After all the stress...it's about to get better!

[Delicious-Jax]

I think I am going to go back to my GP and ask to be referred to another hospital.

Been thinking about it for a week or two due to the fact that I don't think a Band will work for me or I ,with it.
Was originally told by registrar that I could have a Sleeve then saw another doctor from that team (Mr.Bothas team at St.Thomas') and he said I was ...''too light '' for a Sleeve or By-Pass....I weigh 21 stones for goodness sake.

I do not want to appear ungrateful but, nor do I want to waste the NHS funding on an Op that I believe wont help me. I pick at food most of the day and I believe this type of 'eater' is not ideal for a Band.

Going to mean I wait another year, I reckon. Will ask if I can go to St,Georges in London instead, see if I can get an appointment and see what another surgeon says. Ho hum.

 

[TempleBelle]

You must go with what you feel is right for you.

I am waiting to be seen by the same hospital and team as you, as I think I mentioned before, and I am now dreading they try to fob me off with a band when I am hoping for the sleeve !

I am sure someone on here can offer you the right advice on how to go about changing over and I wish you the very best of luck with it, keep me updated please x x

 

[Delicious-Jax]

Thanks TempleBelle.

The first appointment I had with a female registrar filled me with such hope but, everything she has said has been the complete opposite of the truth.

When I had my triple appointment I was so relieved and excited again...then ,yet again, shot down in flames.

I have Arthritis, so maybe that is not a serious enough co-morbity? I have Fibromyalgia, too but, seemed to dismiss that as nothing much....wont even express my opinion on that !!
I did raise my concerns but the doctor I saw said if it doesn't work, come back next year and we will look at other options. I really felt as if he just wanted to get the quota for Bands done for this year, he said that they had 150 to be done by end of April !

I sound so ungrateful and I really dont mean to be but, nothing seems to go right and of course I should have not got myself to a weight where I need this help but, I have so I must make sure that it is the right Op...

It sems to be harder to get this in London than anywhere else?

Enough selfish ramblings, will talk to GP and see if she will refer me.

Guys and St.Thomas' do their own funding, so I will have to apply for funding for another hospital as its automatically approved for Mr.Bothas' patients if you are part of their PCT area.

 

[flowerofshona]

Hope you don't have to wait to long, the band was a no go for me and far better to get the right operation than have to have two xxx

 

[Delicious-Jax]

My feeling exactly FlowerofShona.
My case is going before their MDT meeting in the next few weeks, so need to sort something out before that as don't want to waste their time.

 

[lamornamiss]

Can you phone Mr Bothas secretary and ask to make an appointment to see him or write him a letter telling him of your concerns and ask him to clarify which option is best for you. It might mean that you have to wait a little while longer but better that than a year at another hospital

 

[Delicious-Jax]

Can you phone Mr Bothas secretary and ask to make an appointment to see him or write him a letter telling him of your concerns and ask him to clarify which option is best for you. It might mean that you have to wait a little while longer but better that than a year at another hospital

I think it's worth a try. I don't suppose I would lose anything by trying?
Thanks for the suggestion, Lamornamiss.

 

[Nickynoodles]

Hi Jax

Good luck with changing your referal, im with St Georges , my bmi 48 ish, i had appointment with surgeon a couple of weeks ago and he said a sleeve would be adequate and a bypass would serve me very well.. Mind u, it is one of the longer waiting time of the london hospitals .. :sigh:


Good luck

Nicky x

 

[Sharonimo]

Going to mean I wait another year, I reckon. Will ask if I can go to St,Georges in London instead, see if I can get an appointment and see what another surgeon says. Ho hum.

Jax,

My suggestion would be to get your GP to refer you to one of the following hospitals:

1. UCH, London

2. Charing Cross

Both of them have much SHORTER waiting lists than St George's, Tooting.

You only learn this sort of stuff half way thru the journey .... someone suggested to me after I had been on the waiting list 8 months at the Whittington that I should transfer to UCH .... I declined their advice and they had their op within 6 months, whereas I am still pre-op.

