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 note of which areas bother you and in what order, whether weight has changed and by roughly how much over what period, whether a further pregnancy is planned, any previous surgery in those areas, and the medication you take. Each of those changes the plan rather than the conversation around it.

What the consultation should establish

Which areas carry the complaint, and which of them are fat, skin or neither. Whether the areas are adjacent enough to be treated in one position on the table. How long the total operation would run, and what the anaesthetic assessment allows. What the recovery would take from your work and your household, and who would provide help in the first fortnight.

The questions worth asking

Which areas does this plan treat, and which does it leave out? Why are those areas paired rather than done separately? How long is the operation expected to run? What is planned for clot prevention? How many weeks of garments and restricted activity should I plan for, and what would make the smaller plan the honest answer for me? A surgeon 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. Ask for the plan in writing, read it against the guides on this site, and come back with questions. A proposal that expands each time you ask about it, or pressure to book before an anaesthetic assessment is complete, is information about the clinic rather than about your body.