43 days

I'm 43 years old and 43 days away from being sleeved and what will hopefully be "my new life" !!

Looking on the bright side, I have to be eternally thankful for the following things:

** Meeting Dr John Demades, a Muswell Hill doctor who was my "Man from Del Monte who says yes" back in January 2011

** Moving to Woolwich in April 2011 i found that my previous area (N10) was within Haringey, an area difficult for funding, but my new SE18 doctor applied for funding to Greenwich PCT and there was no problem -- this was not the reason I moved, it was total chance -- and how ironic that it was a Haringey doctor who finally referred me, in an area that is very difficult for funding !!

In January 2011 (after 8 years of being turned down by other GPs) I went to see Dr Demades to get him to sign a form for Lighter Life and he refused (!) -- he said it was rubbish and I would put all the weight back on and why did I want to do such a nonsense, ridiculous, expensive programme and why hadn't I thought of a gastric bypass ?????

If things happen for a certain reason at a certain time, I can only conclude now, that bypass was never meant to happen for me for two reasons:

1. If the first GP (a skinny female b*1*tch who was so proud of keeping her 7 stone frame she did not want to help anyone at the opposite end of the eating spectrum) had referred me, I would have almost certainly been bypassed as standard (the sleeve op was extremely new and hardly known about 8 years ago).

2. If the Clapton GP who diagnosed my Type 2 diabetes in 2009 had referred me, I would have been referred to Homerton Hospital (which does not have the best reputation) and most likely probably bypassed.

Only because it has taken so long to get referred, and the sleeve has become more popular, does it now turn out that (1) I have been able to choose the sleeve option, and (2) I was referred to the Whittington Hospital, one of 8 centres of excellence for bariatric surgery in the UK.

In fact on that day in January 2011, Dr Demades also told me a smidgen about the "new" gastric sleeve option which he had read up about.

During quite a long conversation I had with Dr Demades that day I mentioned that many previous GP's had made the process of being referred extremely difficult and kept on about it being too expensive etc ...... Dr Demades' response was: "It's not their money! It's not them paying for it!"

Of course it is all of us but I calculate that as I have worked for 26 years continuously with no breaks of employment and contributed huge amounts of tax and NI, I think I have paid for my own op !!!

Another thing ... (soz this is so long now I have split it up into separate chunks!) ....

** During that initial convo with Dr Demades, he was quite shocked at the appalling treatment I had received with other GP's who had not referred me earlier. (By the time I was referred my BMI was 51.7 and I had a whole host of co-morbidities.)

** Dr Demades said that although obesity is now quite commonplace (that is anyone with a BMI above 30), the number of people in the "BMI above 50 --> straight to surgery" bracket is actually quite small. He said he usually only refers two patients a year for bariatric surgery and in his 3 years in that practice he had referred 6 patients, all of whom had had very successful operations.

Obviously, if my op is a success and within a year I do slim down to somewhere near a "normal" size and weight, I will return to that practice to thank Dr Demades (it is only a bus ride away from the Whittington).

do u have your date Sharon?

Caren said:

do u have your date Sharon?

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Yes thanks, Caren.

Just had my preo-op assessment at the hospital this morning and Tuesday 17 April is now confirmedo !!!

P.S. When I was weighed at my pre-op assessment this morning the weight was down slightly again.

My initial referral weight in Jan 2011 was: ................... 150 Kgs (23½ stone)
On 12 Sept 2011 at first consultant appointment ............ 145 Kgs
On 16 January 2011 at surgery review meeting ............... 139 Kgs
Today at pre-op assessment .................................. 135 Kgs (21 stone 3 lbs) **

** This means I am below 300 lbs at last !!! (just found out today 135 Kgs = 21 stone 3 = 297 lbs)

I have not lost a mega amounts or done anything drastic (currently extremely painful just to walk due to osteo-arthritis in knees and hips -- which *might* become less painful after significant weight loss but which *might* need surgery -- I saw a surgeon last year who told me to go back to him after my gastric op) but I have been "careful" and cut back on the junk and slowly but steadily seen the weight go down.

I have kept very careful mental note of what the metric scales at the hospital have said each time (145 Kgs, 139 Kgs and 135 Kgs) as I knew from wayyyyyyyyyyy back that the one thing you must not do is put weight ON !!!!

Now will be starting the food based pre-op diet (in fact the nurse said I only need to do it for 4 weeks prior to 17 April but I could start a bit early) and hope to get down to 20 stone before D-Day !!!

Also it will simply be *easier* to calculate weight loss from a nice even number like "20 stone" more than anything else !!!!

Wooooowoooooo not long now!!!! And well dont for getting under the 300lb mark!

Sharonimo said:

Yes thanks, Caren.

Just had my preo-op assessment at the hospital this morning and Tuesday 17 April is now confirmedo !!!

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woohoo!!!!!! yayyyy im made up for you mate and very well done on getting under 300lb!!!! woop!!! xxx

Congrats n well dun on the weight loss x

Sent from my iPhone using WLSurgery

12 days !!!!!!!



P.S. I was trawling FB albums of friends and family to find "halfway decent not too hideous" BEFORE photos and found this one taken with a friend (Christine) who now lives in Australia, so have updated all my profile photos today.

Sharonimo said:

12 days !!!!!!!


P.S. I was trawling FB albums of friends and family to find "halfway decent not too hideous" BEFORE photos and found this one taken with a friend (Christine) who now lives in Australia, so have updated all my profile photos today.

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Nice to finally see the face of Sharon, the lady who has stolen what I thought was my google crown lol

Nice pic

Fuffs said:

Nice to finally see the face of Sharon, the lady who has stolen what I thought was my google crown lol Nice pic

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Thanks. I don't actually google that much, but do subscribe to a number of WLS news feeds .... with just an occasional bit of googling (woops!).]

But as it gets closer to my op, less and less, as I have reached the stage now of thinking, well if I haven't read enough by now, it's a bit late !! :8855:

Good luck for the future hon!