Recommendations for Brisbane Surgeons

HI Callie,
lucky you, with not many days to go til your operation! How wonderful!

I have to do 3 weeks of OPtifast - I actually don't mind the taste of the some of the products, though I can't really say I am looking forward to it. But at least I know I won't be "re-bounding" and putting weight back on after those 3 weeks.
Regards,
Sophia

Hi Sophia

I am having my sleeve done by Mark Daoud on January 13th. He operates at Sunnybank Private Hospital. I am currently on optifast (2 weeks prior only). I had to speak to a dietician only. I was referred by my GP & didn't know anything about the sleeve before I saw him. I am really glad I had options with him. Good luck with your search

Hi there,
don't you just hate it how everyone is on holidays this week - not only me but the people I wanna see *grin*

Also,hiya Purplehaze, thanks for replying, but just letting you know that halfthesize was the person who has the band - and unfortunately the complications. I was considering one after seeing how well a girlfriend did with hers (she was banded July), but I think for me the sleeve sounds much better after doing my research.

Happy New YEar!!!!!! I'm gonna be 25 kilos thinner this time next year (at least!)

Regards,
Sophia

Hello Sophia and welcome to the forum. As the others have said it has a wealth of informaiton and you can spend many hours going through it, Even in the personal stories which i haven't managed to get through many yet. I was banded 8 days ago and several years of problems witht hesleeve. Like you I blamed myself but when the took it out I was told it never really took and had been slipping/moving the whole time which sounds like yours. I also have had the choking sensation, not too bad witht he reflux though did have that previously. I am surprised your doctor did not recommend removing the band a lot earlier. It was my surgeon who adviced the band come out and I get the sleeve. As you will see everyones experience with the sleeve is different and I sepnt a week in hopital and will not go back to work until 5 Jan at the earliest. However my sorty was unusual. Don't blame yourself (easier said than done I know) and keep reading, yu will relate to many of the soties on the forum. Good luck.

Hi Sophia, I'm glad it all went well for you. I'm sure you'll be fine with regards to the psych & dietician. I reckon that although you probably don't need as long as 3-4weeks off, it's probably a good thing to plan for it anyways. You just have no idea how quickly you will recover or whether you might have other complications. I do think though, that most people are generally quite able to return to work after 2 weeks off though. I think he told me 2 nights in hospital as well, but I had 3. Good luck with the work aspect. Cheers

HI there,
I had my appointment with Dr Lockie today - and was very happy with how it went. He certainly has a good amount of experience under his belt, and what I especially liked was that he referred to himself as "pedantic"... give me a pedantic surgeon anyday :)
So now I have to jump through the psychology and dietitician "hoops" and then see him again after I see them... then 3 weeks of Optifast.
I must admit I was surprised by the amount of time that I needed off work - he recommended 3 - 4 weeks, which I wasn't expecting... I thought it would only be 1 - 2!! With only 2 nights in hospital.
Next scarey thing is to ask my boss for holidays, as Feb is NOT a good time due to stuff happening at work.
Regards,
Sophia

Hi Halfthesize, I'm also from Brissy and was sleeved by Dr Lockie nearly 7weeks ago. I'm very happy with Dr Lockie and his entire practice. They've all been extremely helpful and are like an extended family. How did I choose him? Well my GP recommended him when I asked for a referral for lap band. It was after speaking to him and his dietician that I decided to go with the sleeve. From my research, and I spent a fair bit of time on the net and asking questions, and reading from this site, I concluded that I would probably find the sleeve much less hassle and from reading this site particularly, I saw that there were a number of people who'd had the band and found it just didn't work for them. So you really shouldn't beat yourself up about it because it appears to be really common. I too was really worried about failling yet again, this is something I worked through with Dr Lockie's psychologist. Once I determined that I wouldn't fail everything changed for me and I haven't really looked back. I've had a side issue (pancreatitis & gall bladder removed) which has slowed me down a bit but I still think this is the best thing I could have ever done. I'm feeling the best I have in such a long time. As for the reflux, I was on relux medication prior to the surgery but have suffered a little bit more since the surgery. I am on Nexium in the morn & Zantac at night. These pretty much keep it under control. I've only had one instance of it giving me unbearable pain, but that was gone in half an hour. Even still, I would never look back. As for the hospital. You can choose where you want to go, if the surgeon has operating rights there, but Dr Lockie will only perform where they have an ICU, purely for precautionary reasons. So I went to Brisbane Private, which is where he has his practice. I found them fine. I can only compare it to a horrible experience at QEII nearly 20 years ago, and it was fabulous in comparison. I did have my gall bladder out at St Andrew's and found both hospitals comparable. The nurses at both were very lovely. If it's worth anything, I chose to have Dr Lockie do my gall bladder because I was very happy with him with the sleeve. Since he didn't kill me the first time, I thought that my chances were minimal the second time....LOL.

