Jennifer Dann

try to have a more plant-based diet, get some exercise, sleep well and stay off the booze. you ban

your children from eating junk food? No. My sons are 18 and 20. I still buy them potato chips and icecream, even though I shouldn’t, because they like them. They have high metabolic rates because they’re still growing but I worry about them in the longer term. They can’t eat like that in their 30s. was your

childhood in the Hutt Valley like? I had a fun suburban childhood in Naenae hanging out with my mates, building forts in the bush, playing around with slug guns, that sort of stuff. My parents are Czechs who escaped from Prague when the Russians invaded in 1969 and ended up in a refugee camp in Austria. Because they were both engineers there was demand for their skills. They chose to come here because it was the furthest away. you always want to be a doctor? No, I drifted into it because I was good at science and maths. I knew I’d get into medicine so I did and it turned out to be quite interesting. What you find is different specialties attract different personality types. Surgeons are practical people who like to do stuff that has a direct and immediate effect. did you decide

to do bariatric surgery? When I was training in upper gastrointestinal surgery 10 years ago I noticed colleagues doing it. It was a rewarding part of their job because they were changing people’s lives. Cancer surgery’s much more difficult emotionally because people are staring death in the face. They’re often desperate, anxious and frightened and sometimes in denial and angry. After surgery the cancer often comes back so I have to tell people there’s nothing more I can do for them. That uses up emotional energy which bariatric surgery gives me back. There’s a huge satisfaction in seeing people’s progress. Season two of airs this Thursday, 8pm on TVNZ 2 or TVNZ.co.nz