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Testimonials: Catherine's Story

I was born on 7 August 1965, weighing in at a healthy 8lb 5oz - for the first 6 years of my life, I had no weight problems, although I was always 'big' as a child - tall - always looking older than I was.  My father was in the RAF and when I was 4 we moved to Singapore, never had any weight problems all the time we lived there, the weather was hot, the food was healthy, lots of lovely fresh fruit, and always running around in the sun and swimming in the pool everyday! But oh dear, in 1972 we returned to the UK just before my 7th birthday and from here on, the weight problems started! I was teased relentlessly by the boys at junior school for being 'fat' although I was probably just a little larger than the norm at this age! At the age of 11 I was sent to boarding school - this was where the real problems started!

I was very unhappy at being away from home and my mother, I constantly gorged on sweets and crisps from the tuck shop, at the end of every term my father would have to pay my excess 'bill' from the tuck shop! everyday I would eat several mars bars and bags of crisps, and then when I got to the boarding house every night I would stick my fingers down my throat to make myself sick! imagine Bulimic at the age of 11! this is something I didn't address until I met Andrew Johnson at the Spire Hospital in February/March 2008 I was indignant that I didn't have this problem, but he assured me I did!  So from the age of 11 this was the cycle of my life, binge eating and then throwing it up!!  31 yrs!!!.  When I was 18 I had my jaw wired to lose weight, this is possibly the worst thing I have ever done to lose the weight, I did lose, but not healthily, subsequently, I had to have it removed and the weight just piled back on and then some!

In 1987 I met and married my first husband - I was still big at this point, about 21 stone - I was always scared that I wouldn't get asked to get married because nobody would want me because I was fat, so the first person that asked, I agreed to it! hmmmm probably not the best decision of my life, it wasn't a happy marriage so I turned to food as a comfort, we ran a very successful pub in London, so it wasn't a problem for me to get my hands on anything and everything that I fancied! I would just order it in on the premise of putting it on the specials board for the customers! GREAT! finally I didn't have any guilt - it was there for the customers benefit - not for mine!! well this at least is what I continually told myself - my weight soared to nearly 30 stone! Then another problem hit us - I couldn't have children, IVF was discussed and we decided to go ahead with it, but I needed to lose some weight first.  I went to a hypnotherapist and started going swimming every morning, and lost 7 stone, sadly the IVF wasn't successful and my husband left.

I returned to Swindon and back to my Mother's house, I had had major surgery following the unsuccessful IVF and wasn't very mobile, once again the weight piled on and with everything that had gone on in my life with my marriage break up and not being able to have children, I had a nervous breakdown - this was a very bad time for me in every respect, food was my comfort - with help from my GP and people in the medical profession, I eventually got better but it took 3 years!

I went to University in September 1999 to do a degree in Nursing, I was still very large, but I managed, round about this time I started to think to myself about weight loss surgery, I had tried everything to lose the weight, jaws wired, Slimming World, Weight Watchers - lovingly known to me as Whale Watchers - hypnotherapy - but my weight just bounced up and down always ending up heavier than when I started! I went to my GP and he referred me to St James' Hospital in Leeds, this was for a Gastric Bypass, I went for my appointment but the waiting list was years!! my problem needed addressing straight away, but I agreed to go on the waiting list, during this time my mother kept telling me she was unhappy that I wanted this surgery as it was 'dangerous' and I could die! I did a little more research and discovered the Gastric Band, but the price of the surgery was way out of my pocket and there was no way the NHS were going to do it for me! so I just decided that I was going to be fat forever more!

In December 2005 I met my now husband - Noureddine.  Hmmmm here was my next problem, he was Moroccan and living in Morocco! how the hell was I going to get on a plane to go and see him, over the internet I did everything to dissuade him from wanting to see me! Didn't work, in June 2006 I boarded a plane with my friend Julie, bound for Marrakech! That was possibly the most awful time for me, I was crying to Julie that I couldn't get on the plane because I wouldn't fit in the seat and that the seat belt wouldn't do up, of course I was right on every count, the seat was too small and I had to ask for a seat belt extension, how embarrassing! everything about that week away was embarrassing for me, sitting by the pool, I looked like a whale, walking round Marrakech in the baking heat of 38-40 degrees, it was a nightmare, but meet Noureddine I did, and we got on really well; he wasn't bothered by my weight at all, infact he loved it!!

