More2Adore's Updates

So, good news! Talked to my surgeon's office today... so apparently my surgeon has decided to perform my surgery in a public hospital instead of a private one due to greater availability of better bariatric medical equipment and better resources. Apparently this means I will pay nothing out of pocket, which would be amazing. Generally the wait to have surgery through the public system is 3-5 years, which is why we were going to do it privately, but the office manager for my surgeon (who is pretty wonderful, btw) said they should HOPEFULLY be able to schedule me for just a couple of months out. Prof. Nottle will take my paperwork into the hospital after he returns from his holiday in mid-January, and they should be able to give me a definitive date then. I'm not sure how it's possible for them to get me in that quickly... maybe because of my size/health issues they can get me in faster, I don't know. Maybe @Parousia could explain better than I am if she sees this since she knows the system better, heh.
 
That is fantastic news, @more2adore! No idea how Nottle is managing to fit you in so quickly, though. I was told a year on the waiting list, and as it turned out, it was one year and 18 days from my first appointment with Nottle until my surgery (delayed because his operating schedule was thrown out due to him being ill). I wasn't complaining. The waiting lists in South Australia for WLS are 3 years long. The only thing that would have moved me up on the waiting list would have been if they put me in a more urgent category. I was category 3, which is the least urgent category. Do you know what category you have been listed as?
 
No, but my guess is that must be it. I must be a higher category due to my size and my ulcer issue. She did mention they want to try to get me in before another flare-up of my autoimmune condition (another ulcer).
 
Oh, and she said specifically the wait is typically 3-5 years through the public system these days in Vic. I don't know if it's blown up since you applied or what, but that just seems crazy.
 
Oh, and she said specifically the wait is typically 3-5 years through the public system these days in Vic. I don't know if it's blown up since you applied or what, but that just seems crazy.
As far as category is concerned, it makes sense then that you would be category 2. I think two, maybe three months at the outside, is considered appropriate for category 2 patients. I did try to see if they would upgrade (downgrade?) my category, but while I was in a great deal of pain and may have expected to keel over and die at any moment, Prof Nottle clearly didn't share my concern, lol!

I'm not terribly surprised about the longer waiting times now, tbh. Hospitals are a state responsibility, but the federal government has been subsidising them big time up until recently. But with all the " belt-tightening" going on in Canberra atm, they have pulled back on quite a bit of the hospital subsidies as of the last federal budget, I believe. I guess the state government hasn't been ready or able to make up the shortfall.

I am very happy for you that you don't have a 3-5 year wait. This is one time you might be just a little grateful for your co-morbidities, lol!
 
If Mr. Nottle didn't feel he could do it safely in a private hospital and the wait for public was 3-5 years, honestly, we'd probably have no choice but to get it done outside Australia. No way would I be willing or able to wait 3-5 years. That would pretty much totally cut out the possibility of us having children. We had to get funding for Mr. Nottle when we thought we were going to have to have it done privately... that funding is about what Ungson charges and I'd be a virgin DS, so that would be my next step. Glad we didn't have to go there, though! I'd much rather use Mr. Nottle here in Aus.

(And to you Americans, a lot of surgeons prefer "Mr." to "Dr." here. It's complicated. I'm not being disrespectful. :))
 
I'm afraid that if I had had to wait that long, I may well have ended up with an RNY :(. I'm Just very glad I didn't!

And yep: "Mr" is considered the appropriate form of address for a surgeon here. I know how strange it would sound to people here, so I end up alternating between various forms of address/reference for Mr Nottle, but your approach is a better one, I think - more consistent at least, lol!
 
So, seeing what happened to Dawn Henderson on OH is bringing up my only real worry about surgery. I'm 36... even if I stayed this fat, I MIGHT (might) live another 15-20 years at this size. I have no high blood pressure, no high cholesterol, no insulin resistance or indications of even the beginnings of heart disease. Obviously it would be only a matter of time, and being this size is no way to live life to the fullest, and my life wouldn't be long enough - thus why I'm doing something about it. And the VSG is a very safe procedure... and I'm a "virgin," not a revision... and I've got the best of the best surgeon in Australia. But there's a little voice in my head going "What if I die during surgery? What if I COULD have lived another 15 years... or even 5 more years... in love and happy with my husband and I took that away from myself... from him.. from us by gambling on surgery? What if everyone just shrugs and goes 'Well, she was super fat, what did you expect?' and never actually really looks to see if it was something preventable that killed me and shouldn't have, because I'm so fat, what kind of life could I have had anyway?"

I know it's ridiculous... but I can't be the only one who worried about this pre-surgery. Logically I know it's a MUCH bigger gamble NOT to have surgery. But that will be small comfort to my husband if he loses me and could have spent more time living with me and loving me.

Ugh, crying. Don't worry - I'm definitely NOT questioning whether surgery is right. I know it is. Just... a few words of empathy from someone who's felt this would be lovely.
 
So, seeing what happened to Dawn Henderson on OH is bringing up my only real worry about surgery. I'm 36... even if I stayed this fat, I MIGHT (might) live another 15-20 years at this size. I have no high blood pressure, no high cholesterol, no insulin resistance or indications of even the beginnings of heart disease. Obviously it would be only a matter of time, and being this size is no way to live life to the fullest, and my life wouldn't be long enough - thus why I'm doing something about it. And the VSG is a very safe procedure... and I'm a "virgin," not a revision... and I've got the best of the best surgeon in Australia. But there's a little voice in my head going "What if I die during surgery? What if I COULD have lived another 15 years... or even 5 more years... in love and happy with my husband and I took that away from myself... from him.. from us by gambling on surgery? What if everyone just shrugs and goes 'Well, she was super fat, what did you expect?' and never actually really looks to see if it was something preventable that killed me and shouldn't have, because I'm so fat, what kind of life could I have had anyway?"

I know it's ridiculous... but I can't be the only one who worried about this pre-surgery. Logically I know it's a MUCH bigger gamble NOT to have surgery. But that will be small comfort to my husband if he loses me and could have spent more time living with me and loving me.

Ugh, crying. Don't worry - I'm definitely NOT questioning whether surgery is right. I know it is. Just... a few words of empathy from someone who's felt this would be lovely.
Part of her issue may have been issues with vitamins. That is why we are SO insistent on lab work and taking the right types of vitamins.

I know she posted that she was dealing with malnutrition as a result of malabsorption but that is part of the DS! It's why it works.

I knew I was miserable and on the road to an early death without surgery.

Yes, I think it crosses everyone's mind.

So dry those tears and make a promise to yourself to be proactive and compliant.
 

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