I swear to gob (yes, gob) that I have whiplash from all this back and forth! Week before last Friday, I called my surgeon's office. We were scheduled to go to Melbourne the following Monday to meet with the intensive care doctor (intensivist). He's the head of intensive care both at the public hospital and the private (if I'm understanding correctly). I called the surgeon's office to see if they had a date for my surgery yet so that I could give that info to the intensivist when I met with him. Not only did they not have a date (that was up to the hospital, they said), they let me know that I was going to have to make another trip to Melbourne for a pre-admission clinic for the public hospital, and that it was scheduled for just two weeks from our existing Melbourne trip Monday!. No way could hubby have gotten off work with that little notice, which would mean if we couldn't work something out I'd be flying down to Melbourne alone, staying in a hotel, taking taxis everywhere, etc. which would have really added up cost-wise. I immediately called the hospital to let them know my dilemma - they had another pre-admission clinic coming up the Monday I'd be there, but they said it was too late notice to get me in. They told me to ask the intensivist if I needed to attend it. So we drove 10 hours to Melbourne as planned and we met with the intensivist Monday.
Our meeting with him went well. In fact, it went so well that he thinks my risk factors were overstated and I'm not as high risk as Mr. Nottle originally thought. In fact, he thinks that for a VSG, someone with no high blood pressure or blood sugar issues or heart issues is low-risk (even considering my size). At least, that's what I understood him to say. So he thinks we should go back to doing it in the private hospital! And apparently he has volunteered to oversee my care there. Guess I made a good impression.
I called the surgeon's office again today, at the intensivist's behest. Basically, they gave me the choice. Get it done publicly, and I'll have to take another trip down to Melbourne alone for the pre-admission clinic, AND we can't be certain that the date they set will actually be our surgery date. It would be possible that we would fly to Melbourne, hubby would take his two weeks off, and we'd get there ready for surgery and a more urgent case would come in and we'd get bumped and have to be rescheduled. Hubby's job is about to be outsourced (he keeps it, but works for a different company) and getting time off is really complicated for him right now. Also, since I'm not as high-risk as they thought, it's possible they'd change my urgency category and have to wait years for my surgery. Also, I'm an immigrant, and a new one at that - one of the requirements for permanent residency is that you're not an undue burden on the Australian medical system. So... it feels safer in regards to immigration (and better ethically, honestly) to have it done privately (through our private insurance). This means we're $5k out of pocket, but well worth it for the certainty of the date and everything else, I guess.
So it looks like we're back to doing it privately! The surgeon's office is supposed to call me back in the next couple of days... here's hoping I FINALLY get a date when they call!
. But, @more2adore, from what @Elizabeth N. said on FB, Dawn's surgery wasn't a revision to a DS, it was a reversal (or partial reversal) of her DS, to deal with problems with malnutrition that she was having. All surgery has some risk, though, of course. But, the expertise of the surgeon and the medical team makes an enormous difference. You will be in very good hands with Mr Nottle.
