newbie. i'm nervous & have questions.

Hi Karenna,

Im not sure if you are going public or private as i know he does both, and i got the impression that you are going to be public since you are on a waiting list. If it is public i dont want to dishearten you but i would have loved to have known before i went through all the emotional anquish of being on the public waiting for list for Mr Leong.
In Jan 09 i was referred to him at lyell Mc and had my first meeting with him in march. After waiting for a year in january 2010 i took out PHI as i was ready to change my life and was sick of waiting. I still had another year to wait till my PHI kicked in, so i figured that if i didnt get it public within that year then i was going to go private. I had a year to save for the gap so i was going to get this surgery either way!! Anyways in march 2010 a surgery date was scheduled. I got excited. It was cancelled. Again in june another date was scheduled. Once again cancelled as the hospital was to full. Again in August, another date, another cancellation.

In september i moved to Sydney to be with my husband, fiancee at the time. I gave up on the waiting. It was just to heartbreaking to get mentally and physically prepared for the surgery and then have it cancelled on me. It was cancelled on the day after i had arrived at the hospital and once the day before.

I do hope that i am wrong and that you are going through private, but if you arent just try to prepare yourself for a very long wait and lots of disappointments. If you can afford it i would suggest taking out PHI now and saving for the gap. You never know, you might end up like me and end up having to use it. Just dont give up!!

But then again i hope that i am wrong and that you dont have to go public! Either way congrats on making the decision and i hope that you have a smooth ride and good luck with everything!!

Hello Kareena and welcome.
I've sent you a private message as Dr Leong is/was my surgeon. Yes, he likes to put things straight with you. He doesn't beat around the bush and make it all airy fairy as this is pretty major surgery, even if it is done laproscopically. Just follow what he wants you to do and stick with the stages after surgery i.e. don't eat things that you shouldn't be eating.
When are you due to have your surgery?
When I had my surgery in 2009 he used drains and naso gastric tubes but that may have changed in the 18 months since I had mine.
Let me know if you have any more questions. I don't get on often but I do check every now and then.

Hi Karenna and welcome to the site....

I'm not sure whether you've been able to have a good fossick around the site yet. You will find there's lots of great conversation and information about the surgery... some good places for you to go, given your questions, include:

• the surgeons thread...you may find a specific question about Dr Leong here
  
• the sleevers gettogether section -- the Adelaide sleevers are very active and you will have a great opportunity to connect with them
  
• the Diaries -- where you can dip into first hand accounts of people's experiences.
  

Good luck with your wait and your info gathering

S

hello. my name is Karenna, I'm 20 and have just been put on the waiting list for the sleeve op. my doctor is Paul Leong, located in adelaide. I am very excited & all your stories have been an inspiration for me. I'm slightly nervous and would really like to hear from those who may have had dr leong as their doctor for the op. I'm just a bit curious on the way he does things & just the whole experience through being operated by him. he keeps mentioning the death rate & it does freak me out a little but I need this operation, there is no way I'm backing out, this is going to change my life for the better & I cannot wait :)

it's great to know there is a place like this for advice, I think I'll be needing you all, every step of the way.

thankyou heaps :) xxx