Stomach Stapling Surgery Denied
Last updated: 25 June 2007
Should seriously overweight people be allowed surgery?
After seeing 32 stone Jemma Butler on our programme yesterday, Louise McKeith contacted us to tell us her story.
Louise is 31 years old and weighs 27 stone. She asked her doctor if she could be considered for gastric bypass surgery and was told to come back when she had lost 4kg.
But after losing the weight her doctor told her to go away and lose more. Now Louise is spending over £6,000 to have the operation privately in Belgium.
Jemma's story
Jemma Butler is only 25, but already weighs 32 stone and is desperate to lose weight. Two years ago she was told she only has 5 years to live, but her local NHS trust has refused to give her the stomach stapling operation she thinks will save her life.
Jemma, aged 25 struggled with her weight since childhood and all through her teenage years. Things came to a head about five years ago after a work-related injury.
She sunk into a deep depression, comforting herself with food. Her weight ballooned to 30 stone, and in 2005, her doctors told her she had 5 years to live. Emma was on anti-depressants and had become increasingly isolated as her weight had increased.
She asked doctors to put her forward for a stomach stapling operation, and went on the waiting list. After almost 2 years, she got a letter in November '06, telling her telling her she'd be removed from the waiting list, as she didn't meet Health Commission Wales' strict criteria for stomach stapling operations.
Although her BMI is 70, she wasn't suffering from the complications of obesity - heart disease, diabetes, sleep apnoea - and therefore didn't qualify for surgery. She appealed the decision, but in March 2007, she lost.
She definitely considers herself an addict, although she's finally trying to do something about it - she weighs somewhere between 32-33 stone, though she says she has lost some weight, as she's been on a diet for 6 months.
Her doctor feels frustrated that she's being denied the surgery. It would allow her to re-build her life, return to work, and reduce her chance of developing other complications.
Stomach Stapling Surgery
I think this is horrible to deny obesity surgery due to lack of symptoms, but hopefully she keeps fighting.
Maybe now that this is in the media things will turn around in her favor.
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