I’ve been overweight for most of my life. I went to slimming groups when I was a teenager with my mum. I’ve tried them all. When I needed corrective surgery at the age of 15, doctors told me I was too young and too fat. I carried on trying all the usual methods, had gone to doctors, and got medication that didn’t help. When I was 20, my mum had a gastric band as we were a family of bigger people. I thought at the time I wouldn’t do this, but when I got to 22, I thought, I’m either going to do nothing and get fatter and fatter, or I’ll get surgery. I was a student nurse at the time, and I remember washing a patient, and my bum was so big! opened the curtains as I went around It was so embarrassing for me and for the patient, and I thought, ‘No, I have to do something. I was a size 24-26 at the age of 22, 20 stone, and I got to the point where I stopped weighing myself; I couldn’t bear to see it.
I went to the GP and was told I couldn’t get a gastric band, but being a forceful person, I knew it had to go to the primary care service. They agreed, and I got my gastric band fitted. This was 13 years ago and was a new thing. The surgeon wanted to do a bypass, but I refused because it was too final. So, I had the band; I was 19 stone going into surgery in May. I lost 9 stone in total, which took 18 months. There were complications; if late too fast, I was sick, but no other issues. My mum had lots more worse symptoms. It was great; I got down to 11 stone and a size 10. I got some plastic surgery done. When I was 29, I gave birth to my first baby without any complications; it was a wonderful experience. When my baby was 13 weeks old, my husband died very suddenly. He was only 31, and this started the spiral of me putting weight back on. During my time with my band, I received no psychological help or support at all. So, I went back to old ways. This continued until Covid. As a nurse, I found the situation appalling and had to resort to comfort eating. I went back up to 16 stones. The NHS wouldn’t help me. In March 2022, my mum noticed that I was in a bad way. I bought weight loss injections online; I was buying weird and wonderful coffees to try and lose weight, and my mental health was not good.
I think I suffer from body dysmorphia; I still see myself as that bigger person. My mum offered to pay for me to have private surgery in June 2022; in November of 2022, I had a mini gastric bypass done. I was 16 ½ stone, and I have gone down to 11 stone 5.
This time I got lots more psychological help; I got a dietitian who specialised in bariatric surgery, and we went through why you eat what you do.
It resonated with me. I think it was a genetic thing; my granddad had his stomach stapled in the 1980s. My mum had to have her gastric band removed due to complications. She can’t have weight loss surgery now, but she isn’t as big as she was. Comfort eating is a big thing. I am much more mindful of my children’s eating patterns and snacks. As I caught it young, I didn’t have any comorbidities. My friends told me that I took the easy route by undergoing bariatric surgery. Then I was told I was too skinny. With weight loss, it changes the friendship dynamics. I give back by running support groups on Obesity UK.