Where to start?

[anna_bandana 3]

Hey guys,

I am trying to start my journey to getting a sleeve.

I've struggled with my weight all my life. I am now 22 years old. I am 172cm (about 5 foot 7). And here comes the hard part. I weigh 150kg (330lbs). Which means I have a BMI of 50.

I have desperately been trying to change my life, and I do so well for a short time, and then something happens and I slip up and pile on more than before.

After a fair bit of research into the procedure and the results others have had (good and bad) I have decided that this is the course I want to travel down, the benefits for me far outweigh the risks.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, and this afternoon I am heading to my local GP to see for some kind of referral to a doctor that can help me achieve this.

I have a couple questions for Melbourne Sleevers and sleevers in general.

How did you get the ball rolling? And once the ball was rolling, how long did it take you to get booked in for surgery?

In Melbourne, who did you see?

How much was the gap? Did your private cover any part of it? From what I have been reading I think I may be looking at a gap of approximately $5,000? I have Medibank private (although won't be able to do anything until end of Feb '14 because of the 1 year waiting period), and I have e-mailed them to get a general idea if they cover a portion and they want me to pretty much fill out a questionnaire and have my surgery booked before they say yes or no.

I have no doubt I will have more questions, but for now I'll start with that.

Thanks

Edited October 18, 2013 by anna_bandana

[eyoung 47]

Where is Melbourne at? I am in Washington state. The first thing we have to do here is got to a seminar. The surgeon that u choose usually has an informational seminar. Then u find out if your insurance covers it, what the requirements are and start jumpin threw those hoops.

Dont know if that helped but good luck!

[anna_bandana 3]

Thanks, I'm in Melbourne, Australia

I've read heaps of things on what those in America need to do to get the surgery, but not so much for Australians. I have to do research on my mobile so that does limit me.

Hopefully seeing the doctor today helps point me in the direction. I just don't trust all these websites that are promising surgery.

[eyoung 47]

Well good luck!

[Momonanomo 534]

Hi Anna Good for you for doing your research. I know I researched all my options and the sleeve seemed the best for me. Turns out I was right!

We do have Australian friends on the board every now & then....might I suggest doing a patient search (on the right hand side of the menu bar at the top of the page). Maybe you could inbox someone in your area & find a buddy. I found someone early on who had the same surgeon as me. She is amazing! Im so glad to count her as a friend. I hope you can find someone like that who can mentor you through the process.

I wish you the best!

[k8ee 131]

Hey guys' date='

I am trying to start my journey to getting a sleeve.

I've struggled with my weight all my life. I am now 22 years old. I am 172cm (about 5 foot 7). And here comes the hard part. I weigh 150kg (330lbs). Which means I have a BMI of 50.

I have desperately been trying to change my life, and I do so well for a short time, and then something happens and I slip up and pile on more than before.

After a fair bit of research into the procedure and the results others have had (good and bad) I have decided that this is the course I want to travel down, the benefits for me far outweigh the risks.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, and this afternoon I am heading to my local GP to see for some kind of referral to a doctor that can help me achieve this.

I have a couple questions for Melbourne Sleevers and sleevers in general.

How did you get the ball rolling? And once the ball was rolling, how long did it take you to get booked in for surgery?

In Melbourne, who did you see?

How much was the gap? Did your private cover any part of it? From what I have been reading I think I may be looking at a gap of approximately 5,000? I have Medibank private (although won't be able to do anything until end of Feb '14 because of the 1 year waiting period), and I have e-mailed them to get a general idea if they cover a portion and they want me to pretty much fill out a questionnaire and have my surgery booked before they say yes or no.

I have no doubt I will have more questions, but for now I'll start with that.

Thanks <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

Hi Anna, I'm from melb and was sleeved in may this year. I am also with medibank but I was a band to sleeve and didn't have to pay anything for my sleeve as the band was faulty.

I went through mr McHenry at lap surgery Australia in boronia. They are great and have a great network of drs, specialist, dietician s and nurses for all of your appts.

To get the ball rolling I would first go have an appt at lap surgery. They will fill you in on what you need to do with medibank and other appts if you're a candidate for surgery.

I hope I've answered all you're questions but I'm happy to ask any more if you have them:)

[jenpez 113]

Hi Anna, I am on the Gold Coast. The first thing I did was get a referral to a surgeon from my GP. My GP actually did a lot of research for me about types of Weight Loss Surgery and the best surgeon for me. Otherwise there is a weight loss surgery centre here where you don't need a referral but you do usually have to go to seminars and whatnot.

The next thing I did was down load every book I could find onto my iPad so that when I went to the surgeon I knew what to ask and was fairly well educated about the surgery. I also watched some clips on YouTube. You can search gastric sleeve and hundreds come up. The next thing I did was join this forum. I have met some other Sleevers recently and really learned a lot from them, I found them through this forum. I also have quite a few favourites on this forum, some in Australia, some in the UK and a lot in the USA. Good luck. Hopefully some Melbournites will find your post and help with actual people to see!

You will see that your story is similar to lots of other people and we all care and empathise with you

Jen.

[Arts137 1,811]

We all love them Ozzies!!!

