My baby joy after gastric band op (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Hannah Waller's baby joy after gastric band op

8:35am Tuesday 1st December 2009 in Health Features By Sally Clifford

Hannah Waller’s tale is typical of anyone who has desperately tried and failed to slim, but the outcome of her weight loss journey is different to most.

Hannah was 22 when she underwent a gastric bypass procedure, making her one of the youngest in the UK. Seven months after dropping from a size 18 to a size ten, she discovered she was pregnant.

Suffering from polycystic ovaries, a condition which can cause conception and weight problems, Hannah was aware of the difficulty she could face becoming pregnant, but when she found out she was expecting a baby, she and her fiance, Robert, were delighted. Their daughter, Isabelle Daisy, was born nine weeks ago.

The couple met on a night out before Hannah had her operation. He was shy, she was bubbly and fun. They went on a few dates, but according to Hannah, it wasn’t serious to start with.

Then the night before she was due to fly off for her gastric bypass operation in Bruges, he expressed his feelings for her.

“When I’d told him what I was planning, he’d said, ‘I don’t understand why you are doing it’. But as I started telling him about my past, he was very understanding and supportive, and for a lad of 26 to be like that and not say ‘get to a gym’, it was refreshing. He has been absolutely brilliant,” says Hannah.

Hannah already had the support of her family, and she knew she was in safe hands. Her mum, Wendy Stubbs, is one of only a few specialised bariatric nurses in the UK.

Two years ago, Wendy, from Idle, and her business partner Michelle Bowater founded the Weight Loss Surgery Group providing essential patient services to people struggling with obesity. The company has ten clinics countrywide and a clinic room in Harley Street, London. It was through the group that Hannah underwent treatment.

But opting for surgery wasn’t an easy decision to make. “I’m frightened of hospitals and needles, so I had to go away and really think about it; how it would change my life,” says Hannah.

She knew she couldn’t go back to her old self, and when she considered the bullying she had endured about her weight, she didn’t want to.

“At primary school I was very sporty, but moving from primary to high school, the weight just piled on. I wasn’t as active,” she says.

Hannah says in the final year of high school she began to notice occasional remarks. “When I left high school and joined college, I didn’t mix very well,” she says.

Two months into her interior design course, Hannah left. “I found it hard to make friends there and I started work straight away.”

Working in recruitment, Hannah swiftly moved up the ladder. She is now an office manager. “When you are overweight, you go that extra mile to make friends. I was always a jolly person, but when my friends were all buying size ten clothes and I’m buying size 16, it hits you,” she says. “Then you think ‘how did I let it get this far?’ I’m only short – just under 5ft – and I was 21.”

Hannah’s turning point came when she couldn’t face going into the pub with her mum to collect her stepfather.

“I just sat in the back of the car and cried. I knew what people would be thinking. My mum said, ‘we need to do something about this.’ “It was one of those scenarios. I’d tried everything. I lost 2st on the Atkins diet, I did the cabbage soup diet, I joined a gym.”

But despite Hannah’s efforts, her weight was ballooning. “Surgery was the last option for me, but I never thought about it until my mum started the company,” she says.

Hannah began to lose weight while eating only protein on her pre-op diet. “A lot of people said to me, ‘if you can lose a stone in two weeks why can’t you do that?’, but anybody who has done diets will tell you it is very hard to stick to it. I felt I had tried everything and surgery was the last option,” says Hannah.

She admits she was nervous about the procedure, which involves placing a silicone band around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small pouch.

“But Mum would not have put me through it if there was any danger,” she says. “I had waves of excitement and being scared, because I was about to change completely, but when you start seeing the weight drop off, it’s worth it. I would do it all over again.”

After surgery, Hannah had fluids for two to three weeks, then a soft diet. She was able to eat textured foods, albeit smaller portions, within six to eight weeks after the operation. She also takes vitamins.

When she discovered she was pregnant she admits she was concerned about whether the surgery she’d had would affect her unborn child, but she was told it wouldn’t. Her nutrition and diet were monitored and she had regular blood tests and scans.

On September 1, her daughter was born, and now Hannah’s life is complete.

The 24-year-old is a great ambassador for her mum’s company. She hopes her own experience will inspire others.

“I’ve got a boyfriend who is crazy about me, I have a baby, and I am so much happier. I feel fit and healthy,” says Hannah.

Wendy says many of her patients have been inspired by Hannah. “I am proud she made that decision to trust me and our company to do this for her because it has given her her life back,” she says. For more information, call 0800 7879029, or visit wlsgroup.co.uk.