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It will be good for the research to see how they get on health wise, I know doctors are considering diabetics who are likly to have trouble controlling their blood glucose may be candidates for surgery
Family of four lose 44-stone after taxpayers pay for ALL of them to have gastric bypass surgery
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 6:09 PM on 14th April 2011
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A family-of-four have lost 44-stone between them after undergoing gastric bypass surgery on the NHS.
Craig and Denise Watson and their two daughters Rebecca, 24, and Rachel, 21, all had their free surgeries within a six-month period.
News of their expensive operations, which could have cost taxpayers up to £40,000 for the whole family, comes after surgeons claimed performing gastric operations could save the NHS money in the long run.
Drastic action: The Watson family from Sheffield have lost a combined 44st after all undergoing gastric bypass surgery on the NHS
The Watsons say they had tried everything to lose weight including joining a gym and consulting health professionals before they went to their GP.
Mrs Watson, 45, began putting on weight after giving birth to her first daughter and was unable to shed the pounds.
After her weight ballooned to 19-and-a-half stone in 2009 she decided to take drastic action.
She told BBC Radio Sheffield: 'I went to the doctors and I was told that I wasn't heavy enough to be considered for gastric surgery.
'I deliberately put a stone-and-a-half on to be able to be considered for the operation.'
Her overweight husband was told he qualified for a gastric band because he also had high blood pressure and arthritis.
All the family's stomachs were made smaller through keyhole surgery.
Mr Watson's weight dropped from 29 stone to 20 stone and his wife of 26 years saw hers plummet by eight stone.
Mrs Watson's dropped eight dress sizes to a size 16 and her husband's waist size was reduced from 58ins to 40ins.
More...
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Daughter Rebecca shed 14 stone and her sister Rachael 12 stone since January 2010, both now fitting a 14 dress size instead of 32.
Mrs Watson said the family's eating habits had changed dramatically.
She said: 'We've gone from having a full plate of food through to eating our meals from a small side plate. I feel disgust when I look at the old pictures of how we looked.'
The family are continuing to shed the pounds after the permanent surgery they had a year ago.
David Stout, director of the Primary Care Trust Network, said prevention was always better than surgery.
He said: 'While surgery is undoubtedly one of the treatments we can offer, it is very much the treatment of last resort.
'What we would be looking to, in primary care trusts who are the organisations who have to plan and fund care in the NHS, is looking at the balance between how much we spend on lifestyle changes, supporting people to diet and to exercise to avoid obesity in the first place, and drug treatments before we invest in surgery.'
And the UK's leading charity for people with eating disorders, Beat, believes that more emphasis should be given to the psychological and emotional support surrounding obesity.
They released a statement saying: 'Bariatric surgery is an invasive procedure and should be a last resort.
'Weight loss and exercise programmes with psychological support are the obvious preferred route.
'There are many implications to major surgery, not least the change of lifestyle and eating habits which need to be adopted afterwards in order to maintain weight loss.
'It's important to acknowledge that people who are termed obese often have emotional difficulties around food and it's only by addressing the root causes of these difficulties that any significant long term resolution can be achieved.'
The revelation of the Watson's surgeries follows the news that an obese family of three has cost the Health Service more than £1.2million in slimming treatments and weight loss surgery.
Bariatric surgeon Alberic Fiennes, chairman of the National Bariatric Surgery Registry data committee, said: 'Prevention strategy alone has proved ineffective.
'There are at least two generations of morbidly obese patients who are now presenting with diabetes, stroke, heart disease and cancer for whom preventative measures are utterly irrelevant.
'The numbers are increasing - these people need to be treated.'
Zaneta Jones, 46, and husband David have both had gastric bypasses and their 17-stone son Stanleigh, 15, is due to have his stomach stapled later this year.
The £1,235,000 cost of their treatments so far would be enough to fund around 1,000 lumpectomies for suspected breast cancer, or a year’s supply of medication for 1,235 Alzheimer’s patients.
Supersized family: Zaneta, Stanley and David Jones weighed more than 76stone at their heaviest and insist they feel bad about the cost of their treatment
Explore more:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1376611/Family-lose-44st-taxpayers-pay-gastric-bypass-surgery.html#ixzz1JrfuiqX2
Family of four lose 44-stone after taxpayers pay for ALL of them to have gastric bypass surgery
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 6:09 PM on 14th April 2011
Comments (104)
Add to My Stories
A family-of-four have lost 44-stone between them after undergoing gastric bypass surgery on the NHS.
Craig and Denise Watson and their two daughters Rebecca, 24, and Rachel, 21, all had their free surgeries within a six-month period.
News of their expensive operations, which could have cost taxpayers up to £40,000 for the whole family, comes after surgeons claimed performing gastric operations could save the NHS money in the long run.
