Advice Ali

[Mynewlife]

Hiya Ali
As you are a few days ahead of me on your gastric band surgery, was wondering if i could ask your advice. Have you started on any sort of fitness program yet? I went for a walk last night, and had planned on 10 minutes, but after about 6 minutes into the walk I had an unusual pain in the port area. Are you able to sleep on your side yet? Have you received your appointment for the x-ray to make sure the port is in the right position? What sort of after care are you receiving? Have you met with a dietician before surgery and since surgery? Did you have your surgery done in the UK? I have made a complaint about the treatment I have received so far, and have called up my provider today to chase up a letter of complaint that I sent in last week, but it seems that since I gave them the money for the surgery, they have just forgotten about me:sigh:. Like buying a car, you give them your money, they take it and head for the hills. Just found out today that they outsource their band fills, which I was not aware of before I had the surgery with them. Did you pay for your surgery or get it through the NHS? Thanks for any assistance you can offer, if you feel that you cannot answer any of these questions, I will totally understand. I want to be successfull, but seem to be struggling with getting help. I have never met a dietician from this hospital. I am under the care of a dietician at an NHS Hospital, and have been under her care for over a year before resorting to the surgery. The NHS wouldn't do the work as I was not heavy enough and not ill enough. The dietician I am under I only see about every two-three months and am not due to see her until September now. I am starting to fret that I will fall through the holes :cry:. lol
Mynewlife

 

[Alice]

Hi MNL,

I know you asked Ali and I'm sure she'll give you her pearls of wisdom when she comes online.... I thought I would butt in while you wait!!

I'm pretty much in the same situation as you. I chose the Why Go Abroad package with the Hospital Group which basically means I got the operation and an xray as part of the package but nothing else. When I booked it, I thought I was being clever and saving lots of money because the other packages were 2.5k more expensive and I didn't think a few dietician appointments were worth that... but actually I now really regret it and wish that I had splashed out on those packages because I feel exactly the same as you, that the hospital has completely dumped me once I paid up and now I'm on my own. I've got my xray on Thursday, see the surgeon again in a couple of weeks, and then it's up to me to make it all work. I'm trying to get an NHS dietician but my GP is being funny about it because I went private for the op.... next installment about that will be after I meet with my GP tomorrow!

Anyway, good luck and keep coming on here to ask advice from the girls who do have the followup and support... we can learn by osmosis!

Alice xx

 

[alliecat]

Hiya Ali
As you are a few days ahead of me on your gastric band surgery, was wondering if i could ask your advice. Have you started on any sort of fitness program yet? I went for a walk last night, and had planned on 10 minutes, but after about 6 minutes into the walk I had an unusual pain in the port area. Are you able to sleep on your side yet? Have you received your appointment for the x-ray to make sure the port is in the right position? What sort of after care are you receiving? Have you met with a dietician before surgery and since surgery? Did you have your surgery done in the UK? I have made a complaint about the treatment I have received so far, and have called up my provider today to chase up a letter of complaint that I sent in last week, but it seems that since I gave them the money for the surgery, they have just forgotten about me:sigh:. Like buying a car, you give them your money, they take it and head for the hills. Just found out today that they outsource their band fills, which I was not aware of before I had the surgery with them. Did you pay for your surgery or get it through the NHS? Thanks for any assistance you can offer, if you feel that you cannot answer any of these questions, I will totally understand. I want to be successfull, but seem to be struggling with getting help. I have never met a dietician from this hospital. I am under the care of a dietician at an NHS Hospital, and have been under her care for over a year before resorting to the surgery. The NHS wouldn't do the work as I was not heavy enough and not ill enough. The dietician I am under I only see about every two-three months and am not due to see her until September now. I am starting to fret that I will fall through the holes :cry:. lol
Mynewlife

Hi MNL, I will try and answer some of your questions for you as best I can - don't worry about what you ask, I will answer pretty much anything within reason!!

I have been for my 2 week check up today and asked about exercise - for me my surgeon has told me it is ok to start gentle exercise - swimming etc and if I want to start the gym that is fine but I must listen to my body and not go too mad. I am the worlds unfittest person so there is not much chance of that, but I must admit while the weather is like this I could cope with the idea of a few laps of a pool so will try it and see. I found in the early days that even a short walk was making me feel breathless and uncomfy, but that gets better each day and I am slowly getting my stamina back, although I don't yet quite feel fully up to speed.

I went private for surgery with Spire Healthcare and paid £7,500 to have the surgery done locally. This included pre-op consultation with the surgeon, pre-op assessment clinic, appointment with the nurse specialist and dietician, the op itself, 6 months aftercare with the surgeon, 3 band fills (all done by a consultant radiologist under x ray control) and lifelong membership of a local monthly support group. At the moment I am happy with my aftercare - have seen my surgeon today, and the nurse specialist has been in touch by phone to answer any questions I have had.

