woman has lapband removed so she can eat...

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,722]

: Obese mum has band fitted then taken out because she prefers being fat.

food addiction, and I’m still addicted to food today. With the band, I couldn’t get used to the small portions and hated not being able to eat what I liked.

“My band even slipped. The doctors offered to repair it, but I didn’t want to go through it all again so they removed it instead.

“Now, at 20 stone, I’m happy in myself. I’ve realised I’m meant to be this size.”

Teaching assistant Diane, from Newcastle upon Tyne, is one of a growing number of people who win approval for taxpayer-funded weight-loss surgery.

Last year the NHS spent an astonishing £85million in the war against obesity, and the number of gastric band operations has more than doubled in six years.

More people than ever are asking their GPs to approve gastric bands and gastric bypasses on the NHS. They are also asking for free follow-up plastic surgery to tidy up the resulting loose skin.

Diane, whose current body mass index of 50.8 makes her morbidly obese, had a gastric band inserted, four endoscopic examinations, emergency hospital visits, a procedure to loosen the gastric band and finally another major operation to remove it... all paid for by the taxpayer.

After.. 13½st and size 14. But she wasn’t happy

THE REALLIFE STORY AGENCY

In addition, she has seen NHS dieticians, psychologists and specialists at up to £100 a time, all approved by her local Primary Care Trust.

If Diane had paid for the treatment privately, it would have cost up to £8,000 to have her gastric band inserted.

The procedure to loosen the band would have cost another £300-£400, and the final surgery to remove it would have come to between £4,000 and £7,000. Her treatment has amounted to an expensive total of around £15,000.

But, according to Diane, she hasn’t wasted a penny of public money.

“I qualified for the band, and just because it didn’t work for me, it isn’t my fault,” she says. “It wasn’t a waste of money because it was the journey I had to go on to get to the healthy and happy size I am now.”

She insists nobody warned her exactly what life would be like with a gastric band. “When the band was put in, my world changed dramatically,” she says.

“I’d try eating my favourite foods, like bits of pizza or lasagne or even a spoonful of beef curry, and they’d come straight back up again. I couldn’t eat the amounts I wanted and when I did it would come straight back up. The surgery made me bulimic because I’d try eating the food I enjoyed and vomit.

“I’d had enough of it because I couldn’t eat what I loved. So to be happy again I had the band removed. I’m happy now. I’m meant to be a big person.”

Diane was always a chubby child, and by the time she had her daughter Stephanie in 1990, she weighed 14 stone and was a size 14-16. “I have always been a yo-yo dieter but after I had my daughter I battled to lose weight,” she says. “I tried every diet under the sun and nothing worked.

“Over the years I put on more and more weight. I was addicted to food. I’d eat a meal, I’d finish my daughter’s meal, I’d then eat six packets of crisps and a family bar of chocolate. Before I knew it, I had hit 23-and-a-half stone and I was wearing size 26-28 clothes.”

Before.. 23½st and a size 28. Her weight crept up despite diets

THE REALLIFE STORY AGENCY

Diane confesses she couldn’t stop herself eating. “Food was a comfort and made me happy,” she says. “I admit I made myself this big. At my largest I had arthritis in my knees and as part of my job I had to sit on small kids’ chairs and my size was getting in the way.” With the encourage- ment of Stephanie, 22, Diane asked her GP for help in 2009 and was referred for weight-loss surgery. With a BMI of well over 40, she met the basic requirements for an NHS-funded operation.

“My case was presented to the local PCT board, and after 14 months I was given the green light,” she says. “I was lucky as some people wait for three to five years for weight-loss surgery or other things, like back operations.”

Diane, who had her operation in November 2010, says: “I was excited about the prospect of a new slim me.”

In the first 10 days she lost a stone. “It was a massive shock and in six weeks I lost another three stone,” she says. “It was extremely difficult to adjust. You have to eat smaller amounts. Eat too much and you vomit.”

As Diane’s weight fell off, she revelled in the compliments she received.

But she struggled to control her portions and dreaded going out for dinner in case she’d eat too much and be sick. “Half a starter would fill me up,” she explains. “A sip of Water could make me rush to the loo. Sure, I was getting compliments and people told me I looked amazing. But inside I was feeling terrible. I expected to feel healthier and happier, but I didn’t.”

Then Diane started vomiting blood, and had the first of four endoscopies to find out what was going on.

“It got to the point where I wasn’t eating anything without a problem,” she says. “Finally an endoscopy revealed a tear in my stomach, so my consultant deflated the band in July 2012. I had lost 10 stone by then.

“Three months later the surgeons said they could repair the tear and re-inflate the band but I asked for it to be removed. I couldn’t face years of feeling miserable, years of being unable to eat properly.”

