Gastric band ‘is worth every penny’

After being used by celebrities such as Fern Britton and Vanessa Feltz, gastric bands have regularly hit the headlines in recent years. However, it’s not only famous faces who are finding this a great way to achieve a healthy shape – many ordinary people are also reporting great success with this type of weight loss surgery.

Sandra Lovell, 46, is one woman who can’t speak highly enough of this type of treatment. After tipping the scales at 21 stone – and being told she could be dead within ten years - the mum-of-one decided that enough was enough and vowed to take decisive action.

“My weight slowly crept up in my late teens and three years ago I weighed 21 stone and was on medication for high blood pressure,” she recalled. Although she had “tried every diet going” nothing seemed to work, until she came across gastric band surgery in 2007 after a friend had one fitted. She had a gastric balloon put in place in 2008 and lost 11 stone within a year.

Speaking to the Sun, she said she now feels “fantastic” and reckons the £11,500 operation was worth every penny. Not only did losing the weight boost her confidence and vastly improve her health, it also saw her re-evaluate her life – including her failing marriage. In February 2010 she finally decided to split from her husband. Although she insists that the split was “nothing to do with the bypass”, she concedes that finalising her divorce while she sorted out cosmetic surgery to remove saggy skin “felt like the right thing to do to move on”.

She added: “I look and feel like a completely different woman. A couple of months after the divorce came through I met Danny, who is 35 and a security firm manager. We met after Facebook chats and it was love at first sight. He proposed just before Christmas and we're planning to get married this July.”

Although going under the knife to achieve weight loss is a big decision, it can have serious long term benefits. It works by putting a small pouch at the top of the stomach, which fills with food quickly and slows its move to the bottom of the stomach. Although tabloid headlines may suggest differently, for many patients, weight loss surgery is a last resort rather than a quick fix – and, as Sandra says, could seriously turn your life around.