Hi Krissy
After reading what happens when you have complications like leak I am so scared of having that happening to me that I chose the most cautious surgeon I could find.
Like you I live 550km away from Brisbane where my op will take place, will have to stay for 2 weeks after op in Brisbane because my surgeon does not allow his patients to be too far away from help if anything goes wrong.
If complications arise GP's won't help, it will be ICU in a hospital, in some cases for weeks!
He also keeps his patients in hospital for 4 nights (some surgeons will let you go after 2 nights) and oes barium swallow test on day 3 to make sure that there is no leak or narrowing etc.
Also I will be 3 days on the drip nil by mouth to ensure good healing and minimise risk of leak and minimise risk of getting dehydrated due to drinking not enough.
My advice is: go for initial appointment with Tassie surgeon, ask million questions, do your homework before you go. Ask his secretary whether they have a official or secret FB page for his patients etc etc...Keep reading about Melbourne surgeons and compare costs.
See whether you will be able to afford having it done by somebody experienced and safe. Or maybe when you do enough research on Tassie surgeon you will find out that he is great and very careful too...who knows, they all have to start somewhere..
It is a hard decision, especially that you have kids and more things to organise than me.
Good luck!
agus