The Patty project

On this day 8 years ago I took control of my life.

I checked into Norwest Private Hospital for gastric sleeve surgery and from that day onwards my life changed forever.

Since having the surgery I’ve met many others who have had the same procedure; I get so excited when people tell me they’re considering it or getting it done soon.

I get excited because with this surgery I was able to start loving myself again and I also regained some of the Patty that was lost.

Unless you’ve been there you’d never really understand what it’s like to be obese.

Unless you’ve had the surgery you’d never really understand what it feels like or what one goes through.

I’ve not met many people who openly discuss having had the surgery; I’ve actually met more people who are hiding it than people who openly share about it.

Each to their own but I do feel sad when hearing that some people don’t want to share their exciting news because they’re embarrassed, scared of being judged or don’t want people to think they’ve chosen the ‘easy’ way out.

There is no easy way; having weight loss surgery is not easy – it’s uncomfortable, can be painful and (for me) messed with my mental health repeatedly.

For 2 years now I’ve been considering surgery to remove excess skin from my abdomen and arms.

Last year I spoke to a couple of surgeons who both warned me that having any type of surgery around my abdomen could be risky due to the trauma my body went through when removing the bowel cancer in 2019.

Both surgeons advised that I should only ever consider surgery in my abdomen area if it were life saving and nothing more; they even went as far as saying that they’d be pretty certain that nobody would dare open me up.

My hope diminished; I was so upset and I fell into a depression.

As I age my skin and body are changing and my levels of discomfort are increasing.

I’d like to lose a further 10-15 kgs but won’t try doing so without the promise of surgery because if I do lose more weight then the saggy bits are going to droop lower and the discomfort will become greater.

Earlier this year I decided to start trying again and started making contact with other surgeons.

Last week I got a call back and I’m booked in to have a consultation with a surgeon in mid June.

My hope has returned; I am aware that I may get a knock back and I’m open to that.

What I desperately want is the opportunity to sit with a qualified and experienced person to provide me with information on what I can and cannot do when it comes to my physical health, wellbeing and appearance.

I’m not planning on accepting anything that may put me in danger or harms way but I do hope and want for answers, guidance and direction.

Self love, comfort and good health are vital.

Loving the skin I’m in and being comfortable is what I currently need and deserve.

8 years ago when I checked into the hospital I knew I’d wake up from the surgery and my life would be different but I never knew how so.

Today I am grateful that I went through with the choice of weight loss surgery and I look forward to the next chapter of my (lifelong) weight loss journey.

Here’s to my 8 year anniversary; the good times, the hard times that have taught me valuable lessons and the continuous journey of self-love, self-discovery and wanting to live my best life.