Weight Loss Surgery

recovering_spendaholic

I am seriously considering having this done. I am not seeking medical advice about the procedure, but just wondered if any moneysavers on here had had this procedure as I have a number of queries:

Did you get it done on the NHS and how long did you have to wait? My GP says that it isn't even worth the referral as the list is so long.

If you have had it done privately, where did you have it done and how much did it cost?

Did you consider any other options?

I got a private referral to a weight loss surgeon last year and he said that I would be best having open major gastric bypass surgery which I do not want - I have two children and no other family and the fear of dying on the operating table is just horrific. He reckoned that gastric band would only work as long as you have the band and that I would put the weight back on again as soon as it was removed, which is actually not correct, because if I ever get this weight off I will NEVER regain it - being overweight has caused me so much pain that if I shift it I won't ever want to lose the benefit.
I know it is easy from a moneysaving perspective to say "just eat less! - it's cheaper and you will actually save money and get thin" but I have such problems with food - I don't want to go into a self pitying tirade, but I have had a terrible time over the last few years - I have lost numerous babies, my husband left me, my Mum and Aunt both died within days of each other four weeks after my husband left and just recently I was made redundant after 20 years in the same job. My coping strategy has been to comfort eat and I am now about 9 or 10 stone overweight and it is causing me all kinds of problems as I have become really anxious all the time and I need to shift it, however I have tried every diet going and can't stick to them. The options for weight loss surgery seem to be Gastric bypass, gastric band and gastric balloon insertion. A number of cosmetic surgery places (Transform etc) offer them but when you ring up they just keep going on about how they can do you a finance deal to pay for it and really hard sell it, and I don't want that kind of pressure, plus I think it may be cheaper to get my own referral. Transform quoted me £12k for the band and £8k for the balloon, and that is alot of money!

Ted_Hutchinson

Surgical Treatment of Obesity

This research compares the some of the different procedures but I'm afraid it doesn't provide a clear answer to your question.

Edinburghlass_2

Its seems that Belgium is the cheaper option to go to for this surgery.

You can try Googling I guess and if I remember correctly it was mentioned on here a couple of times.

L_D_N

I knew someone who had the band fitted with BUPA, I don't think it was as much as £8K and she was one of the first to have it in the UK. She did lose weight but then kind of got stuck with the last 4-5 stone as she didn't exercise much - she also cheated.

One of the things I remember her saying is that it's amazing how you find a way round things. For example, you can't eat bulky food so she would sometimes blend fatening food so she could eat it. She couldn't eat fibrous fruit as the skins tend to get stuck so her diet wasn't always that healthy. Oh, and she discovered she could still eat her biscuits if she dunked them in her tea!

Given the emotional links you have to your weight issues have you considered NLP (neurolinguistic programming) training? This isn't cheap, although a lot less than a band, but is really does seem to work for people. Not only does it help them lose weight but it also helps with confidence, self belief and enjoyment of life. Worth a look maybe?

L

LITTLEMISSFLOWER

Hi Jane

I no what your going though. My mum had the open gastric bypass on the nhs last year and its not something to go into lightly she couldn’t do anything for weeks after and was always sick after eating just a tea spoon of food and the thoughts of food never go away as its in the brain she would get so upset and if you have any fat it comes out as fat if you no what I mean its not nice at all. Two weeks after getting out of hospital she got a blood colt and had to go back in a week after that she had a stoke and three months after that she got a hernia which got so big there was a danger it would kill her. after all that she had lost 8 stone and was get on with life her diabetes got better and she had loads more energy. But that’s when the backaches came as her stomach skin was down to her knees and weight 2 stone the hernia was still getting bigger. So when she went to the hospital to see the surgeon he said they needed to operate but he would not do the hernia without doing the aponnectomy at the same time as he did not want her to have two major ops but the nhs would only pay for the hernia and not the aponnectomy so we got the money together but the nhs still said no to paying the other half and the surgeon said im not doing one without the other we wrote to the mp sent letters to the nhs trust. but nothing by this time my mums baby as she called it was about to burst though the stomach wall and she would die. After all she had been though we all thought that was it a waste of time instead of mum only living 10 years before the op she would now only live one year. A few months went on and we had a call the funding had been granted for both the ops at the same time. She had the op two weeks ago. after they told her they had taken 4 stone away in skin and fat. She is now on her feet and is feeling so much better and she said she would do it all again now its over. But this week she has just lost her navel but she don’t care she’s just gained twenty plus years of her life back.

You must do what right for you with the band it is easy to put the weight back on and it sometimes need redoing. But the open bypass has so many risks and do you have the support to help with you and your kids. The balloon I think its about £6.000 and done by keyhole. My mum said I should have it done. That would be my first choice.

mini

Hi,

The only person I know if is Anne Diamond, well no I don't know her but I found her story very interesting, she has written about it in detail recently -

http://fathappens.com/gastric_band_1/

Fathappens is rather a good website too, worth alook around.

Regards

mini

Jays

Isn't Sharon Osbourne about to have this procedure reversed?

I think I read about it recently, she has had a band for years now but has decided to face the reasons she abuses food, with a psychiatrist rather than continue with the band.

tomstickland

What a horrific procedure for a non critical condition.
I've read a bit about it and, well, there's something wrong about it in my opinion.
I was going to write more, but I'm not wanting this to appear like a personal attack.

she didn't exercise much

Only healthy way to lose weight is cut down on intake and increase exercise.

ooobedoo

Can anybody tell me about any weight loss surgery they have had and how successful, ways I could cut costs if I was to go ahead, without compromising at all.

I don't want a debate on ethics or judgements, just info.

Many thanks

victory

There are loads of people on here including me watching thier weight or the dreaded word dieting:j it takes time, hard work, a huge amount of patience, willpower, dedication and determination, having said that though if I had £4,500 like Jade Goody had then....:D

tevangelynne

HI i had a tummy tuck , breast uplift and 5 areas of lipo in august done in turkey