Personal story till surgery
I never really worried about my weight until after I had my first child 14 years ago, I did manage to loose the excess weight eventually but after my second child was born nine years later, being older found it a lot more difficult to loose the excess weight. I had got myself into a rut and kept telling myself even though I was overweight I was happy, but underneath felt sad and miserable, stopped going out, didn’t want to go shopping and never wanted my photograph taken. Where ever I went I was always looking to see if I was the fattest person in the room, usually I was!

Your diet experiences
I have tried many diets, counted points, red & green days, milkshakes; herbal remedies etc etc… but although initially I would loose some weight I would never keep it off. I always felt so hungry all the time on these diets, never knew when I had enough to eat. I wasn’t satisfied unless I could felt so full I could hardly move. I was your classic yo-yo dieter, loose some and put more back on and felt like a failure and thoroughly miserable with myself. I have wasted so much money on diets and gym memberships over the years and got to the point of just giving up.

What is your reason for surgery?
This was my final chance to actually actively do something, seen some holiday snaps and didn’t really recognise myself, there is history of diabetes in the family and my Grandmother is really suffering badly from all the complications of this terrible illness. This is not something I didn’t want to happen to me. I knew the surgery wouldn’t be a magic wand and wave all the fat away but I wanted to put a stop to the yo-yo dieting that I had been doing for years and try and repair the damage that this had done to my body.

Personal experiences in Belgium
Everything in Belgium was very efficient and well organised. I was quite apprehensive as I travelled alone as my husband had to stay home and look after the children. I had never had surgery before so really didn’t know what to expect, it was a very difficult time but it was worth it.

Results after 1 month – 3 month
The weight has been coming off very slowly but steadily and is heading in the right direction. It has meant eating healthy and doing lots of exercise to keep toned as well. After a month I have lost 13lbs in weight and after nearly two months have lost altogether 19lbs. I haven’t had my first fill yet and am very pleased with the results. I feel a lot healthier my blood sugar isn’t going up and down all the time and I am a lot fitter and I do not feel hungry!!!

Would you do it over again?
Yes, I would do it again, but I would try and take somebody with me as it was quite scary going through it alone in a foreign country. It is very reassuring to know that the weight is coming off slowly never to return again.