Daily Mail, Wednesday 29 August 2007

I had a belly full of Marriage so I had a tummy tuck instead

By Ian Carey

AFTER a break-up most people hit the gym or try the latest fad diet to shift some weight and start afresh.

But one Irish woman celebrated her separation from her husband by dropping an incredible four dress sizes with the help of a tummy tuck.

Mother-of-one Maria Ryan has been given 'a whole new lease of life' after she plummeted from a size 18 to a size 10 as a result of cosmetic surgery.

Following her separation from her husband, the Wicklow resident decided to undergo the procedure which she now describes as 'the best thing ever’.

Originally living in London, the 43-year-old came back to Ireland and decided to go under the knife to boost her flagging confidence.

‘I was invisible before but now I'm not,' she enthused. 'I thought about it for almost five years, I weighed up all the options and decided to get it done.'

Going under the knife may seem daunting but for Maria it was a move forward she needed to make.

‘I wasn't that nervous at all. I had the utmost faith in the surgeon. He gave me a really thorough consultation, I didn't even have any questions at the end of it,' she said.

Tummy tucks have a reputation for being painful and leaving patients bruised but Maria said the surgery itself was not that painful.

'There was some soreness but overall it was just superficial. It has been eight weeks since the operation and I'm feeling great,' she said.

It wasn't until Maria was freed from her low self-esteem that she had the confidence to tell people.

She said: 'I kept it from my friends because I didn't want to be weighed down with people's opinions. After all, it is my body, but when I told them and showed my friends a lot of their perceptions changed.'

Friends and family have all been supportive since she told them of her operation. 'Some of my friends are amazed at how easy the whole thing was and some are even considering it themselves.' Ailish Carthy, managing director of the Cosmedico Clinic where Maria got her tummy tuck, explains that many Irish women are seeking a confidence boost.

'More and more Irish women are waking up to the value of self-esteem,' she said.

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