Slip

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So, I went to get my band unfilled a bit because I couldn't eat anything and it was just horrible. The doctor (whom I intensely dislike) took me down for what he told me was a Barrium swallow and then told me I had a 'very severe slippage'. He then put the needle in the empty my band, but he didn't give me any local the way the other doctor used to and he had difficulty finding it. So he kept pushing it around and it hurt so much I started crying, it was just horrible. It's been two days and my stomach is still sore from it.

He told me that I would need private health cover because even though my operation and band replacement was free, the hospital stay could be very expensive. My mother used to work in a private hospital and thought this sounded strange as they are only about $400 a night.

My mother called the SIOS clinic and they told her that I would actually have to pay for the whole thing. The new band (that apparently is better than my old band), the surgery, the anaesthetic etc etc all over again which would cost me about $8000 dollars.

My parents had mortgaged their house to come up with the $15000 for the surgery so my dad was not happy to hear about it. He called Dr Layani who is the French doctor who did my surgery in Sydney, he now just works in Queensland. The doctor was shocked that they were talking about cost as it is not the way they do things in his surgery.

So in he end, it may be cheaper for me to fly to Queensland to get the surgery than to drive 30 minutes around the corner . . .

Anyway, after my dad called them threatening legal action (he was very mad), Dr Layani's surgery called the SIOS and I had to go back to see a new doctor. This new doctor now tells me that I may not actually have a slippage as what I had before to determine this was not a proper swallow . . . he also said that he meant no offense to the doctor who had performed it but, 'he's not a surgeon'. I will now be dealing directly with this new Dr Taylor who used to work with Dr Layani . . . I'm very cautious with him, but I suppose we'll see how it all goes . . .

i hope you find a new doctor that you like. i could not go to a doctor that made me nervous or uncomfortable. i have to feel safe with a doctor before i let him work on me. so.... i wish you luck . maybe you need a second opinion anyway. hope you feel better.