A word of advice to all pre oppers

[Denise Morris]

If when you first saw Nurse/Doctor in clinic for initial assessment and any mention was made of needing further investigations eg sleep studies, treatment of new or poorly controlled blood pressure/diabetes/asthma/heart problems (details will be in your copy of the letter sent to your GP – so request a copy of all letters) and if needed Nurse/Doctor will have asked GP to make appropriate referral/instigate treatment.


If this is the case and you have not had required tests by time you come for pre-op assessment be warned you could end up having SURGERY CANCELLED until these have been done and that cannot be arranged before surgery once you have got to pre op clinic as there just is not sufficient time.


Once hospital has contacted your GP it is his/her responsibility to refer you to local hospital for any required tests and forward results to Consultant.


Therefore if you check your letters and find you should have been referred/treated and have not been discuss with GP asap and if any problems mention to Consultant.


This also applies to anyone having a pre op gastroscopy please make sure you are told the result of any biopsies taken to test for helicobacter pylori infection because if infection is found as you YOU WILL NEED A COURSE OF TREATMENT BEFORE YOUR SURGERY and usually endoscopy send out result to GP requesting this within a couple of days but this can sometimes be over looked (as happened in my case but lucky I checked 4 weeks later due to persistent heartburn and previous infection) so if you have not heard anything so for your own sake contact GP to check he has received result or ring endoscopy and ask them to check.


We have had a couple of incidents recently where requested tests/treatment has not been carried out and inevitably led to cancellation of surgery leading to great disappointment for the patient.


Act before your surgery date and this will save any disappointment later on.

 

[lynne08]

fantastic advice Denise. thank you

 

[lindy62]

Thanks for that Denise

lindy62

 

[TwinkleTwinkle]

Noted .. Thank you Denise. I have my pre assessment on Monday do will be aware of this now.

 

[BrianT]

Noted .. Thank you Denise. I have my pre assessment on Monday do will be a ware of this now.

Have I missed a post....have you got a date now?

 

[TwinkleTwinkle]

Have I missed a post....have you got a date now?

No, Brian, I wish :cry: it is only my pre assessment, not my pre op assessment. It is the one following the surgeon accepting you onto his list x

 

[BrianT]

:booboo:
That'll teach me to add my own words when reading posts. Your day is coming :fingerscrossed:

 

[novamay]

This is great advice Denise. I would add that it also applies for any counselling that people may be referred to - until the counsellor is happy that you are mentally ready for the operation it will not go ahead.

 

[Denise Morris]

This is great advice Denise. I would add that it also applies for any counselling that people may be referred to - until the counsellor is happy that you are mentally ready for the operation it will not go ahead.

Yes anything they refer you for that might affect your surgery or recovery.

 

[jema]

Morning Denise. I go for my endoscopy next week and the only test I have had done was the sleep study. It's been that long since my first appointment, I'm not sure if I was s'posed to have anything else checked! Will I be able to ask at endoscopy if everything's up to date, or will my G.P. know better?
Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Denise Morris]

Morning Denise. I go for my endoscopy next week and the only test I have had done was the sleep study. It's been that long since my first appointment, I'm not sure if I was s'posed to have anything else checked! Will I be able to ask at endoscopy if everything's up to date, or will my G.P. know better?
Thanks for the heads up!

Doctor will have your notes so should be able to tell you what was requested and if they have results of sleep study in them.

 

[Tatiana]

Very good advice Denise,

It's also worth checking what your particular trust require in the way of pre-op investigations.

Where I am you don't go on a weight management course, don't have a sleep study, don't have an endoscopy and, psychological assessment usuall consists of only one appointment. I wasn't even set a target weight loss during the process - just a warning not to gain weight as it may go against me when my case would be put before the MDT.

I was quite shocked to see what other areas make their patients go through before they get their names on a waiting list for surgery.

Tatiana

 

[Denise Morris]

Very good advice Denise,

It's also worth checking what your particular trust require in the way of pre-op investigations.

Where I am you don't go on a weight management course, don't have a sleep study, don't have an endoscopy and, psychological assessment usuall consists of only one appointment. I wasn't even set a target weight loss during the process - just a warning not to gain weight as it may go against me when my case would be put before the MDT.

