My family lent me £3,000 for an operation in Turkey – I almost died and can’t eat solids

MUM Lucy Mawson, 32, has a stark warning for anyone who does so
is planning to travel abroad for surgery.

As I buckled my seat belt and listened to the captain’s words, my heart sank.

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“There is a technical problem with the plane, ladies and gentlemen, and unfortunately we have to return to Manchester Airport,” he said.

It was September 2022 and I was on my way to the coastal city of Izmir, Turkey for a cheap gastric bypass, an operation that reduces the size of your stomach so you can’t eat as much.

I was inspired after watching a TikTok video where a woman showed off her weight loss after the procedure.

Single for years after having my son, Chester, three, in January 2019, I weighed 15st and had a BMI of 32, putting me in the obese category.

Screaming in pain

Diets and exercise didn’t seem to work. I would lose a few pounds and put them back on in a few weeks.

The NHS would normally only fund the operation for people with a BMI – which measures height against weight – of 40+.

Privately, stomach surgery in Britain costs between £7,000 and £11,000, so going to Turkey, where it is much cheaper, seemed like a brilliant idea.

I found the operation where the woman on TikTok had hers done and my grandparents agreed to lend me £3,100 to pay for it.

But my mother Estelle, now 60, was furious.

“It’s so dangerous Lucy,” she insisted, showing me news reports of women who had died after undergoing one.

I have since read about Hayley Butler, 40, from Norwich, who died after stomach surgery in Turkey last month and it is devastating.

Last year, Shannon Meenan Browse, from Derry, Northern Ireland, was 32 when she died as a result of her operation in Turkey 18 months earlier.

But I didn’t worry about my mother’s warnings in 2019. “That won’t happen to me,” I thought at the time, even though I stupidly hadn’t even bothered to look at the operation online.

The plane’s return seemed a bad omen and the subsequent 23-hour delay an even worse one.

I hated my body and found it disgusting. I’ve struggled with my weight since I was a teenager

Lucy

“Please don’t do it, this is a sign,” my mother begged after I called.

But even though part of me thought she had a point, I was determined.

I hated my body and found it disgusting. I had struggled with my weight since I was a teenager and had tried every diet.

When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t see a curvy, sexy woman, but a huge blob.

Sometimes I didn’t even want to leave the house. I loathed every inch of myself.

So this quick surgery felt like the answer to my prayers.

When I finally arrived in Turkey, I, and a surprising number of other people from my plane, were picked up in luxury cars and taken straight to the hospital.

When we arrived, the staff came in with a load of forms to sign. I imagine they informed me about the risks of surgery, but I didn’t read them, I just scribbled my name.

Five minutes later I had a cannula in my arm. It was so hasty.

I had surgery at 6am and my next memory is waking up in a recovery room full of other patients, screaming in pain.

“Please help me,” I kept crying.

Finally a nurse came by and gave me pain relief. It was phenomenal how many patients around me – fifteen men and women – had all just had surgery, just like me.

I spent the next three days in the hospital in pain. Just six hours after the surgery I had called my mother and she was terrified for me but felt helpless.

She wanted to be with me, but she cared for Chester.

I kept being told that the pain was normal and that it was just trapped wind.

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After three days I was supposed to fly home, but I couldn’t even walk properly. A CT scan had to be done to make it clear to me that I could fly. It was like a cattle market outside the scanning room, with everyone waiting to enter.

The scan was done so quickly that I was concerned whether it had been properly checked, but I was cleared to fly.

Still in agony, I boarded the plane, but fainted during the journey due to the excruciating pain.

My father, Michael, 61, picked me up from Manchester Airport. As I drove home to Bradford, I was doubled over in pain.

Internal bleeding

The next day I drove myself to the emergency room at Calderdale Hospital in Halifax, West York, where they discovered that my blood pressure was sky high.

I told them about my surgery so they gave me a scan and discovered I had internal bleeding.

They took me to the larger Huddersfield hospital nearby.

The blood pooled in my pelvic area causing terrible pain. All I could think about was Chester.

I thought I would die and he would grow up without a mother, all because I chose to go to Turkey for cheap surgery.

The doctors told me I was lucky to have gotten in and that my situation could have been life-threatening.

I was in the hospital for six nights and was closely monitored until my blood levels stabilized.

It was terrifying. The hospital staff said they thought the Turkish hospital had not stitched me up properly after the operation, causing me to continue bleeding.

The idea of ​​sitting on a plane while bleeding internally makes me sick with horror.

I contacted the Turkish hospital, but the communication was shocking. I received nothing, not even an apology, and I felt too traumatized to see a lawyer.

Since then I have lost almost 6st and now weigh 8st and 10st, but it has been a high price to pay.

At one point I dropped below 8th and had to be given weight gain shakes, which I still take. At that moment I cried for what I had done to myself.

I can honestly say that I would prefer to still be obese and never have had the surgery.

I have become virtually unable to eat anything decent as solid food causes me significant pain. The doctors are still investigating how they can help.

I get dizzy up to 30 times a day. I recently got out of bed to see Chester and passed out in his bedroom. I could have hit my head and not be here now.

He was terrified, but luckily I recovered quickly. I have to live with those risks every day.

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Now I hardly have a social life because of the risk of getting sick and being in pain when I’m away. It’s heartbreaking and I hate that Chester sees his mother like this.

Ironically, I have much less self-confidence than before.

I have no curves and no ass at all. I feel like I’m not sexy. I emphasize that some men may find me too thin.

If I could have turned back the clock, I would never have done this to myself and risked my life.

I’m skinny but sad and no quick fix is ​​worth it.

If you’re planning on traveling abroad for cheap surgery, my biggest piece of advice is don’t do that.

Your health and happiness are much more important. I wish I had listened to my mother.

Expert opinion

DOCTOR Leah Totton, a cosmetic and medical doctor, told Fabulous Daily: “Although there are many highly competent surgeons working abroad, my advice to people is to have surgery with a trusted plastic surgeon in the UK.

“The level of skills and training required to become a plastic surgeon in Britain is high and the medical practice of every doctor in Britain is regulated by the General Medical Council.

“UK private hospitals are regulated by the Healthcare Quality Commission, meaning standards of cleanliness, professionalism and care are closely monitored.”