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A mum has said her weight loss surgery left her with so much excess skin she now looks like she has "cow udders" and it's stopped her from having sex with her husband.

Claudette Hawk, from New York, shed half her body weight after getting a gastric band but her confidence has plummeted because of her loose skin, which she said has a "funky smell".

The 59-year-old claims she started piling on the weight after having her first child at 19, rising to 22st 8lbs and wearing a size 36.

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Then after a devastating thyroid cancer diagnosis in 2006 led to her having her thyroid removed, she put on even more weight.

But in 2016 the mum-of-two decided something needed to change when she realised she could "barely walk up the stairs" to her apartment and her weight was stopping her from doing things with her granddaughter.

The gran finally got a gastric sleeve in 2019 and her weight quickly plummeted to 11st 9lbs but the mass amount of loose skin she's been left with has made her feel even less confident than before she lost the weight.

Claudette said: "When I looked in the mirror when I was heavy, I [was able to look at myself]. Now I don't like looking in the mirror other than at my face. I don't like my body at all. It's horrendous.

"I used to have a nice set of breasts, now I look like I have cow udders. I try not to look at my body.

"I have no boobs, they are flat and hang down. I roll them up and put them in the bra so it looks like I have boobs but I don't. They're nothing you'd want to look at."

She added: "The tops of my legs are like elephant stumps, they're very heavy with the skin hanging there.

"I'm more self-conscious about my body now than I was when I was bigger. I would never go out in shorts or a t-shirt. I wear compression hosiery, sleeves, a belt around my belly."

It's not only her confidence that has been affected but her sex life too.

She explained: "It affects intimacy. I don't let my husband see me without clothes on. I did when I was bigger.

"It's hard because we did have a pretty active sex life when I was heavier which I'm still trying to wrap my mind around.

"I feel like I'm not attractive to him now with my body looking the way it is, which is why we don't."

Claudette says she was warned by doctors about getting loose skin after the op and was told exercising would help but claims she was unable to after the surgery made her body go into shock.

"I knew there would be excess skin because I was overweight for so long and I was told as long as after the surgery I exercised it wouldn't be so bad but I couldn't exercise because I was in bad shape. It wears me out," she said.

Now, Claudette is trying to fundraise $15,000 so she can undergo surgery to remove the loose skin and hopes it will help her be happy again.

She said: "I'm hoping the surgery will change things but there's no guarantee. The skin gives me rashes where the skin is overlapping and there's a funky smell. It's a constant thing.

"The extra skin on my arms pulls and the gravity makes everything heavier and harder to do things.

"It can be painful so I wear a lot of compression garments."

She added: "The surgery is quite expensive. I think I would be able to look at myself and emotionally happier because even when I take a shower, I get in and out.

"It would save time because I wouldn't have to use all the compressions. I have to get my body all secure so it takes me a while to get dressed."

Despite all the problems the excess skin has caused, Claudette revealed she doesn't regret going through with the surgery because it did lead to her losing weight.

She said: "I had a horrific experience with the sleeve but I never regretted having it no matter how bad I felt because I was losing weight. It took my body a really long time to adjust."

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'I have smelly loose skin and boobs like udders after weight loss op sex life is over' - Daily Star