THREE years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic Laura Pettit began a life-changing journey.
Having battled obesity all her life, Laura was the first patient in the country to undergo groundbreaking surgery in Letterkenny University Hospital in August 2020. The Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass conversion to Duodenal Switch was carried out under the expert care of Consultant General, Bariatric and Metabolic Surgeon, Mr Zsolt Bodnar.
Laura, a Tipperary native who now lives in Dublin, welcomed the Donegal News to her bedside following her major surgery three years ago. The mother-of-one returned to LUH last week for a final procedure, and we were there in Surgical Ward 2 afterwards to meet Laura again and to see her remarkable progress.
At her heaviest, Laura weighed 26 stone in 2010. She is now 11 stone 12lbs. But Laura’s journey was far from an overnight success, and along the road she lost one of her biggest supporters – her devoted mum, Ann.
“It has been a long road, I won’t lie. It has been a long time finding my feet. I had to change absolutely everything. It has been an incredible three years, and it has been long but I have been consistent. There are times when I have wanted to cry, and there were times I did cry because the scales didn’t move.
“It has been a hard three years, and I lost my mum in the middle of it on May 2, 2022. Her passing was so quick. She was complaining of stomach pain and I thought it was gall stones. I took her down to Tipperary and she was went to the local hospital there and was being treated for vomiting for three weeks. When they opened her up on Christmas Eve they told her they found a big tumour. It was stomach cancer.”
Laura moved her daughter Grace out of school to a school in Tipperary so she could be closer to her mother.
“We decided we were going to settle there for a while. When my mam came out of hospital in April she was was fine for a week or two, but then they discovered stage four liver cancer. She came home with the morphine pump in her hand on the Wednesday and she was gone by the Bank Holiday Monday.
“Grace made her Communion the week after. It wasn’t the day we planned but we made the most of it. The weather was beautiful so I am sure my mam was doing things up there. Grace put on her dress beforehand so my mam got to see her in it at least.”
Laura first researched gastric bypass surgery in 2010. It wasn’t available in Ireland at the time and to have it done in the UK was too expensive. Laura found the surgery could be done privately in Belgium for €20,000. But Laura suffered pre-eclampsia at the end of her pregnancy, affecting her blood pressure. She was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2016, and her weight kept creeping back up.
Laura was under the care of a number of specialists in Dublin who had tried various things, but nothing was successful. She learned that her surgery could be revised in Turkey, but a chance meeting between her specialist and Mr Bodnar changed all those plans.
Now three years later, Laura’s health and well being has enjoyed a u-turn.
“I work out six days a week. I go to the gym an hour every day, followed by a swim and I walk 15,000 steps every day in addition to those two activities. Walking came with time. When I started on this journey it was during Covid, so I started walking gradually. Now it wouldn’t faze me to walk 10km in one go.
“It is great therapy, especially after losing my mum. When I came back to Dublin after my mum passed away, I started a new gym class and got on a new programme. For weeks the scales wouldn’t move and it was frustrating but my mam always told me not to focus on the scales.”
Laura said despite her phenomenal achievement, when she looks in the mirror she still sees her old self.
“I know I have worked incredibly hard to make the new Laura, but I still find it hard. I mentally prepared myself for this surgery by doing extra work in the gym to improve my upper body strength to be able to get in and out of bed.
“I am currently 76 kilos, or 11 stone, 12lbs. Three kilos of loose skin was removed in the dermolipectomy procedure. Mr Bodnar had been documenting me for the last year and a half. It was too much to carry around, especially when I was working out.”
Laura said previous health conditions with her heart and kidneys have improved. As well as the physical improvements, she is also enjoying another type of freedom for herself and her family.
“I wanted to be able to enjoy shopping. I am currently between a size 12 to 14 which I am delighted about. My daughter, Grace, is now 10 and she is really glad that I have had the last bit of the operation. It’s also nice for my husband to see my confidence back. He is very active and we can now do things outdoors together.
“There is only a certain degree of living when you are obese and people don’t see that. You are very much confined to what you can do. I have since gone to Disneyland with my daughter and got on the rides. Grace is proud of me. She understands what I have done. I can take part in fun days and parent and teacher days. I am now just doing all the normal stuff that any mam would do. I flew to New York and just being able to cross my legs on the plane and not to have to ask for a seatbelt extender was another small win.
“My health is super good. Every time I go to the hospital now it is good news. I have worked hard, so this is like my little reward.”
Laura said unlike her previous experience in Belguim, the aftercare provided by Mr Bodnar and nursing staff in LUH is second to none.
“There is an excellent dietician here in LUH. I have been back to the hospital so many times since my first surgery for aftercare. It is second to none. I met so many nurses and we have kept in touch. The aftercare is excellent.
“Mr Bodnar is just amazing. I don’t think he realises how good he is. He is one in a million. His mind is like the rain man, he understands everything and is in touch with everything. He is very humble and very kind.
“If I had to have a thousand surgeries I would choose here every time. Mr Bodnar is so talented. Obesity is an epidemic. The nurses who work in High Dependency go through everything with you. It is a lifetime commitment and there will be days you will cry, but it is worth it.
“My husband Alan, friends and family have been so supportive, and of course my little Cockapoo Millie who takes every step with me.”
Laura said she can still enjoy food and the odd mojito.
“You have to be willing to change things and maintain it. I can still enjoy food but in a different way. I go at a slower pace and treasure food a bit more.
“My head is in the game,” said Laura.
Mr Bodnar praised Laura’s major progress.
“During the last three years Laura has done an excellent evolution and job on her weight. I removed excess skin in an operation known as dermolipectomy. Most importantly she is free now from all her previous medical problems and medications, and she is a fit healthy lady now.”
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