Hey everyone,
My name is Lisa and like many of you on this site i am considering having my band removed and the sleeve procedure done. I was so excited to get the band but unfortunatley it wasn't the right tool for me, it failed me, or rather i failed it. I am so sick of the daily struggles of everything i eat getting stuck and the constant trip to the loo to vomit up what i had tried to eat, i had many adjustments and never ever found my green zone. Very frustrating as many of you are aware, I know that many people have had success on the band but i'm not one of them, i wish that my surgeon had of discussed the sleeve as another possible option but he didn't, he was all for the band as this was the only procedure he did at the time.
So, anyway, i'm now in a position where i want to have this damned thing removed so i can actually eat something other than sliders. I have private health insurance, it covered the lapband surgery and my out of pockets of around $5000 was covered by the early release of my super. I want to know if any of you guys out there got access to your super a second time in order to have the band removed and the sleeve procedure done? If this is possible to do, i would prefer to do it that way again, i have diabetes, sleep aponea and moderate depression which has to be controlled by taking antidepressants. If it is not possible to access my super again (even though the lap band did nothing for the chronic conditions i have) then the only other way of trying to get the sleeve is to try to get on the public waiting list, i live NSW, any of you out there who has had the sleeve procedure done in the public system, if so, where did you find the information to apply for it, how long was the list. During my research i am finding it impossible to find any information on having this procedure done publically, i have no idea about finding out about it. I do have an appointment booked with my surgeon and GP next week so i will ask these questions there but i would like to hear the thoughts, cooments and experiences of others :)
Lisa.
