Hi! New to WLS...& having a bypass soon...

[angie790]

Hi everyone,
Firstly, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the excellent advice and inspirational before and after photos found on this site !
Just like most on this site, I have had trouble with my weight on and off since puberty.....on the ‘off’ times, I managed to lose quite a few stones each time with Weightwatchers, but eventually the little I was actually eating meant it wasn’t sustainable for any length of time. I am definitely at an ‘on’ time, with my weight now being the heaviest I have ever been, :cry:lol!!!!
I am currently studying for a PhD in type II diabetes, so the irony is killing me! With my familial history and working in an area that has a huge focus on obesity, I was slowly becoming overwhelmed with the health risks I was subjecting myself to, by being obese.
At the beginning of last year, I finally accepted that clearly I am unable am maintain my weight sensibly on my own. With my health slowly deteriorating (and being under 40, that is really scary), despite my initial embarrassment, I plucked up my courage and trundled along to my doctors in August 2009 and basically demanded a referral for bariatric surgery!
I have jumped through all the hoops required of me, and I am now at the stage where my local PCT has agreed my funding and I am waiting for my pre-op appointment at Taunton for a gastric bypass...3-4 weeks I’ve been told.
I am hugely excited and cried like baby when I found out my funding was OK’d last week, because I could never have afforded it privately! I see this operation as a chance to get my life back. I know it is going to be a long and possibly painful road, but there are so many things I am looking forward to: to finally be able to leave the house because I want to, not because I have to; to walk down the road without looking at the pavement and waiting for a derogatory comment to be shouted out at me; to buy nice fashionable clothes off the peg; to not die during the hot summers; to look in the mirror and see me...not some fat blob who I don’t even recognise any more; to feel ‘normal’...the list is endless, but you all get the idea!
Anyway, I am hopeful and am sure that this site will be a source of much advice and guidance for me over the next many months!

 

[MrsSAFC]

lots of luck, how long has it taken you from start to end process wise?

 

[galm37]

Welcome Angie.

This is an amazing site, full of helpful & inspirational people. We're all in the same boat, pre or post op and there is always someone here to help you.

Good luck on getting your date soon and starting the journey to a new you x

 

[angie790]

Well thinking about it, I must have gone to my doctors to request a referral in June 2009, because I actually had my first appointment with the obesity consultant in August 2009, so I suppose about 9 months to date if I don't include waiting for my first appointment to arrive!

 

[smilergem]

Hi Angie, nice to meet you, I am having a bypass in Taunton, hopefully in July. I can empathise totally with how you feel, and hope we will both soon be leading happier slimmer lives. There are a few of us from the West Country on here, so it will be good to keep in touch and compare notes. Whereabouts do you live? xxxx

 

[angie790]

Hi Jan,

Yes, definitely! I live in Liskeard, I see you are from Cornwall too!

 

[Neen]

Hiya Angie xx I had my op in Taunton private, but I think the surgeons do both NHS and Private so might have the same one as me. I wish you lots of luck with your surgery and I'm positive you are going to amaze yourself with just how well you lose the weight and reveal the true slim you inside xx Nice to see another West Country person too !
Hugs and here's hoping the time will fly by for you x

 

[Lisa J]

Hi Angie :welcome2:to the site, everyone here knows exactley how you are feeling so we will all be here for you. There are loads of people on here all at different stages so any advice needed then just ask away, take care xxx

 

[dottychic]

Hi Angie and :welcome: good luck on getting an early appointment for your op, its not an easy wait but hopefully well worth it X

 

[smilergem]

Hi Angie, there is another lady called Liannos who is from Liskeard or Launceston, not sure which but think Liskeard. She started her pre op today and is having the op at the beginning of June.
I live in Penzance, so did you see Dr Pinkney at Treliske? I attend the Bospa meetings at Shortlanesend near Truro every month, they are really good. Not sure if there are any meeting groups near you?
Take care xxxx

 

[phatmomma]

Hello, welcome and good luck xx

 

[angie790]

A big thanks to everyone who has replied so far!

Jan: yes I saw Dr Pinkney at Treliske, although I am sure you are aware he left at the end of March?

I haven't yet had chance to actually attend a BOSPA meeting as the closest one to me is Saltash...I study full time, run a business, have a teenage daughter/husband, 5 cats & 3 dogs, so never always seems to be the best time for me! That said, I definitely intend on getting there soon & joining.
I will keep an eye out for Liannos....this site is such a brilliant accessible place to get talk to others who are in the same position as me in the same PCT!

 

[smilergem]

Hi Angie, yes I saw Dr Pinkney 2 years ago, had my funding turned down for the second time, then saw him in September last year, and finally got my funding in January, had my first appointment at Taunton on 2 March, then my pre op on 10 April. Have been told my op should be July, but am awaiting confirmation.
I first started this journey 4 years ago, and having been turned down twice, can't quite believe I am actually going to have this op at long last.
This is a wonderful site, and I spend so much time looking and reading other people's stories, it is good to be prepared for what we are undertaking.
Keep in touch, take care xxxx

 

[angie790]

Hi Jan,

Cheers for your reply...what a long drawn-out painful process you've been through! You must have been close to dispair so many times, I know I would have been.
Carefully reading through what you have said, it appears I may be under the wrong impression of what is going to happen on this first appointment I'm waiting for at Taunton....there was me thinking it would be a pre-op appointment & I would come away having set a date for the actual op.....feeling a bit anxious now as I will be gutted if I have to go back for yet another appointment before getting an actual date. Why, why, why do they do this? If the funding has been approved, then just set the bl***y date! It's not like we have already been through a lengthy process already...it's psychological torture.

 

[MrsSAFC]

keep us all informed x

 

[gameoldbird]

I'm a West Country girl too! Had my op done at Taunton on 9th March 2010 and it was the BEST thing I've ever done Haven't got a clue how to use this site but I'm sure I will figure it out! Kathy x

 

[angie790]

Hey Kathy,

I'm so pleased that this has clearly been a really positive experience for you...you've done fabulously in the weight you have lost so far!
How long did you have to wait from your first appt until your actual op? I spoke to someone at the Musgrove today and she tells me I will have at least two appointments, which sound like will be me jumping through the same hurdles I've already been through at the obesity clinic at Treliske for the last 9 months...then if the surgeon is happy then I go on a waiting list for the surgery, which she said was at around 18 weeks! I'm totally gutted as that could easily take me up to Christmas, when 3 others (inc. Dr Pinkney) reckoned I should be done & dusted by August....fat chance of that (lol, no pun intended).
All this time wasted, I could have lost 3-4 stone by Christmas!!! I am feeling really despondent tonight!

 

[Tracey ( eyore)]

Hi Angie,
Good luck with your journey. I am also having bypass surgery (hopefully) set for 20th july i am a nervous wreck but also very excited. My op is being done in charing cross.
So far i have attended a group meeting and then a meeting with a doctor and dietician, then last week and meeting with surgeon who agreed my op, even the previous doctor was worried about me going ahead.
So when surgeon said yes he would go ahead i was over the moon, but the deal is he will try for a bypass if he cant do that i will have the sleeve.
So this week i have started my pre op diet and its not too bad so far ............. and already lost a little bit so pleased.
on the 8th july i have to go back for my pre op assesment and bloods.

So as you see i am all systems go!!!!

well enjoy your journey as best you can take care xx