The band was taken out in October 2012, and since then Diane has gained seven stone. “I now know I was meant to be big,” she insists.

“I eat healthily and exercise. I’m finally happy at this weight. Yes, I enjoyed the compliments, but ultimately I wasn’t happy. People told me I had lost my sparkle.

“I know it seems a long process and I started at 23-and-a-half stone and am now back to 20 stone, but the band didn’t work for me.

“I haven’t wasted NHS money because the surgery could have worked, but I realise now I’m meant to be this size.

“I work hard and pay my taxes and I was approved by my GP, a consultant and PCT.” Stephanie meanwhile says she is immensely proud of Diane.

“I have supported her throughout the process,” she says. “It was terrible to see her being sick all the time. She looks so much happier now. This is the mum she is meant to be.”

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,722]

i love to eat also

but i love being healthy more..

this lady did not try to (mentally change)

this is what i feel and why i felt she failed the band.

she admitted she overate the wrong things...

you gotta want it for it to work.

[cody4040 5]

I agree this lady did not seek mental change. That is why I'm seeking a therapist before surgery

Sent from my iPad using LapBandTalk

[OnMyWay2Thin 45]

Thanks for sharing, that is a really interesting story. I'm struggling but trying to lose the weight! If I could get down to a 14, I would never want to gain it back. How foolish...

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,722]

she said she'd eat and the foods came back up.......from what i read/understand, that is maybe due to a band being too tight or taking too big of bites perhaps??

i mean you can eat what you want only in smaller amounts...but .....she made her decision

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

I'm sorry, I'm going to be really harsh...

....I'd like to smack the stupid out of this woman.

She says “i qualified for the band, and just because it didn’t work for me, it isn’t my fault" Ummm, yes it IS 100% her fault!! She apparently did everything wrong. But for her to blame the band for her ignorance is downright infuriating.

Oh and her saying she's "happy and healthy" now is complete crap. If she's happy being fat then great for her but it is far from "healthy" when your BMI is over 50. She is a ticking time bomb because of her obesity. And...knowing first hand how miserable life is at that size? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying the "happy" thing for a moment either. Just say'n.

I know the band doesn't work for everyone but this woman is the poster child for people who should never have any WLS to begin with.

[Baba Wawa 543]

This is why a supervised preop diet and psych evaluation are necessary. Her band worked, she lost 10 stone (14 lb = 1 stone) or 140 lb and blew up her band. In this case it's a real waste of British taxpayers money.

[Lose100 178]

She DID NOT want to change her old eating habits. Her band did not fail her, she didn't follow the rules of the band. She was not ready mentally. What a powerful addiction to food. How truly sad!!!!

[cindya 54]

Wow !!!! How sad that she didnt think of all this before she got banded. yes and you do want to knock the silly out of her.... It's a life change

[#MagicWithinme 173]

No one can "tell you what its going to be like", we get guigelines and good suggestions and directions from doctors, therapists, and nutritionists, and work with the new restrictions but ultimtely we are the ones that put the food in our mouths, apparently thats all she wanted to do...

[labwalker 1,177]

Too bad all that time, money and skill were wasted on her... and there are so many people who desperately want the surgery, but just can't afford it.

[Spaness2012 609]

As I was reading this, I wondered if she was properly informed on how the band works? Did she go to support meetings, meet with a nutritionist, etc. She really is the "poster child" on who shouldn't even bother with the surgery.

Although you really don't know the day to day life with a band, until you get one, I was completely aware of the basics......small portions, small bites, eating slowly, listening to your body, putting the work in to assist with weight loss, etc. But I guess I did my own due diligence on all of that info. I am always suprised on the very little info people get (or what they don't hear) when undergoing this surgery.

Having SURGERY for weight loss was a major big deal for me. One that I didn't embark on lightly. I was aware that it wasn't a cure...that I had to do the work and then I marinated on this lifestyle change. Could I do this mentally, could I commit to this, could I follow the rules they enacted? The answer was YES but I really had to soul search to make that a YES.

Thanks for sharing this article.

[gowalking 10,790]

After reading her story, how can society not consider food an addiction? All you have to do is substitute drugs or alcohol for her issues with eating and you have an addict same as an alcoholic or drug addict.

[krg75 33]

Im going to say this...People like this, (who have insurance or taxpayer money to get the band and then fail the band), are the reason that MY insurance company has a COMPLETE exclusion clause for ANY bariatric procedure. No matter your health or any other factors. I was total self pay. $10,000 out of my pocket. Because some people just take advantage of the system and dont even try. GRRRRR!!!

[Scorpio Girl 88]

Never should have qualified for WLS. Complete waste of time, money and other resources. Epic fail.