Mum died after gastric bypass to enable her have a child

A woman who achieved her dream of
becoming a mum died after suffering an
infection from the gastric bypass operation
that made it possible. Joanne Slater, 38, had longed for a child
after three miscarriages. She had weight loss surgery because
medics feared her size was stopping her
getting pregnant. The procedure was successful as Joanne
went from 23 stone to 12. And she and husband Michael were
overjoyed when she later gave birth to Lily-
Mai. But their happiness turned to tragedy when
Joanne contracted a deadly infection, which
Michael believes was linked to the surgery. Earlier this month he made the
heartbreaking decision to turn off her life
support after she suffered devastating brain
damage. Today Michael said his wife’s “shock” death
highlighted the potential risks involved with
bariatric surgery. He said: “My daughter doesn’t have a
mummy because of the operation that gave
her life.” Family: Joanne with Lily-Mai in St Ives in
2010 Michael, a cancer nurse, said insurance
worker Joanne is thought to have gained
weight because of a hormone imbalance. She was offered the surgery and went under
the knife in 2005. Initially Joanne lost half her body weight and
was full of energy. Michael told how she made the decision to
have surgery after spending years trying to
start a family. He added: “We’d almost given up hope. You
name a diet, Joanne had tried it. “When Joanne had her operation, it was still
relatively new, and doctors are now finding
more patients developing problems further
down the line.” Michael, who met his wife when they worked
at a care home together, said: “She did very
well initially, it couldn’t have gone better. “She was bright, bubbly, the life and soul of
the party.” As Joanne slimmed down the couple started
exercising more, dancing and walking. In 2006 they got married and took a trip to
Africa and in 2009 Lily-Mai was born three
months premature. Happy: Joanne in 2008, three years after
bypass operation Michael said: “Joanne was so proud. She
was fantastic, everything you would want in
a mum. But unfortunately her health got
worse.” In 2011, two years after Lily-Mai was born,
the mum started to feel tired and unwell. She was found to have developed serious
nutritional deficiencies. Just before Christmas last year she
developed a rare and deadly listeria
infection. “It’s difficult - if she’d never had the
operation, we’d never have had Lily-Mai,”
Michael explains. He told how Joanne’s weight loss became
extreme, and she complained of muscle
pains and tiredness. Doctors prescribed supplements for a lack of
nutrients but her health continued to decline. Eventually she weighed just nine stone. The infection was discovered in Joanne’s
blood when she was admitted to intensive
care at the Northern General Hospital in her
home city of Sheffield, South Yorks just
before Christmas. She went into cardiac arrest on New Year’s
Eve brought on by pneumonia. Medics managed to revive her, but her brain
was severely damaged by lack of oxygen. Northern General: Where Joanne had her
gastric bypass operation and died Michael said: “The listeria really wiped her
out. “I asked the consultants if they had any idea
how it got there and they said no. “It’s a rare infection, they could only say it
was probably related to the surgery.” Joanne’s parents Rita and David, and her
brother Doyle, gathered at her bedside when
she died on Friday, January 3. Michael said: “I said thank you to her for the
wonderful life we had together.” Talking about the surgery, he added: “For
anybody considering this surgery, my advice
would be not to take the decision lightly.” A gastric bypass makes the stomach
smaller, meaning patients feel full more
quickly, and reduces the amount of calories
absorbed in the bowel. Joanne had the procedure on the NHS at
Thornbury Hospital, Ranmoor, South
Yorkshire. Before operation: Joanne weighed 23 stone Michael added: “I just wish that she had
managed to lose that weight some other
way. “I wish it more than anything in the world.” The number of people who have died after
undergoing a gastric bypass was not
available tonight. But the risk of dying during or shortly after
the operation is one in 100. Patients can die
from a pulmonary embolism, internal
bleeding, a heart attack, a stroke, or, as in
Joanne’s case, infection.