Somebody asked how I ended up having surgery, just for the record I thought I would list the steps here.
About three years ago I heard about a Weight Management Clinic at Walton Hospital, Walton is part of South Sefton Health Authority and I lived in Liverpool. My GP Frank had to lobby the Health Authority in order to get permission to refer me there. This he did effectively as ever and I was sent for. I remember feeling very nervous, many health services are not fat friendly. Several Docs just look at you and blame everything on the weight and say things like "Lose 10 stone and we'll operate," I say something like thanks doc will do and never go back.
The first thing I noticed about this place was the chairs, they consisted of 4 seats in a row in a once piece metal construction with integrated arms. They were designed for the British standard bum size. I have sat in these before, when you stand up the whole row of four becomes strangely ajoined to your rear. Doesn't look cool and isn't clever, plus the surgical referral for removal can take weeks.
The Doctor was a clinical Assistant called Dr McKean who seemed to really care and be genuinely interested he took the fullest history ever. The assisted by Gail the auxiliary nurse he embarked on collecting a series of measurements (of me). The two person waist measurement maneouvre is one I wont forget in a hurry. He maintained his interest even through my painfully long and detailed medical history, an act of endurance.
He reported my heart seemed fine, he measured my blood pressure, a difficult feat in itself. Let me explain the normal cuff is made to fit the normal arm. Big Boys need an oversize cuff, generally not stocked. Using the normal cuff leads to it blowing off when the required pressure is reached. Less experienced practitioners ask the patient to grip it tightly, thus causing an incorrect reading. his clinic seemed to have an arrangement with the elephant house at Chester zoo. They had several sizes to fit all, I was impressed. Dr Mc told me my blood pressure was normal even for a normal sized person. Then I had to get weighed.......... (to be continued)