Australian peoples

[greganddebra 0]

Hi!

I have a referal to Dr Martin, no insurance, public system. Has anyone been banded under this system in PA Hospital Brisbane? I have soooooo many questions, although they are lovely when I phone no one can give me even a ball park figure for waiting time.I have a letter saying I am on a waiting list, but have not been categorized yet, My referal was faxed to them 01/10/08, the letter recieved from PA is dated 13/10/08. I have'nt had my 1st consultation yet either? and no appointment date yet. After the 1st consultation how long do you wait to be banded?:thumbup:

The other questions tha maybe someone can answer:

Is there any doctors that will do the op on a payment plan, I really don't mind paying, just have'nt got that amount of money up front. I don't even care if I have to go interstate or O/S.

I have a very strong family history of diabetes melitis (father, all his siblings and my Grandmother died in a diabetic coma) Obesity, my mother is over 200kg and in a nursing home, unable to look after herself. My BMI is 41.35.

If anyone has any advice/help/suggestions I would love to hear them.

Thanks everyone,

Debra

[Jachut 487]

Debra, I'm in Melbourne, so I cant give you specifics for Brisbane. But in Melbourne, the waiting lists for public banding have been horrendous at times - like 8 years long at the Alfred back in 2005 when I got banded. Alos, many doctors wont touch self pay patients becuase they exhaust their finances with the operation and then have no money for fills and aftercare.

My suggestion is this: If the waiting list is at least a year long in Brisbane, why not take out private health insurance, wait the year to qualify and you could be banded literally within weeks after that. If you can afford to pay for it bit by bit then you can afford the premiums. What will then happen is that just prior to your banding, you pay a one off fee of somewhere between $3,000 and $5000 and your aftercare and fills are bulkbilled forever after that as is any revision surgery you may need (though hopefully you wont). Really, its the best and cheapest way to go rather than paying well over $10,000 for your surgery and then having to pay for every visit thereafter.