Consultation booked - eek!

[Beth72]

I've just booked my private 1st consultation for a gastric band for next Weds at Spire, Leeds with Simon Dexter. His secretary arranged it & is potentially looking at a surgery date around Easter, to tie in with hubby being around to look after the kids. Suddenly it all seems real & a bit scary! Anyone else had bands at Spire by same consultant?

Are there any questions I should be asking him, apart from obvious things like mortality rates etc? (his secretary said he's had no mortalities in 7 years she's worked for him which is reassuring!). Done quite a lot of research on the net, as well as advice on here which has been great. Hearing how well you've all done has been really inspiring. Something I will ask at consultation, is how long the bands last for? Wonder if like replaced joints, they have to be replaced say 10 years down the line?

X

 

[rickysmrs]

Good luck with your consultation hopefully someone will be along to answer your questions soon xx

 

[top_kat]

Glad to hear you're all booked. Unfortunately, they don't really ultimately know how long bands will last for - they haven't really been around long enough to know that information.

This was something I researched and is also detailed in the paperwork from my own provider and as the first band was only put in in 1993 the experience of long term is limited, but because silicone has been used in medical things for a long time, it suggests that the structure will remain intact for a long period of time - my provider details 30 years + (although obviously they don't really know).

As to what questions, it depends what it is you need to know, or what applies to you.

But great news. I had my band put in at a Spire hospital but not direct with them.

 

[Beth72]

Thanks guys - will write down anything I can think of & take it next week. Looking forward to a new pathway of becoming slimmer - hopefully, if I'm suitable for surgery. TopKat, were you up & about quickly to be able to look after your son? X

 

[top_kat]

yes Hun, one of the reasons I had a band rather than anything else...also my own personal fear of anaesthetic which was why I went with the provider I did and the surgeon I did because a zero mortality rate was important to me. My son is 12 so is able to see to himself but I was back driving on the Sunday after the surgery on the Thursday (had to get son over to South Wales for a footie match.

But I was up and about normally, had to still cook etc for him from th dai I cam home... Dog walking and all as normal but I know I was lucky as I had no wind pain and very little port pain, would have been able to go back to work after about 5 days but was off during school holidays so was off for 9

 

[Beth72]

Thanks for that TopKat - that's really encouraging that you were up & about so quickly.I've seen some pics of all the banders on another thread, before & after & the transformations are amazing - you look great! Have you told work colleagues/friends you've had a band when they've commented on the weightloss? I'm not intending to tell anyone.

Did quite a bit of googling last night & much as I'm looking forward to the possibility of the band as a weightloss tool, some of the press has scared me a bit esp about complications occurring further down the line, like slippage & erosion of the stomach, even causing fatalities in some. Is that something you researched before the surgery? Guess like anything, there are risks & the incidence is around 4% I think. Know it's the worst thing to do looking on google, but have to weigh up pros & cons - google is bad for scare stories tho!! Wonder if slippage is just totally by chance, or if there are things to avoid it etc.

 

[top_kat]

That could be a question to ask the professionals in terms of slippage etc I know mine were very open about failure rates etc

Thank you for your comments on the pics and I have only told my aunt and my son about my band - the others don't know, not even my stepdad or brother. Had my Mum still been with me I would have told her, but no-one knows and I don't intend to tell them. My Aunt only knows as I had to get someone to drive me to the hospital and my son obviously cos its just me and him at home and he needed to know

Work etc know that I follow a restricted low cal, low carb diet, they know that I go to the gym and that really is not a "lie" about whats happened as it is those things that have led to my loss, yes I have a band, but I still have no restriction from it, but it has been a tool that I have which has helped me to focus on losing, focus on what I am doing and to make positive healthy choices. I know that things will slow down, at which point I still have the fact that I can find and work to restriction to help me.