St George Private

Hello everyone :)

Can anyone that has been sleeved at St George private tell me whether they are all private rooms, or some shared? 

Thanks!

I was done in st. George pv. by Dr. Kuzinkovas Nov. 2012. Staff put me in a shared room because they had two sleeve ladies together. It was a bit disturbing at times, what with the beepers going off all night,...No sleep till I got home, you could ask for a private room, they try , if available. Jules

hello
I'm with bupa. They promise I'll get my own room or they'll give me $50 back for each day if it wasn't available. 
Check what your health insurance offers, the hosp might give u priority. 
All the best

Thankyou both :)


I'm with Bupa too, I'd prefer my own room if possible. Fingers crossed I guess!

hello pink. Forgot to add that I read somewhere that you must notify the hospital of your need about 1 week prior surgery that u want your own room.  We're paying a he'll of a lot with phi we might add well get our entitlements please call bupa thell guide u from there =))

St George private has single and shared I was covered for private but only got shared.  The buzzers would still be audible in private rooms as if someone presses there attention buzzer it registered all up the corridors.  I also had trouble sleeping because there was always someone pressing the damned things.  Sorry to say that is true in all hospitals and besides your are on 4hr checks at first anyway so not much chance of a peaceful night.  I pay almost $4000 a year with Bupa didn't get me a private room.

I spent some time in there recently. There is a mix of private and shared rooms, but if you share they seem to put you with another sleever. Most of the people on the ward are sleevers and all end up meeting each other eventually. I got a private room but I was quite sick...I do know there were other sleevers in there though who got private rooms. (And the nursing staff are fantastic...I had a great nurse, Gia, i'm sure you'll meet her :)

debs

Thanks for the replies :)

I guess I will just put a request in and hope for the best!

Hi,

I was in StGeorge Private for my op.  I had a private room but one of the nurses told me that I had a private room because it was school holidays so the ward wasn't as full as usual.  The shared rooms were two to a room.  

One guy was sharing with another guy who had the worst snoring problem and couldn't sleep and he complained to the staff and they moved him to a different shared room, and moved the snoring dude to a single room the next day.

The nurses there are simply wonderful.  Actually, everyone at StG P is lovely.

Thanks rascally :) 

I'm glad I chose St George private over Kareena. I don't think I've heard anything negative so far :)

I'm booked for st George and I'm glad to hear they're great.  However I'm paying for my own surgery - no health fund, so what scares me is being charged huge amount of money for simple thing like an aspirin...did anyone else self fund?  can anyone give me a guide on what types of incidental costs like path tests or tablets you're given whilst an inpatient that could potentially cost a motza?

I was in st george private and didn't request my own room (although i have phi) ... i thought at worst i would get to share with one other -- i was wrong! I was in a room with 4 of us, and the darn visitors for the lady next to me were talking loudly for ages when i was just out of recovery and then they finally left and then all day and night the lady next to me put on her tv so loud  - i realize she was asleep most of the darn time, she later said she needed tv to fall asleep! Also, the bed was soooo uncomfortable, my backside was sore from the steel under the mattress that seemed to offer no cushion. i ended up putting a pillow underneath my bottom which helped a bit, but i was so sore on getting home, felt bruised all around my hips from the bed. 
The good side of sharing was i was with two other sleevers and we could see what each of us went through and what was ok as we all panicked at our symptoms, especially when one of them left hosp the next day able to drink and eat without probs, and two of us were left heaving and sore.. so different each recovery! In hindsight i would ask for extra pillows straight up and also for maximum share with ONE other. And if i had thought about it, i should have called in a nurse via the push button thing to get the visitors and tv to shut up! ....  as for the meds, my leaving hospital bill was near $70 for Targin (for pain) and Pariet (for reflux) from the hospital pharmacy. I was given a lot of meds in hosp via the drip, however i do not know if there was a charge raised seperate to the hospital stay as i had private health cover. I don't think i had any pathology tests done while inpatient. I was told 2 nights in hosp and i ended up three, couldn't keep down fluids and needed the drip for longer. Hope all goes well for you Glenice.

