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Testimonials: Trish's Story

I was originally banded in October 2006 in Belgium.  The experience wasn’t wholly wonderful nor was it completely awful.  I was naïve, stupid and really didn’t do enough research also I was possibly arrogant that nothing would go wrong for me.  Sadly things did go wrong in January 2007, I was unable to swallow my own saliva (this was for the second time too).  It was very, very scary.  My surgeon was based in Belgium and I’d gone from tight to mega-tight in a day or two, I was terrified I’d have to fly to Brussels to have an emergency de-fill.  I spent a day ringing all over the country trying to get someone to help me in the UK.  I tried numbers in Taunton, Glasgow, Manchester and London, amongst others, to no avail.  Everyone was either unable to help, out of contact or away.  I desperately asked for help on the website www.wlsinfo.org and a lovely ex-Exeter lady now based in Australia gave me emergency contact details of another lady based in Bristol called Sharon Bates. 

I called Sharon who immediately agreed to see me in Bristol as soon as I could get there.  The hour and a half drive took two hours, I had to stop twice on the way to ‘foam’ at the side of the motorway (nice!).  Anyway meeting Sharon was a breath of fresh air, no language barrier, no waffle, plain speaking and honesty plus she was based relatively locally to me.  After a de-fill and immediate relief I had to return at a later date for an x-ray and it was found my band had slipped.  I was given a complete de-fill in the hope that my band would right itself, sadly it didn’t and I decided to have my original band (a Heliogast) removed and a new, different make (Mid-band) put in. 

Fast forward to November 2007 and I’m at the Spire in Bristol and have had a new band put in place.  I hadn’t really thought my time in a Belgian hospital had been bad but the whole Bristol experience was soooo much better, the nurses, the care (pre, during and post operation) plus my recovery was quicker this time.  The most important things in my opinion are that I feel supported and confident with Sharon.  I can contact her by email and expect a response – no-nonsense, direct and often amusing – pretty darn quickly and can see her within a very short time if I need to.