Good luck to you with your research. I can't recommend more highly that you familiarise yourself with some of the back stories from this site. I spent about a month gleaning as much information from it before I even started participating. There's so much info here and so many helpful hints. Take your time and don't rush it. Find a surgeon you're comfortable with and don't be afraid to make multiple appointments. It'll cost you a bit to do so, but you'll find the right one.

Good luck also to you Sophia. I hope it all goes well.

Thank you Sophia for taking the time to reply. I will be interested to see how you go with Dr. Lockie. I rang around several doctors re this operation when I first stumbled across this site and whilst everyone replied, they actually phoned as well as sent out an information pack and it seems they have allot of additional staff for support i.e. head person, exercise person etc. and they appeared quite on the ball.....I was unsure about the hospital though so your reply answered that part of the question. They also have monthly meetings where all patients attend. Dr Greenslade is another name that does keep popping up as well as Dauoud?????
I'd be very interested to see what you think when you see these doctors as I will wait now until the new year. Thanks again and also, the same good wishes to you on your journey.

Hi Half the size...
from one Brisbane person to another...

how do you choose a surgeon? Well, that is what I am in the process of doing. I have an appt with Dr Phil Lockie next week, and also have an appt with Dr Hopkins in January (which I will cancel if I am not 100% happy with Dr Lockie). I suppose my first question is "how many of these have you done?". That is pretty important to me, as I don't like being practiced on *grin*.

Dr Greenslade sounds good on paper, but when I rang his rooms, I heard he had "only" done a dozen, so that turned me off a bit. Having said that he seems to be an experienced upper GIT surgeon, so I am not discounting him!!! He obviously has a really good range of surgical experience under his belt and is well regarded.

Dr Bowden I wouldn't touch - or let him touch me - if there was any other option. I knew him years ago as a junior doctor, though perhaps he might be a good surgeon now as that was a long long time ago.

Personally, as a nurse, how "lovely" my surgeon isn't the main criteria for choosing them. All I care about is that they do a good job on my body and do the right thing by me as a patient. If they are pleasant - bonus!!!!!

The other thing really important is the anaesthetist. These are the bods keeping you alive - and having a long term surgeon / anaesthetic relationship is very comforting to me !! I also had a minor op at Brisbane Private Hospital recently and was quite pleased with how things went.

Anyways, good luck in your journey. I think that it mus be awfully difficult feeling you have failed. But perhaps the band failed you - it now seems that there is 10 - 30% problems with lap bands that can occur (don't quote me!) and that is why I am happier with the concept of a sleeve. So I am crossing fingers.

REgards,
Sophia

Hi all,

I am in Brisbane and was banded 6 years ago. The band never did feel right to me from the beginning and I was not really well again for several months afterwards. You can imagine this upset me as everyone else posting on the site was "up and at 'em" 3 days later. In time, I felt better and throughout my weightloss journey (I lost some 38 kgs only to have put all but 5 kg back on) with HUGE effort, exercise and hunger, reflux became a worsening issue. I now must sit up to sleep at night and am constantly woken by severe choking and wheezing, wondering where my next breath will come from. It started out that Mylanta would work, then Zantac etc. etc. until now unless I take 40mg Nexium every day, I live with constant flu like symptoms. I now have no fluid in my band and am still prone to bad bouts of reflux even on 40 mg of Nexium. We have been through the whole gammet of 24 hour acid monitoring, endoscopys, fluid in the band, fluid out, down to 20 mg Nexium + other meds and more. Most people simply assume I have "yet another dose of the flu" and antibiotics have become my best friend to try to clear the infection from my throat, lungs and nose. I have had enough. I cannot put up with this another year, especially so because I am nearly back to where I started weight wise.
I stumbled across the VSG and this looks like it could be a viable alternative for me. Even though I am not looking forward to another operation, I know the band must go. I have several questions to ask if anyone can assist. I am so glad to have found the site and hope this is the solution to put an end to the reflux and to once and for all lose this excess weight.

1. How do you pick the best surgeon? I thought I had a good one last time.

2. I am so anxious as I have failed once and feel incredibly embarassed and disappinted about it.

3. I never had reflux before the band. Has anyone had the band, developed reflux, had the sleeve and lost the reflux?

4. I have heard good reports about Dr. Phil Lockie. Is the hospital and hospital staff he uses up to par?

It's amazing to read how many lapbands have not worked as every time I see a story in print or on the TV about its success, it only seems to exaserpate my failure and I guess that is my biggest concern. I'm sure the band works well for some but much to my disappointment, I am not one of its success stories.
Looking forward to hearing your replies.