Hi, 1st group session at st Thomas's

[Xxnicxxtrux]

Hi, I am new to this. I went to my gp and was referred to guys on the 10 th of July. I have had a letter from st Thomas's to attend a group session on the 18th of November, they say the session is expected to last 2 1/2 hours.
Has anyone been to one before as I really don't know what to expect so any experience is welcome x

 

[ICAWM]

I went to a group session at Kings, I'm guessing it's similar.

They invite loads of prospective patients and then individually (and privately) they weigh you and check BMI. This will be recorded as official weight.

Then you wait for ages as everyone else is done too. They then go through a presentation that includes the process, the types of operation, things to consider etc.

Then it'll be opened up for questions. At the end, they ask if you're still interested in a 121 with consultant. If so, they give you some forms and check if you need further tests, eg sleep study, and will ask for you to have blood tests prior to next appointment.

It amazed me that some people attended who were then put off, like they were surprised about the operations or results. Each to their own eh.

It's part of their standard process there will be bariatric nurses, dieticians and hopefully a consultant to answer questions. It is useful.

Good luck!

 

[Xxnicxxtrux]

Thanks ICAWM
Have you had your op yet? What's the next step and what was the wait like?
Sorry to ask so much questions its just I'm very anxious and really need this op hopefully sooner than later :sigh:

 

[ICAWM]

No, I'm still waiting. I can only speak from my experience and it's a long old wait!

I had my group session in March this year and was told I'd see consultant in 4-6 weeks. My appt eventually came through for Oct! In typical ICAWM luck, I ended up in hospital (unrelated) and missed my appt. my rescheduled one is May 2014!!

Fed up doesn't cover it.

I'm currently trying to see about being see elsewhere as there are numerous hospitals authorised for each area. Streamline Surgery are authorised in South (I'm in Kent) and they initially told me I could be done within a couple of months but I'm anticipating a spanner in the works so despite my best efforts, I can't see it happening within the next year ??

Sorry, got a bit rambly there. When you go for your group session, these are the types of questions they should be able to help you with xx

 

[princess4d4]

hi i had a group session at birmingham last week it was just really to discuss diff surgeries that they do pre-op post-op care etc then we was invited to ask questions if we wanted there was 3 in my session

 

[Paula1975]

Hi sorry cant help with st thomas' but i had my op at st georges(well st anthonys) but under st georges. Had group session in may 2011 in which they showed you presentation of different ops, we were told if we were there we had funding. We had to take questionaires filled in, this was to see what appointments would be needed, ie psych. After the presentation we could ask questions, then when all that was done they done weight and height and handed in questionaires. I hap my op august 2012. Good luck with your wls journey