Contact & consultation

Arranging an assessment

Outpatient appointments are booked through the hospital on the numbers below; international patients can ask for Michael Yu. Bring a written record of your weight over the past year if you have one, because how that weight has moved is part of the assessment. Bring a list of your medicines, including anything that affects bleeding, and any treatment you have already had on the abdomen, flanks or back.

What a good assessment includes

An examination of the abdomen with the skin lifted, and then of the flanks, the back, the hips and the buttocks, because the decision is about extent. A judgement about whether the abdomen protrudes because of loose skin, a separated muscle wall or fat behind the muscle. A clear statement about which operation — if either — matches what was found, and why. A discussion of the scar belongs in that first conversation, not at the end of the plan.

Asking about the plan

Ask how far round the scar will go and why, how long the first period of limited sitting and lying lasts, how long the garment is worn, how many review appointments the plan includes, whether it is staged, and what would make this operation the wrong one for you. A clinician who answers that last question specifically is assessing you rather than presenting to you.

Before you commit

No decision needs to be made at the first appointment. Take the plan away, read it against the guides on this site, and come back with questions. A discount that expires, or pressure to book before an assessment is complete, is information about the clinic rather than about your body.