Attention ! Australian Sleevers

[Smashelle 41]

What causes the hair loss? I haven't heard of this before.

I believe it is the lack of Protein, but someone can correct me if I am wrong. Apparently it is very common but it only lasts for a short period of a couple of months then it grows back.

That's what I got from reading on here anyway, I haven't lost any more hair than the usual wookie in the bathtub yet.

[Bec101 227]

The hairloss is cause ur body goes into shock. U can eat lots of Protein and it will not help. 98% of people get it hairloss. I'm now 11 months out and it has finally stopped

[kadybug 22]

Ok day 5 of opti down and I feel really good, like I can totally do this!! Was dreading Mother's Day picnic but it was surprisingly easy to not eat and I am not even hungry at all! Just had my shake for dinner and it's the first night where I don't even feel like eating my veges. How was your day @@Ozikiwi? Hope everyone had an awesome Mother's Day. Dal

Edited May 11, 2014 by kadybug

[Ozikiwi 13]

Ok day 5 of opti down and I feel really good, like I can totally do this!! Was dreading Mother's Day picnic but it was surprisingly easy to not eat and I am not even hungry at all! Just had my shake for dinner and it's the first night where I don't even feel like eating my veges. How was your day @@Ozikiwi? Hope everyone had an awesome Mother's Day. Dal

I had an awesome day. I hope you did too! Are you excited? I can't believe it's only 9 days. I'm so glad to have you going through it on the same day. Kind of makes it more exciting.

[Smashelle 41]

The hairloss is cause ur body goes into shock. U can eat lots of Protein and it will not help. 98% of people get it hairloss. I'm now 11 months out and it has finally stopped

thanks bec. I didnt want to give the wrong information.

[Bec101 227]

thanks bec. I didnt want to give the wrong information.

No worries at all. I did alot of reserch on it and asked my surgeon and he confirmed my findings.

[Hayley83 2]

Hi All, Just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. Im Hayley, 31, from Brissy. I have a 12 yr old son and two gorgeous foster daughters. I've been thinking about having the sleeve procedure for a few years now but only recently starting to get serious about it and start researching. I've battled with my weight all of my life. Have tried all the diets, exercised etc but no matter what I do I always seem to end up putting the weight back on. I'm reaching the point in my life where I really need to turn things around, not just for myself, but for my kids. I don't want to let life slip by, I feel like Im missing out on so much living due to my current weight.

I guess I have a few questions and Id love to hear back from you all.

What made you decide to get sleeved? Why did you opt for this over getting the band? Do you have any regrets? And how on earth did you decide which doctor you were going to use?

[ausmith 374]

Hi All, Just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. Im Hayley, 31, from Brissy. I have a 12 yr old son and two gorgeous foster daughters. I've been thinking about having the sleeve procedure for a few years now but only recently starting to get serious about it and start researching. I've battled with my weight all of my life. Have tried all the diets, exercised etc but no matter what I do I always seem to end up putting the weight back on. I'm reaching the point in my life where I really need to turn things around, not just for myself, but for my kids. I don't want to let life slip by, I feel like Im missing out on so much living due to my current weight. I guess I have a few questions and Id love to hear back from you all. What made you decide to get sleeved? Why did you opt for this over getting the band? Do you have any regrets? And how on earth did you decide which doctor you were going to use?

Hi Hayley my husband and I were sleeved 22/10/13 in Brisbane with Dr Lockie. We did lots of research and decided that he was the Dr along with his team that best suited us. We were living over seas and came back to Aus for the surgery. My husband has already at goal and I still have 25kg to go. So I know it works because I am living with the proof. We were interested in the band at first but decided against it because of the upkeep ie fills etc we wanted something permanent that once it was done we could get on with our new healthy lives. Which we are doing. Good Luck to you and I look forward to hearing about your journey.

[Ozikiwi 13]

Hi ladies, I'm on the gold coast, but getting sleeved in Brisbane hopefully very soon. As I don't have private health insurance it was going to cost me 17000 on the coast, however a surgeon in Brisbane does the sleeve in an intermediate basis so will only cost 12000 (only? Lol) I am just waiting on my super being approved....sent in on the 22nd June, can anyone tell me how long it took for them to get approved?

Wow that is cheap! All up with 12 month follow up my sleeve is costing approx $22,000:00

I think it's worth it though. I had a friend who had to access her super and it took 3 weeks.

There seem to be a few of us on the coast!

