I had always been a curvy girl and as the years passed my weight and health got worse to the point that I could only walk long distances with the aid of a walker. My knees and lower back were in constant pain, I had seen specialists and all they would say to me was to lose weight, I had told them many times that I was unable to lose weight due to other medical conditions but they would not listen to me.

I even asked them to help me towards getting surgery for weight loss and they said they could not do that, my mental health was starting to get worse to the point that I was feeling I was not worth anything and what was the point of being here.

If it wasn’t for my partner, family and Patrick, I don’t think I would be here today!

I chose NEWLS by recommendation from my mum, over 20 years ago she had a Gastric Bypass and Patrick was her surgeon, she could not praise him enough, she felt comfortable and at ease when chatting with Patrick. To me, that is a great quality to have and that is what I like in a surgeon.

In the beginning, the biggest barrier for me was the cost of the surgery which I worked with the NEWLS team to find the best solution and past partners that were not supportive of my decision.

Post-surgery, listen to your body, it will tell you when it's full and what it likes and dislikes and just take it slow. I am 15 months post-surgery and there are foods that I still have not tried that I used to eat before surgery - it is a learning game!

The most important thing to me was to do it for yourself and have a good support network.