I had gastric banding in 2011 with another surgeon and that surgery worked well (I lost about 25 – 30kg) and sat comfortably at a fit 104kg until I got pregnant with my son. At that point something happened to my band and my relationship with food really deteriorated … sometimes I would be able to eat food and other times I couldn’t get anything down (or to stay down). The band was loosened to the point that it had no liquid left in it and it was still very restrictive, I decided that I couldn’t continue this relationship with food particularly with my son watching.

I wanted to have the band removed and bypass surgery at the same time. I knew people who had experience with Patrick, Merryl, Elaine and the team at NEWLS and the feedback had been really positive so I had my first appointment with Patrick.

My band revision gastric bypass surgery was completed in July 2022. I did have some complications early in the process and required an endoscopic dilation a few weeks after the initial surgery. Over this time the support from Patrick and the NEWLS team was amazing – they were available on the phone and once I decided to have the dilation I was booked in really quickly and it was completed and I haven’t looked back.

This surgery wasn’t a magic bullet, but it was definitely the tool that I needed to kickstart my weight loss and to assist me in continuing to lose weight and keep it off. Like everyone else, I have stalled and lost and found out the hard way that my body doesn’t love sugar like it used to.

Since my surgery, I have achieved the following:

• My park run time for 5km has reduced by 18 minutes and 11 seconds (still slow but getting faster)
• I run most days and total approximately 20 – 30 km per week
• I run 10 km regularly
• I have signed up to complete a half marathon in August (as a challenge)
• My resting heart rate has decreased by approximately 40 bpm
• I have lost almost 50kg and am continuing to lose (although it is much slower than initially)
• My son no longer thinks it's normal to be sick after food
• I am really happy

I knew people who had previous dealings with Patrick, Merryl, Elaine and the team at NEWLS. Their feedback was excellent. At my first meeting with Patrick, I really enjoyed how honest he was about what to expect and how straightforward he was. He has infinite knowledge about bariatric surgery and was happy to share all of this knowledge.

I didn’t want to have two surgeries, so this was a huge barrier for me. There was also a sense of failure with not being able to maintain weight loss with the band and I had to get over my pride.

Protein. Protein. Protein.

Listen to your body, your tolerance for some foods will change, this is not a bad thing but you do need to be able to know what your body needs when it needs it.

Supplement diet with exercise - it doesn’t always help with weight loss but it is an amazing way to experience the world again. 

Do it! But don’t expect a magic bullet - this requires commitment and is not a passive weight loss method.