A question for Alice

[cherry23]

Hi Alice, i have read your thread and followed how youve got on post op with interest, as i too am having my band done at dolan park, i was just wondering what size band you had as ive read on different forums that they come in all different sizes and if they do come in different sizes do you get to choose, by size i mean they hold different amounts of saline. Cant wait to have the op done now but have to say im a little worried having read of your treatment from dolan park would pay the extra and have it done elsewhere if i could but cant afford anymore than wga package, ive decided to go and see own gp to find out if i could get any support after op as my sister went to see hers and hes arranging dietician and allsorts for her after op. worth a try i suppose, also what vitamins would you recomend and painkillers for after op, thanks alot and hope to hear from you soon Cherry

 

[Alice]

Hi Cherry,

I really hope I haven't scared you. I think that the thing with the WGA package is just that they don't give you much (any) support after the operation - you are left to sort that out for yourself. However, the hospital is super clean and the rooms are comfortable. The theatre staff were friendly and professional. I was very impressed with the Anaesthetist. I had Martin Richardson do the operation, and I've always been confident in his care. The nursing staff during the day were fine... and the ones during the night were a bit rubbish but maybe they were having a bad night, or maybe I should have asked for more help. As someone who works in a hospital, I have a pathological inability to use the buzzer to call for a nurse... I am sure if I had asked for help, I'd have received it.

As for painkillers: In hospital, I had morphine in recovery and then two doses of paracetamol. They gave me soluble paracetamol which was fizzy, and I took it because I figured it must be ok if they gave it to me... but the bubbles gave me loads of discomfort. I since realised I should have asked for IV paracetamol instead... so maybe try that if they don't offer it.

I needed painkillers for about 3 or 4 days after the op. Again, I didn't get on with soluble ones, so I took calpol and liquid nurofen (kiddies ones) in tiny doses, and they worked fine except for one time when I then crushed some codeine that I had in the bathroom cabinet and mixed it with yoghurt.

The most useful thing I found was gripe water. It really helped me to shift the wind which was the cause of most of my discomfort. I really recommend that!

As for vitamins - I am taking chewable bassetts multivitamins & minerals and Osteocare liquid calcium suppliment. The chewable multivits felt a bit funny going down for the first few days post op - I just had to really chew them loads.

As for aftercare with the WGA package: I just had a really long conversation on the phone with a lady at Obesity Healthcare who are the company that do band fills at Dolan Park. I had to chase and chase WGA to get their number and sort it out but now that I've touched base with them, I am pleasantly surprised. The woman I spoke to was really helpful and gave me loads of great advice.

When is your op? Who is your surgeon?

Good luck! And please do ask if you have any more questions!

Alice xx

 

[Mynewlife]

hiya Cherry & Alice

Hiya Cherry
I,like Alice had my operation at Dolan Park,and had the WGA "No frills Package", and you get what it says on the label. I agree with Alice, the hospital room was pleasant and clean, and I had my own room with en-suite, but the room was really bland considering it was private. I used the nurse call a couple of times,to go to the loo after surgery etc. They were really prompt, unlike the NHS, were you have to wait for an eternity. The theatre staff were really nice, and I had Mr Sigurdsson do my band. He also teaches this operation at Little Aston Hospital, so I assume he is one of the better surgeons. One of my biggest complaints was that I recieved no instructions on how to care for the wounds, and received no additional pads to replace the ones covering the port site. Make sure you ask for extra dressings before you leave. I am now 18 1/2 pounds down, and had my surgery on July 18th. I have about three weeks to go before I can have my first fill. The Obesity Healthcare group that Alice mentioned, who do the band fills, were a bit hard to get hold of, but the lady did return my call and appologised as she had been out sick. She was very helpful. By the way I have a 10cc Lap Band AP.

 

[cherry23]

Thanks so much for replying to my question, with only 3 weeks to go now till my op on 29 august, things are starting to feel very real and not just a date in the distance.Im very excited about it but also getting very nervous. My surgeon is mr sigurdsson same as Mynewlifes surgeon.Alice did you also have a 10cc band as well ?Have been shopping and bought the calpol and the chewable vitamins that you said you had, did you buy just ordinary soup for after the op and put it through a sieve( hope you dont mind me asking all these questions )Also did you have op in the morning or afternoon?Alice i read that you were asked to be ready to leave at about 8 30 in the morning is that how it is for everyone, once again im sorry to be a pain, if my wounds get infected should i just go to my local gp ( dont mean to come across as a bit thick but have never been private for anything before and wondered if gp might be a bit funny with me ) dont mean to go on and on but theres no one else to ask , Thanks again cherry

 

[Mynewlife]

