Angela, aged 45, BMI 48

I've been fighting my weight all of my adult life.

Year after year I've tried every diet going. I usually lost a reasonable amount of weight, but it never stayed off for long. I went to see my GP who advised me that i should think about obesity surgery.

Being a teacher, I decided to find out as much as i could before I went to see anybody. For about six months, I trawled the internet and even went to a few open evenings. All my researches told me that I should be thinking about having a Lap-band, but I just did not fancy having a proper operation with all the risks that it brings. You see I have always felt really healthy, and it just didn't seem right for me to put myself through a surgical operation.

I had all but given up when I came across the stomach balloon on the BOSPA web site.There weren't many people offering it, but I found the National Obesity Surgery Centre through its web site. I arranged a consultation, and was impressed by how open and honest they were about my options and realistic expectations. What I particularly liked was the intensive help and support their programme brings. I decided to have a balloon; even though they did tell me that I might even need a second balloon in the future. It was the ease and safety of the balloon that appealed to me the most.

I lost five and a half stones with my balloon, and it has totally changed the way I eat. My balloon came out at the end of 2006, and the weight has stayed off this time.

I know that I made exactly the right decision for me.

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