l HAVE you ever asked anyone if your bum looks big in a particular outfit? How would you feel if your bum, and the rest of your body, looked big in everything? SARA PEPPER has suffered from obesity throughout her life and made the daring choice of choosing weight loss surgery. Here she tells her story EVEN as a child I was chubby.

My difficulties buying clothes to fit started when I was at school. I used to get really upset when I couldn’t get the trendy clothes that all my friends were wearing. Even in primary school I remember being able to fit into my mum's clothes because I was that big. Friends used to tell my parents not to worry as it was just “puppy fat”or that I was just “big boned”.

I grew up in Wales, but I wasn’t fed food that was home baked and full of sugar and fat. It’s true that I used to love my food, but I would much rather help my dad cook a Spanish omelette or bolognese on a Saturday night than stuff my face with junk food.

I was a popular child, but my weight always made me feel different. My mum used to attend slimming classes and I remember trying to stick to her diets when I was probably far too young to be dieting. I suppose that dieting stopped me putting on as much weight as I would have done, but I can’t recall ever losing a vast amount of weight or being a normal size for long. I have tried all the diets going. When I turned 25, at my heaviest weight of almost 18 stones, I joined Slimming World for the second time and, with the support of the group, I lost eight stones and 10-and-a-half pounds.

For the first time in my life I fitted into a size eight: I was over the moon. Having achieved my goal, life took me on a roller- coaster when I called off my wedding because I had met a man who became my soulmate. The break up, a change in career and moving to Manchester took its toll on my weight. Last May, weighing 17 and a half stones, I decided to opt for a more permanent solution because I felt that my fat was proof that I was almost allergic to food and immune to diets. I looked into liposuction, but after some research I discovered weight loss surgery.

I decided to go private, assuming that this surgery would have long waiting lists on the NHS, due to the increase in obesity rates in the United Kingdom.

I phoned a reputable company and was advised that a roux-en-y laparoscopic gastric bypass was my best option. Mr Basil Ammori, a consultant bariatric surgeon and senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, explained that the bypass is effective for sweet-eaters, those who snack regularly, the super-obese and those who want to lose two-thirds of their excess weight or more. In my consultation at Spire Hospital, in Manchester, he explained that this operation would be done through keyhole surgery, causing only five small scars, and would involve stapling my stomach to make an egg-sized pouch and cutting two metres off my small intestine.

The results of this procedure would be that I would get full quicker and my body would not absorb as many calories.

Mr Ammori said: “Laparoscopic surgery offers the answer when diet, exercise or medications fail to achieve durable weight loss. Surgery cures diabetes in 85 per cent of patients, hypertension in 75 per cent, sleep apnoea in 90 per cent, and infertility in 50 per cent and restores life expectancy. Surgery for weight loss is increasing. There is increased awareness about obesity and its effect on health and there is also increased awareness amongst the public about surgery for obesity. Those who have a Body Mass Index of 35 or more qualify for weight loss surgery.”

With a BMI of 45, I was eligible for the surgery. At the end of my tether and refusing to buy clothes that were any bigger than size 24, I booked the operation with Mr Ammori in Manchester for the end of May.

The operation took just over one hour and I was able to come home a couple of days later. It is common to suffer from “dumping syndrome”, feeling sick, dizzy and sweating, when patients eat sugary foods or eat too quickly after the operation. But I can proudly say that I have not vomited since my bypass.

I rigidly stuck to the rules that my surgeon and dietician gave me. I had to have injections to prevent blood clots for a week, wear socks to prevent deep vein thrombosis for a fortnight, anti ulcer medicine, vitamins and minerals daily and ensure that I eat pureed food for three weeks and then soft foods for another three weeks before slowly reintroducing solid foods.

I can confirm that the operation has been a great success. I joined a gym a fortnight after the bypass and lost almost three and a half stones in 11 weeks. I can now fit into a size 16 and feel that I have a new lease of life.

I need not worry about sticking to a diet because my body tells me when to stop eating or when foods disagree with me. I have now realised that I only need to eat enough to give me energy.

Since the operation I have started writing a book to share my gastric bypass experience with other obese people and to let them know that they are not alone as they consider the gastric bypass route.