Karen

Gastric Band Surgery Patient

“I wish I had done this years ago”

Karen, 50, from Harrow, Middlesex, is a Streamline Surgical gastric band patient and decided that she needed to lose extra weight after suffering from breast cancer three times.

“I’ve struggled with weight issues all my life and unfortunately I was a child of the Seventies and so all my friends seemed to be skinny except me. Every seven years or so I’d do a crash diet and join diet clubs, but they never worked long-term and I always felt huge and body conscious. At my heaviest I was 16 stone and I would never go into a swimming pool without wrapping a towel around myself and sliding in. I never looked at myself in the mirror. I thought if I didn’t like looking at my body, then what did other people think?

“I’ve also had breast cancer three times in the last 10 years – the first time, I had a mastectomy, two years later I discovered a tumour on my other breast and then it went onto my lung. As much as they don’t say that my weight hasn’t given me breast cancer, it is an issue and I do believe it may have been a contributory factor as research shows that half of breast cancer cases happen in overweight women.

“Now after all my cancer treatment, I want to stay as healthy as I can. I’ve been clear for over four years and although I don’t know what the future holds, I have so much to live for. I realised I needed some help when I found myself struggling to help my 25-year-old daughter who suffers from muscular dystrophy.
It was getting harder for me to lift her out of bed and her wheelchair because of my weight. I needed to be strong to help her and I was often in pain and my heart would race. I could see there would more problems in the future.

“This year I turned 50 and I was determined it would be a fresh start for me. I did not want to go into my middle years with the terrible thought of this disease hanging over me and also worrying about my weight, I knew I had to do something about it. My dad died a few years ago after suffering from heart disease and diabetes which are both weight-related. I didn’t want the same problems as him and I knew they could be avoided. I felt it was now or never.

“But I knew it was a big decision. I read up on gastric bands and went on websites and forums and the name that kept coming up time and again as a great surgeon was Shaw Somers. He spoke to me in great detail about why I would want the surgery and we discussed everything and what a challenge a gastric band would be and all the risks and the benefits. I talked about it to my husband and between us we made the decision that I should have it and I had the surgery two months later. I had no complications and all I can say is that I wish I had done it years ago. I’m a new me.

“Any time I had any problems or worries, there was a number I could call and I was also encouraged to talk to the bariatric nurses at the hospital where I was having the surgery. The post-operative care has proved just as good. On the one occasion I needed by band slightly adjusted I saw Shaw Somers and he was fantastic. I have gradually lost over four stone - now I eat normally, but just smaller portion sizes. Before I just ate too much. But it's all too easy to cheat and once it's fitted, you must learn not to abuse it by eating the wrong things.

“My youngest daughter is a fitness instructor and has always encouraged me in my weight loss. Both my girls and my husband are thrilled that I feel and look so much better. But most importantly, they are happy that I’m healthier too. I'm still so excited about it and it has changed my life forever.”

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