Hannah Waller – Gastric Bypass – June 2008



I am a 22 year old girl,  who from the age of 13 has had a weight problem; I was a very active child, playing all matters of sports within school from Netball, Football and Hockey. When the novelty of being in the school teams wore off and the interest in boys took over the pounds piled on.

So from the age of 14 I have been on a diet, constantly worried about what I put in my mouth, and terrified that I would be judged for even being seen holding a bag of crisps, or ordering something other than a salad for lunch.

You become immediately aware that people are saying ‘God, she shouldn’t be eating that’ (mostly because I say it about other people myself).

I’ve never been a greedy person, always stopping when I felt full, never felt the need to ‘clear my plate’, I love fruit and veg, fish and white meat. So the weight I was gaining was a total mystery to me.

I joined a gym to do extra exercise to shift the weight, I also started Atkins and after a lot of hard work, many headaches and falling out with family (headaches and bad temper are both side effects of the Atkins program) I managed to lose 2 stone, I felt great! Confident and curvy.. but the Carbs found me and guess what, the weight pilled back on + an extra stone for good measure.

I then tried the Lemonade diet, promoted on the programme ‘race to size double zero’, myself and a friend thought it would be a quick fix to an ongoing problem, this lasted 4 hours…! I made the lemonade using freshly squeezed lemons, cayenne pepper and maple syrup (it was the worst thing I have ever tasted) I had two mouthfuls , gipped, looked at my friend (both thinking the same thing, what the hell were we doing)..then went to go get a jacket potato!
After 8 years of fad dieting, losing and gaining, losing and gaining.. I decided enough was enough.. I remember the day myself and my mum decided something had to be done.
I had been picked up by my mum to go shopping, we were stopping at the local pub to watch the 2nd half of a Man Utd game with my step dad, we pulled up in the car park, I could hear the roars of screaming fans in the pub and knew it would have been full of lads… I couldn’t face it, I broke down crying and said I would wait in the car for the game to end.

My mum and I talked for hours about the different options, I had already tried keeping a food diary, eating no carbs, fad dieting, exercising and nothing had worked. I was at an advantage that my mum was in the ‘Weight Loss’ business, starting WLS Group with Michelle Bowater. So I had all the information on tap.

I had heard so many stories about celebs having ‘The Band’ and being successful, however I wanted a procedure that was permanent, needed little maintenance and would change my whole outlook on food. We came to an agreement that the Gastric Bypass was the best option for me.

When I got the call from WLS to secure my operation date I felt a mixture of things, on the one hand I was nervous about the procedure, being someone who feints at the sight of a needle or the whiff of a hospital meal,  I wasn’t looking forward to it, but on the other hand I was finally going to be SKINNY!

The date came around so soon, before I knew it, it was time to start the ‘Pre Op Diet’, you should do this approximately 10 days prior to surgery to shrink the size of your liver. Many people choose a ‘Slim Fast’ or similar shake diet. I chose to cut out Carbs, low fat, high protein and absolutely no alcohol. And I can say hand on heart I didn’t cheat once.
I chose to go abroad for my surgery as I had heard many great things about Dr Dilliman’s and the idea of getting ‘away’ for a while was very appealing. My stay in Brugges was excellent, all hotel staff were very friendly and helpful, hospital staff were great and Dr Dillimans is a star.
Although the time after the operation was uncomfortable and at times painfull, the thought of how you are going to look in months got me through it, I had time after surgery in Brugge and spent many hours looking round the shops and planning what size 10 clothes to buy..living in dreamworld!

I am now 2 months on and have gone from 14.5 stone to 12.2, it is the best thing I have ever done and haven’t looked back once, I am now sorting through my wardrobe as I have dropped two dress sizes and cant wait until I get paid to buy some clothes that fit!.