Lyn2481

I could really identify (as I am sure we all can) with this Lunasa. I know if I have wls I am still gonna wanna eat and I have to work on fixing my head too, cos that'll be the biggest challenge and what you said about learning to deal with our emotions in ways that don't involve food.

Hi folks. Bandana, it's great you have a sponsor now. I also have a new f2f sponsor, my previous 2 were via email. I need to start my step work over again because I notice the questions in my OA workbook are different to the ones my email sponsor gave me.:biggrin: There was me thinking I had finished step 4 lol. I am still gonna go for a vsg wls. Once I get my passport sent off, I went to post office to get it sent Weds but my photos didn't match the strict criteria so they need to be taken again. Hoping you all have an abstinent weekend. :thumbup:

Hiya Shoes. Was it Bruno Dillemans done your band? I hear he's a fantastic surgeon. I am still dithering re wls.:grouphug: Have managed to keep a stone off from my highest weight from start of this year which I am pleased with. Joined OA 6 months ago and will still go to meets if I go ahead with surgery. ETA: Loriha, congrats on your 70lbs off, that's excellent!

Are any of you good folks still around?:wink2: Pretty quiet the last couple months.

I've been in OA now for 6 months. The one thing I had abstinence from for any length of time was coffee, I didn't drink it for 5 months and then last month started again.:wink2: I had a period of 'half abstinence' as I call it during the month of jan this year, I was still eating trigger foods but my food obsession seemed to be lifted and I thought I was in control of my binge foods. I shed 13lbs in that month and was ecstatic. Then the obsession came back as quickly as it had left. Since then I have struggled to get back into my daily routine of using the tools of recovery. This week I have made an effort to read the lierature, write, call/text other OAers etc but I still have trouble staying away from that first compulsive bite. I am going to have wls as soon as I can get a date for it and use it alongside the programme. It's something I've been thinking about for the last 4 years and I think I should be brave and take the plunge now. It's just the pre-op diet I am dreading as I just cannot stick to a diet anymore but I am hoping getting a date for surgery will push me into it. Like Bandana I wish I could be a normal eater.:w00t:

All I was doing was explaining the situation re wls in Ireland/UK. I am not selling or advertising anything, I wish I was cos then I would be paid for it. I was merely pointing out how unnecessary and expensive it is for me to go directly to a surgeon. I thought this was a supportive site because we are all in the same boat but perhaps when the vsg board grows it'll be spilit into local sections like the band board and I can chat to people who understand my frustrations with the lack of options in my country. I wasn't even going to bother answering this post but I wanted to try and explain myself as I thought I had done in my previous post. If some people cannot or will not understand where I am coming from then we'll have to agree to disagree. Once again I am NOT advertising, I was merely looking for help and support to decide on the type of wls best for me and I am disappointed by the hostility shown.

Even though I knew it was pointless I decided to find out what it'd cost to "cut out the middle man." Mr Ackroyd's secretary informed me that as my bmi is under 50 (I lost a stone and it dropped to 49!) a gastric bypass would cost me £10,500 and more if over 50. Now as I haven't a passport and would hate travelling alone that means taking a ferry to England for a consultation and see a dietician (£100) at a cost of £189 each. That's a total of £360 for a boat journey for me, Dad and most likely my brother and their motorhome, £540 total if Mum came with me. This is for one day! So let's say I went over for a consultation, it'd cost me £360 plus £100 to see Dr Ackroyd and the dietician that's £460. Let's say I got a date for surgery and we all go over to England again, Mum comes too. That's £540 plus £10,500 for my op. Total cost so far is (wait til I get me calculator lol) £11,500. I then get home and within a week or two of surgery I would have to go back to England for post-op check ups and dietician appointments, even if I got a plane and bus by myself to get to my destinations it would be too expensive for me unless I win the lotto (fingers crossed lol). That's why these companies exist in the UK, they understand that the National Health Service is snowed under (it's aparently even worse health care than Estonia, according to a national newspaper) and that even if people qualify for wls they have a battle on their hands to get, with health trusts shifting the goalposts at every opportunity. These companies provide people with a self-pay service which means a slightly cheaper package deal with surgery (with approved GMC surgeons, not "back street butchers") and aftercare at a venue convenient to where we live. With the Weightloss Surgery Group I can have my consutation here in Northern Ireland (which I have had in December 08), travel once over to England with my family for my op, they can go and see the sights etc while I'm in hospital, then come home, recuperate and see the bariatric nurse Wendy 45 miles away for all my post-op checks etc. My GP told me he doesn't know anyone who has had wls. That's how rare it is here but there's a definate need for it, just no money and the facilities have been withdrawn even for people who can self-pay so I don't even have the so-called priveledge of paying for the operation in my own country. So I have no other choice unforunately. I have to go elsewhere or continue as I am getting sicker and sicker and gaining more weight. The health care system in the usa sounds wonderful. The doctors seem to really care, whereas here we are "just a number." This thread has helped me to decide to go for wls and get a life. :wink2:

