Bryony Bateman, 31, had always been a healthy ten stone and size 10, but was baffled when she rapidly gained weight and ballooned to a size 18 in 2016.

10

Tipping the scales at 17st 5lbs, the healthcare assistant started feeling lethargic so she visited her GP who told her she was “fat, lazy and eating junk” and advised her to overhaul her diet and exercise regime.

After three months of watching what she ate, the mum noticed a banana-shaped lump on the side of her neck and medics diagnosed a cancerous tumour pressing on her thyroid.

The lump was stopping her body from controlling her metabolism, and was the reason she had been piling on the pounds.

After an operation to remove the tumour, she then turned her attentions to slimming down – but she claimed the NHS refused to fund weight loss surgery for her.

10

Bryony’s GP referred her to a bariatric surgery team, but since she didn’t have diabetes or high blood pressure, she said she was told they couldn’t help her because she didn’t meet the criteria and wasn’t “fat enough”.

Instead, the cancer survivor was forced to privately fund a gastric bypass costing £8,295 – and she has dropped 7st 5lbs since the operation in January 2019.

She now weighs a healthy 10st again and can slip into size 10 clothes with ease.

The mum is now is remission, after having radioactive iodine treatment for two weeks after her thyroid removal surgery.

10

The carer, from Fishponds in Bristol, said: “It was a weird sense of relief finding out the source of my weight gain, but it meant that I had to shift the pounds one way or another.

“Once the lump was removed, I wasn’t gaining any more weight, but I still had extra flab to lose.

“The doctors didn’t deem me ‘fat enough’ for help with it, so I had to go through the process alone.

“It was painful enough being in remission for cancer, let alone having to improve other aspects of my health without any support.

10

“I’m amazed that I shifted the weight, even if it did mean getting a gastric bypass to do so. I felt so abandoned by the doctors, and the mental torment of my weight gain was a real stress in my life.

“Things need to change so patients like me are better supported to help their side effects.”

Bryony had always been a size 10, so was worried when she started to gain weight rapidly in 2012, aged 23.

Her GP told her she had a BMI of 34 – putting her in the obese category – and despite the support of her partner Neal, 35, a baker, she couldn’t seem to slim down.

10

A second visit to the same doctor proved “pointless”, with Bryony simply encouraged to keep dieting.

But while on holiday to Marbella, Spain, in 2012, she spotted a lump when she tied her hair up to cool down in the heat.

The concerned mum visited a new GP, who sent her straight to hospital, where doctors ordered a scan and a biopsy, and kept her in for observation while they waited on the results.

“I was diagnosed with a papillary thyroid cancerous tumour the size of a large watch face, stretching from my neck to my breastbone and shoulder blade,” she said.

10

It was pressing against her thyroid – the gland which controls metabolism – and was preventing it from properly regulating her weight.

Bryony endured an eight-and-a-half hour operation to remove the thyroid and lymph nodes, and spent a week in hospital.

“I felt like I’d been pushed aside and made to feel like I was making it up,” she recalled.

“I knew there was a reason for the rapid weight gain but didn’t know what until I found that lump.”

10

Bryony married partner, Neal, in April 2013, and despite warnings her condition would make it hard to conceive due to hormonal imbalances, they went on to have daughter Eva, now five, born in June 2014.

She said: “I had to manage it all in stepping stones. First was getting out of hospital, then I had the wedding to plan. Luckily, that absorbed me.”

After being given the all-clear from cancer in 2013, not having a thyroid meant she still was unable to lose her excess weight normally.

“Despite being in remission since 2013, there weren’t any resources available to help me out with my size,” the mum explained.

10

“If I had reached a life-threatening size, then help would’ve been available, but I didn’t meet that threshold.

“My GP enrolled me in weight loss clubs and clinics, but just when I’d lose weight, I’d put it back on in the same week.

“The clinic also tried to refer me to local bariatric surgery team, but didn’t have a life-limiting condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure so they refused to treat me. I wasn’t fat enough for them.

“Eventually, I felt as though I couldn’t go on like this. I didn’t want to be this size.”

10

Bryony said she felt belittled by her GP after they misdiagnosed her cancer initially.

The mum continued: “I was completely failed by the system the first time round. Then when I did get my diagnosis, doctors picked and chose what aspects of my cancer they were going to help me with.  

“I was treated differently for my weight, after already being alienated since by cancer diagnosis. I came invisible to most and hit rock bottom.”

In 2018, five years after she was initially denied weight management treatment, she was able to privately fund a gastric bypass.

10

Bryony said: “I had the procedure in January 2019 and my life has been different since that day.

“Fast forward to now, I’ve proved to my medical team that I can and will lose weight if I am given the right tools.”

After dropping to a healthy 10st, she now wishes for the NHS to help more people with side effects like weight loss, rather than just targeting the cancer itself.

“I’ve lost 7st 5lbs since the op, I’m back at a size 10 and my mental wellbeing has improved dramatically,” the delighted mum revealed.

“I’ve got Bryony back again.”

NHS England commented: “Thyroid cancer is not recognised as causing weight gain as it does not impact on thyroid function.

“Certain conditions would have to be met before a gastric bypass could be offered as per NICE guidelines.”

In other real life news, we told you about the mum who used to spend £100 a month on hair removal but now celebrates her fuzzy body.

We also revealed how coronavirus stockpilers are protecting their huge hauls with BB guns and chainsaws.

And a dad discovered his baby had died over the phone during coronavirus lockdown.