I can now sleep on my sides - but not yet comfy to lie on my tummy. I still have some bruising, especially round my port scar, although it is fading by the day. I get pain sometimes around my port area, especially if I forget and try to turn over too quickly in bed, but it soon eases off.

I am experiementing with mushy food now too - can take fluids normally, and gradually increasing on the food but struggling to remember to eat slowly!!!

Hope this all helps MNL, if you have any other questions, please shout and we will all try to help and offer what support we can xx

 

[lovebug]

Hello Mynewlife , I'm a bander too on my 4th week with the band. The pain you feel in your port area is just the muscle that its attached too. Don't worry mate ...it will ease up. I had that last week and now its gone. I have a package at a Harley Street Surgery in London and they advise 6 weeks for full exercise ( ie Gym - full abdominal) but walking and swimming around the 4th week is ok but to stop if you feel pain etc. The pain isn't anything to worry about its natural because the port like i said is attached to the muscle and has been rather dormant for a while and its like ...waking it up and it needs to get used to its new friend attached to it . Your 6 mins was fine for your first go...i now can walk everywhere with no pain but everynow and again i do feel the port and in time this will disapear i've been assured. With regards to Sleeping on your port side ....its different for everyone ...to be honest....i just tried it and for the first few weeks the sensation of the pull in my stomach made me feel queasy...i found putting a pillow by the side of my stomach supported it and eventually ...i can sleep in all ways now ....but again it pops up again the sensation and i move back over but day by day its got easier . The type of package i have is for 2 years and i see my clinic every 2 weeks and they call me once a week too at the moment. over time this of course will become less and less but i have access to a dietician 24/7 and i see her every 2nd week of the month too so if me or Ali can help u with info before your appointments were here to help u. your not alone !! Just one thing tho.....a few weeks ago i was in a bit of a state, wondering oh how is this all gonna work etc but it does take time. Let your body recover. Eat the correct things, Exercise as best u can ( if your past the 4 to 6 weeks ) and stay on here and we'll do what we can to help! Were all on the same road !! Keep smiling. xxxxx

 

[Mynewlife]

Thanks for the support

Hello ladies,
thank you all for your help. I feel a lot better after reading your advice. Alice, I went through the Hospital Group also, but in a way glad that I didn't give them the extra £3K, because I don't think I would have received that much support from them regardless of how much the operation was. I was advised by a professional in the field not to go there and I ignored their advice anyway. I am glad that I had the operation done, and feel the surgeon I had was probably one of the best in the field, as I am aware that he not only does this type of surgery, but also teaches other surgeons how to do it, so that is something to be somewhat positive about. I booked all my stuff through the hosptial group, but on my discharge letter it stated it was from the "Why Go Abroad" bunch. I at least do have a dietician that works with me, but not very frequently, as she is NHS and demands on her time are tremendous as you can imagine. I have an appointment with her in September, which I am trying to move up, but I do have some pamphlets from the dietician, and I am using the booklet provided by the hospital group at the moment to guide me on what to eat. Alice, was you told that you could have the band fills done by the "Obesity Healthcare" group, that are based at Dolan Park? I contacted the hospital group to find out details of the band fills and they do not do the fills themselves, but have got some type of partnership with Obesity Healthcare to do the band fills for a reasonable price of £125 per fill, which I don;t think is too unreasonable. Mindyou if they are anything like the hosptial group for customer care and follow up, it could be a while before you could get in to get a fill done. Do you know, or does any one know of anywhere else that they do the band fills?

I understand that there are a couple of books available on Amazon about living with the band etc, and also a cookbook for banders, have any of you got these books or one you would reccommend reading?

Take care ladies, and thanks once again for the advice. BY the way, I managed a 25 minute walk today, and it was much better and easier.

:bliss::bliss:

 

[alliecat]

Well done on the 25mins MNL!! Theres progress for you!! I have looked at the books on Amazon too but have not bothered to buy them - I have found for me that if I have questions or need recipe ideas etc that there is enough support here and always someone to answer any questions you may have, but if you decide to get one will be interested to see if they are any good!!

 

[Alice]

Hi MNL

Your experience is so similar to mine. I think the Hospital Group is just so focused on numbers and turnover, and definitely not on customer service! I had my band at Dolan Park.. I thought the nursing care overnight was rubbish!

They've not given me any info on where I can get my fills yet. The lady I met pre op said they are done on site at Dolan Park and quoted the same price you were told. I heard on the grapevine that the clinics get booked up ages in advance though.

Sorry you've had a rubbish time. Keep asking questions on here. Livvy, Ali and Neen are all really helpful and have much more access to advice than we do.

Alice xx