In December 2006 my Grandmother died, subsequently my mother became quite wealthy.  She said to me, now we have the money to have the Gastric Band fitted - Oh no I said, I can't do that, I was finally being faced with the prospect of changing my life, and I just couldn't do it, by now my relationship with Noureddine was well under way and I was travelling to Morocco on a very regular basis to see him, the thought of being ill through surgery and not being well enough to get to see him just put me right off the idea.

In January 2008, I was extremely fed up with my weight, I was having problems breathing, walking and just generally living, showering had become a nightmare as I couldn't reach the bits I needed to to wash properly and I was so depressed about it all - I was sitting at work and went onto the internet, I typed Weight Loss Surgery into GOOGLE and up came the Avon Obesity Service website - I looked at this website every day for a week before lifting the phone to call them - I spoke to Sally Johnson and asked the poor woman so many questions, I wanted to know, what would I be like after surgery, would I be off work for long (I don't do sick leave from work) how long after surgery could I fly etc etc etc, the questions were endless, but every answer Sally gave me was positive, I started to think that maybe this was something that I could do, and still see Noureddine who was now my Fiancé!  I came home and discussed it with Mum, who said she would still pay for it for me if I wanted to go ahead.  Then first thing the next morning I called Sally back and made an appointment for the following Saturday at the Spire Hospital for a consultation.  I had to go to my GP first though and get them to send a referral letter to The Spire, well my regular GP was on holiday so I saw another GP in the surgery, she made me feel awful, said to me "haven't we been here before?" I was so embarrassed that she would even think this of me, I felt a complete failure! I would like to say to that particular GP today - LOOK AT ME NOW!!!

Anyway ............. to cut this extremely long story short, I saw Andrew Johnson who agreed I was "more than ready" for surgery, followed by Lynn Sawyer the Dietician who explained everything to me about the nutritional side of having a band, and finally Sharon Bates, Sharon I would just like to say here, that I am so very very grateful to you for the unending support you have given me over the last year, I will be eternally thankful to you!

Having a band herself, Sharon was able to explain everything to me, what it would be like to live with and where my life would go from there and that I was a "Normal Fat Person!!" that was that, my mind was made up I was going to do this and make a success of it, I booked for the Gastroscopy with Justin Morgan, had that done, everything was normal, I was given the green light for surgery! hmmm there was just one thing I had to do first, I had to go to Morocco and explain to Noureddine what I was going to do, he wasn't that happy to begin with as he liked me "FAT" but I explained to him that it was for my health as I felt really unwell with my weight and I was suffering because of it, he accepted this and said "OK BABY!"

I arrived back from Morocco and called Sally to book the surgery, she told me it was booked for 4 June - that was only 3 weeks away! she told me that the week before I would have to live on yoghurt for the week - to shrink the liver to enable the surgeons to do their job! Oh lord, I wasn't a huge fan of yoghurt, but I did it and amazingly I lost a stone and 10lb that week before the surgery!

I arrived at The Spire at 7.30 in the morning, my mother and my friend came with me, I wasn't nervous really, I had mixed feelings, I was a little excited at the prospect of having a new life, and a little scared that it might hurt!  While I was sitting waiting, I met another large lady who was there with her daughter, I said to Mum, I wonder if that lady is having the same done as me! We got talking and yes, she was there to have her band fitted too! They called the other lady up first, and then it was my turn I was taken to my room, seen by Justin Morgan and the anaesthetist and told that I would be going down at 8.30, I was the first on the list, thank god I thought, I can get it over without having to wait!!

As Lynn has explained in her testimonial, her daughter came to see me as she was leaving, she told me where her Mum was.  The operation came and went really quickly, I was in recovery when I saw Lynn being wheeled out of the operating theatre - it was over for her too! I was a bit groggy and just remember the pain being very bad! Unbeknown to me, my Mum and friend were getting very worried up in my room as I had been gone for a long time, but I had had problems with my breathing as am Asthmatic and had had a bad chest when I came round from the anaesthetic - Noureddine called from Morocco to make sure I was OK, this kind of spurred me on to feel better.  I rallied round very quickly and the next morning, I unhooked my drip and walked down to see Lynn, I am glad I did, we became great mates and have walked every step the last year with each other! Like you Lynn, I would like to thank you, couldn't have done it without you!