[Ozikiwi 13]

Hi there Aussie Sleevers, I am from Brisbane QLD and had my op on 20/7/12. I have been home for a day now and doing great. My surgeon was Dr Reza Adib and was done at the Wesley Hospital. I had no problems at all and the worst experience of the whole surgery was undertaking the leak test as it was absolutely disgusting. I know this is the best decision I have made and can't wait for my new healthy and active lifestyle ahead of me. I also go to the Australian gastric sleeve support site but also find it hard to navigate around and find this site is so user friendly especially on my mobile. Would love to hear from more Aussies on this site and share our experiences.

Hi Shellz I am having my sleeve on May 21st at Wesley with Dr Adib. I am not looking forward to the barium meal. Was it the taste that was disgusting?

[Ozikiwi 13]

July 11 hasn't been that long ago. The little cuts in our abdomen lead to larger cuts in our muscle wall that are still healing, take it easy on yourself <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> It's according to what you mean by depressed? It's normal to feel lethargic and to go thru some buyers regret, to be sad that you can't comfort yourself with food (if that was an issue before) if you are having depressed episodes that involve thoughts of harming yourself or others, best to talk to someone. I think keeping an open line of communication with a support person and your surgeons office (psycholgist) should help manage all the negative feelings that can come when we are expecting cloud 9 and get post op instead!

I have a friend who was talking to a bariatric nurse who told her that the suicide rate amongst patients who have had sleeves is really high. She then qualified it by saying that was people who had mental health issues before their surgery. I recommend anyone feeling a lot more depressed etc should seek out support ASAP.

[GoldnGirl6677 62]

Wow that is cheap! All up with 12 month follow up my sleeve is costing approx $22,000:00 I think it's worth it though. I had a friend who had to access her super and it took 3 weeks. There seem to be a few of us on the coast!

My super took 2 weeks for Federal approval and 5 working days for QSuper approval!

My Surgeon quoted $7500 + $1500 anaesthesia as an intermediate patient at PA Brisbane when I thought my insurance was not going to cover it. Not sure how long they will continue to do this for people. Anyhow I ended up having it done at Wesley as a private patient as Bupa gave me incorrect information about my coverage and I could go private.

Good luck!

[Ozikiwi 13]

Bought the Optifast today, was going to introduce it gradually before going full on from the first of September. My doctor has asked for at least 3 weeks, however I was looking at attempting it full time from tomorrow- making a total of 8 weeks before surgery. I seem to have a 'eat everything' mentallity at the moment and am putting on weight so I need to do this. Has anyone done this before and how did they go (I.e. survive) ?

I am using iso whey. The berry and chocolate are absolutely disgusting. banana and vanilla not too bed. They also make a hot chocolate. I have just been eating my veggies for dinner and then have a hot choc -delicious!

[kazzygal 39]

Hi ladies, I'm on the gold coast, but getting sleeved in Brisbane hopefully very soon. As I don't have private health insurance it was going to cost me 17000 on the coast, however a surgeon in Brisbane does the sleeve in an intermediate basis so will only cost 12000 (only? Lol) I am just waiting on my super being approved....sent in on the 22nd June, can anyone tell me how long it took for them to get approved?

Wow that is cheap! All up with 12 month follow up my sleeve is costing approx $22,000:00

I think it's worth it though. I had a friend who had to access her super and it took 3 weeks.

There seem to be a few of us on the coast!

Yes, very cheap! Mine was 19500 at buderim with Ian Baxter. It was excellent though, and he has a great reputation. I had surgery on April 8 and feel fantastic now. I was feeling better a few days out. Money wise, I felt even better today as I got a refund from the hospital for just under $3000! I had no insurance and went private. Doc and anathese was 5000. I got 1200 back from Medicare too. So that drops cost to about 15500.

[mistysj 1,940]

The suicide rate thing is odd. I bet it is the same as people with obesity! You need to focus on facts and not hearsay.

I Celebrate one year tomorrow and would like to lose 5 kg more. For me it has been so easy. I chose sleeve because I wanted "one and done" and my surgeon ( Dr Adib) anyways recommends the sleeve now except for people who have a history of reflux. I have a friend who switched to bypass because of the reflux issues and I know that if my reflux becomes unmanageable with Nexium I may need to revise to bypass in future.

I don't remember the total cost of my surgery but I had $6500 out of pocket. I would do it again and pay twice as much.