[anna_bandana 3]

Hi Anna Good for you for doing your research. I know I researched all my options and the sleeve seemed the best for me. Turns out I was right!

We do have Australian friends on the board every now & then....might I suggest doing a patient search (on the right hand side of the menu bar at the top of the page). Maybe you could inbox someone in your area & find a buddy. I found someone early on who had the same surgeon as me. She is amazing! Im so glad to count her as a friend. I hope you can find someone like that who can mentor you through the process.

I wish you the best!

That sounds great, I will definitely get on to that. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about this. I don't intend on telling anyone except my partner and my mum. Both who are very supportive about what I want. I know others won't be as supportive so I would rather not give them an opportunity to express their opinions. Thank you Momonanomo

Hi Anna, I'm from melb and was sleeved in may this year. I am also with medibank but I was a band to sleeve and didn't have to pay anything for my sleeve as the band was faulty.

I went through mr McHenry at lap surgery Australia in boronia. They are great and have a great network of drs, specialist, dietician s and nurses for all of your appts.

To get the ball rolling I would first go have an appt at lap surgery. They will fill you in on what you need to do with medibank and other appts if you're a candidate for surgery.

I hope I've answered all you're questions but I'm happy to ask any more if you have them:)

Thanks k8ee, I will google them today and look them up. I've been very cautious about all these pop up websites I am finding so it makes it a bit difficult to sort through genuine from fake. I will be looking them up and see what they can help me with, and start doing my research on the doctors.

Hi Anna, I am on the Gold Coast. The first thing I did was get a referral to a surgeon from my GP. My GP actually did a lot of research for me about types of Weight Loss Surgery and the best surgeon for me. Otherwise there is a weight loss surgery centre here where you don't need a referral but you do usually have to go to seminars and whatnot.

The next thing I did was down load every book I could find onto my iPad so that when I went to the surgeon I knew what to ask and was fairly well educated about the surgery. I also watched some clips on YouTube. You can search gastric sleeve and hundreds come up. The next thing I did was join this forum. I have met some other Sleevers recently and really learned a lot from them, I found them through this forum. I also have quite a few favourites on this forum, some in Australia, some in the UK and a lot in the USA. Good luck. Hopefully some Melbournites will find your post and help with actual people to see!

You will see that your story is similar to lots of other people and we all care and empathise with you

Jen.

Hi Jen, I was supposed to go to the doctors yesterday to discuss a referral, however, things got in the way and I will be going this morning instead. Unfortunately I don't think the GP will be that willing to hand over a referral, much less do any research for me, so I'll have to do the research myself. This is a bulk bill walk in clinic and I have never seen one doctor twice in a row, they rotate the doctors around that much. It's hard to find just one GP to stick to because they don't last that long, and the ones that have are all private and cost an arm and a few legs. It took me a year to get a referral to get my tonsils removed and a grommet that has been in my ear over 5 years removed as well. I suspect the doctor will want me to go down the dietitian path, again. This is why I'm taking my mum, back up to make sure I don't get rolled so easily. Haha.

I'm currently reading The Big Book on the Gastric Sleeve and I'm finding it very insightful.

Thank you very much for your advice. I have a few things to go off now on this post, hopefully I can get this big ball rolling!

[k8ee 131]

What area in melb are you?

[anna_bandana 3]

What area in melb are you?

Western Suburbs. 45 mins from Melbourne

[k8ee 131]

You'll want to find a surgeon close to home then with all of the appts you will need to attend pre/post surgery.

[anna_bandana 3]

You'll want to find a surgeon close to home then with all of the appts you will need to attend pre/post surgery.

Thank you.

I finally managed to get to the doctors today for the referral.

I thought I would need to beg for the referral but nope! He gave me the referral without hesitation!

I now have my first referral for professor nottle in sydenham Victoria which is 20 mins from me!

So now I'm on my way home to do my research on him and see how other people's experiences have been with him.

One step in the right direction!

[k8ee 131]

Thank you.

I finally managed to get to the doctors today for the referral.

I thought I would need to beg for the referral but nope! He gave me the referral without hesitation!

I now have my first referral for professor nottle in sydenham Victoria which is 20 mins from me!

So now I'm on my way home to do my research on him and see how other people's experiences have been with him.

One step in the right direction!

That's fantastic. Once you find the right surgeon for you then everything will happen so fast (even if you are not planning on getting it done until next year). Most of my appts etc took about a month or so (but spread out over 3 months) but then you will have paperwork for the hospital etc to complete and return too, and all of that takes time. Just read up on the surgeon and look on this site too for the surgeon on threads.

Congratulations on starting your new journey!

[anna_bandana 3]

That's fantastic. Once you find the right surgeon for you then everything will happen so fast (even if you are not planning on getting it done until next year). Most of my appts etc took about a month or so (but spread out over 3 months) but then you will have paperwork for the hospital etc to complete and return too, and all of that takes time. Just read up on the surgeon and look on this site too for the surgeon on threads.

Congratulations on starting your new journey!

Thank you!

I have just booked in for Friday 15th Nov.

I have read that this doctor does try to push for the Lap Band over anything else, so I am just going to stick to my guns.

Just because this is the first doctor I see doesn't mean I have to go with him. I want to be comfortable with who does my surgery.

I'm really excited and nervous!