Женщина потеряла 70 кг после операции по удалению гигантской кисты и запустила PR-агентство для плюс-сайзов

I’d struggled with my weight for years, but little did I know there was something more sinister going on. By Emma Medeiros, 44 I knew my health wasn’t up to scratch. I had no energy, high blood pressure and sleep apnoea, which meant I often stopped breathing in the night. But what the doctor said stopped me in my tracks. ‘At your size, your life is in danger,’ he warned.   My heart dropped. I was 5ft 10in and weighed 28 stone, but at 24 years old, I didn’t realise how serious that was.   Weight gain was a side effect of medication I’d been put on at 16 and that had been the start of my problems. But even when I stopped taking it, I couldn’t shift the extra pounds I’d piled on. My sweet tooth didn’t help, as I’d regularly polish off a tub of my favourite Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. The embarrassment of asking for an extension seatbelt on planes and my rock-bottom confidence weren’t enough to get me to change my ways. But now, it seemed more important than ever. The doctor recommended a gastric bypass, which would reduce the size of my stomach and change the digestive tract. I was willing to try anything, especially if it offered a long-term solution. Spurred on, I wanted the operation as soon as possible. When I told my parents, Mum said, ‘We couldn’t care less what you look like, we just want you to be happy.’ But Dad was more hesitant. ‘I’d rather you didn’t go through with it, love,’ he said. ‘You just need to eat healthy and exercise.’ But I’d tried every diet going and knew that wouldn’t work for me. I was booked in for a gastric bypass on my 25th birthday. Hopefully that’s a good sign, I thought. 'It was bound to burst any moment' As they prepped me for surgery, I felt nervous but excited too. When I woke, I was surprised to see Dad pacing anxiously by my hospital bed. ‘Thank god you had this operation,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe I was against it.’ ‘What do you mean?’ I asked, feeling groggy and confused.  ‘The gastric bypass didn’t happen,’ he explained. ‘They found something inside your body.’ Dread and disappointment washed over me. I’d had my hopes pinned on this operation. A doctor now stepped in to explain. ‘We found a 15-pound cyst on your right ovary,’ he said. Although they had to remove my ovary along with the cyst, I was assured it wouldn’t affect my fertility, but I’d been left with a 14in scar along my belly. At a follow-up appointment, I realised just how lucky I’d been. Although the giant cyst, which was the size of twins, wasn’t cancerous, it was still life-threatening. ‘It was so big, it was bound to burst any moment,’ the doctor said. ‘If that had happened, you’d have been dead in minutes.’ I couldn’t believe it. I’d had no clue something so dangerous was inside me and that was because my weight had been hiding it. I’d decided to have the gastric bypass to save my life and it had, just not in the way I thought it would. But the experience was a wake-up call. Removing the cyst had also reduced inflammation in my body, which meant I’d lost five stone almost overnight just from the operation. But now, I also began eating more healthily. Feeling like I’d been given a second chance, I went back to university to study for a marketing degree and started dating Adam, someone I’d been friends with since I was 18. My size never bothered him, and he was supportive no matter what I looked like. But when my weight plateaued at 23 stone two years on, I had a gastric band fitted, which changed my eating habits for good because I felt fuller more quickly. Being a vegetarian, I took vitamins and iron supplements, to make sure that I was getting enough nutrients. By the time I married Adam four years on, in the same church as his parents had tied the knot, I’d lost a further three stone, and felt happy and confident in my purple dress. We had a medieval theme, and the day was perfect. I got my marketing degree that same year, and after some experience working for PR firms, I realised that while the plus-size fashion market was booming, it wasn’t being promoted very well. Realising there was a gap there, I launched my own PR firm specialising in fashionable clothes for bigger women.   It was a whirlwind, and now, 10 years on, I’ve never looked back.     I’m currently 21 stone, but my goal is to get down to 14 stone. With my height and wide hips, I know I’ll always be classed as a plus size, but I’m OK with that. I never promote obesity. What matters is that you feel confident and healthy, no matter your size. I’ve recently had another cyst removed, which had grown to 14cm, so am having annual ultrasounds for monitoring. Cysts are very common in women, but while most people’s bodies get rid of them naturally, mine doesn’t. After discovering the secret growing inside my tummy by chance, I know how lucky I am to be here, so now I seize the day and live life to the full.