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A woman who was left with a huge apron of excess skin after weight loss surgery has had three stone of it removed.Pauline Mole Gibbons became housebound when her weight reached 40 stone.
She says her weight spiralled out of control after years of depression and heartache over not being able to have children.
Pauline Mole Gibbons, 49, dropped from 40st to 18st after life-saving gastric bypass surgery
Mrs Mole Gibbons lost half of her body weight after the surgery and is still losing weight rapidly
She said: ‘The more depressed I got, the more I became convinced my salvation was in a packet of digestive biscuits with chocolate on top.’
‘I had no self-control over food. I couldn’t put the brakes on. It was like a rollercoaster which I couldn’t get off.’
Then, in February 2011, she had a gastric bypass which helped her drop to 18 stone and gave her ‘a new chance at life’
But after half her body weight she was left with folds of excess skin and a large swelling of hardened fluid that she worried might be cancerous.
She lived with the growth, which she nicknamed Fred, for more than a decade before finally having it removed at Spire Manchester Hospital in July 2013.
Mrs Mole Gibbons, 49, from Wigan, said: ‘Undergoing the gastric bypass with has given me a whole new life, a second chance at life. It feels amazing.
After her weight loss, Mrs Mole Gibbons was left with excess skin and a 2st lump of fluid on her stomach
Mrs Mole Gibbons (pictured before her weight loss) was so overweight she was housebound and had lost her independence. She also had Type 2 diabetes and sleep apnoea
‘Now I am free of the lump and excess skin at last it will be much easier to exercise, so I’m looking forward to losing even more weight and getting fitter and healthier.'
Now she is set to star in a television documentary – called My Baggy Body – which will follow her journey after bariatric surgery.
Mrs Mole Gibbons’ problems with food began when she was just nine-years-old and her brother was born.
She said: ‘Visitors would be coming to the house, cooing over the baby, and giving me a bag of sweets or a packet of biscuits to keep me happy. I think that’s where the problems started with food and it went on from there.’
As her size increased, she became a target for bullies at school and the more she was bullied, the more she turned to food for comfort.
Mrs Mole Gibbons (pictured since her weight loss) is now able to go out again and she is learning to drive and considering starting a new career
By the time Mrs Mole Gibbons married Stephen, now 59, at the age of 22 she weighed 18 stone.
Soon after they married, they were keen to start a family, and Mrs Mole Gibbons sought advice from a gynaecologist about her irregular periods.
Investigations revealed not only that she was suffering from polycystic ovaries – one of the leading causes of subfertility – but that there was also evidence of pre-cancerous cells in her cervix.
She had to undergo laser treatment to remove the cells and was told she would need to lose a significant amount of weight in order to qualify as suitable for IVF treatment.
‘There was no hesitation from me,’ Mrs Mole Gibbons said.
‘Whatever those doctors told me to do I would have done. In the end I managed to lose nine stone and, once I’d got the all-clear from the pre-cancerous cells, we were finally able to start fertility treatment.’
Heartbreakingly, each attempt failed, and the effect on Mrs Mole Gibbons was devastating.
‘It was totally crushing,’ she said. ‘Each time it failed, I felt like I was grieving another baby, another loss, something that might have been. It was awful.’
When Mr Gibbon’s daughter from a previous relationship announced she was pregnant with their granddaughter, the couple decided it was time to stop trying for a child of their own.
But the decision sent Mrs Mole Gibbons, from Wigan, Lancs, into a downward spiral of depression which radically impacted on both her emotional and physical health for more than a decade.
‘It was horrendous,’ she said. ‘I was getting more and more depressed about what was never going to be, and though I was pleased when friends and family got pregnant, the news was also like a knife sticking in me.
Mrs Mole Gibbons believes the gastric bypass saved her life and says she is very grateful to the surgeons
‘All those scenarios – opening presents on Christmas morning, getting them ready for their first day at school, watching them on sports day – constantly flashed through the mind, reminding me of what could have been.
Along with a sweet tooth which saw her overindulge in treats like chocolate, sweets, cakes and fizzy drinks, Mrs Mole Gibbons also sought comfort in fast food takeaways, crisps and chips.
As the weight piled on, she stopped going out and began to rely on her family to help with everyday tasks like cleaning, shopping and eventually even using the bathroom - all of which became a daily struggle.
