Hi Princess Kath,,,just found this site,,thank goodness. Am alone here in Perth , Western Australia . Had lapband op on Aug 4th, Dr did 1st fill on Sept 13th and took 1/2 out next day,,all reasonable now..please please do you know of a Perth group? I do not see Dr again for 10 weeks,,is this normal or is it just the Public Health System? take care,,,Carol

Hi all from Austrailia......just thought I would drop a note to say Hi and that I think of you all lately since Steve Irwin passed away.. how is your country dealing? Please know that our prayers are with you. I was camping when I heard the news and was in shock. I would also like to have a pen pal from there so was wondering if any of you would like to write back and forth. I am 39 years old, married with 4 kids: 16, 14, 12, and 8. Life for me is soooo busy and I am finally taking time for me and my surgery date is Nov 7th. Yayyyyyy! I need to lose 130lbs. yikes its painful to write that but soon I will be on the losing side! Hugs to you all...Lori

Just a reminder that the meeting for September will be next Tuesday 26th September at the Premier street rooms at Kogarah. 7pm for 7.30pm. Dr. Talbot will be there. kath.

Hi Alison, I am from Adelaide and have been coming to OH for 2 1/2 years and only just noticed this board!!! I had a duodenal switch (BPD/DS) in Jan 05. This of course includes the sleeve gastrectomy. I have been very successful and am more than pleased with my outcome (50kgs lost and loss has been maintained). When I had my surgery no-one was really doing the sleeve gastrectomy without the intestine rearrangement as well, so this is pretty new - especially in Australia. I had to travel to Melbourne to have my surgery because there was noone in Adelaide doing anything other than lap-band and I knew for certain that I didn't want that!! Now I have found a surgeon in Adelaide who has only been here for a year or so who does the sleeve gastrectomy laproscopically, and who will do the intestine rearranging after 12 months if needed - seems to be a new way that surgeons are going. I must say that after 20 months, I can pretty well eat what I like in pretty impressive quantities too now, so I can see that for someone like me, the intestinal part of the surgery woiuld have been necessary. But for someone who continues to eat smaller quantities, having just the sleeve gastrectomy makes sense - especially as it wouldn't involve taking many vitamins (as I do) and malabsorption of essential nutrients. Anyway, I am waffling - I just really wanted to say 'HI'. LOL Where are you from?? Anne B

Hi, I had a tube gastrectomy 2 weeks ago and would love to compare notes with someone who has had the procedure, cheers Alison