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Ellen

Ellen – Gastric Banding Surgery Success

Ellen, 62, New Zealand


Before	After

After years of looking after her family’s needs and neglecting her own, Ellen realised that she had become unhealthy and needed to assume responsibility for her increasing weight. After choosing to undergo the gastric banding surgery, Ellen shed 58kg. She now leads an active life and participates in endurance events. This is her story.

How long had you struggled with your weight and how has this affected you?

I had struggled with my weight since having five children. Trying to lose weight seemed like a never-ending battle. I felt unloved, unwanted, smelly, ugly, and often irritable.

Did you experience any obesity-related side effects?

I suffered from high blood pressure, asthma, chronic tiredness and snored badly.

How did the excess weight affect your self-esteem?

Being overweight put pressure on my bladder. I was incontinent and perspired badly. I felt very self-conscious. I had low self confidence and a very negative attitude.

How did being overweight affect your work and social life?

When I was overweight, I had no social life because I was always chronically tired. I spent my life sleeping on the couch.

In my professional role as a Customer Services Officer I was very negative and short-tempered towards my peers and the public whom I served. After losing weight however, I received letters of appreciation from staff and the public for my positive attitude.

What methods, other than the gastric banding procedure, have you tried to lose weight?

Before the gastric banding procedure I tried everything to lose weight, including diet and exercise. I would lose some weight but after a while I would put it all back on, plus some more.

What prompted you to consider undergoing the gastric banding procedure?

My doctor advised me to lose weight, otherwise it was unlikely that I would have been alive in 10 years. Initially, the warning went in one ear and out the other.

However, soon after my husband and I spent a weekend with friends and I noticed how he treated me with love and respect. It was then that I realised I wanted to live, and that the only person who didn’t like or respect myself, was me.

I returned to my doctor who strongly recommended the gastric banding procedure, to whom I am so grateful.

When did you undergo the gastric banding procedure and what was your weight before and after the procedure?

I underwent the gastric banding procedure in 1999 when I was 135kg. Since then I have lost 58kg and now weigh about 77kg now.

How is your health now?

My health is excellent! I no longer snore, suffer from incontinence or asthma, and I am no longer self-conscious about my body odour.

Now I am very active and too busy to be sleeping my life away!

How do you feel about yourself?

I have never felt so fit, well, and confident. Each year I feel better.

I am so grateful that I underwent the gastric banding procedure. This tool has provided me with many new opportunities.

I now go to the gym five times a week for body strengthening. I participate in marathons, duathlons triathlons and I even learnt to swim so that I could swim across Lake Taupo. I also have completed the Taupo Cycle 160km challenge seven times.

I consider investing in my health with the aid of the gastric banding surgery to be a life-time investment.

What is your advice to those who are struggling with obesity?

The gastric banding procedure has changed my life. However, I would recommend that if someone was considering undergoing the gastric banding procedure that they would need to be able to commit to life-long changes. It’s important that people realise that the gastric banding procedure is a tool and that you have to make the commitment to control what you eat.

The gastric banding surgery has worked for me and it can work for other people who are ready to make a life-long commitment towards a better lifestyle.

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