It’s given us a new lease of life

LOOKING back, Debra Brassell, 47, says she has always struggled with her weight. She was only nine when she had her first GP appointment to discuss her size.

Her husband, Dave, 44, was slimmer when young, but gradually put on weight until they both weighed about 20st.

The couple, who have a daughter, Rebecca, 26, were popular, outgoing and happy, but their weight problems were gradually wearing them down and affecting their health.

Debra said: “Being overweight was really taking a toll on me. I was often ill and suffered from sleep apnoea (when a person’s breathing stops for a short time while asleep).”

Both enjoyed jetting away on sunshine holidays, but both were increasingly uncomfortable crammed into airline seats.

On holiday in the Dominican Republic in May last year, Debra started thinking about weight loss surgery as a possible option.

She said: “We got talking to another holidaymaker who had recently had weight loss surgery and was very pleased with results. It set me off thinking.

“When we got home, I said to David that I’d been considering looking into having surgery, and he actually said he’s been thinking the same thing.”

In September last year, the couple, from Bishop Auckland, went to see their GP.

Debra was referred straight away to the new Bariatric Service, which deals with weight problems, while David was advised to try medication first.

THE first step for Debra was to attend an educational seminar about bariatric surgery at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

It was a chance to meet the bariatric unit team, receive information about what was involved in the surgery and the kinds of surgery, as well as the risks and benefits.

She said: “You really have to be committed to change – that’s one of the main things the team talked to me about. Before the surgery I had to lose 5kg and you meet with a dietician to discuss the lifestyle changes you have to be prepared to make after the surgery.

“David came along to support me at the seminar, but we both felt even more strongly after meeting the team and receiving all the information that surgery was the best option for both of us.

“I had a gastric bypass in November last year.

“In the lead-up to the procedure, I was a bag of nerves, but Mr Samier, the consultant and Sheryl, the nurse specialist, were extremely supportive and understanding.

“Since the operation I have lost 8st and feel fantastic. I have gone from a size 26 to a 14... it is the best thing I have ever done. I feel like I have a new lease of life, I am more positive about things, I’ve started doing exercise which I didn’t do before – going to the gym, swimming and circuits.”

She acknowledges it has been hard, but the reward is that she says she has a lot more energy and is enjoying life. She also says the surgery will probably increase her lifespan.

David is quietly ecstatic at the improvement in his quality of life. He said: “It’s the simple things like being able to bend down and fasten your shoelaces and not having an aching back when you walk anywhere.”

He jokes that when the two of them were really obese, he had to help his wife put her bra on. He said: “I must have been the only husband who spent more time putting his wife’s bra on, rather than taking it off.”

Unlike David, who told his boss that he was having surgery, Debra kept it quiet at work.

When she went back, she was touched at the response from colleagues and the amount of support she received.

She said: “I was particularly touched by my manager, who is a real man’s man. He came up to me and said, ‘I am so proud of what you have done’. I started crying.”

Bariatric surgeon Akeil Samier and colleague Andrew Gilliam perform all the keyhole bariatric procedures at Darlington, He said: “It is very pleasing to hear the success stories of our patients and to see the difference the surgery has made to the quality of their lives.

“There can be a misconception about weightloss surgery that it is the easy way out, but as David and Debra know, patients need to work hard to achieve the weight-loss results that they want, but it does works and it does provides a long-term solution.”

He said there were strict criteria for patients to meet before they can be considered for surgery. They need to have a body mass index (BMI) of more than 40, or more than 35 if they have other medical problems such as high blood pressure.

Mr Samier said: “These patients will have tried everything beforehand and will have failed with conservative methods, and they must be committed to the follow-up and to changing their lifestyle and eating habits after the operation, just as Debra and David were.”

With the North-East having the highest rate of hospital admissions for patient with obesity (40 per 100,000 people) Mr Samier said it made sense to provide more bariatric surgery.

He said: “Studies have shown that bariatric surgery pays for itself within three years because the patient’s health improves and they don’t need as much treatment.

“We wish Debra and David well for the future.”

Bariatric

• A gastric bypass: The most expensive procedure, costing £6,000 to £8,000. It involves using a stapler to divide the stomach in two. It creates a smaller stomach pouch, taking in less food to make the patient feel full.

Food bypasses the stomach and much of the intestine through a small intestine that has been re-routed and grafted onto the small stomach pouch.

• A gastric band: Costs from about £1,000. An inflatable band is placed around the stomach to divide it in two. Again, the effect is to create less space in the stomach.

• A gastric sleeve: It reduces the size of the stomach, reducing its size by about 75 per cent. It is not reversible.

• A gastric balloon: A soft, silicon balloon is inserted in the stomach and filled with sterile saline. It makes the patient feel less hungry, and feel fuller more quickly after small meals.