TOOTHLESS AFTER A GASTRIC BYPASS

Although thrilled to have lost weight, Alice Ballinger, 44, still didn't love what she saw in the mirror

- KERRY HARDEN and LISA NOTARANTONIO

Lowering my aching body into the chair, I took a moment to catch my breath before reeling off my health complaints to the doctor. It was a long list of grumbles, including hip and back pain, difficulty walking and breathlessness.

It was September 2010 and I knew he was going to repeat what he'd been telling me for the past couple of years, during countless appointments.

'You must lose weight,' he frowned and I just nodded because, aged 29, at 22st 4lb, 5ft 3in and a size 26, I knew that I was dangerously obese. But it hadn't always been this way because, earlier in my 20s, a muscular size 16 and weighing 16st, I'd been proud of my strong physique, keeping fit by swimming and hiking regularly.

WORSENING HEALTH

But after falling and hurting my right hip, climbing Snowdon in March 2007, I'd been left in agony and struggling to even walk. In the months that followed, unable to exercise, I'd snacked on junk food to distract myself from the pain and boredom.

Over the next two years, still unable to exercise, I'd gained 6st and, with diets and even weight-loss tablets not having an impact, my health problems had piled up, leaving me desperate for a change - but how?

'I could refer you for a gastric bypass,' my GP suggested now, explaining that the procedure involved stapling off 80% of my stomach, leaving it the size of an egg, and surgically shortening my intestine. While I'd heard how effective weight-loss surgery could be, I wasn't sure.

'Isn't it dangerous?' I asked, but the doctor allayed my fears and, after careful consideration, I decided to go for it.

In November 2010, I was admitted to hospital for surgery and, although I woke up in agony, after the three-hour operation, I felt hopeful at long last.