When mum says 'walk next to her, not behind her...' she means it!!! ;)

World's Fastest Zip Line

Surgery...

I am excited and apprehensive... but the thought of not living with the shakes (looks like I have parkinsons sometimes!), and the back pain and the asthma wheezing at night mostly etc. is something I so look forward to. I feel much older than my years, which is rubbish.

I'm fed up!

So... onwards and upwards with surgery!

Inconvenient visitors ... what's your best story?

Our most inconvenient visitors were when a previous home was on the market and the estate agent decided to pop by with potential buyers without letting us know, at about 8am on a Sunday morning... this was our first lil pad in Wombleland, a one bed.. and as you walked through the front door you could literally see all the way into the bedroom... at both of us, sitting bolt upright in bed, shocked expressions on our faces.

'Oh, the office said they'd call ahead to let you know I was on the way' was his response. Hmmm...

The Wombles - Remember You're a Womble!

Why choose bariatric surgery?

I am not doing this for vanity, but for my health and quality/longevity of life. I am blessed with a husband who cares not what my size is... but would like to be married (his words) to me for many more decades to come, and at this rate, with the ever increasing weight, this doesn't seem likely.

I have never been under anaesthetic and am nervous as anything about that tbh, with my dodgy lungs. But feel it's the right (and only) thing for me at this stage in my life.

Grey Whale

Bariatric surgery

The meds I have been on for 13 years, although good for my asthma when I battle to breathe, have certain side effects. Panic attacks, slow healing of wounds (eg: the mosquito bites I got in Israel on my arms have left scars as my skin cannot heal properly), a weakened immune system etc. the worse being rapid weight gain.

And my body just isn't coping with it all anymore and I am looking at having surgery to aid me in my weight loss a lot more quickly, so my asthma can improve with the weight loss, and I can get off these vicious meds, with the aim to only using my inhalers every day.

I've been in a vicious circle for years... my asthma is bad, I need steroids, I have rapid weight gain, this exacerbates my asthma, which means I need even more steroids, which means I gain even more weight .. etc. I have tried on my own to lose the weight but have to practically starve myself as I don't eat that much anyhow, but need to eat even less to counteract the tablets.

I lost 32kgs by literally starving myself in 2006 (to counteract tablets) through Lighter Life, and after a bout of heavy steroid use over the next 18 months, that weight returned... I lost another 12 kgs in 2008, but after my hospital stay (severe asthma attack), that returned too. So I need medical intervention.

I approached the NHS and have been happy with their service thus far - they are thorough and want to ensure this is the right step for me.

I have seen 3 specialists so far at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in SW London, and see the surgeon on 2 June. He will see whether I need to see another 2 specialists (respiratory and anaethetist)/set a surgery date.

I will be in hospital 3-5 days, and need at least a week off work thereafter. The week I go back to work my hubby will take off work to help with basic lifting, carrying baby upstairs etc. as I cannot do heavy lifting for 6 weeks after surgery. As soon as the surgery date is set I'll chat with OFSTED to ask about hubby being a temp assistant.

Am equally scared and apprehensive, but excited. Being this large has lessened my quality of life considerably and I am not coping. Physically/mentally/emotionally.

Interesting, the bariatric nurse told me that 15% of obese people actually under eat... the absolute opposite to what people might think. Meds play a far bigger role than we realise with weight gain.

God Bless Africa (Nkosi Sikeleli Africa)- Children of Africa

Watershed concert at Kirstenbosch