Jimmy Fullan born 1964 in Liverpool U.K.
I have struggled with obesity for most of my adult life, I developed Diabetes in my late 30,s and was insulin dependant along with other medicines in tablet form. I was under a professor in Liverpool university hospital who asked if that he could offer me a surgical procedure that would more than likely bring my condition under control I obviously said yes (even though somewhat sceptical) . So in march 2011 I was placed on the Aintree loss weight management pathway, through the NHS ,this consisted of meetings once a month with dieticians, physiotherapists ,psychologists and nutritionists. It was a 24 month programme, I attended every appointment through fear of being removed from it due to the fear of it being my last chance as I was told that being nearly 26 stone in weight and 5 foot 6 inches tall with high blood pressure that it was only a matter of time before I had a catastrophic heart attack or stroke that I would be highly unlikely to survive. March 2013 and my last appointment, I went home thinking it’s either make or break now and I had done all that was asked of me. I had my operation in Aintree hospital in Liverpool and was home after 3 days to start my new life, I had not got a clue what I was supposed to do, but on leaving the hospital I was passed a card with the name of a support group that met face to face and run by Ken Clare it was called wlsinfo.
I attended my first meeting 2 weeks after my surgery and was so amazed that there were more than 70 people there some pre operation, some post operation, all were so knowledgeable and open and honest that I could not wait for the next months meeting along with getting a phone number for Ken Clare to contact if I needed help with any help.
I think this is we’re I felt that I had actually been accepted by like minded people who know exactly what I had been going through for most of my life pre surgery and were going to be there to help me now. I supported Ken Clare and ended up running with him the Liverpool face to face support group and merging into obesity uk. My feeling of karma had intervened made me to want to give back what I had received, since Covid pandemic hit we have been running twice weekly zoom meetings throughout on behalf of obesity uk and this has also helped me stay focused and be accountable also, long may it continue and the next chapter with ECPO is looking like being another great adventure and opportunity to get the peoples voices heard and recognised.