I came home and went back to work after 4 days, so far so good, everything Sally had told me was true and things were healing up nicely! but oh, here is where the first disappointment set in, I wasn't losing weight, and wasn't due to have my first fill for 8 weeks because I was going back over to Morocco to see Noureddine.  Those 8 weeks passed very quickly, and I went for my fill, 2.5 mls, then the problems started again! it was September and I was out in Morocco, I couldn't swallow anything without it coming back up, my Mum called Sharon and explained what was happening, she told Mum that I needed to see a doctor as I needed fluids otherwise I would dehydrate! Noureddine called the local doctor who came to see me, he was very interested in the band as he knew all about the operation, it is done in Morocco, but he had never actually met anyone with a band, he agreed that I needed fluids and went away and came back with his colleague - another doctor, so here I was in a house in Morocco, miles away from Sharon and the medical team in Bristol, with 2 Moroccan doctors setting me up with a drip! they stayed in that house for 3 hours with me and put through 3 litres of fluid, I can't fault them they were fantastic, and came by the next day to make sure I was OK! It was all very surreal though, Noureddine had cooked for them and they were just sitting chatting and eating while dealing with me - NEVER IN ENGLAND I thought to myself!!!

I arrived back in the UK and called Sharon, she arranged for me to come down and have a Barium Swallow with Mike Darby and herself that evening, I arrived at The Spire and was quickly ushered into X-Ray, they had both arrived especially to do this for me as I was still having problems - the X-Ray showed that there was nothing going through my band, Sharon inflated it completely and then removed all the fluid, this seemed to clear it, I sat in reception and had a hot drink, which went down OK, but the next morning I had the same problems, nothing would go down! by this time I was starting to feel ill.  Sharon arranged for me to go into the GWH in Swindon under the care of a surgeon that had worked with the team in Southmead, Bristol.  I was then transferred to Southmead under NHS care - I finally felt relieved I was on a ward with people that knew what they were doing and knew how to look after me, I felt safe!

Here I remained for nearly 2 weeks, eating nothing, living on a drip and then steroids to reduce the swelling in my stomach - eventually I was discharged, and from here on everything was ok, although to this day my band remains very tight with only a 0.75ml fill !!

I don't regret having the band fitted, even though I have had the problems I have had, that is nothing in comparison to the way my life used to be, I am now just 3lb off having lost 11 stone in the last year and life is great! YES of course I still want to eat bread and butter, YES of course I still want that big steak, with chips and all the trimmings, YES I still want to eat all the time and go for curries and chinese and pizza and drink a can of coke or a pint of lager, but I can't and that is a good thing, so much has changed, I take no medication for ANYTHING anymore, I can shop in Marks and Spencers, NEXT and Monsoon and every high street shop now, didn't realise that you could only pay £5 for a bra or £4 for 5 pairs of knickers, and I have BONES, never realised that before either; my husband, after his reservations, loves the new me too!!!

Yesterday I arrived home from Morocco, and the flight was fantastic, I had a window seat, could sit with my legs crossed and had miles and miles of room in the seat belt, the table folds down with room to spare so I no longer have to balance my coffee on my boobs!!! WHAT A JOY!!! The biggest thing for me is the simple fact that nobody looks at me anymore as if I have horns growing out the top of my head!!! I am no longer a freak and can quite happily shower and wash all my bits with comfort!

I still have a way to go, and badly want the corrective surgery, I hate my arms and have much loose skin around my tummy and legs, and well, my boobs have just disappeared completely, I need some silicon!!!

It has been a really tough year, but I am happy - I religiously go to the support group every month with my Mother, she has been a great support to me over the year too, I couldn't have done it without her, she even takes all my moods that go with it when I have to deny myself the food, which was my best friend, that has died, I continually mourn for this best friend!!

I have met many great people and it is great to see other people's progress - I don't think I could have done it without the group, you realise you just aren't on your own and that your problems aren't unique! I would recommend that anyone contemplating having a band fitted, go to the support group, I wish I had known about it before I had my op, I would have found it immensely helpful.  There is so much more I could write, but I think I have bored you all enough now! my journey continues .....................................

Catherine x