Daughter paid for weight op

Rachel Ball is like any other woman - she loves a good shopping spree.

In fact, she has spent a fortune in recent months updating her wardrobe and she has thrown away more clothes than she cares to think about.

But it’s not just on a fashion whim. After almost 45 years of yo-yo dieting, ill-health and times of sheer desperation and despair Rachel, pictured, can finally enjoy it.

She has lost a massive eight stone and dropped 10 dress sizes in just over a year.

But this is no ordinary dieting success story.

Rachel’s new lease of life certainly didn’t come easy and wasn’t just a case of cutting back and balancing her diet. For this mother and grandmother to feel as good as she does today she underwent laparoscopic surgery to control her weight.

It wasn’t an easy decision to take but after she had to face the breakdown of her marriage she knew she had to do something drastic. Her confidence was non-existent and her quality of life was seriously suffering.

She felt so in need of the surgery her daughter Rebecca, a medical student at university, took out a loan to help her pay for the operation privately.

“I have always struggled with my weight, throughout my childhood and my young adult life,” said Rachel, who admits she always had a healthy appetite but felt that her problems were not as simple as just changing her diet.

“My family have always struggled with weight so I do believe there is more at play here than just diet and what you eat. But of course as you put on more weight your physical activity decreases and then you do eat more to feel some sense of comfort. It can become a vicious circle.

“I have tried every diet imaginable and yet I was still struggling and seemed unable to bring the weight down. I had reached rock-bottom because I couldn’t see a way out it.”

Rachel, from St Georges in Telford, weighed 20 stone and was wearing a size 22-24 when she felt most depressed about her situation.

“I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without pausing for breath,” she said.

“Everything took so long to do and I was constantly suffering from chest infections and all kinds of other things which made me realise that my health was seriously at risk from my weight. I am a mother and a grandmother and I love my family dearly. I wanted things to change.”

Rachel said she felt lucky in having a supportive GP, Dr Roger Henderson, who outlined all the options to her but also took away the feelings of guilt and shame she had harboured for so many years. Rachel has very few pictures from before her surgery because she hated looking at herself.

“People are made to feel so ashamed when they are overweight and that can only compound the problem. I finally felt that something constructive could be done.”

But that doesn’t mean the decision to have surgery was easy.

“I was very scared, terrified of the operation and even what the outcome would be. I had a band fitted but was warned that it was only a tool and not the total answer and that I would also have to maintain a certain lifestyle to help it work,” added Rachel.

“I understand completely that I already changed as soon as I knew I could have surgery. I had already lost three stone before my operation last May.”

Since then Rachel has lost another five stone and now only has just over a stone to go to reach her target weight of nine and a half stone.

She is now a size 12 and an avid shopper.

“I love it. I have bought so much over the last few months. It’s been wonderful just to enjoy wearing clothes,” added Rachel.

“I have thrown out all my bigger sizes as I have dropped through the sizes. But now there are times when I wish I had more photographs from before and I had kept my bigger sizes. I think sometimes it would be encouraging to see the difference.”

But the operation has also had other positive effects.

“My two daughters have seen the difference in me and they have also taken steps to lose weight and become fitter. It has made us a far happier family, which is one of the best outcomes.”

Rachel has also been instrumental in setting up BOSPA Shropshire, the local branch of the British Obesity Surgery Patient Association, which held its first official meeting last week.

About 20 people attended and another meeting is planned for April 11 at 6.30pm at the Princess Royal Hospital.

“I wanted to do this because I know what it’s like to be terrified of surgery but I also know what it’s like to come out the other side and how much of an improvement it can make in your life,” said Rachel.

“I do wish I had this kind of support when I was going through it and I know I might still need support in the future to maintain my new lifestyle. It’s an important group to have in Shropshire and certainly now that everyone is realising that obesity is an issue which needs to be tackled.”

For further information on BOSPA Shropshire contact Rachel on 07838 236427 or www.bospa.org