Why choose us
Our tailored surgical weight loss processes have been shown to be consistently more effective than diet and exercise alone, and the effects can last for the rest of our patient’s life if the guidelines of the program are followed. Our program gives people power over the tyranny of food, and allows them to choose the life they want to live.
1. Whilst it is important to have a surgeon who has a lot of experience and few complications with your chosen procedure, it is imperative to feel both comfortable and listened to when you are discussing your needs and your lifestyle, and be able to have any questions you may have, answered honestly and confidently. You need to find a surgeon and a team that you can trust.
At Tailor Clinics, we have experienced and dedicated surgeons who have been performing bariatric surgery collectively for over 30 years. They have a strong interest in metabolic and bariatric surgery, with few complications amongst them. They have performed over 3500 bariatric surgery procedures, and utilise their skills to educate and teach other surgeons both around the country and in Australia. We are proud of the fact that our surgeons and their teams have a reputation that encourages patients from all over the country to come to us.
2. For most people this is a huge life-changing and challenging decision and it's vitally important to know what support you can expect from the team that will be working alongside of you! A team approach with specialised education and training plays a valuable role in your short and long-term success of improved health and well-being.
At Tailor Clinics, we pride ourselves on being one of the most comprehensive and supportive bariatric surgery centres in New Zealand. Our staff are recognised as some of the most caring, passionate, non-judgemental and empathetic people working in this area. We understand the difficulties our patient's face when deciding to undergo bariatric surgery, which is why we have a team of professionals that include the surgeon, bariatric nurse, nutritionist, dietitian, psychologist and exercise therapist to support you through your journey.
3. Recovery after bariatric surgery is different for everyone, but having realistic expectations about what you can achieve and having a supportive multidisciplinary team to help you achieve these is important. Regular follow-up and after care has been proven to be one of the most important factors in helping patients to lose more weight and be more successful in sustaining weight loss long-term.
At Tailor Clinics, we offer a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary program designed to maximise the both the weight loss success and improvement in quality of life for all of our patients. We offer a comprehensive two-year post-operative program that involves regular consultations with our team consisting of the surgeon, nurse, nutritionist/dietitian, psychologist and exercise therapist. This includes regular appointments at 4-6 weeks, 4, 8, 12, 18 and 24 months and then offered annually with our bariatric physician (in Hamilton as a fee for service). You may at times also require more frequent visits in addition to those routinely scheduled. These follow-up appointments may include prior blood tests and occasionally other studies/investigations in order to monitor and maintain your health. We encourage you to be seen regularly by your GP and other specialists as required for management of any medical conditions, such as diabetes, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure, or any other disease that may have resulted from your weight problem. Our package also involves attendance at our in-person residential retreat and subscription to our on-line retreat program.
4. Surgical packages vary greatly between practices in New Zealand, and it's important to know what you are paying for. Some offer the surgery only and all areas of follow-up are a fee for service afterwards, and others cover varying degrees of pre- and after-care from certain members of the multidisciplinary team. To be able to compare costs between different practices, we encourage you to ask as many questions as possible as to what the fees cover and what services these include.
During your bariatric surgery journey, you will experience a number of transformations, including the potentially scary phase after the honeymoon periods ends. It is important that you have access to supportive services that will help you through each stage.
At Tailor Clinics, our costs include a full two year comprehensive package of after-care/follow-up with ALL members of our team, access to our on-line Mind-Prep psychological program, attendance at our 4-day residential retreat, subscription to our on-line retreat program (PACE) and support resources such as owner's manuals, pre-op vitamins, newsletters, blog posts and access to patient activities/events and support groups. We will not leave you on your own through any of the stages of transformation and will continue to provide you with ongoing education, encouragement and support to help you achieve long-term success.
5. Bariatric surgery is considered to be the most effective treatment for unhealthy body weight in terms of long-term sustainable weight loss and improvements in obesity-related medical conditions, however success rates are often difficult to determine because of the differing measures. 'Weight loss' tends to be the most common measure, however we must not exclude improvement or resolution of those medical conditions caused by an excess of weight, nor the obvious positive changes in quality of life and patient satisfaction. All of these outcomes are influenced by the individual's motivation and willingness to make the ongoing lifestyle changes required.
‘Successful’ weight-loss however, is arbitrarily defined as weight-loss equal to or greater than 50 percent of excess body weight, and weight loss results can and will vary over the short and long-term periods. As many as 50 percent of patients may regain a small amount of weight (approximately 5 percent) two years or more following their surgery, however studies find that most bariatric surgery patients can maintain successful weight-loss long-term.
At Tailor Clinics, we recognise that our patients need to incorporate substantial lifestyle and behaviour changes along with their surgery to achieve long-term sustainable weight loss. To this point, we attempt to ensure that our surgery candidates are willing and able to make the necessary dietary and physical activity changes before we operate. We highlight the fact that surgery is a 'tool' and responsibility and accountability on behalf of the patient to change their habits is essential to long-term success. We also inform our patients that as weight regain is likely to occur (in differing amounts amongst individuals) it is important to maximise the initial weight loss, change unhelpful habits early, and ensure attendance at all follow-up appointments, as committed to prior to surgery.
As a team, we spend time with the patient assessing and addressing weight regain if/when it occurs, and we encourage our patients to identify those areas where we can help them make further changes. We encourage attendance at our residential retreat program to help support and incorporate structure in our patients' lives and teach tools and strategies for self-awareness, self-efficacy and self-care. We also subscribe all of our patients to our on-line retreat program to continue the support either pre- or post attendance at the in-person retreat.