Ever since I can remember I have been big, or been told I was overweight. One of my earliest memories is from when I was 4 being sat at the kitchen table with my parents and sister and brother, my mum telling my dad not to put any sugar in my cup of tea as I was now on a diet. At the time I didnt understand and I wanted to know why my brother and sister didnt have to go without sugar either. Little did I know that this was the start of what would go on throughout my growing up and teenage years.
Its strange when your told you cant have something, you want it all the more and you become expert at sneaking what your not suppost to have.
By the time I was at Senior School, I had been under the Doctor for weight loss, under the dietician at the hospital, who told mum it was puppy fat and I would grow out of it and had joined weight watchers with my mum taking me on a weekly basis.
By the time I left School, I had tried all kinds of diets, Slim a soup, slender, weightwatchers soups, tennuate dospan which the Dr prescribed me at 15, I later learned these were a form of amphetimine and were now banned. None of the above seemed to make my weight go up or down much although I have to say by the time I left school I weighed 14 stone and was a size 16.
By the time I was at Senior School, I had been under the Doctor for weight loss, under the dietician at the hospital, who told mum it was puppy fat and I would grow out of it and had joined weight watchers with my mum taking me on a weekly basis.
By the time I left School, I had tried all kinds of diets, Slim a soup, slender, weightwatchers soups, tennuate dospan which the Dr prescribed me at 15, I later learned these were a form of amphetimine and were now banned. None of the above seemed to make my weight go up or down much although I have to say by the time I left school I weighed 14 stone and was a size 16.
In todays society that wouldnt be classed as very big.
I left home at 16 after a huge argument with my dad, I moved in with my boyfriend and his mother, I later went on to marry him and was with him 20 years.
After I left home, I allowed myself everything I had never been allowed to have, like milk, cheese, chips things fried and not grilled, before I knew it I was 18 years old and a size 18. Once again I went down the weight watchers route and lost a couple of stone before I got married. I then settled in to a routine of work and comfort eating when I got home especially after I found out I was expecting at 20 I was 24 stone carrying my first child, the weight didnt go up or down during the next 2 pregnancies either I was 24 stone and made to feel humiliated by the midwifes putting 2 sets of bathroom scales together and adding up the total on both to get my weight right.
I left home at 16 after a huge argument with my dad, I moved in with my boyfriend and his mother, I later went on to marry him and was with him 20 years.
After I left home, I allowed myself everything I had never been allowed to have, like milk, cheese, chips things fried and not grilled, before I knew it I was 18 years old and a size 18. Once again I went down the weight watchers route and lost a couple of stone before I got married. I then settled in to a routine of work and comfort eating when I got home especially after I found out I was expecting at 20 I was 24 stone carrying my first child, the weight didnt go up or down during the next 2 pregnancies either I was 24 stone and made to feel humiliated by the midwifes putting 2 sets of bathroom scales together and adding up the total on both to get my weight right.
During the years of raising my children I tried at some time or other slimmers world, micro diets, slimfast, weight watchers again with no real loss.
By the time my children grew up I was 28 stone, I was put on xenical several times to try apart from really bad side effects of the runs if you ate anything greasy the weight still didnt come off. During the next few years I Divorced and had a pulmonary embolism and a dvt. After a short time in 1999 I met someone else and got married for all the wrong reasons, my mum developed breast cancer and wanted to see me settled and married again before she died.
Only she didnt die from the breast cancer she went on to get well and she lived until Jan 2011
By the time my children grew up I was 28 stone, I was put on xenical several times to try apart from really bad side effects of the runs if you ate anything greasy the weight still didnt come off. During the next few years I Divorced and had a pulmonary embolism and a dvt. After a short time in 1999 I met someone else and got married for all the wrong reasons, my mum developed breast cancer and wanted to see me settled and married again before she died.
Only she didnt die from the breast cancer she went on to get well and she lived until Jan 2011
At 40 I decided after developing gallstones, to go on a very low fat diet I allowed myself to have no more than 20grams of fat a day and I did this for a year, I joined a Gym and went two times a week, for the first time in a long time I was actually losing some weight and I managed to lose 6 stone getting down to 22 stone around this time. at 41 and 42 I had 2 more dvts and was off work for a while, my dad died and it hit me hard add to that the marriage I was in was a disaster with plenty of mental cruelty I found myself back in to a non diet routine. I divorced for the second time and plodded along with work and home, met the man of my dreams and moved 125 miles away to Cumbria and eventually got married to the love of my life in November 2006
I had stopped dieting and was happy with myself and my life before I had realised it my weight had gone back up to 30 stone this time and I was suffering badly with gallstones the doctors put a stent in after I got pancreatitis through a stray stone. My Consultant asked me if I had ever considered bariatric surgery in 2006, what is that I asked as I had never heard of it.
