WHEN Dena Allam and her husband David began their married life, they never imagined a world where they didn’t share a bed.
But just a few months after tying the knot, Dave had already started .
There were no crossed words or fallings-out to blame.
Rather Dena was so overweight, tipping the scales at 20st, that she suffered from .
The condition stopped her breathing and meant her was so bad, Dave was driven out of the marital bed.
The 62-year-old was forced to wear a special mask to pump oxygen into her mouth as she slept to keep her airways open.
Dena, from Bishop Stortford, , tells Sun Health: “I went into the bathroom and gave myself a real shock when I looked in the cabinet mirror.
“There staring back at me was a face covered in a mask that looked like it should be out of a horror film.
“It was the middle of the night, and I’d just got up to use the toilet.
“When I saw what I looked like, I just felt despair.
“It was my sleep apnoea mask, which I wore, hooked up to a machine as I slept.”;
The is one of the most common treatments for .
The condition causes sufferers to briefly stop breathing when the airways relax so much that they narrow down or completely close.
It can happen hundreds of times each night, leading to a lack of oxygen.
The CPAP machine delivers pressurised air through a tube and mask, keeping a continuous flow of air that stabilises a person’s breathing.
“I was so overweight that I stopped breathing multiple times throughout the night,”; Dena says.
“So this mask helped me by constantly pumping air into my mouth as I slept, keeping my airways open.
“It wasn’t the most romantic sight for my husband David.
“We’d only got married just a few months before and my snoring was so bad that it had driven him into the spare room.
“So much for nights of passion.....with this mask on and him sleeping in the spare room it wasn’t exactly how I’d imagined married life to be.”;
I’d buy a box of four doughnuts fully intending to share them around, but then I’d eat two of them, and before I knew it I’d be eating the other two just to get rid of the evidence
Dena Allam
The couple met on in 2017, and when they in June 2022, Dena had managed to , reaching 13st.
“I’d struggled with my weight all my life, and soon after we met, I started to pile it back on,”; she says.
“Then I managed to lose a few stone for the wedding, but then piled it on once more.
“My main weakness was my portion sizes.
“For breakfast, I’d have a couple of slices of toast; for lunch, I’d have another four slices of bread in sandwiches, followed by crisps and chocolate biscuits; then for dinner I’d have meat or fish, or a pizza.
“I ate a lot of processed foods with big portions on my plate, and I’d snack on biscuits and sweet treats.
“I’d buy a box of four doughnuts fully intending to share them around, but then I’d eat two of them, and before I knew it I’d be eating the other two just to get rid of the evidence.”;
Just before the couple got married, Dave bought a canal boat – it was his dream to go .
But with a sinking heart, Dena knew she would never be able to get on the narrow vessel.
“At over 19st, it wasn’t going to be easy to squeeze into the narrow galley kitchen,”; she says.
“Dave knew how unhappy I was with my weight.
“It was a real passion killer not even being able to sleep in the same room.
“And I just hoped I didn’t bump into Dave wearing my mask in the middle of the night – I’d have given him the fright of his life.
“Even at 62, I still had lots of romance left in me, but this certainly wasn’t helping.”;
‘The weight began to fall off me'
Dena knew she needed to take action and started researching her options online.
She finally set her sights on having a £6,000 at a clinic called Weight Loss Riga in .
She says: “Dave agreed that it seemed like the perfect solution for me, and he agreed to pay for it as my Christmas present.”;
So in December 2023, just two weeks before Christmas, the couple flew out to Latvia together.
“The staff at the clinic were wonderful and made me feel so comfortable,”; Dena says.
“The surgery was carried out, and then four days later I was discharged.
“At first I could only have liquids, then I could introduce bits of food slowly as my stomach was much smaller.
“The weight began to fall off me.”;
By August last year, Dena had shed 5st, weighing just over 14st.
“I felt fantastic,”; she admits. “I’m still planning on losing another 3st to get to my ideal weight.
“I’ve had to cut my portion sizes right down. I have 30g of cereal in the morning, then one slice of bread with tuna or cheese on it for lunch, and then a small portion of chicken or fish for dinner.
“Mid morning I’ll snack on a piece of fruit, or an oat bar that I’ve made myself. I just don’t feel hungry to eat anything else.”;
Dena adds: “Dave thinks I look fantastic. He loves me whatever size I am, but he is so thrilled that I’ve had it done for my own confidence and health.
“I’ve got so much more energy now – I go bike riding, and I don’t get out of breath getting up the stairs.
“And best of all, I’m back to sharing a bed with my husband.
“I don’t wear any horror film type mask as I don’t suffer from sleep apnoea anymore, so I won’t be scaring him in the middle of the night.
“We are just like any other normal married couple sharing a bedroom.”;
She hopes that her story inspires others to turn their lives around.
“I’m proof that you don’t have to spend a fortune on surgery, and it has totally changed my life,”; Dena says.
“I can fit into David’s canal boat easily now!
“We have been travelling along all the waterways in the UK for the past few months – we’ve been through Hertfordshire, Bath, Stratford and we are planning to carry on up to York.
“I could never have imagined myself living on a boat weighing nearly 20st.
“It’s hard work opening all the lock gates, and I couldn’t even walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for breath. But now I can do it easily.
“And the sparks are back flying between David and I couldn’t be happier.”;
