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Care

The Patient Journey

If you feel weightloss surgery is right for you, the whole process begins with an initial consultation with Dr Craig Taylor. You will need a referral from your GP. If you’re still not sure if you’re ready that’s perfectly OK. Why not come along to a free patient information evening and find out more about Gastric Banding, Gastric Sleeve and our Total Care program?

Initial stages

Following your initial appointment, a date for your surgery can be scheduled in as little as two weeks. During this time, you will be asked to:

  • Undertake 2 week dietary phase of Optifast, vegetables and salads so as to reduce your liver size and further improve the safety of your surgery.
  • Meet with a team dietitian to guide you through this phase and explain which foods you are also allowed to have (we will also provide you with clear dietary handouts).
  • Meet with our Psychologist prior to the procedures
  • Undergo routine blood tests.

All consultations are covered under your program fee.

Recovery phase

After surgery, we need to allow the stomach area to settle and the swelling to subside. This is achieved by having a gradual return to normal solid food:

  • In the first two weeks you will just be having high protein fluids and other beverages, but you will not usually be very hungry so this is quite easy to stick to.
  • In the third and fourth weeks you will be able to include mushy foods and purees as well as the swelling settles down further.
  • After this it is back to your everyday range of real foods, just in smaller amounts!
  • You will meet with Dr Craig Taylor and with one of our dietitians at the two week mark to check on how you are recovering and explain the recovery diet phase in more detail (colour hand-outs will again be provided to you).

Weight loss phase

Gastric Band

If you have had the Gastric Band, we will be seeing you again every 4 weeks to perform adjustments, have a chat about your progress, and check that everything is working well with your band. We will continue seeing you every 4 weeks until you reach your goal weight- this is usually takes around 18 months, although some patients reach their goal weight after 12 months, whilst others may take 24 months.

We like to see you losing between 0.5kg-1kg per week. There is no expiry on the number of monthly visits you can have under our program- we will continue to support you every month for as long as it takes for you reach your goal weight. This is the phase when most of your Gastric Band adjustments will be performed, and when our guidance, advice and support is most needed.

Gastric Sleeve

If you opted for the Gastric Sleeve, we only need to see you once every 3 months until your goal weight is reached. We usually combine these 3-monthly clinic visits with a dietitian consultation. Of course if there are any issues or concerns between scheduled visits you can have additional consultations at any time free of charge

Psychologist consultation

At around 6 months after your surgery (either Gastric Banding or Sleeve Gastrectomy) we will again offer you a consultation with one of our psychologists. Also, it’s a good time to check whether any harmful patterns are starting to creep back in, such as comfort eating, and if so help you with this.

In addition to these formal psychology consultations, we also offer regular support groups. These are held every fortnight in the evening, and are moderated by one of our dietitians. Everyone in our program is welcome to attend as many or as few as you desire. Research shows patients who attend support groups acheive greater weightloss.

Maintenance Phase

We still like to keep in touch, and want to see you at least once a year for an annual check-up.You are welcome to come in at any time though to see us if you have any concerns. Ongoing care is part of our program philosophy- you’ll never be charged additional fees to see us.

The Typical Patient Journey