Thanks so much Jagxclusive, that's great information. I actually hadnt anticipated a more than 2 in a room situation....but good that they put you with other sleevers.
 
You mention heaving - I' m guessing that may have been a reaction to the anaesthetic, I've experienced that before, I just hope I escape this time. I'm not surprised it put you back in your recovery, it would certainly hurt with a sore tummy!
 
Wow - and someone left the day after their surgery....that's interesting.  I wonder, if I pay for the 3 nights up front (which is what they told me was standard) , and get our a day earlier if i'll ever see that money again....they make no mention of refunding anything in ANY literature, its all about charging extra.
 
My husband tells me not to stress about the charges and jokes we'll save that in lower grocery bills !  I just hate the idea of being ripped off because they can.  In fact I'm more worried about that aspect of it than the surgery I have to say.
 
The chewable multi vitamin - did you have to take that whilst recovering?  Or perhaps they put it through your drip, that would probably be the easiest way to do it in the early stages.
 
Do they do any kind of barium swallow or other test to check the staples are not leaking before they allow you to eat/drink?  I read in another forum about someone having an x-ray to check this - but can't be sure the person was in Australia.
 
I've certainly learned more in this forum than from either my surgeon or dietitian.  My surgeon has told me very little at this stage, although I have the last appt with him 1 month prior to surgery, so I intend to do the 20 questions thing then.
 
Thanks for your help.  Cheers Glenice

I bought the chewable multivitamins on discharge - walked up to the dr's rooms there, they were $35.00. I started them when i got home. I had a myriad of blood tests a month prior to surgery which showed low vitamin d, and my surgeon prescribed a special vit.D tablet to bring levels up quickly. I think it's important to have all your nutrition at good levels as it is really hard to consume enough vitamins after the sleeve. My surgeon does not do the swallow test, i can see that some dr's do and some don't. I think it depends on your surgeon. As for heaving, I think it was from the anaesthetic and also the push button pain killer - i think i pushed it into overdrive! which may have made me sick. I also have thryoid problems, and was told i could take my thyroid meds as the pill is very small... took me 3 days of trying before i could keep it down. I imagine they would do further tests if you have a temperature or severe specific pain, i had no further tests done. ... By the way, your hubby is right... we do save a lot on grocery bills now! ... BUT must say I am learning to buy high quality, expensive food instead of cheap junk, and the hardest part is learning to throw out the leftovers!

Pink sparkles wrote:

Hello everyone :)

Can anyone that has been sleeved at St George private tell me whether they are all private rooms, or some shared? 

Thanks!

Hell Pink.

This time last week I was in St. George private.  They do have private rooms and I was lucky enough to get one in a sort of upgrade way.  As you can imagine the day after news years was very quiet.  There were some people that were in 2 to a room.  You can request and pay for a private room.  I think its about $100 per day.  It depends how busy it is when you go in.  I am very grateful I was by myself.  If you have the cash lash out and get a private room as the privacy was gold.

All staff there were fantastic.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone!

I had almost forgotten about this thread, I was sleeved at StGeorge Private on the 2nd Nov 13.

I did end up with my own room, twice actually! I had to be admitted to another ward initially as there were no beds on the ward I was supposed to go to. I ended up going from recovery to that ward once they had a bed. 

Someone asked about costs for tests, discharge meds etc. I had no barium swallow or any pathology tests while I was in hospital. The only cost I had was the Pariet on discharge. From memory I think it was about $30. They had already pre authorised my credit card for $100 on admission, so just refunded the $70 back to it a couple of days after I went home. 

Good luck with your surgery Glenice!!!

Thanks soooo much Pink Sparkles, I've been more worried about being price gouged and ripped off than about the surgery.  That's put my mind at ease.  Cheers Glenice