Hi Cherry23.
I was told my operation would be between 1-2pm, and acutally went down to the operating theatre at 6:40pm, the 7th of 8 people having the band fitted that day. I honestly expected as it was private that only 3-4 opeations would be done that day, as it was 8 people went through, more like an NHS number than a private number. I was told that I would be discharged the next day, and for my husband to be there between 7-9am. I left at 7:30. As they had not given me any instructions for my wounds and no spare dressings, I went to see the nurse at my local surgery and she was really helpfull. She cleaned all the wounds and redressed them all. I went back 2 days later and had them done again as one had a discharge. I made my own vegetable soup and blended it down very fine, and had no problems with it at all. Try to find out where you are on the list as soon as you can, that will give you some idea about when you will go down to theatre. I must have asked about 6-7 times when I was going down, and never did get a straight answer. It wasn't untill about 6pm that I asked them to confirm that I was actually going to have my operation that day, as it seemed they were running way too late. I did of course go down about 6:40, and got back to my room about 8:10 or so. I have just got my xray appointment through, and my discharge appointment, and look to have my first band fill in the first week of September. Alice have you got your dates through yet? Good luck Cherry. Hope this information helps. :wavey:

 

[cherry23]

Goodness me, 8 people seems an awfull lot to do in a day, and 6.40 seems awfully late to be having the op when youve got to be out early the next day, did you feel like you had hardly any recovery time before you had to leave. I thought that we would be done in the morning so we had at least got some of the day to recover. Are you having your bandfill at dolan park and if so is there a waiting list? Making your own veg soup sounds like a good idea, Im going to start on slimfast tomorrow and follow that plan for 2 weeks thought it might prepare me for the pre op milk diet (Im dreading that one ) Anyway going now as lots to do Thanks for all the info , it really helps to be able to ask all these things from people who have been there cherry

 

[hopelesscase]

How disgusting. When i think 2 weeks ago i had a minor op on my shoulder done on the NHS and i spent 2 nights in hospital as my anethetic block (didn't have a GA) hadnt worn off and they wanted me to know what pain i was dealing with. Saying that i had my gall bladder out at a private hospital and have got to admit the care was fantastic. i had to have open surgury and was in for 5 days.
If i hadnt been approved for funding i think i would of been looking at going private. After reading the experiance on here of dolan park WGA i think i personally would be giving it a wide berth.
Good luck and i hope all goes well
HC

 

[Mynewlife]

reply to Cherry

Hiya Cherry23
I did feel as though I had no real time to recover and was quite sore when I left the next morning, but to be honest, I felt that I would receive better care at home as my husband was off for the week to look after me, and I felt he would do a better job after being in Dolan Park overnight and experiencing the care they provided. I was glad to leave to be fair. The journey home was a bit uncomfortable, because of the swelling in the tummy area and the seatbelt. I was shocked when I found out there where 8 people being banded by Mr Sigurdsson the same day as me, I honestly thought that as it was being done private that he might have about 3-4 people, and it felt as though you were on a production line. They must be raking in some money. I suppose I should be happy that I wasn;t the 8th one going down. I thought I would be done much earlier, and was panicking at 6pm when I still hadn't gone down. At this point I hadn't eaten or drank anything for 24 hours. It could have been worst, I know that they do the banding as an outpatient procedure in the States, surgery and release same day. I am glad that I had the surgery and happy that Mr Sigurdsson did the band, I am well on my way to be fully recovered and back at the gym every other day, I just think the care you receive is very basic, but then I guess when you go through WGA, that is what you should expect. Take care, hope your slimfast goes well. The pre-op diet is ok, I did it for 10 days and just focused on the fact that I was giving 100% to make sure that my liver was shrunk as much as possible before the surgery.

regards mynewlife

 

[Mynewlife]

Hiya Again
Forgot to mention that The Obesity Healthcare, that we mentioned earlier do the band fills, they have a few locations but do also offer it out of Dolan Park, and as I know where that is now, I will more than likely go there for mine. They are very reasonable, they do the fills in a clinic enviroment (without xray), and charge £125 per fill, you have to pay when you book the appointment, and not when you show up. I did check elesewhere and the only other place I could find does the fills under xray conditions and the cost is £388!. Hope this helps.

 

[Alice]

Hi there,

Sorry I took so long to reply - I've had a busy few days.

Alice did you also have a 10cc band as well ?

Yes I did - I have a 10cc Lap band AP

did you buy just ordinary soup for after the op and put it through a sieve( hope you dont mind me asking all these questions )Also did you have op in the morning or afternoon?Alice i read that you were asked to be ready to leave at about 8 30 in the morning is that how it is for everyone, once again im sorry to be a pain, if my wounds get infected should i just go to my local gp

1) Yep I bought ordinary soup and used a hand blender to make it smooth. Towards the end of my 2nd week on liquid diet, I didn't blend it quite so much and allowed a few lumps!