She said: ‘Everything became an effort.
‘People were doing my shopping for me and asking “do you really need all that?” and I’d say yes, I want that chocolate, and I want a family bar of it which I am going to eat all to myself.
Mrs Mole Gibbons (pictured as a teenager with her brother) weighed 18st by the time she was 22. She says her weight problems started when she was just nine-years-old and her brother was born
As well as affecting her independence, the weight also seriously affected Mrs Mole Gibbons’ health. She was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and put on medication for high blood pressure.
A life-threatening scare when she suffered a pulmonary embolism – a blockage of the main artery to the lung - followed in 2006, when she admits: ‘I didn’t think I was going to make it’.
But it was another health scare which eventually led to her undergoing weight loss surgery.
She finally sought GP advice on the lump which had been developing in her stomach for several years.
‘I’d buried my head in the sand about it,’ she explained.
Mrs Mole Gibbons (pictured before her weight loss) said: 'The more depressed I got, the more I became convinced my salvation was in a packet of digestive biscuits with chocolate on top'
‘There was a history of cancer in my family and if that’s what I’d got, I didn’t want to know. That’s when I knew I’d hit my lowest point.’
Tests eventually revealed the lump wasn’t cancerous – rather a benign oedema, an accumulation of fluid which had hardened in her stomach.
Before it could be removed, Mrs Mole Gibbons needed to lose a significant amount of weight and it was at this point she was referred for bariatric surgery.
She said: ‘As soon as I was referred to Spire Weight Loss Surgery, it felt like someone was finally taking notice of me and trying to help me,’ she said.
‘I knew with that amount of weight to lose I would need help and that’s what I got.
Mrs Mole Gibbons (pictured with Kath Rothwell, a bariatric nurse) was unable to have a family because she has polycystic ovaries. This caused her to become depressed and to eat even more
‘I was nervous the night before, but when I came round from the surgery I sat there in the bed and thought “this is the start of a new life for me”.’
In the run up to the operation, Mrs Mole Gibbons managed to lose 5st 8lbs and within six weeks of it she had managed to shed a further 4st, thanks to an overhaul of her eating habits and patterns.
It meant when her twin nephews arrived three months premature in May 2011, she was no longer housebound, and was able to fulfil her role as a birth partner to her sister-in-law.
‘Before the bypass I never would have made it there,’ she said.
‘It was so exciting and such a special moment for me. I felt so pleased and privileged to be able to share it with them.’
Mrs Mole Gibbons (pictured with her nephews) said: 'The past and my old life are behind me now. I'm only looking to the future - things are so much brighter for me now'
Since then her incredible success has continued. She now weighs 18st and has dropped from a size 40 to a size 20.
She has also reclaimed everyday tasks like cleaning, washing and simply going outside for a walk.
‘The self-control I have now is unbelievable,’ she said. ‘I have a whole new way of thinking about eating and a totally different approach to food. I plan out and prepare my meals now – there’s no more ringing for a takeaway when I don’t want to cook.
‘Obviously the portions are much smaller, but I’ve also swapped the kind of things I am eating.
‘Instead of biscuits, cakes, chocolate and crisps washed down with fizzy pop, I have grapes, an apple or a banana for a snack.
‘Lunches are soups or a side salad, and a small portion of meat with vegetables and potatoes for dinner – whereas before it would have a big plate with home-made chips and a portion of stodgy pudding for dessert. My mind set has totally changed.’
Mrs Mole Gibbons has dropped from a size 40 to a size 20 and says she has completely revolutionised her diet and is now looking forward to taking up exercise
Now, following the removal of her lump and excess skin she is also looking forward to returning to swimming and taking part in other exercise in a bid to aid her weight loss and tone up her body.
She is also researching opportunities to return to education to re-train as a phlebotomist – someone who takes blood samples from patients for testing in laboratories – and is learning to drive, both things which would have been impossible before her weight loss.
She and her husband Stephen are also planning to renew their wedding vows this November, to celebrate their 25th anniversary.
She said: ‘The past and my old life are behind me now,’ she said. ‘I’m only looking to the future - things are so much brighter for me now.
I’m so grateful to Professor Basil Ammori and the staff at the hospital for saving my life.
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