Drastic action: The Watson family from Sheffield have lost a combined 44st after all undergoing gastric bypass surgery on the NHS
The Watsons say they had tried everything to lose weight including joining a gym and consulting health professionals before they went to their GP.
Mrs Watson, 45, began putting on weight after giving birth to her first daughter and was unable to shed the pounds.
After her weight ballooned to 19-and-a-half stone in 2009 she decided to take drastic action.
She told BBC Radio Sheffield: 'I went to the doctors and I was told that I wasn't heavy enough to be considered for gastric surgery.
'I deliberately put a stone-and-a-half on to be able to be considered for the operation.'
Her overweight husband was told he qualified for a gastric band because he also had high blood pressure and arthritis.
All the family's stomachs were made smaller through keyhole surgery.
Mr Watson's weight dropped from 29 stone to 20 stone and his wife of 26 years saw hers plummet by eight stone.
Mrs Watson's dropped eight dress sizes to a size 16 and her husband's waist size was reduced from 58ins to 40ins.
More...
Gastric bands SAVE the NHS money claim weight-loss surgeons
Young girls' waistlines have grown by four inches in 30 years due to rising obesity
Sorry, A&E is heaving: What paramedics 'told dying woman after refusing to take her to hospital'
Daughter Rebecca shed 14 stone and her sister Rachael 12 stone since January 2010, both now fitting a 14 dress size instead of 32.
Mrs Watson said the family's eating habits had changed dramatically.
She said: 'We've gone from having a full plate of food through to eating our meals from a small side plate. I feel disgust when I look at the old pictures of how we looked.'
The family are continuing to shed the pounds after the permanent surgery they had a year ago.
David Stout, director of the Primary Care Trust Network, said prevention was always better than surgery.
He said: 'While surgery is undoubtedly one of the treatments we can offer, it is very much the treatment of last resort.
'What we would be looking to, in primary care trusts who are the organisations who have to plan and fund care in the NHS, is looking at the balance between how much we spend on lifestyle changes, supporting people to diet and to exercise to avoid obesity in the first place, and drug treatments before we invest in surgery.'
And the UK's leading charity for people with eating disorders, Beat, believes that more emphasis should be given to the psychological and emotional support surrounding obesity.
They released a statement saying: 'Bariatric surgery is an invasive procedure and should be a last resort.
'Weight loss and exercise programmes with psychological support are the obvious preferred route.
'There are many implications to major surgery, not least the change of lifestyle and eating habits which need to be adopted afterwards in order to maintain weight loss.
'It's important to acknowledge that people who are termed obese often have emotional difficulties around food and it's only by addressing the root causes of these difficulties that any significant long term resolution can be achieved.'
The revelation of the Watson's surgeries follows the news that an obese family of three has cost the Health Service more than £1.2million in slimming treatments and weight loss surgery.
Bariatric surgeon Alberic Fiennes, chairman of the National Bariatric Surgery Registry data committee, said: 'Prevention strategy alone has proved ineffective.
'There are at least two generations of morbidly obese patients who are now presenting with diabetes, stroke, heart disease and cancer for whom preventative measures are utterly irrelevant.
'The numbers are increasing - these people need to be treated.'
Zaneta Jones, 46, and husband David have both had gastric bypasses and their 17-stone son Stanleigh, 15, is due to have his stomach stapled later this year.
The £1,235,000 cost of their treatments so far would be enough to fund around 1,000 lumpectomies for suspected breast cancer, or a year’s supply of medication for 1,235 Alzheimer’s patients.
Supersized family: Zaneta, Stanley and David Jones weighed more than 76stone at their heaviest and insist they feel bad about the cost of their treatment
Explore more:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1376611/Family-lose-44st-taxpayers-pay-gastric-bypass-surgery.html#ixzz1JrfuiqX2
I.E.
So the government are willing to allow this much money to be spent on obese people, but won't allow more money to be put towards those with mental health issues who desperately need help when the mental health service is a complete and utter mess? Disgusting.
- Amy, Orpington, UK, 14/4/2011
Sorry but these Gastric Bypass operations should not be on the NHS. Especially when other treatments are being stopped due to funding issues. It sickens me that a fat person can get this operation costing thousands yet IVF treatment has stopped even worse some drugs for various cancers are not allowed. All the money being spent on these operations could be used on funding diet and exercise courses. I know not all fat people are so because of poor diet / exercise but I would hazzard a guess that the vast majority who are getting this treatment are. They are too lazy to do something about it themselves so what do we do? pander to them and give them the easy solution.
- Mark, Lancashire, 14/4/2011 13:17
some people say smokers should not be treated before others, what about a football player or rugby player who breaks a leg or even back. the list goes on.
Someone driving a Porche may be said to have contributed to their injuries,
In fact this is the main Reason I got rid of mine
Brings to mind the question about What is a Minor Emergency Clinic for?W
Answer - When the emergency victim is someone else :-]
I wish I had known you were getting rid of the Porche :-]