From Melbourne, need a little advice!

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone, I had my appointment today with Mr Michell's nurse Barb. She'd was lovely and made me feel very comfortable. She explained everything to me, and I now have to have bloods and chest X-ray. She said we would probably be looking at January. Seems like a little time away but I'm sure the time will fly by. In the meantime, lots to get done!

Hi BellaBallerina,
I went with Mr Anthony Clough at Epworth Private Hospital in Box Hill. He has been amazing, answering all the questions i had for him and thoroughly explained ALL my options. I was sleeved 6 months ago and was lucky enough to be a part of a trial Anthony and his colleague Dr Patrick Moore were taking part in with doing a robotically assisted sleeve surgery. 
Good luck with your journey and i hope you find the right surgeon for you!
Alli

Hi BellaBallerina
I went with Mr Dean Spilias at Melbourne Upper GI. He spends time going through all options but prefers the sleeve to the band (says in the long run there are less complications, and greater success rate). His office ladies are amazingly kind and compassionate. He is seldom more than 10mins late for an appointment time that's set (and apologises profusely if his appointment before ran over) and I was able to be operated on within 3-6 months and got to negotiate a date that suited me.
Post surgery I thought I'd need him (I'm day 10 post op) but ran a few questions past his office and realized I'm actually fine! Others questioned him letting me home so early, but I feel fantastic and have recovered faster from this surgery than my gall bladder last year.
Dean is softly spoken, but really listens, and there was absolutely nothing but compassion when I broke down in his office the second time I met him (I was explaining my journey to this point). Given I was recommended to him from my liver specialist, he ran a bunch of tests on my liver first because he wanted to make sure his advice to me was correct, and as soon as we got the results we booked the date, met with the nutritionist and I was operated on 6 weeks later.
Anyway - Melbourne Upper GI - he's a winner! :-) Good luck!!

Hi bella!

I'm another one of Geoff Draper's patients. Love, love, love him!

That's awesome news about the referral bellaballerina! And now your journey begins!

Good to hear that you got your referral!
I am surprised to hear Mr Michell doesn't like doing Sleeves, he never mentioned it to me. When he asked me why I wanted a Sleeve I told him I had done a lot of research and thought it was the best surgery to suit my needs. He said fair enough, didn't even mention the Band. 

My case was a little different as I had to fly interstate to have my appointment (there are no experienced surgeons in my state) so it took a lot longer than it normally would as I had to try to schedule my surgeon, nutritionist, nurse and psychologist appointments on the same day to save time and money. So I got my referral in February and didn't have my operation until July.

Cheers Nini

And also too Nini, how long did it take from your initial appt to surgery?

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I got a referral tonight and I feel so relieved. The dr wrote out a general referral as I told her I haven't a clue as to who to go with.

Nini - with Dr Michell, I read somewhere that he doesn't really like doing the sleeves, he is more toward the band. Did you have any issue there?

Hi Bellaballerina,
Don't stress about going to the doctors, I was in a similar situation to you about 12 months ago. I was apprehensive asking my doctor for the referal but as soon as I mentioned weight loss he was the one that said surgery may be an option. I am close to your weight at just over 100kg with a bmi of 37 and didn't have an issue.
I am having surgery next month with Dr Geoff Draper at Peninsula Private hospital and he so far has been great. Really nice and everyone has given him great reviews.
Good luck with it all.
Ali

Hi bellaballerina33,


The first step is the scariest. I had Mr Ian Michell who I can highly recommend. His website isn't that great but his surgery is! He does WLS but he also does liver/kidney transplants so you know he has a high level of expertise. I had no bruising and my lap sites were really small and have healed up well. He also did my gall bladder removal back in March which also went very well. If you click on my gallery there are some pictures of my lap sites after 3 months.


cheers Nini

Hi bellaballerina. 

I can really relate to the pain and frustration of yo-yo dieting. It's soul-sapping.

Try not to stress about the conversation with the GP. My understanding is that it is just a formality for a BMI over 40 or 35 with comorbidities. 

I'm in Melbourne also and being sleeved by Peter Nottle this Thursday. So far so good but the big test is coming up as to whether or not I'd recommend him!!

Best of luck on your journey and makes the most of this amazing forum - it's been keeping me sane!

Hi everyone, nice to meet you all. I am 32 from Melbourne (BMI 36, 97KG). I am ready to go and ask my GP for a referral, I am terrified they will say no. I have a family history of heart disease and diabetes, have tried billions of diets/exercise regimes etc, and usually start with some progress, and then go backwards and put the weight back on plus some. Why does this seem like the hardest step asking for the referral. I also want to know of any good recommendations for surgeons in Melbourne?