How did you choose?

[wishiwasslim]

Hi ive been looking into surgery (band i think) and left a long post last night, i am wondering how you private wls patients chose who was gonna do the surgery it seems a huge mine field, im so confused getting mixed feelings when i speak to different ones, i would love to hear who did your surgery and about your experiences, Thanks.

 

[alliecat]

Most of my experiences are detailed in my thread, (the secret diary of a gastric bander) but basically I asked my gp to refer me to a local surgeon who luckily practices for both the NHS and private sector only about 15 mins from home so for me it has worked well and been 100% positive so far. When I went for my consultation I had read up on both the band and the bypass and went fairly certain I wanted a bypass but came out booked in for a band having taken my surgeons advice, which I am certain was the right decision for me xx

 

[Silversurfer]

Hi wishiwasslim - I went private for my bypass, and like yourself did lots of research into different organisations, i ended up going with healthier weight as they seemed to be switched, and i had a good feeling about them, i booked to see the consultant in London Dr David Ashton and spent 2 hours chatting with him and his team about my various options. Like yourself i originally wanted a band, but he advised that at my weight a bypass would work better for me, he uses a surgeon in Manchester called Basil Amorri (who is fab and other here will tell you about him) so i went away and did my research into them both and made an educated decission.

My decision was based around a number of things:
1, The compitentce of the sugeon
2, The aftercare offered by the organisation
3, The advice i recieved pre deciding

and i'd have to say they have been excellent, i have access to the practice nurse 24/7, have my consultants direct phone number, healthier weight have an emergency call number, and i have a dedicated nutritionist i speak to weekly !

It did cost me maybe a bit more money to go private in the UK rather than go abroad, but i feel it was worth it.

I'm now 3 weeks post bypass op, and i've had no complications, food goes down easilly and i'm on semi mushy foods now, immidiately post op there was very little pain more discomfort than anything, and since the op i've lost 43lbs

Its the best single thing i've ever done !

any questions just ask !

Best wishes

Richard

 

[callysplace]

Hi wishiwasslim,
I looked firstly at surgeons and researched the ones that had the most positive response from patients as well as an excellent track record. I found Robert Acroyd that works for nhs and private sector and who practises from a private hospital near to me, he talks to bbc about his job on this link BBC NEWS | Health | Inside Medicine: The Obesity Surgeon

Secondly I looked for a provider that offered me quality after care and a real human on the end of the phone, I went with the wls group who specialise only with weight loss surgery and was set up by a lady that herself who had the surgery a number of years ago. Wendy my lovely nurse was and is my first line of contact with a 24hr emergancy number with her on the end of the phone, her daughter has recently undergone the bypass operation so she not only has she medical experiance of the op but also an emotional one as well!
Good luck with what ever op you decide on, hope this helps a little. x

 

[wishiwasslim]

Hi callysplace. thanks, that really has helped, wls group are who ive spoken to and felt great about them, till i spoke to a marcus l and he just kept saying things about all the cowboys out there and that most sugeons arnt qualfied to do gastric surgery and it really put the frightners up me, wich lead to my confused post, ive spoken to michelle and Wendy and both seem really nice think i might of decided. just wondered do you know the wlsgroup surgeons names at all? thanks for other replies too what a great help!

 

[callysplace]

My surgeon knew Wendy really well, and had nothing but good things to say about her. What I really liked about them was that I told them the surgeon I wanted and they worked to what I wanted and not what was best for them.
The chap that you talked to was right about some of them been "cowboys" many are only interested in the money and not the patients quality of life, where as chaps like roger and shaw summers are fully geared towards the operation and do hundreds a year and are commited to improving lives.
Im sure they are a few other very experianced surgeons out there and the ladies/chaps on here will tell you how they were managed, but the clincher for me when choosing was that Roger is on a body that promotes the improving standards of weight loss surgery.
I would suggest you call Wendy/Michelle back and ask them the surgeons they have on their books although Im pretty certain they have them on there web site.
Let us know what you decide!