O
18 st
Overwrought with worry, I tried to prepare myself
mentally for my upcoming gastric bypass surgery.
As I tried to imagine what life would be like after
the operation, I jumped as the phone rang. It was my
younger sister, Adele. ‘Are you sitting down?’ she
asked. ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’ Instantly,
I forgot my worries, nervous excitement bubbling
inside me. I crossed my fingers, willing her to say
the one thing I wanted most to hear. ‘I’m pregnant,’
Adele said. I let out a shriek – ‘I’m so happy for you,’
I said. ‘I can’t wait to become an auntie!’
As the news sunk in, my absolute joy for her was
tempered by a secret fear. I’d been told that at nearly
30st, my weight was endangering my health – but
I knew that at my size, an operation had its risks, too.
The thought of not surviving to see my unborn niece
or nephew grow up was unbearable. As soon as I got
off the phone to Adele, I rang the hospital. ‘Please
take me off the waiting list,’ I told the clinic’s secretary.
I was determined to find a safer way to lose the weight.
As a little girl, I’d been diagnosed with Blount’s
disease, a condition that caused my left leg and foot
to turn in on themselves. I had major surgery toWhen Maxine Wren learnt that she might not live
to meet her baby nephew, she knew she had to make
a change. Here’s how she turned down gastric bypass
surgery and became Slimming World’s Woman of the Year
‘My
triumph’
8 SLIMMING WORLD MAGAZINE
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