I *almost* offered you this piece of inside info a few weeks ago on one of your earlier threads about Guy's and St Thomas' ...... but I held back and told myself NOT to interefere too much (!!) ...... now you have come to the conclusion yourself that G and T are useless I feel able to offer you this not so secret information about the London hospitals with the BEST turnaround times !!!!

Good luck !!!

 

[Delicious-Jax]

Ahhh bless ya, Sharonimo...thank you for the good advice.
Am definitely going to talk to GP Monday...not sure how we will go about this change of hospital as I wasn't referred by my GP but by another Consultant I was seeing at Guys.

Will settle my brain into thinking its not going to be this year after all and continue trying to lose some weight.....I am the biggest I have ever been in my life.

It's very tempting to take the offer of the Band but, I know how I eat and its not large meals...I just grab a packet of crisps, cakes, biscuits, anything quick to throw in oven,etc.
I have been training my self to eat more meals but, slip back to old habits again.

Am on milk diet at mo to try and reduce weight by 2 stones so I feel more comfortable and can go back swimming.

I am not giving up, just standing up for what I know will be the right choice for me.

 

[Dinda]

Hi D-J,
I hope you feel better after a chat with your GP, I'd advise you not to chuck the baby out with the bath water.

I have had my by-pass with G&St T, and although it was longer than I would have liked - they were not useless. I was surprised how accepting you were about a band when they offered it to you, in your thread about it you seemed really happy and excited - is this the message the staff picked up on?
Rather than changing hospitals I think you could have a chat with them about the op you feel is best for you. When I met Mr Botha he started talking about a band - and I told him I wanted a by-pass and explained why. He accepted it immediatly without question and put me on the list.

Do your research, state your views clearly backing them up with evidence. It is important that you have a dialogue with the surgical team, not just people posting on here (no offence to fellow posters or myself)

I had my 6 weeks follow up appointment last week and was informed that G&St T are about to become a 'bariatric centre' which will mean more op's and back up services.

 

[TempleBelle]

Thank you Dinda, your post has given me hope after reading one too many negative comments. And the news obout G & St T's been made up to a bariatric centre may mean things might move a little quicker now .

Can anyone tell me how long you waited for the first meeting with surgeon please ? Was told by my GP should be within 8 weeks of writing to them, so just curious as to how long, and can I stop stalking the postie for a while !

Sharon x

 

[Delicious-Jax]

Thanks Dinda, you are always the voice of reason !!
I think I got myself in a panic because, like everyone on here, I want to get out of this fat suit and just be 'normal'.

I haven't even met Mr.Botha yet . Met a registrar back in September (for all of 10 minutes)who appeared to agree with me that the Sleeve would suit me better, then met with Dr. Wazowisci(sp?) and he just didn't want to budge on the Band, even though I explained that my eating patterns are not condusive to having a Band.

He was saying that they had a 150 Bands to do before the end of April and I just got the sense that this is their preferred method as they can get so may done. He also said that the people they do Sleeves and Bt-Passes on were very, very large( he mentioned a man of 50st) almost dismissing my weight as insignificant!
This has caused me great anxiety and worry, for all the reasons I have spoken of in previous posts.

I cancelled my GP appointment yesterday and have given myself more thinking time.
My worry is that I will not see the surgeon till the morning of my band op, which is likely to be in June...far too late to grab a few minutes with the surgical team to express my worries .
Dr W........ did say if it doesn't work, I should go back to them next year and we can discuss the Sleeve....I don't want to waste my fellow tax payers money in the first place.

I am going to phone his secretary and ask if it is worth me writing to Mr.Botha and is he likely to read it? I doubt very much I will get an appointment as its taken 16 months (since referal from another consultant at Guys) to have got to the Triple appointment.
Mr.Bothas time is , probably, stretched to the limit already and I doubt he will want to see me after I have seen the doctor in the Triple appointment?
Believe me, if I thought I would work well with the Band , I would be cock-o-hoop right now knowing I am getting closer to the day.
I just dont know how Dr. W.... can say I am too light (at 21st) for a Sleeve when there are people on here who weigh less than me and have had that procedure.

I will stress that I am hugely grateful to the NHS affording me the opportunity to get something done, I just dont want to make the mistake of having the wrong Op.

