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December 2010 |
We lost the weight of two Cheryls!
 As they squeezed themselves into the air-line seats husband and wife Alex and Patricia Bourne had never felt so humiliated. Trying to ignore the stares of other passengers, the overweight pair grappled with the specially-extended seatbelts usually reserved for pregnant women. Weighing 47 stone between them, the couple, has become used to people gawping.
“Public transport was a nightmare,” said Alex, 37. “On a packed train people would rather stand than sit next to the fat person. It got to the stage where our weight was an embarrassment.”Today, the couple from Eastleigh are almost unrecognizable. Since undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2008 Alex has lost over ten stone and, inspired by his success, Patricia went under the knife this summer and has already shed six stone.
Having struggled with their weight since childhood, the couple ballooned after meeting at university in 1993 and marrying eight years ago. “If one of us bought a doughnut as a treat, the other would have one as well,” says Alex who ripped the scales at 25st. “We became relaxed and didn’t worry so much about what we looked like. “I used to go into McDonalds and order a Big Mac meal with a burger or chicken nuggets on the side. On nights out, I could easily drink ten pints.” Walking even short distances left the couple breathless, they struggled to find clothes to fit and keeping up with their young son Ethan was impossible. What’s more, Alex’s size was having a dangerous effect on his health, causing high blood pressure, sleep apnoea (a frightening condition in which the airways are temporarily obstructed during sleep), high cholesterol and diabetes.
 “I would comes home from the doctors with a carrier bag full of medication,” he says. “I thought, if I don’t do something about this I’m going to die.” But the insulin Alex took for his diabetes only increased his appetite and he put on another five stone.
Meanwhile, at 22 stone and a size 28-30, 5ft 6in Patricia was also morbidly obese. “We did virtually no exercise,” says Alex, who relied on a breathing machine at night to keep his air-ways open. ‘We’d think nothing of getting a lift for one flight of stairs and when I went to watch a Saints game I would get bus over the Itchen Bridge because I couldn’t manage the walk.”
After years of failed diets, Alex was at the end of his tether until his doctor suggested NHS surgery. “I knew a major operation carried risks and it was difficult decision but I was desperate to get my life back.” In October 2008, Alex underwent gastric bypass surgery with weight loss specialists Streamline Surgical. His stomach was stapled to create a small pouch, which was then connected to the rest of his digestive system, dramatically reducing the amount of food he can eat.
“Now my portions are about the size of a typical kids’ meal,” he says. “If I eat any more I feel very uncomfortable and have to be sick. “I can’t eat pasta, Chinese take-aways, fish and chips or chocolate and I don’t miss them.” Almost immediately the weight began to fall off. “I was aware the surgery had given me a massive helping hand in losing the weight so I wanted to do every-thing else I could to make this work.
 “As soon as I recovered I started walking for six or seven miles a day, and took up cycling and swimming.” Alex, who now weighs a healthy 14 and a half stone, also set up an under-7s football team for his son and is now a qualified FA coach. “It’s fantastic to be able to run around with Ethan and his friends. I can make the length of the pitch without getting out of breathe, Before, I wouldn’t even had the confidence to put the sports kid on.” And Alex’s health problems have disappeared. He no longer suffers from diabetes, his blood pressure and cholesterol levels have returned to normal and he no longer need the breathing machine. He has come off his asthma medication and recently completed the South Run.
His transformation is so dramatic even his own son didn’t recognize the ‘fat man’ in an old family photo. “I’m a different person,” he says. “I feel confident. Strangers used to say things like ‘all right big guy’ and even my best friends used to call me ‘Big Al’. I’d laugh but deep down it did hurt.” In the last two years Alex has gone from a jean size 42 to 32, a shoe size 11 to nine and a half and his weeding ring had needed re-sizing three times. Motivated by his husband’s new lifestyle, Patricia shelled out £11,000 in July for her own gastric bypass operation. “I was morbidly obese and knew I had to do something about it.”, says Patricia 38, who didn’t qualify for NHS surgery. “Seeing Alex’s results inspired me to do same.” Patricia – who is already down to 16st and a dress size 22- says it will be well worth the cost. “Some people who are big are happy and comfortable with their size, which is great, but I’ve never been like that. It’s made me not a very confident person.
“After the op, it was hard to start with. I would feel full after a tiny pot of yoghurt. But I’m getting used to it and things have improved already. “The physical changes are the most obvious but for me the biggest change is emotionally. “People are saying how much better I look and that makes me feel so much happier and more confident.” Alex agrees: “This is the best thing we’ve ever done. I’m 37 now and I feel younger than I did in my 20s.”
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