Flowers and chocolates were not on the gift list for Kandy Noad’s Mother’s Day - instead, her family gave what she's always wanted: a pair of new breasts.
The 35-year-old mum of four from Staines says the breast augmentation operation, taking her from a 34AA to a DD cup, has transformed her life.
Before, she’d hide away her figure in oversized clothes and was so miserable about her boobs she barely went out. Now, she’s more confident than ever, enjoys shopping with her young daughters for clothes and partying with her friends and took 14 bikinis away on her last holiday to Turkey to show them off.
Kandy said: “I’ve never felt better and it has totally changed me. I feel so much more confident, I’ve lost weight and I feel like a new woman.
“Finally I have the figure I’ve always wanted. Spending Mother’s Day knocked out having a boob job is a bit different to going for a meal or a nice walk, but it’s a gift I am thankful of every day.”
Being pregnant and breastfeeding her children Beth, 15, Chloe, 12, Daniel, seven, and Jamie, four, left Kandy with what she describes as shrivelled sacks instead of the pert boobs she once had.
When a friend who worked with her at the Post Office told her she was going for a consultation for a boob job at Transform Clinic in Fulham in London, Kandy was green with envy and confided in her that she’d always dreamed of having the same operation.
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Kandy said: “Looking back I did feel very low. I hated my body and was so self conscious that I lived in baggy clothes and polo neck jumpers.
“But I didn’t have the money to do anything about it and it seemed pointless even looking into surgery.
“My friend said to go along to the clinic for a chat and just see what the options were, so last March, not long before Mother’s Day I did.”
After trying different implants for size, Kandy called her husband Darren, 38, a sales consultant, and told him how much she wanted the operation. Then they chatted to her parents Gail and Graham and between them raised the £3,500 needed to pay for the implants.
On Mother’s Day Kandy was put under general anaesthetic and woke up with her dream boobs.
She said: “It was the best day ever. Mum and Dad were so lovely to help out with paying for it too. My mum just said, ‘Well you’ve done so well with the kids and now it’s time for you to have something you want.’ She’d known for a few years, since having my youngest, that it was the one thing that was getting me down more and more.
“And going shopping with my older girls made me feel so self conscious as I’d pick up nice clothes, but having so little up top made them look terrible on me. I was a size 14 and always had to wear chicken fillets to make things fit because being that size you’re expected to have boobs!”
Now Kandy has slimmed to a size 10, going from 12st 7lbs to just under ten stone, and loves showing off her new figure in sexy dresses and vest tops and finally feels glamourous and feminine.
She said: “I was like a tomboy before but now I can wear the booblicious dresses I always used to envy other girls in.
“I think my boobs look natural, and going to be measured for the first time for a bra was so exciting, knowing I could wear one without padding and gel chicken fillets inside.
“I love buying nice lingerie and now own 30 bikinis - something I'd never have worn before, and because I have so much more confidence it’s been great for my relationship with Darren too.
“My family say it means a lot to see me as I am now, and the girls have even said the boys at their school call me a Yummy Mummy which is just hilarious!
“I take pride in how I look now, and I managed to slim down purely because I’m not comfort eating and I love life.
“I have more energy and I want to be out and about. I’ve not changed my diet, all I do as far as exercise is swim, but I’ve lost nearly three stone stone.
“Before, the other mums would ask me to go on nights out and I’d make excuses, but now I’m always out.
“I’ll wear vests or dresses to show off my cleavage, not because I want attention but because I’m finally able to.”
Kandy says she doesn’t listen to anyone who sees cosmetic surgery as vanity.
She said: “Since I had my first child, everything I have done has been for my kids and I just wanted to do something for me, to make me feel good and happy.
“If people want to see me as vain, that’s up to them, but anyone who knows me knows how down and insecure I was before and can see the change in me now.
“I can only see that as a positive thing. I can’t thank my family enough for doing this for me for Mother’s Day.
“It was the best gift ever and I know that the change it has made to me has made them very happy too.”
Kandy had her operation with Transform Cosmetic Surgery at their clinic in Isleworth in London. To find out more, visit www.transforminglives.co.uk.