 

[Dinda]

Firstly, you ARE normal, you just happen to be overweight too - and you're dealing with it.

I know what it is like to feel 'all over the place' about the decision, the operation and anything else that pops into your head, and it is natural to worry about such a big decision. I was standing in the operating theatre and STILL thinking 'OMG, is this the right choice? turn around and run Donna!' soooooooo glad I didn't though!

I know Mr Botha can make changes - my op was due on 5th Dec and because he had a flight out of the country that evening and there was an earlier emergency in theatre he was running out of time, he came to me and offered me a sleeve instead as it would be quicker. Because I had waited a year on the list and had got my head around the by-pass I declined.

I'm a bit confused about Dr W - The Dr W I met in the lipid clinic at Guy's was a wonderfully supportive and encouraging woman - she told me to do my homework on the bypass before meeting Mr Botha and to make sure I told him exactly why it was the op for me.

When you talk about his secretary, are you referring to Paula? she meets with him weekly about the list - it could be worth having a chat with her and she could personally relay your thoughts? It is important you raise these concerns as soon as you can, you know the waiting time may be longer but if you are certain the band is the wrong choice, don't do it. You could end up feeling resentful and not working with it - which would be a real waste.

I am not much heavier than you, I was offered both a sleeve and bypass - so neither is out of your reach.

Yes, Mr Botha is a busy man and you never see him without at least 4 students trailing him - but this is your life, and you have thoughts, rights and feelings. Everyone has the right to be heard, don't sleepwalk into the wrong choice because you are greatful to clutch any straw offered.
On the ward one of the nurses described him to me as 'A God' which I thought was crazy - he is obviously really well liked by staff and a very competent surgeon, but his interpersonal skills could have done with a bit of a polish as far as I'm concerned!

Maybe me, you and TempleBelle need to get together for a coffee sometime?????

 

[tracyt84]

hi,i also got my hospital changed from the royal princess to kings college,much less waiting time and brilliant hospital,ive been told their waiting list is now only 6 months..u do have to go through the whole referral stage again tho just to change hospitals xx

 

[Sharonimo]

Jax,

I am also in the 21 stone range (currently about 21st 6 lbs) and BMI of 47 ..... although my original referral weight was higher and BMI was originally over 51.

However, the only options that have ever been discussed for me are bypass or sleeve ..... band was never an option, as I always viewed it as being a better tool for people with slightly *less* to lose than me.

Unless you are over 6 foot tall and have the build of a giraffe and are carrying your 21 stone extremely "slenderly" (?) I cannot fathom why you have (so far) been pushed so heavily towards a band.

Unless the hospital is trying to fulfil some kind of statistical criteria:

He was saying that they had a 150 Bands to do before the end of April

Because they have not done enough band ops yet within their financial year or something .....?

But that is THEIR problem, not yours -- get the op that is right for you !!!

 

[Delicious-Jax]

I'm just 5' 3'' Sharonimo...BMI a staggering 50.4 when last weighed.

I know the Band is wrong for me, so will ring the secretary tomorrow and ask for contact details for Mr.Botha and will state my reasons...I know I am on tricky ground and he may not like me questioning his team members' decision but, Ii do have to do whats right for me. I may risk being chucked off his list but, my reasons are worthy, I believe.

I did feel as if I wasn't engaged in a conversation with Dr. W........, more he telling me what he thought and I do feel as if I am meeting their criteria for xxx amount of bands.

Anyway, I will fight my corner and see what happens.

 

[Delicious-Jax]

Hi Dinda
The Dr. W.....I saw was a man? I can't remember him saying his name, just assumed it was the Dr.W..... on my triple appointment form????

I will contact Paula tomorrow, I have to as I am going out of my mind with worry.
I did see a lady registrar at my first appointment who was absolutely lovely (though gave me the wrong info !) but, lovely all the same !

Will take a deep breath tomorrow and let you know how I get on !

 

[Dinda]

Good luck, stay calm x

 

[Delicious-Jax]

Seeing my GP this morning to ask advice, I know she has referred patients recently, so she may have a bit of 'insider knowledge' !