Birmingham, Heartlands, Midlands....anyone in my area?

[MissyMustDoIt]

Hiya, im not looking for a meet up, just someone to compare waiting times with, consultants, specific hospital waiting times etc....

I live in Tamworth and have been referred to Heartlands...is there anyone else here that is having or has had their op at Heartlands, anyone given the option to transfer to walsall or aston...

i'd like to know what things youve come up against, delays, cancellations etc?:cry:

did you have to lose weight pre op...what WAS your pre op diet? OMG so many q's!!!!!!

maybe no one will own up to being in the area cause im like the spanish inquisition lol

 

[wannaloose18stone]

There are loads in your area and you will soon have all the answers you need ........... lol. There's groups on Facebook as well

 

[MissyMustDoIt]

are there groups on FB....only thing about FB is i dont want to tell people until i know a surgery date, if any lol, so has to be private groups....can you point me in the right direction?? x

 

[Fuffs]

I am also at Heartlands. Just waiting for my surgery date. The lovely ladies FuturePerfect and Minoots are also Heartlands patients.

We will all help as much as we can I can speak for them, as I know they are wonderful lol x

 

[wannaloose18stone]

There are private groups but you will have to be invited into them.

 

[MissyMustDoIt]

yay....fellow brummies
does anyone know?....what types of surgeries do they do at heartlands, bypass/band/sleeve
do you have any idea of average waiting times?
are there seminars to attend?

i bet all these answers are around here, but they vary so much from area to area im confused! lol

 

[Fuffs]

yay....fellow brummies
does anyone know?....what types of surgeries do they do at heartlands, bypass/band/sleeve
do you have any idea of average waiting times?
are there seminars to attend?

i bet all these answers are around here, but they vary so much from area to area im confused! lol

Honestly, I have searched and searched and it seems to depend on the requirements of your PCT to how long it takes at Heartlands. Do you know what PCT your GP comes under?

Then the response can be more accurate.

Heartlands do bands and bypass. My surgeon says that is it. But on the weight management site it says they do sleeves. I also done some searching on here and saw people say they had sleeves with Mr Kumar at Heartlands. So I am confuzzled.com on that one lol

And yay!!! Brummies unite lol

My journey has been long and is not typical of Heartlands journeys. Most seem to get sorted quicker. But like I said, it depends on PCT.

I have never had appointments cancelled by much. Just like moved forward or moved to a day later. But they tend to give very good notice for any changes

I have never had to attend a seminar. I do no thtink they have them. Just weight management every 2-3 months with a dietician and physician. If you do it at the hospital itself, it isnt so regular. So I go to The Wand Medical centre. They also do it at West Heath surgery.

 

[MissyMustDoIt]

my PCT is south staffordshire, im just googling now to see if there is anything i can read up on lol

 

[Brunetteandred]

scottiebottie - the BMI threshold is dependent upon which area is funding you. For instance, in the area I live, a BMI of 40+ and co-morbidities will secure funding (well, until the current 'austerity measures' anyway)

 

[MissyMustDoIt]

ive always been under 50 BMI. i havent chosen heartlands, and to be fair, its a weight managament appointment i am looking to arrange first so did wonder if i did that there and then look at surgery elsewhere?

this place is great for info but online. a lot of guidlines are out of date, and from what ive seen, if people are declined funding, then they dont write why! lol

ive got a bad feeling this is going to go tits up

 

[Laura b]

Hi ya I'm Laura I had my surgery at Solihull spire but was through Birmingham heartlands hospital but for some reason got sent there (wernt complaining mind u lol)
I went to my g.p August 2010
Got refered to see surgeon and seen first weightloss consultant mr tahiri September 2010
Got refered straight for surgery as I had previousily completed the 6 month weight loss programme they like you to do b4 surgery
Got to see surgeon November 2010 where funding was sent off and applied for
December 2010 I got a letter to say funding had been agreed
March 2011 I got a phone call to start my pre op diet straight away as a date had become available for April 16th 2011
Had surgery and so far so good lost 10 stone 10lb so far and feeling great x

 

[Laura b]

yay....fellow brummies
does anyone know?....what types of surgeries do they do at heartlands, bypass/band/sleeve
do you have any idea of average waiting times?
are there seminars to attend?

i bet all these answers are around here, but they vary so much from area to area im confused! lol

They do sleeves aswell hun they do band bypass and sleeve xx

 

[MissyMustDoIt]

Hi ya I'm Laura I had my surgery at Solihull spire but was through Birmingham heartlands hospital but for some reason got sent there (wernt complaining mind u lol)
I went to my g.p August 2010
Got refered to see surgeon and seen first weightloss consultant mr tahiri September 2010
Got refered straight for surgery as I had previousily completed the 6 month weight loss programme they like you to do b4 surgery
Got to see surgeon November 2010 where funding was sent off and applied for
December 2010 I got a letter to say funding had been agreed
March 2011 I got a phone call to start my pre op diet straight away as a date had become available for April 16th 2011
Had surgery and so far so good lost 10 stone 10lb so far and feeling great x

ooww you just made my heart smile!!!!!!!!!

what were your weight stats? was your BMI 50+? do or did you ha co-morbidities?

I have been open and honest with my GP for the past 2 years about my weight and have a spreadsheet with weight losses and gains on since 2009, would they accept this as part of a weight loss programme?