I was quite shocked to see what other areas make their patients go through before they get their names on a waiting list for surgery.

Tatiana

Requested are usually based on findings of initial health questionaire completed at first meeting with doctor/bariatric nurse and are aimed at making surgery as safe as possible by identifying and treating problems before they can pose a risk.
Some trusts clearly don't think its worth the cost.

 

[Denise Morris]

Requested are usually based on findings of initial health questionaire completed at first meeting with doctor/bariatric nurse and are aimed at making surgery as safe as possible by identifying and treating problems before they can pose a risk.
Some trusts clearly don't think its worth the cost.

For those who want to check if they have sleep apnoea here is an online test you can do
check this site, tBritish Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

 

[Tatiana]

Requested are usually based on findings of initial health questionaire completed at first meeting with doctor/bariatric nurse and are aimed at making surgery as safe as possible by identifying and treating problems before they can pose a risk.
Some trusts clearly don't think its worth the cost.

Denise,

I have never met the bariatric nurse on the process leading up to being placed on the waiting list, the appointment with the surgeon never touched on matters such as osa - never asked about snoring or sleep patterns.

My trust only have a questionnaire for the psychologist so can't even claim to have ruled it out through that either.

Only thing investigated for and discovered pre-op was that (based on the amount of antacids I take) I have a hiatus hernia - and I've never been given that result, it's only because they had the repair listed on the procedure at my pre-op assessment last month that I even know about it!

As you say, some trusts seem to cut costs - my entire journey has been 1 appointment with endocrinologist (who just talked about banding and asked how much weight I wanted/expected to lose) and dietician who gave me pre and post op diet sheets, 1 appointment with surgeon and then psychology review where all she was interested in was wanting to know if I'd ever been raped as (in her opinion) that was why women gain weight - so they become unattractive to men - wtf! When I insisted that wasn't the case she said I was evasive! Finally I saw psychiatrist who could find no reason not to go ahead.

Pretty poor compared to some trusts don't you agree!

Tatiana

 

[Denise Morris]

Denise,

I have never met the bariatric nurse on the process leading up to being placed on the waiting list, the appointment with the surgeon never touched on matters such as osa - never asked about snoring or sleep patterns.

My trust only have a questionnaire for the psychologist so can't even claim to have ruled it out through that either.

Only thing investigated for and discovered pre-op was that (based on the amount of antacids I take) I have a hiatus hernia - and I've never been given that result, it's only because they had the repair listed on the procedure at my pre-op assessment last month that I even know about it!

As you say, some trusts seem to cut costs - my entire journey has been 1 appointment with endocrinologist (who just talked about banding and asked how much weight I wanted/expected to lose) and dietician who gave me pre and post op diet sheets, 1 appointment with surgeon and then psychology review where all she was interested in was wanting to know if I'd ever been raped as (in her opinion) that was why women gain weight - so they become unattractive to men - wtf! When I insisted that wasn't the case she said I was evasive! Finally I saw psychiatrist who could find no reason not to go ahead.

Pretty poor compared to some trusts don't you agree!

Tatiana

I have to say based on what you and others have said my trust is very thorough (the some would say its stalling tactics!).
As for the psychologist you saw, very freudian (he was obsessed with sex too and even had a fixation on his mother!)

 

[Tatiana]

Denise,

The worst thing about that psychologist is it wasn't a man at all but a woman! She had some other interesting ways about her even down to her manner of dressing - far from professional, or even smart, she wouldn't have been out of place on a grungy motorway bypass protest picket line!

I was just so pleased to meet the psychiatrist at the 2nd apppointment, he wasn't just professional but quite a nice chap! And his attitude wasn't aiming to label me as a psycho or abused victim - just wanted to make sure there was no reason to advise against me being taken forward for surgery!

And his comments about my previous experience at the hand of his colleague? He said it was unfortunate and not orthodox and perhaps I caught her on, as he politely (and perhaps politically correctly) said, "a bad day"!

Tatiana

 

[Andy1968]

I have to say based on what you and others have said my trust is very thorough (the some would say its stalling tactics!).
As for the psychologist you saw, very freudian (he was obsessed with sex too and even had a fixation on his mother!)

As for the psychologist you saw, very freudian (he was obsessed with sex too and even had a fixation on his mother!)

:9529: :sign0137: