Gastric Band Patient Story | Vita Clinics picture

Gay's Story

We’d been trying for a family for over six years without any sign of a pregnancy. Years of taking temperatures, people asking how it’s going and that nagging, stomach-churning feeling that you may never have a child.

Like so many other women, my need to have a child was overwhelming and I was determined to give myself the best possible chance of living my dream. I knew that conception, whether natural or IVF, would have a far better chance if I was a healthy weight – and if I was lucky enough to have a child there was no way I was going to be the ‘plumpy’ mummy at the school gate.

But coming from a family with a history of obesity, heart disease and diabetes I knew that losing weight and keeping healthy was going to be one of my life’s greatest challenges. I could see that I was following the family pattern and I wanted to do something about it. With every pound I gained, lost, and gained back again, my self-esteem and confidence fell away.

For what felt like most of my life, I had tried almost every new diet that came onto the market. I bought diets in packets, attended diet clubs, signed up for supervised commercial diets and bought and followed the low carbohydrate diet books. Each one worked for a while and I lost over four stone – but it all came back again, with interest.

So I decided to seek professional medical advice and with the support of my consultant I eventually decided to have a gastric band fitted. The decision wasn’t easy as there are aspects of having a gastric band that need careful consideration before going ahead. I wanted to be sure that the benefits far outweighed the risks. My consultant took time and trouble to help me choose the right solution for my condition. I made the right decision, without doubt. Although I have experienced some minor difficulties, they fade away as soon as I look at my little daughter and my own healthier body.

It’s important to be fully aware of what it’s like to live with a gastric band. Everything was explained to me about living with a gastric band before I went ahead; such as needing to chew my food a lot more and understanding that weight loss would be steady and gradual rather than overnight. So after I had the operation I knew what to expect.

But what I hadn’t expected to happen quite so quickly was to give birth to a healthy little girl after just one course of IVF.

As far as managing my weight and eating goes, I can eat more or less anything (within reason of course) and I don’t get that hunger any more, where I could eat anything in site. No more urges to empty the fridge or consume entire tubes of Pringles. And because the weight has dropped off gradually I haven’t got too much loose skin.

As a person, I feel so much better about myself and my confidence is restored. My risk of suffering from heart disease or diabetes has been significantly reduced too, which means I can see my daughter grow up and hopefully see her with children of her own.

And most important of all, I have the bundles of energy I need to keep up with my daughter. So I’m not the out-of-breath ‘plumpy’ mum at the school gates but the mum running around the park playing with her little girl.



 

This site has been optimised for Internet Explorer 7 Web design by HTDL