I did wonder if you had weight management one place and an op elsewhere...ive got so many questions lol

well done on that loss!!!! amazing, i need to lose 10+ stone, its nice to know other people are achieving it too

 

[Laura b]

ooww you just made my heart smile!!!!!!!!!

what were your weight stats? was your BMI 50+? do or did you ha co-morbidities?

I have been open and honest with my GP for the past 2 years about my weight and have a spreadsheet with weight losses and gains on since 2009, would they accept this as part of a weight loss programme?

I did wonder if you had weight management one place and an op elsewhere...ive got so many questions lol

well done on that loss!!!! amazing, i need to lose 10+ stone, its nice to know other people are achieving it too

Bless ya its so nice meeting/talking to ppl that have been there done that I was always on here b4 my surgery and just thought today I'm gonna go bk on and give some pre oppers some support the support I got on my journey
I was 24 stone 13 lb's at the start and I'm 5 ft 6.5 inch so not sure wat my bmi was but high I'm sure
I'm not 14 stone 3lb so still a way to go ild like to b about 12 stone so fingers crossed
The 6 month Wl programme they do like u to do but I done only a few months previously so didn't have a full 6 months but like u had weight on record at drs so he's I think they will take that instead, they did me anyway but I know it's becoming more difficult to get surgery and longer waiting times ect I seemed to have an easy journey and short compared to some ppl!!! I had no other health problems apart from my weight so that's why I got sent to Solihull spire hospital, mr kumar done my surgery of a bypass mr super does the bands xx

 

[MissyMustDoIt]

Bless ya its so nice meeting/talking to ppl that have been there done that I was always on here b4 my surgery and just thought today I'm gonna go bk on and give some pre oppers some support the support I got on my journey
I was 24 stone 13 lb's at the start and I'm 5 ft 6.5 inch so not sure wat my bmi was but high I'm sure
I'm not 14 stone 3lb so still a way to go ild like to b about 12 stone so fingers crossed
The 6 month Wl programme they do like u to do but I done only a few months previously so didn't have a full 6 months but like u had weight on record at drs so he's I think they will take that instead, they did me anyway but I know it's becoming more difficult to get surgery and longer waiting times ect I seemed to have an easy journey and short compared to some ppl!!! I had no other health problems apart from my weight so that's why I got sent to Solihull spire hospital, mr kumar done my surgery of a bypass mr super does the bands xx

fantastic news on the weight loss ...im itching to have a meeting with someone official so i can ask all these questions and get answers relevant to my personal journey..

ill add you as a friend if thats ok....i can follow your weight loss then, thankyou for answering my questions

 

[FuturePerfect]

Hi MissyMust DoIt. Even though you aren't yet a Heartlands patient, you would be welcome to pop along to our support group on Weds 18 Jan, 6-8pm. We could give you all sorts of advice there, as we are all at different stages or different types of procedures. I know where Fuffs was getting confused about the sleeve - I also was under the impression they didn't do sleeves as it was never made available as an option for me either. Maybe they only offer the sleeve in specific situations.

Anyway, my story with timelines is in my sig; I was very lucky with timings, partly because funding was already in place before my first Heartlands appt to see the surgeon and dietician, and partly because I always wanted a band, and the waiting list is much shorter for banders.

Different pcts have different processes. For example I didn't have to go through Heartlands weight management because I could demonstrate to my pct (Northants) that I had tackled, and stalled, weight management for the previous 2 years.

Re pre-op diets, you'll find an early thread of mine listed the full Heartlands options.

Welcome back to the site.

 

[MissyMustDoIt]

thankyou cathi, as mentioned earlier, i feel like im a sheep at the mo, jumping on a bandwagon im not even riding yet, i want gastric surgery so badly, that if i get refused funding ill be heartbroken, sitting and chatting with others and getting my hopes up is really gonna kill me if they refuse me... i work and travel so to come to meetings and things means probably booking time off work lol so i will wait, i really do appreciate the offer though...

honestly...i could cry right now...if they refuse my funding, i dont know what else i can do

 

[Laura b]

Hi MissyMust DoIt. Even though you aren't yet a Heartlands patient, you would be welcome to pop along to our support group on Weds 18 Jan, 6-8pm. We could give you all sorts of advice there, as we are all at different stages or different types of procedures. I know where Fuffs was getting confused about the sleeve - I also was under the impression they didn't do sleeves as it was never made available as an option for me either. Maybe they only offer the sleeve in specific situations.

Anyway, my story with timelines is in my sig; I was very lucky with timings, partly because funding was already in place before my first Heartlands appt to see the surgeon and dietician, and partly because I always wanted a band, and the waiting list is much shorter for banders.

Different pcts have different processes. For example I didn't have to go through Heartlands weight management because I could demonstrate to my pct (Northants) that I had tackled, and stalled, weight management for the previous 2 years.

Re pre-op diets, you'll find an early thread of mine listed the full Heartlands options.

Welcome back to the site.

I'll b at that meeting too not been for a while always went pre op and not been post op yet, iv been solihulls post op once so I'll try and make that one xx

 

[Laura b]

fantastic news on the weight loss ...im itching to have a meeting with someone official so i can ask all these questions and get answers relevant to my personal journey..

ill add you as a friend if thats ok....i can follow your weight loss then, thankyou for answering my questions

Yes no problem xx

 

[Brunetteandred]

Your WLS journey starts the minute you think about it. You are not 'jumping on the bandwagon', you are doing the right thing by being in the WLS community. I wish more people would do likewise and really research, learn and think hard about what is really not the quick or magic fix to obesity.

Ask away and do as much research as you can. It really does help.