I was referred to a bariatric surgeon in North Tynside.
I was offered the chance of having my gallbladder out along with bariatric surgery which at that time I wasnt ready as I didnt understand what the operation entailed, along with that the mortality rate due to my dvts and pulmonary embolism went down from 1 in 200 to 1 in 50 this to me was very high risk and one I wasnt going to put myself through at that time as my husbands father had died several weeks earlier under anaesthetic and I could see the tears in his eyes as the Consultant asked him what he would do without his wife or what my children would do without their mother.
He told us to go home and think about what he had said and to come back in 2 months. By the time we came out of the hospital we drove home in virtual silence taking in what the Consultant had said it was an easy decision once my family knew the risks my mum cried when I told her I wasnt going to go through with it. After 3 more courses of xenical and various other diets
I had stopped dieting and was happy with myself and my life before I had realised it my weight had gone back up to 30 stone this time and I was suffering badly with gallstones the doctors put a stent in after I got pancreatitis through a stray stone. My Consultant asked me if I had ever considered bariatric surgery in 2006, what is that I asked as I had never heard of it.
I was referred to a bariatric surgeon in North Tynside.
I was offered the chance of having my gallbladder out along with bariatric surgery which at that time I wasnt ready as I didnt understand what the operation entailed, along with that the mortality rate due to my dvts and pulmonary embolism went down from 1 in 200 to 1 in 50 this to me was very high risk and one I wasnt going to put myself through at that time as my husbands father had died several weeks earlier under anaesthetic and I could see the tears in his eyes as the Consultant asked him what he would do without his wife or what my children would do without their mother.
He told us to go home and think about what he had said and to come back in 2 months. By the time we came out of the hospital we drove home in virtual silence taking in what the Consultant had said it was an easy decision once my family knew the risks my mum cried when I told her I wasnt going to go through with it. After 3 more courses of xenical and various other diets
Im 48 now, my mum died in January and once again, I have re evaluated my life, Im the biggest now that I have ever been, I am in pain with arthritis in my hips and spine the weight makes it even more difficult to move some days and exercise is difficult, I walk with a stick and it takes me a while to get from A to B.
My gall bladder is still in situ and still gives me lots of attacks and pain, they wont take it out until absolutely necessary and I found myself coming to the conclusion which is the higher risk 1 in 50 mortality or the risk of a heart attack the older I get!
With this in mind I visited my gp in Feb 2011 and asked him to refer me for bariatric surgery, I have thought long and hard about this decision and I now know I am more than ready and wished I had gone through with it the first time round, I have been under the dietician at the doctors since November 2010 only losing a couple of pound here and there nothing significant. I have got my first support group meeting on the 8th June and time cant come soon enough.
I am aware of the risks this time and also the advances made in surgery in the past 4 years. My Gp tells me they can take me off warfarin and put me on clexane injections in the weeks leading up to the op.
I have read up everything I can the past couple of years, sometimes think I read to much but this is now my time and one I am absolutely sure I want to go through with now.
This is the start of my weight loss surgery journey from the early days and hopefully through to my operation, my weight loss and beyond.
Thank you for taking the time to read this far.
My gall bladder is still in situ and still gives me lots of attacks and pain, they wont take it out until absolutely necessary and I found myself coming to the conclusion which is the higher risk 1 in 50 mortality or the risk of a heart attack the older I get!
With this in mind I visited my gp in Feb 2011 and asked him to refer me for bariatric surgery, I have thought long and hard about this decision and I now know I am more than ready and wished I had gone through with it the first time round, I have been under the dietician at the doctors since November 2010 only losing a couple of pound here and there nothing significant. I have got my first support group meeting on the 8th June and time cant come soon enough.
I am aware of the risks this time and also the advances made in surgery in the past 4 years. My Gp tells me they can take me off warfarin and put me on clexane injections in the weeks leading up to the op.
I have read up everything I can the past couple of years, sometimes think I read to much but this is now my time and one I am absolutely sure I want to go through with now.
This is the start of my weight loss surgery journey from the early days and hopefully through to my operation, my weight loss and beyond.
Thank you for taking the time to read this far.
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