2) I was told to arrive at the hospital at 7am and to expect to go to theatre at noon. I arrived at 7am and waited in reception for about an hour before being taken to my room. They had various reasons for delays all day and I went to theatre around 4pm. They told me I would be discharged between 7am and 9am. They actually discharged me at 5.45am but allowed me to stay in my room until 7am. They then told me to vacate the room and wait for my husband in the discharge lounge. I burst into tears and refused to go so I waited in my room until he arrived at about 7.15am and took me home.

3) In my experience, the advice about wound care and when to change dressings or remove them was absolutely rubbish! Luckily, I am a midwife and have lots of healthcare professionals as friends so I bought extra dressings from tesco's and my friend changed them for me and cleaned the wounds. I took off the dressings after about 5 days and then took off the steristrips after a week because they were itching so much! I think if you need help with your dressings, the nurse at your GP surgery should be able to help you.

I have just got my xray appointment through, and my discharge appointment, and look to have my first band fill in the first week of September. Alice have you got your dates through yet?

Hi MNL,

I had my xray appointment really early - just over 2 weeks after the op! I had to go to a bupa hospital in Sutton Coldfield. I then chased WGA because I hadn't received an appointment with the surgeon - and they gave me one for the following week. I asked at the time if this was a bit soon and they said it was fine - and then, the first thing the surgeon said was "Is there a reason you're coming back so soon?!"

I just booked my first fill with Obesity Healthcare for next week (I'll be 5 and a half weeks post op).

Phew that was a lot of info in one go

Alice xx

 

[cheerio]

Me too 29th at Dolan Park

Hi there. I am a total newbie to this but had to post the fact that I am also having a band fitted on Friday 29th Aug. Despite all the negative comments regarding Dolan Park they have an excellent record on MRSA and C-Difficile which for me are the biggest surgical risks these days.

 

[cherry23]

Alice did you do your pre op diet for 1 week or 2 as im reading that most people do 2 weeks on the milk diet and i have been told to do 7 days, dont want to get there and ive been misinformed and cant have the op . thanks x

 

[lovebug]

Just answering for Alice cus i know she is a busy bee. She did her's for 7 Days. so your correct if thats what your doctor told u to do xxxx

 

[Nik Nak 83]

Hi guys,

I'm in for my band op on 24th feb and so nervious. I have been reading all your comments and it seems everyone has mixed opions on Dolan Park.

This milk pre op diet.. I haven't been told about this yet.

Am I right in saying you just drink milk for one week before the op and then all liquid for a week after? Then onto soft solids for the following week?

 

[serenitylove]

Hi guys,

I'm in for my band op on 24th feb and so nervious. I have been reading all your comments and it seems everyone has mixed opions on Dolan Park.

This milk pre op diet.. I haven't been told about this yet.

Am I right in saying you just drink milk for one week before the op and then all liquid for a week after? Then onto soft solids for the following week?

different dr's do different pre op's milk diet is usually 4 pints of milk and sometimes a yogurt as well then after op it a week liquids the mushies then solids doesnt take long to feel normal again x

 

[prinny]

I have found reading this thread sooooo helpful. I was very worried at first when i booked through WGA as this was very cheap compared to others offering banding. My main concern was that the surgeon would be not up to much and the hospital a back street bodge job shop. I know it's not all really positive about Dolan Park however I have had surgery twice on the NHS (nothing to do with weight) and must say the care I recieved was very poor. My emergency surgery was delayed due to misdiagnosis which could have ended up - well I dread to think. I never had any after care either. So all in all after reading your comments I know what to expect (not a lot ha ha) but know that I am in safe hands in a clean hospital ( i hope!). I must say I thought it was a bit bad asking you to leave your room whilst waiting for your hubby Alice, but thanks for helping to prepare me!
Prinny.xxx

 

[Alice]

Hi Prinny,

Wow you have really trawled through the archives to find this thread!!

I have to say, with hindsight, the WGA package is fine. The hospital is clean. The surgeon put a band in me with no drama. Ok so they have organizational issues and they do the total basic level of care but it's safe.

My best decision in all of this was to get a year's aftercare with WLS Group. I have had endless problems with my band and they have been so so great. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Good luck!

Oh - and hello my lovelies to those that remember me... I dont post much these days but I often pop by to catch up on your news. You are all doing so well xxx

 

[prinny]

Thanks for replying Alice. I have been like a sponge soaking up all the info I can. Trawling the archives! In fact I have been addicted to this site since finding it, shame I am still sat eating when I am typing lol. There is so much I have found out since coming on here, I think yours was one of the first posts I read. I was looking for information on Dolan Park. There was not loads of information out there and was chuffed to bits reading the ups and down you went through.
Good luck with the rest of your weight loss.xxx

 

[shelbell]

Nice to hear from you Alice, glad you're still ok