Booked an appointment with my GP

[tracey1973]

Hi all, after ifing and ahing about wls surgery for the last year I've decided to ask my GP for a referral. I've got an appointment for 23rd June but I'm now worried that she'll refuse to refer me.
Has anyone had problems with getting a referral? Is there anything I can do to make it more likely that she will do it? Can she insist that I try to lose weight by other means before she refers me?
Lots of questions I know but I can be a bit pesimistic

 

[ladilindy]

I think it can depend on how clued up your GP is, mine was quite happy to refer me as soon as I asked. Unfortunately I did not fit my hospitals higher than normal criteria (I did fit the NICE criteria) so I self funded. However, my GP is quite happy to provide aftercare for me and all the nurses seem on board too (even though I went abroad for surgery)

You have nothing to lose by asking, so go for it. Good luck

Lynn x

 

[tracey1973]

Thanks, is there anyway of finding out a hospitals criteria? I haven't weighed myself in ages but I'm pretty sure my bmi is about 54. I don't have high blood pressure or diabetes as far as I know but it's a few years since they were last done so maybe my BP has gone up. I did have an issue a couple of years ago where all my joints froze and I was referred to rheumatology but after seeing them for about a year they said that it was probably brought on because of the stress of my Mum having cancer. The last consultant I saw before discharge said that being fat can cause fat deposits in the joints and I needed to lose weight! Like I didn't already know that and hadn't done every diet going over the last 20 years!!!

 

[ladilindy]

I think most hospitals go by the NICE guidelines but a few set them higher. You would qualify at my hospital without co-morbidities because your BMI is over 50, mine wasn't quite.

Lynn x

 

[Ali-sleeve2015]

Hey Tracey, hope you get good results from your referral appointment and best wishes for your journey. Lots and lots of valuable information on this forum!

Good luck Hun
X

 

[LadyLumps]

Hi Tracey,

Great that you've taken that step! I hope it will all be fine and that you get the referral you'd like, and soon. It sounds like you have given it a lot of thought, so that can only stand in your favour.

I can't speak for any other similarities we may have but my BMI is roughly the same as yours, and my GP referred me as soon as I registered an interest in WLS (Glos NHS). It's very hard to know why this was but the following might have been factors:

- I have seen her regularly to get my health as good as possible
- have completed an exercise on referral scheme through her and have improved my habits
- I have tried Orlistat so am keen to try various approaches to achieving a weight loss
- I have recovered from disordered eating and have a healthy attitude to eating
- My BMI fits the criteria for my region of the NHS.
- She is a very nice GP!

But - who knows? If I'd done none of these things, she may well have still referred me! I guess I just wanted to share my situation with you. Might be worth mentioning anything you have done to improve your health (note I don't just mean lose weight) up til now so that the GP knows you're motivated. Also they are wary of referring people who have been pressured to lose weight by others. So worth letting your GP know you mean business

I was concerned that my GP would see that my weight was still (v slowly) creeping up and that she would ask me to lose weight before referring me, but she didn't. Which makes sense, because why make us struggle to do this BEFORE referring us to the team that are there specifically to support us in losing weight, right?

Good luck. Let us know how you get on!

Meg x

 

[Jeppo321]

My GP reffered me after a discussion and two days later I had an appointment for the seminar at the hospital.

 

[tracey1973]

My GP has agreed to do the referral but she wants me to have bloods done and to monitor my blood pressure for a week before she does it.

 

[Sarah101]

Best of luck Tracey

 

[LadyLumps]

Woohoo!