I have just got my first appointment through to see my chest surgeon- a dr Caddy in Sheffield. does anyone know what happens at that first appointment, and also has anyone had surgery done by this guy? im kinda exited and scared to death all at the same time

Congrats mate, hope it goes smoothly for you.

I had mine with a different surgeon, Mr Yelland, but at the first appointment he went through what would happen in surgery, asked if I had any questions, I had to sign consent forms, went through my medical history, he looked at my chest and then he sent me to the nurse for some blood tests and to get swabbed for mrsa.

Different surgeon but exactly the same for me, minus the consent forms. I signed those on the day of surgery.

Thank you both. does anyone know the timescale between that first appointment and the actual op?

For me the first date they gave me was 2 or 3 weeks afterwards but that may be because he was also a private surgeon, my gp is really lazy and hadn't completed the form to get funding from the PCT though so I had to wait longer.

For me I think it was about four months. It ended up that I was calling them every week to try and get a date out of them.

I had my surgery (with a different surgeon to yours though) 13weeks after my consultation. But I did call and call and hassle and hassle. The secretary on the phone literally recognized my voice by the end of it. She was very nice though.

Thank you- i wont pack my bags just yet then

Well ive had my first appointment and it went great. i was weighed, measured and had photos of my chest taken. was examined by Mr Caddy who then explained all the options to me and when he was sure i understood had me sign the consent form. He was great-very easy to talk to and explained things really well. Now i just have to wait for a letter with the date of my pre-op assesment and then they'll give me my surgery date but it could be as early as August

No he didnt but apparently hes been doing this for years-tho not always in this country. He stopped doing it for a while bt when the Leicester hospital stopped doing it last year he took it up again.

hey!
congratulations on ur surgery, hope everythings fine .
Im having surgary with Dr Caddy aswell sometime in next  winter/spring.
Couldnt find any info on him whatsoever a bit worried none seems to know him. how is he? are u satisfied with ur result?
thanks
e

Hiya Dr Caddy is great. He hasn't been doing this surgery for a while because it was being done at Leicester. When the guy at Leicester retired last year Dr Caddy was asked to take it up again which is probably why there's not a lot of info available. I found him great to talk to- he actually listens, he tells you exactly what his ideas are and listens to your input. Until tomorrow i've still got my dressings on but i should see what it all looks like then. As you can see from my avatar he even managed to save my tattoos which i'm really impressed with.

good to hear.is it painful after ? how long did u stay in hospital ? do u have a youtube ?  what type surgery he doe only double mascetomy? good luck

To be honest the most painful bit was the drains and that was only uncomfortable not painful. i ended up having to go into surgery a second time on the Thursday evening cos they weren't happy with the amount of blood i was losing into one of the drains. Because of that it was Sunday before i was allowed to go home-still with one drain in. That was taken out on the Tuesday by a district nurse. I'm now well and truly on the road to recovery- stitches have been taken out,  everything's healing well, i'm allowed to drive again. So all is good. When i had my first consult with him we discussed the surgical options but because of my size i was always going to be going for the double incision.