Melissa Jolly was sick of her ‘spaniel’s ears’ and tucking her tummy out if of sight
CHECKING the weather forecast, Melissa Jolly let out a sigh.
For most people, bright sunshine and high temperatures would be welcome, but for the mother of four, it was her worst n.i.g.h.t.m.a.r.e.
She acknowledges, “I dreaded summer coming around every year.”
“I’d cover up as much as possible, but in the heat, it was impossible.”
Previously happy with her looks, Melissa admits that since becoming a mum she had become increasingly self-conscious about her appearance.
“After my eldest, Lucca, was born when I was 20, my belly and boobs had changed for the worse,” she says.
After separating from their father, I found a new man after having Annabel.
After being married, we had two more children.
“While I loved that my body had kept my babies safe, I hated how it looked. It felt unrecognisable to me.”
Melissa, a Manchester resident, had tried everything from smoothie diets to rigorous exercise regimens over the years in an attempt to remove the flab.
But at 29, Melissa was still a size 16.
The 32-year-old claims that the thing that concerned her the most was her loose skin.
“I tucked my saggy tum into big Bridget Jones-style pants while my 34E spaniel ears would be hoicked up in a bra.
“When I went for drinks with friends, they’d be in teeny co-ords and body-con dresses.
“I always wished I could do the same but instead, I donned a frumpy shirt dress to cover up my baggy tum.”
Shopping was out of the question for the mum too.
“I couldn’t cope with changing room mirrors,” she admits
“So, I’d live in oversized tees and big jumpers, two sizes too large.
“I’d moan to my husband that I looked like a woman in my 50s and gradually became more depressed about the way I looked.”
Then, when Melissa’s granddad passed away suddenly it made her take a new outlook at her life.
“I missed him dearly and it made me think that life was too short to live my life this way,” she says.
“I wasn’t happy in our marriage, so I moved out and we got divorced.”
The former couple stayed civil and took it in turns to take care of the kids but Melissa says that her body hang ups were still taking a toll.
“I’d always put my kids first,” she says.
“If they needed something, of course I’d go without. That’s just what mums do.
“But I realised, I have to do something for myself.”
Melissa began looking into surgery to have her excess skin removed.
“It was pricey, but I was investing in me,” she says.
“Luckily, I had a pot of money left over from the divorce settlement.”
She came across a clinic with great reviews online, the Pall Mall clinic in Manchester.
When a friend went in for surgery and came out looking ‘fabulous’ Melissa decided it was time to take the bull by the horns.
After a consultation with Dr Prabad at Pall Mall, she booked in for a breast enlargement with uplift, tummy tuck, liposuction, and muscle repair on her stomach.
And it didn’t come cheap with Melissa’s final bill coming in at £15,000, a price she was happy to pay.
“I wanted to make sure I was in safe hands,” she explains.
“I only told a few people close to me what I had planned because I didn’t need unwanted opinions.
“My friend Steph agreed to help out with the kids and change dressings.
“Luckily, she was a nurse, and so was my mum.
“They’d take care of me while I rested up after the operation.”
Only Steph had another idea of how she could help her friend out.
“One day, about two weeks before my surgery, she suggested that I go on a date with her brother,” says Melissa.
“I’d met her brother Will a few times, and he seemed a good sort.
“But we didn’t know each other well. Still, we went on a date and had a few drinks and he was easy to chat to.
“When I explained about my surgery, he looked me up and down and told me I didn’t need to have it done.
“It was sweet but I wasn’t doing this for any man. This was all for me.”
The pair began dating and Melissa says that she still felt self-conscious about her figure.
“I felt self-conscious getting undressed in front of Will but he made it clear he fancied me rotten anyway,” she says.
“Even with my boobs hanging down round my middle!”
When the day of the operation rolled around, Melissa arranged for her two eldest to stay with her mum for the weekend while the two youngest were at their dad’s so she could recover in peace.
Will joined Melissa at the clinic where the reality of what she was undertaking dawned on her.
“My stomach was full of butterflies as I was wheeled into the operating theatre,” she says.
“But I pictured my brand-new body as everything turned black.
“When I woke up, I looked down and there, under bandages, were my new perky 34G boobs.
“They were mountains compared to what I was used to and while I couldn’t see my flat tum, I could certainly feel it.”
Thrilled but battered and bruised, Melissa recovered at the clinic with Will by her side before she was eventually sent home.
A week later, Melissa’s drains were removed from her chest and with the help of Steph and her mum within another week she was on the mend.
“My bandages were off and, like magic, I was a whole new woman,” Melissa says.
With a new found confidence, Melissa bought brand-new outfits to accentuate her size 14 curves.
“When I pulled on a body-con dress with a huge cut-out over the midriff, I gasped,” she admits.
“Will took me out to a bar to celebrate, six weeks after my surgery.
“I felt spectacular and when I nipped to the ladies, even people I didn’t know were full of lovely comments.
“I didn’t care what blokes thought but all those gorgeous girls fawning over my figure was the cherry on top of the cake.”
Seven months on from surgery, Melissa says her kids are reaping the rewards of her new positive outlook.
“I’m full of beans, taking them on day trips and even swimming,” she says.
“We’d never gone to the pool together before.
“And on the school run, I’ll be in little co-ords, proudly showing my shape.”
And it’s not just the kids who are benefiting.
“With my new-found confidence, it’s Christmas every day for Will in the bedroom now too,” says Melissa.
“This summer, I’ll be proudly wearing bikinis by the pool.
“We need to ditch the stigma around ‘mummy makeovers’.
“It’s OK to want to get your groove back after having children.
“I feel sexy and empowered – you can’t put a price on that.”
