First Consultation
Your First Consultation
Your first consultation with one of our specialist doctors or surgeons is your first step towards a healthier life. It is an opportunity for you to learn how weight loss surgery works, what type of obesity treatment is right for you, and ask any questions you may have.
What is covered in your first consultation?
Your consultation is unique to your own personal circumstances, but there are always key themes that we cover during it:
Why people gain weight
Obesity is a complex condition, and the causes and contributors are also complex. Your doctor or surgeon will help you to understand the reasons why you are having problems with your weight.
Why weight loss treatments are important for some people
Your doctor or surgeon will explain why weight loss treatment would be important for you and what treatment options are suitable. While surgery is often seen as a ‘last resort’ for those living with obesity, the choice for surgery is usually a result of all the previous treatments the person has tried that have failed to do the job. Our aim is to help people maintain lifelong changes to their diet and keep the excess weight off for good.
How does weight loss surgery work
Leading on from why weight loss surgery is often the best option for those living with severe obesity, your doctor or surgeon will explain how it works as a tool to help a person achieve long-lasting, significant weight loss.
Post-bariatric surgery diet
Weight loss surgery is just one element of a person’s weight loss. Following weight loss surgery, it is crucial to adhere to a new diet and lifestyle in order to achieve lifelong weight loss and management.
Weight loss surgery options
Your doctor or surgeon will review and discuss the variety of weight loss surgery options that are available, for example, the difference between a gastric sleeve, gastric bypass and the gastric band, as well as some of the newer and more novel (but sometimes unproven) therapies.
How do we choose which surgery to offer
The type of surgery that your surgeon recommends really does depend a lot upon the individual. Your doctor or surgeon will explain the risks vs benefits of the different weight loss surgery types and how you should consider them in the context of your own life. The process of selecting a treatment is known as “shared decision making”, and involves input from the patient and their medical/surgical team.
The next steps
After you have had the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about weight loss surgery or the practice, your doctor or surgeon will explain the next steps that are needed to help you make the right decision.
A/Prof Michael Talbot has summarised what is discussed during the first consultation for us, and you can watch it in the video below.