Hiya, thanks for your message. What's the nhs waiting list like in Manchester? Think I read on another post you're from there? I also spoke to Michelle Bowater and Colleen from wls group, Michelle recommended Dr Roger Ackroyd who done her LB and then GBP. I have heard he is good also. I also contacted the local surgeon, well his secretary who will pass on my phone no and she said he was trying to start ops in a clinic but this is the same story I was told last year so I won't get my hopes up. Also he is not very experienced as he has only done 45 surgeries total, most of which were LB and about 15 GBP. A lady on another board said he left her with 7 puncture wounds trying to find her port and he told her it was angled, she went to another place for a fill and the lady told her it wasn't angled and he could've damaged the tubing.:cursing: I did contact Shaw Somers secretary and he charges £12,000 plus I'd need to pay for my flights and accomodation on top of that. That's why Czech rep. seems a better option as flights etc included plus they accomapny you. I'd be a bit worried about catching MRSA in a local/uk hospital! Deborah told me she decided to set up the company cos when she had her wls she was facing it alone and it felt very daunting. As I haven't really anyone to travel with that'd suit me. Plus you meet up with 2 or 3 others they bring over at same time, it sounds like good fun,

The biggest problem I have is that I live in N. Ireland and surgery on the nhs is a no-go area. Even paying privately atm is not an option. I get pretty frustrated on this. The was a list 'of sorts' with I heard 150 people from here on it and one lady I spoke to has been on that list for 6 years and is only getting her wls now.:smile2: And she has to go to London! They have the facilities in the Royal Victoria hosp in Belfast but the men who hold the purse strings decided to withdraw funding in 2007. Anyhow my options right now seem to be a) go abroad and pay £4950 for vsg, :frown: go to England and pay £9,000+ and have vsg/gbp or c) continue eating myself into an early grave. Sorry for the negativity but I have type 2 diabetes, high bp, asthma, excess stomach acid and a painful swelling in my right ankle which makes walking difficult. I really think surgery is my only answer, it's just I can never make a decision and stick to it lol, am such a procrastinator! Well this thread has really helped me I think I needed to vent a little and I think I am just gonna go for it and stay positive it's the right thing to do.:crying::redface: ETA my congrats to the OP, thats such a fantastic result, you must be so proud of your achievement! :huh2:

Hi girls, it's interesting I found this thread as I have been thinking about surgery with CB. The very few people I've spoken to online are very pleased with them and their surgery with mr cierny. I'm just not sure if vsg is right for me and they only offer it or the band which is out. Thing is you can 'eat around' any surgery if you're determinded enough so maybe it's a chance I have to take. Just need by passport!

Hi folks. It's interesting I found this thread as I am thinking of having a vsg. I originally thought of the band, was recommended a gbp at 2 separate consultations but I'm not sure I like the malabsorption idea. I remember reading a discussion forum on Yahoo last year about people in austrailia who had converted from band to sleeve and were pretty impressed with the results.

Wow great work, congrats.:laugh:

Hi folks. I recently joined OA on 18 Nov. Deep down I still know wls is needed also. I haven't read the rest of the posts yet but I will. I have an online sponsor but i am struggling. I tried to call her today but couldn't get through, must be busy due to the holidays.:tongue2: