I can't advise re the appointment process etc as these didn't apply to my situation.
Good luck with everything and welcome

Hi Redorlando

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Wow! So within 3 months I could be having the surgery? I thought they might send me away to try and lose 5% of my body weight first, but if they accept me straight away that would be fantastic! Of course I am scared, but my 50th Birthday is on April 15th and I would dearly love to be treated before then - so that I can say my new life will begin at 50 instead of 40! Fingers, toes and everything else crossed for Friday!

Thanks again

Alison

Hi Roccosmummy

Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to reply.

It is reassuring to hear good things about the Team at Chichester - I am sure I am not alone in having had humiliating and embarrassing experiences with medical professionals in the past and I get very upset when people who don't know me judge me because of my size and weight. I hope they will be gentle with me - especially as I suffer from anxiety and depression!

I wish you lots of luck for January14th and I hope it all goes really well for you

Take care

Alison x

Hi Fiona

Thank you for your reply - it is reassuring to know I won't necessarily be turned down - and I am hopeful that they will take my other problems into account and help me now before my health and mobility deteriorate even further.

Your progress has been absolutely fantastic - you must be thrilled! Well done! As a fellow Medway person (
I live in Walderslade/Lordswood) I hope that I will be able to emulate your incredible success!

Kind regards

Alison x

Hi Roccosmummy

I thought I had posted a reply to you earlier but it seems to have disappeared - I am not very good with technology! So this is version 2 of my response!

Firstly I wanted to say thank you for taking the time and trouble to reply to me and secondly I wanted to thank you for your reassurance about the Team at Chichester. I do suffer from anxiety and depression and I am always nervous when I feel I am going to be judged or people are going to make assumptions about me because of my size and weight. I am sure I am not alone when it comes to having humiliating and embarrassing experiences with medical professionals in the past - I just hope the people at Chichester are as nice as people say they are!

Lastly I wanted to wish you luck for January 14th - I hope everything goes really well for you - please let me know how you get on.

Kind regards

Alison x

Aliphant1964 said:

Hi Roccosmummy I thought I had posted a reply to you earlier but it seems to have disappeared - I am not very good with technology! So this is version 2 of my response! Firstly I wanted to say thank you for taking the time and trouble to reply to me and secondly I wanted to thank you for your reassurance about the Team at Chichester. I do suffer from anxiety and depression and I am always nervous when I feel I am going to be judged or people are going to make assumptions about me because of my size and weight. I am sure I am not alone when it comes to having humiliating and embarrassing experiences with medical professionals in the past - I just hope the people at Chichester are as nice as people say they are! Lastly I wanted to wish you luck for January 14th - I hope everything goes really well for you - please let me know how you get on. Kind regards Alison x

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I started a diary on here. I hope to keep updating it as I go. It helps me to write stuff down knowing the people reading it are in the same boat !

Aliphant1964 said:

Thank you for your reply - it is reassuring to know I won't necessarily be turned down - and I am hopeful that they will take my other problems into account and help me now before my health and mobility deteriorate even further.

Your progress has been absolutely fantastic - you must be thrilled! Well done! As a fellow Medway person (I live in Walderslade/Lordswood) I hope that I will be able to emulate your incredible success!

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Hi Alison, sorry I must have missed your reply. Nice to hear from another of us Medway types, haha. Thank you for your kind words, I am happy with my progress, its blooming hard work but its been an amazing year. How did your MDT go? Feel free to PM me if you can.

Fiona

Aliphant1964 said:

Hi Roccosmummy I thought I had posted a reply to you earlier but it seems to have disappeared - I am not very good with technology! So this is version 2 of my response! Firstly I wanted to say thank you for taking the time and trouble to reply to me and secondly I wanted to thank you for your reassurance about the Team at Chichester. I do suffer from anxiety and depression and I am always nervous when I feel I am going to be judged or people are going to make assumptions about me because of my size and weight. I am sure I am not alone when it comes to having humiliating and embarrassing experiences with medical professionals in the past - I just hope the people at Chichester are as nice as people say they are! Lastly I wanted to wish you luck for January 14th - I hope everything goes really well for you - please let me know how you get on. Kind regards Alison x

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Hey Alison

Hope you're well.
I'm unable to private message you just yet.
I wanted to say however I also suffer to some degree with depression and anxiety. If you ever want any company or support when you attend appointments in Chi then I'm happy to meet. I'm not far and have no intentions of returning to work post maternity leave!!
Could even stop for coffee in John Lewis ;-)
I find company helps to lessen nerves when doing something out of my comfort zone.

Victoria x

I hope your appointment went ok xx