I regret my weight loss surgery: It was a miracle at first – but no one talks about the nightmare that can happen to your body just a few years later

Kylie was excited. Her life was about to change.

The primary school principal was three months from undergoing a gastric sleeve, which she hoped would finally solve her decades-long struggle with weight.

Then disaster struck: she was involved in a devastating car crash while leaving work one day, after becoming momentarily distracted by a missed turn. 

‘I looked down to check the GPS and ran up the back of a stationary truck,’ she says.

Kylie’s injuries were severe; the front of the car crushed her.

In addition to her knees being ‘all banged up’, she required reconstructive surgery because her left breast was so badly mangled by the seatbelt.

‘When the doctors came to speak with me, they said that if it hadn’t been for my weight, I’d be dead. It actually protected me,’ Kylie tells me.

It was far from the first time that Kylie had been forced to reflect on her weight.

She was 15 when she went to a Weight Watchers meeting with her mother – who she hastens to add ‘never, ever criticised my weight’ and was ‘nothing but supportive’.

But in spite of that support, introducing her daughter to calorie-counting at such an impressionable age had a profound impact on Kylie.

Rather than steer her towards healthy choices, it had the opposite effect: by her 20s, Kylie had gained significant weight.

These days, with the discourse surrounding overeating having transformed with the arrival of weight loss jabs, she now understands the concept of food noise.

‘I can now see that I had it in the background of my head almost my entire life. It wasn’t just noise – it was screaming,’ she explains.

Still, despite the scales always being in the back of her mind, she married ‘a wonderful man who never said a thing about my weight’ and together they welcomed a daughter.

‘But then tragically our second child, another daughter, was stillborn,’ she adds.

After her baby’s death, Kylie – who, by her own admission, had ‘put on a significant amount’ over the years – asked her obstetrician whether her weight was to blame.

‘He assured me it wasn’t,’ she explains.

‘It turned out to be a problem with the placenta, but I then went on to fall pregnant and have another baby within 12 months – so it was a huge, emotional year for us all.’

By the time Kylie gave birth for the third time, she was at her heaviest: 154kg (340lbs or 24st 3.5lbs). She knew something had to change.

‘I always had so much love in my life, was surrounded by so many amazing friends and family,’ she adds.

‘I was very active, but losing the weight just became so hard.’

Kylie tried nearly every diet available. Initially, she would lose a few kilos, but her progress would stall and the weight would inevitably return.

‘I used to think that I couldn’t lose weight because I loved food so much, but I realise now that I actually hated food – I hated the relationship I had with it,’ she tells me.

Having exhausted every non-medical option, Kylie decided to explore weight loss surgery after being inspired by a colleague who had undergone the procedure.

Then the car accident happened, and Kylie faced a brutal recovery. Still, she decided to go ahead with the bariatric surgery.

It was a success to begin with.

‘It really was the most wonderful tool,’ she says.

‘And I was really honest with people, too. I would explain to them what I’d had done, and people were supportive.’

She lost nearly half of her body weight, getting down to a healthy 82kg (181lbs or almost 13st).

For several years, she was able to maintain this – until a series of significant life events happened in quick succession.

She started to regain the weight, even though the gastric sleeve had removed a large portion of her stomach.  

‘In 2019, my husband and I separated after 23 years,’ says Kylie.

‘I could see the weight increasing again, but I cut myself some slack: I’d been through menopause, a separation, I’d moved house – it was a huge thing.

‘I knew I’d put on a few kilos but I wasn’t going to beat myself up about it.’

But soon, Kylie was back up to almost 100kg (221lbs or 15st 10lbs).

While some may be surprised to learn that weight regain can occur after bariatric surgery, it is not uncommon – even with a reduced stomach capacity.

‘Weight regain following bariatric surgery does not affect all patients, and even those who experience it often maintain significant net weight loss compared to their pre-surgical weight,’ explains RACGP obesity specialist Dr Terri-Lynne South.

Dr South adds that it’s important for people like Kylie to remember that regaining weight does not indicate ‘failure’.

A variety of factors can influence weight gain. While the stomach will always remain smaller, stretching of the stomach pouch is possible. Plus, there are behavioural and dietary changes (for example, eating excess calories even in small amounts) and metabolic shifts to consider.

In these cases, weight loss injections like Ozempic or Mounjaro may benefit bariatric surgery patients who notice the kilos creeping back.

Dr South says the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists has proven effective in addressing weight regain, particularly when integrated with cognitive behavioral therapy and regular specialist consultations.

Last year, Kylie spoke to her doctor about the potential of using these GLP-1 weight loss drugs to support her post-surgery journey.

‘I ended up signing up to Juniper, a weight loss management program that uses the jabs alongside food and nutrition education,’ she says.

‘Even with the surgery, I still had what I now know is “food noise”.

‘After the surgery, people would tell me “you have to prioritise protein”, and I knew it was true but for me I’d go, “Yeah, but I want to have the things I crave”. It was like – if I can only have a little amount, I want to have something delicious.’

With the medication, Kylie felt for the first time in her life that the ‘food noise’ had been silenced – enough for her to focus on the long-term health habits that would set her up for success.

Kylie now weighs 75kg (165lbs or 11st 11lbs) – a weight she’s happy with. She’s been off the medication for three months, and her weight has remained steady.

‘I have protein with every meal, and protein in a cup of tea before bed, and I feel amazing,’ she tells me.

‘If I’d known this kind of relationship with food was possible before I had the surgery, I wouldn’t have had it – I would have used this program instead.

‘But anything worth doing is worth putting in the work. I feel like my relationship with food and weight has been a lifelong struggle, and I may struggle again, but again – I know it’s worth the hard work, mentally and physically.’