What a difference a day makes: My mum’s intervention from the other side made me get bariatric surgery

CADA Performing Arts founder Catherine Mahon-Buckley tells Helen O’Callaghan how a momentous medical decision has transformed her health and how she sees herself. 

Artistic director of the Cork Academy of Dramatic Arts Catherine Mahon-Buckley: "Stress is related to asthma – at this time of year, doing Panto, I’d be starting to choke and on my inhaler ‘til March." Picture: David Creedon.

When I was younger I was really thin. I was thin getting married. I started taking the pill and I blew out – I ended up having a blub that was under my bust. Some people call it a spare tyre. It was horrible. You name it, I tried every diet – I was permanently on diets and going nowhere.

I’d always had chest problems. I spent my first four years in and out of hospital for TB so I had a weakness in my chest – asthma kicked in when I was in my early 30s. Stress is related to asthma – at this time of year, doing Panto, I’d be starting to choke and on my inhaler ‘til March.

I developed diabetes, borderline. The doctor always checked my weight and blood sugar levels. One day he said we could reverse this but it’d mean an operation. At the time I didn’t know what he was talking about – he meant bariatric surgery. I said forget it, not a hope. I was grieving at that time – I’d just buried my mother. I didn’t want to know about surgery.

After my third Covid vaccine, I had a bad reaction. My lungs had to be cleaned out. I realised my diaphragm couldn’t go down properly because of the blub. I got such a fright – ‘Jesus, my diaphragm can’t work properly!’ 

I realised if I wanted a healthy life and maybe an extension of my life – and to feel good about myself – I’d have to make changes.

 

And maybe I was ready for that change then because a decision to go for bariatric surgery is not one you take lightly. I woke up the following morning, said nothing to no-one, took up the phone and made the appointment with the surgeon.

But you don’t go in and say ‘I want bariatric surgery’. You’re put through rigorous tests with several consultants – heart, chest, I had a colonoscopy, a sigmoidoscopy. I had to see a psychologist, dietician, physio – they all had to tick the box to say I’d be able for it before I’d be considered.

You need to be very strong in your mind to walk this journey. My mind was in the right place and when that happens, the strength you get… nothing was going to stop me.

A month before the operation I had to go on an 800 calorie-a-day diet and I had to exercise. I joined the gym. That was amazing. I used to go three days a week, now I go seven – it puts me in the right frame of mind for the day.

Right up to the operation I was euphoric. I couldn’t wait. I was euphoric that I’d be thinner. I love my fashion and I was dreaming about all the things I’d be able to fit into. I had the operation on June 14 last year. I came out of it successfully.

Artistic director of the Cork Academy of Dramatic Arts Catherine Mahon-Buckley: "You need to be very strong in your mind to walk this journey." Picture: David Creedon.

But after was hard. I couldn’t eat for nearly six weeks, just shakes or little sips of what I could take. It’s only now, a year later, that I’m starting to drink water again. Everybody’s different, but your whole eating habits change radically. 

I’d have called myself a shoveller and a gulper. Now my stomach dictates: ‘I’ve enough, thank you very much, stop’. And I stop. I’m quite happy with that.

They warn you that relationships can suffer after this surgery. I can see why. Going out for meals has been a no-no for the last year. Christmas Day 2023, I was dreading sitting down to dinner with others and eating so little, but then I realised nobody gives a sugar what you eat – they’re so engrossed in what they’re eating themselves. That built my confidence.

Ted has been so supportive of me. Sometimes In a restaurant I say to him to order – I pick off his plate and that’s grand, it suits me.

When I had my blub, I’d look in the mirror. Sometimes I’d see eight stone and I could be double that. Then I’d see a photo and think Jesus, is that me! Oh my God, that’s what people are seeing. And I’d feel a failure. 

Artistic director of the Cork Academy of Dramatic Arts Catherine Mahon-Buckley. Picture: David Creedon.

Pre-surgery, I was a size 18. Maybe I was fooling myself – maybe I was a 22. Now I’m size 10.

I feel very secure in myself. I feel I’ve changed because I wanted to change and I’ve changed into something great. But I didn’t do this for aesthetic reasons – I did it for my health. I’m no longer diabetic or asthmatic.

I went through last winter with my lungs clear for the first time in years. I didn’t have a cough or cold, I was on no steroid or antibiotic. I feel very healthy now. My energy levels are through the roof.

My blood sugars were 8.6 just before the surgery, now they’re at 4.6. My doctor showed my pre-op blood sugars and those from now to a colleague. They said ‘what’s the connection between these two people?’ They couldn’t believe it was the same person.

People might think it’s loopy, but I do believe it was my mum’s intervention from the other side. She’d always say to me about the blub, that it wasn’t normal. Apparently, she’d spoken to Ted, my husband – she asked him to make sure I’d get it sorted.

• Catherine Mahon-Buckley is director of Cork’s Traditional Pantomime, Red Riding Hood, at The Everyman until January 12.