Ryan Patterson – losing 81kg and gaining a new lease on life

BEFORE

New lease on life

NAME: RYAN PATTERSON AGE: 30 OCCUPATION: COAL MINING INDUSTRY HEIGHT: 6 FEET 2 INCHES CURRENT WEIGHT: 89.5KG HEAVIEST WEIGHT: 171.2KG DAY OF SURGERY WEIGHT: JULY 2020 170KG

AFTER

How many kilos did you lose?

81.7kg

What was your relationship with food?

Very poor. As a fly-in-fly-out worker, I was working 14 hour days, no routine. I was going to work at 4am and getting home at 8pm, exhausted, too tired to cook and just picking up fast food. I felt too tired to exercise and I had no motivation, I just gave in to fatigue. I was in a deep dark spot and I wasn’t happy with where I was going. I was comfort eating and doing nothing, just isolating myself from the world.

As an “out of towner”, moving to new town, I had no friends and it was hard to make friends because I was selfconscious about my weight.

171.2kg was the heaviest I had ever been. Even though I didn’t have any health issues as yet, I knew I was a candidate for a heart attack and other diseases.

What motivated you to go on your weight-loss journey?

The main reason for the weight-loss surgery was to help with my job and to give me a new way of life, to become more active and to get my mental health back on track.

I struggled to get a job because of my weight. The requirements of the job included a weight limit of 130kg, so that was a problem. I never left the house, I didn’t want to be seen in public with so much weight on. Family and friends I hadn’t seen for a while were becoming concerned that I didn’t even want to see them.

I had been training with a personal trainer, but I wasn’t dropping the weight I wanted to. A few of the guys from work had the surgery and showed me photos of how they were before compared to after surgery, and you wouldn’t recognise them! It was dramatic.

They said the benefits were they were lighter, their confidence was higher, they felt better in themselves, and more inclined to get healthier. They weren’t hiding away, they were more social. People were telling me to go and have the surgery and make the change. I thought, if it worked for them, I have to give it a crack, so I went and saw a surgeon.

How long had you battled with weight issues?

I battled with my weight issue for four years prior to surgery. As a kid, I was very active with football, cricket, Nippers living in Newcastle and Port Macquarie. Then around my teens I put some weight on, and by 19, I was up to 120kg. I didn’t like my job or my life direction. Then I started getting fit, lost the weight again, then piled it back on. I moved to the Gold Coast, got fit again then left the GC in 2017 for country NSW for a mining job. Then I stacked it on.

My mindset entering the mining industry was to keep fit and active, because it’s understood you’re sitting on your backside up to 10 hours a day. But I wasn’t training, wasn’t eating properly or looking after myself as I should have been. I went hungry for most of the day, then ate a lot when I got home and went to bed on a full stomach.

What health problems did you face as a result?

I was very lucky not to have any health problems with my weight, which was very surprising. I had blood tests and blood pressure tests done and they were all clear. That was one of the reasons I didn’t go to a doctor about my weight before my surgery. I was worried I would

have diabetes or something. The only thing that was impacted was my mental health due to my size. That took its toll big time. I was literally house-bound and really didn’t interact with people in my community, at work, or my friends and family at home.

What made you decide on weight-loss surgery and which procedure was the right one for you?

I had heard from a few people I worked with that had the gastric sleeve surgery and saw the results they had achieved. When I lived on the Gold Coast, I heard about the awesome results people were having with surgery. So I made the appointment. After talking to the surgeon and going through all my health, lifestyle and other aspects, we decided that the gastric sleeve surgery was the best option for me.

Post-surgery, what have been some of the challenges?

I didn’t have any challenges after surgery. There was a bit of nausea when I returned home after surgery. But four hours after surgery, I was walking around, groggy, but in no pain. People had told me that I would be in discomfort for a few days up to a week after surgery, but for me, it was literally getting up and going as normal the next day.

Any regrets?

No regrets at all. It has to be the best thing I have done! I would recommend this surgery to anyone. The doctor and his team are amazing and you feel really welcome in their practice. Even when I went back to see them recently, they were shocked at how good I look! They were flabbergasted at my transformation. My lifestyle now is totally different. Life has certainly changed for me, and for the better. I can’t wait to go out and meet people. My friends and family are amazed and glad I’m back! It’s a depressing spiral, really. The more weight you put on, the less you feel like doing anything about it. That has consequences and you end up alone and with a sense of helplessness. I eat better. I enjoy my food. I take care of myself. I’m confident, I go to the gym, I’m much more comfortable in myself, I’m finding my job easier, always out, never home, lots of friends. My bosses and colleagues can’t believe how much better I look and how my confidence has risen.

I wish I’d had the procedure sooner, that is my only regret. The surgery takes so much pressure off your body and frees you up to get more active and start afresh. The cost of surgery was totally worth it. It’s amazing how much money I save now I’m not eating unhealthy food.

The reason I’m sharing my story is so that people can see this article and see how the surgery changed my life, and I hope it inspires them to give it a go. I want to encourage people who may be in a dark spot to see an expert and make the decision to get healthier.

I feel so much better about life! I wish I’d done it years earlier, It’s the best thing I’ve ever done!