Surgery helps man shed 100kg
Bariatric procedure shrinks Puttergill to 94kg
AFTER losing 100kg following bariatric surgery, Vincent Puttergill has how become used to the fact that friends – and family – who haven’t seen him in a while, walk past without recognising him.
Puttergill, 41, who is from Port Elizabeth but works as an electrician for Transnet in East London, said when he weighed 194kg, he was very unhealthy.
“I was 194.1kg to be precise. I was pre-diabetic, had high blood pressure and was very unfit. When I lay down to sleep I struggled to breathe.”
After years of trying every diet in the book, something that only caused him to gain more weight, he finally went to see an endocrinologist at Netcare Greenacres Hospital, Dr Greg Hough.
“I was assessed by him, a dietician and a psychologist. They said I must lose some weight before they could do the surgery.” Puttergill lost 26kg. “I think they ask you to lose weight to see if you are willing and motivated to lose the weight. The surgery is not an answer to all weight loss.”
Bariatric surgery involves reducing the size of the stomach with a gastric band or removing of a portion of the stomach.
Three years down the line Puttergill has lost a massive 100kg. “I eat in moderation now. I don’t eat a big plate of food any more but eat off a sideplate,” he said
“I feel great. I used to have a constant backache and sore ankles. Now I have none of that. My sugar levels have come down to normal. I don’t have to take my high blood pressure pills.
“I am much fitter now. I do karate three times a week. I have much more energy now.
“A decision like this doesn’t only involve yourself, it includes your whole family as everybody must adjust to the new way you live.
“I am the same person I was before the surgery – just much healthier. People who haven’t seen me for a while don’t recognise me at all,” he said.
“The hospital was top notch. I had no side-effects or complications. I went home after three days. Six hours after my surgery the physiotherapist came to my bed and said I must get up and start walking.
Puttergill’s wife, Gaynor, said her husband had the surgery before he turned 40.
“For me the biggest consideration was that our son was only 10 at the time. The thing I asked him was: ‘Are you going to live another 10 years to see the kids grow up’?”
She said the adjustment to her husband’s new diet before the surgery, took some policing from his family’s side.
“He had to eat vegetables and not things like lamb and boerewors. It was difficult for us.”
She said she believed that great support from family and friends eventually carried her husband through.
“If we were invited to friends they would eat what he could eat.
“My husband is much healthier now. He can do more things and he is much more active. He can keep up with the younger guys.
“It was always a problem to find clothes for him. He wore a size 62 jeans and a 7XL shirt. Those aren’t things that you can just buy at any store,” she said.
“I always had to buy him really expensive takkies as the shoes had to be able to take the weight,” she said. “Now I can buy the cheap ones,” she laughed.
She said they hadn’t saved money yet as they had to buy her husband a whole new wardrobe.
Dr Nico van Niekerk said bariatric surgery was used for the treatment of obesity.
“We prefer endocrine surgery as the benefits regarding diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol outweighs the benefit of pure weight loss.”
He said the surgery was performed laparoscopically and took about an hour.
Van Niekerk said they required patients to start losing weight even before surgery and weight loss stabilised after three years.
He said anybody with a body mass index of over 40 or a body mass index of more than 35 coupled with diabetes, hypertension or an abnormal amount of fats in the blood should consider the surgery. He said some medical aids paid for the surgery but for private patients it would cost R100 000. — ellise@timesmedia.co.za