Money Running Out For Gastric Bypass

[James @ Intus]

According to the Oxford mail, the Oxford PCT is low on cash to fund gastric bypass:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/8387241._Don_t_patronise_the_overweight__says_Leys_man/

This man fits the criteria but can't have his op.

Interesting story about losing weight, diabetes, OSA and wanting to sort it all out in one fell swoop.

[Aracas]

I heard about this, seems all over the country a similar thing will happen. At the end of the day though this guy has paid his taxes so why shouldn't he have the op?

[Tigers Fan]

Self-financed bariatric surgery

Streamline were too busy to answer the phone but a very amiable Donna at BMI Healthcare gave me some numbers (including my weight in stones. Arghhhhhh!).

£50 up front for assessment and consultation. Surgeon decides which procedure would best suit you.

Gastric Band is a snip at only £6850. Gastric By-pass is a tad more costly at a value for money, priced to sell £10, 950. Both have a year's warranty/follow-up. Financing deals available, based on 9.9% interest.

So my choice is between new car, bariatric surgery and/or diet!

TF

[ElleCee]

To me there would be no decision, you can't drive a new car if you are dead.

L

[Tigers Fan]

Right - don't bother pulling your punches, Lorraine!!

That just weighed very heavily on the "I'm worth it!" side of the debate!

TF

[ElleCee]

TF,
Of course you are worth it !
I'd smack anyone on the nose that said you weren't.

L

[Tigers Fan]

My Heroine!

There have been a couple or three on this forum you might sort out for me if they show up again - and as for the old lady down the road - she terrifies me! I've never seen a fiercer twitch of net curtain!

My saviour! The Person In Pink! The Pink Fury! Justice By Pink!

I think I like it when you are angry!

TF

[Berneta]

Arghhh?

Is that an English word? LOL. Well just going to throw my 2 cents into this conversation. If I had to choose between Lap Band, Bariatric Surgery, Diet or a New Car--I can tell you I went for the New Car and Diet. I got a cute little Green Tarus and a new Diet. I have lost 20 lbs (Don't have a clue what a stone weighs--we have stones as big as mountains over here) in the last two months. Still have a long way to go--but I have a new car for an incentive. I also know that you can't drive a car if you are dead--but people do die from Stomach Surgery all the time. Others wish they never had it. I have 3 friends who wish they had chosen the new car and diet. Rick had the lap band and can't eat more than a shot glass full of food without throwing up. He and his wife no longer enjoy dinner out--because he ends up sick and she feels guilty eating in front of him. He is sick all the time. Velva had the Bariatric Surgery--she lost weight, but her stomach rutured, and she had to have a second more extensive operation-- and now she is sick all the time. Food goes right through her-- so she goes nowhere that there isn't a restroom nearby. Sue had a lap band and lost weight--but she was starving all the time, and carried a bag of snacks around eating constantly, and has put all the weight all back on. What we have in our heads-- is as much responsible for our weight-- as what we have in our stomachs. I don't know about anyone else --but TF, I think you are smart enough to handle a diet and a new car! LOL Arghhhh--great word, Berneta

[Tigers Fan]

Seems not!

Hi Berneta

As I gave up all my adictions/dependencies - well, there's the rub - I thought I was giving them up. In fact, what I think I have done is transfer them.

Food! Gloroius food! I think I know the addicted items because they are not only the ones I crave, but are, without exception, the most expensive ones I have been able to find. In other words, I hunt them, I seek them out. I just binge on cheaper products, never getting my fix.

Maybe I should go back to sex, alcohol and cigarettes - they seem more socially acceptable than being fat, after all!

TF

[ElleCee]

my 3d worth

Well I suppose there is money in the NHS pot for treating syphilis, cancer and cirrhosis of the liver
Which do you fancy TF?
Glad I am not one of Berneta's friends and had the sence to choose my surgeon carefully and understand that a bypass is not a fix, it is a tool to be used wisely.
Lorraine

[acebass]

Is that an English word? LOL. I have lost 20 lbs (Don't have a clue what a stone weighs--we have stones as big as mountains over here)

A stone is 14 pounds (lbs)

[Berneta]

Not a fix for sure

Hi you two--I agree that the surgery is tool to be used wisely. But unfortunately, not everyone is wise, and can give up the things they love-- and that can cause complications. I don't think giving up sex is a great idea, as it is a normal part of life provided you practice SAFE sex. Alcohol in moderation is ok too--if you can handle it. Some people can't. People will always have cravings for this or that--and that includes foods. Expensive or not. Its ok to crave something that you like--you just have to set limits. Sometimes cravings are the result of something that your body or spirit needs, but isn't getting. Like a Vitamin or mineral or love. I just think that surgery is not the answer to the weight problem for everyone. Each of us should consider all the options before we do something drastic that we might be sorry for later. For those who choose surgery and don't have any complications--thats great. But it may not be the right thing for everyone. Very careful consideration is needed. Berneta

[Berneta]

Stones

Thanks Peter,
sometimes I just don't understand how the English language can be so different. Some words I understand, and some not at all. My family came from England in 1698. Three Ryland brothers (John, Fredus, and Paul) set sail for America-- and each took up life in different places. John Ryland chose West Virginia in the south and he is the one I am descended from. Paul chose Vermont in the North, and Fredus chose Maryland in the south, From those places the Rylands spread out all across America. I was told once that there is a Ryland Family Museum on Chelsea St in London. Would love to visit there someday- would love to visit even if it isn't still there. Thanks for the language help! Berneta

[Tigers Fan]

Addictive

I was suggesting going back to the addictive behaviours around sex, alcohol and cigarettes - hm! well, I don't drink or smoke at all anymore, haven't for years and years and my interest in sex is ever diminishing as the years go by - so maybe it was a nonsense statement, anyway.

Lorraine and Puffin have had great success with bariatric surgery while Berneta and my neice, a nurse, consider it a last ditch resort. The joys of a balanced view afforded by the forum - even if it leaves me to make up my own mind (when I'd very much like to be handed a solution that works without effort on my part)!

TF

[Berneta]

What to do?

Hi TF--I am happy you quit the cigs, and I know that is very hard to do. In the end we all have to decide for ourselves what to do about weight and exercise. Nobody will wave a magic wand and make everything ok. At least I don't think that I have a Fairy Godmother. And you don't sound like a Cinderella to me either. LOL I don't think that diets work--oh they make work for awhile-- but when you go off them the weight comes back. And surgery is just a "forced diet"--people who have that can't eat much or they get sick. Why don't you try to change your eating habits? Eat what you crave in limited amounts and eat foods that are good for you the rest of the time. Also some diets are dangerous for some people. A Meat diet is bad for people who have bowel conditions--and can cause severe bleeding. Anyone going on the Atkins type diet should see a DR first. Check out different diets, and see if there is one that you think you could get on with. I am trying a Modified Mediterranean Type Diet-- and its working for me. But then I don't eat much red meat, so its easy for me to give that up. I have changed the diet to what I think I can live with, and am losing about a stone a month. Slow yes--but losing. I too have cravings. Fried Chicken and Pizza---I limit those to once a month. The hardest thing for me is changing to de-cafe coffee and herbal teas. I decided I was a nervous wreck drinking the real stuff. LOL. I bet if you put your mind to it you will find something that works for you. But just in case you find a magic wand somewhere--let me know. There are a lot of things I would like to change! Berneta