A woman who splashed out £10k on weight loss surgery says she was left “throwing up lumps of flesh” and “it isn’t worth the pain”.
Sofia Alessia says she piled on the pounds after her first pregnancy and went from size 10 to a size 16, tipping the scales at 16 stone, she tried the gym after and running but struggled due to ”emotional eating” and decided surgery was her best bet. But while researching online, Sofia, 27, decided against going to Turkey for cheap surgery after reading numerous ”horror stories”.
She ended up picking a UK-based clinic who she claims offered her a £3k discount from the £10k surgery if she shared her review online. Just three weeks later, the mum-of-one went in for the three-hour long gastric sleeve surgery on January 31, 2022. But says after she came round from the general anaesthetic, she says she felt ”immediately sick”.
Over the following days was left ”constantly throwing up lumps of flesh” and unable to keep any fluids or food down. After 24 hours she was discharged home but was there for just three hours before calling 999 and being rushed to Blackburn Hospital. She was treated there for pneumonia and blood clots in her lungs for three weeks, before returning to the private clinic for a gastric bypass.
Sofia Alessia before weight-loss surgery
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Sofia Alessia / SWNS)
Sofia feared she wouldn’t see her daughter again
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Sofia Alessia / SWNS)
The clinic believed a bypass would fix the issues as they admitted to removing too much of her stomach during the first procedure. But unfortunately the fix didn’t work and Sofia’s condition went dramatically downhill when she developed sepsis. Four days later she retuned to NHS care at Worcester Hospital, where surgeons tried to salvage what remained of her stomach.
During this final surgery, doctors were able to remove the staples from her bowels and small intestine, which had caused the deadly infection. Sofia has now lost a total of seven stone, now weighs nine stone, and is recovering back home with daughter Alya-Valentina, four.
The influencer, from Littleborough, Greater Manchester, said: “I was always told to never go to Turkey. But staying in the UK for it nearly killed me anyway. I couldn’t eat or drink for weeks. Everyday was a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I was vomiting lumps of flesh every day and night. I do love my glow up, but I wish I didn’t have to go through hell.”
Before becoming a mum, Sofia ”easily maintained” a size 10 figure but gained weight in 2019, after the birth of her daughter, Alya-Valentina. She began binging on family-sized packets of crisps and a multipacks of Kinder buenos, and soon inflated to a size 16. Sofia said: “I didn’t know what do. I knew I wasn’t happy for my size, but I couldn’t stop binge eating. I needed help.”
Sofia says the surgery was not worth the pain
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Sofia Alessia / SWNS)
She spent £10k on surgery
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Sofia Alessia / SWNS)
After piling on the pounds, the new mum booked in for weight loss surgery at what she believed to be a reputable clinic, in January 31, 2022. Sofia said: “I was really happy with my original surgeon but they switched them last minute. I was nervous but I had already booked it all and didn’t feel like I could pull out. I just wanted to get started.”
On 21 March 2022, Sofia underwent a gastric bypass, but due to the issues with the previous surgery, they were forced to remove ”almost all’ of her stomach. During the procedure, the surgeon stapled her bowel into her smaller intestine which caused chronic sepsis to quickly develop. She went straight to Worcester Hospital for further treatment.
“I begged a nurse to save my life and begged for other doctors,” she said. “I didn’t think I would ever say my daughter again. I wasn’t getting answers and I felt like I was losing a bit of myself everyday. The surgeon called my mum and told her that I might die. My family was distraught. The clinic was talking to me every day over WhatsApp.”
On March 25, 2022, NHS doctors performed a successful surgery to remove staples from the lower intestine and stomach, and they drained the infection from her body. After three months in hospital, on April 9 she returned home. Sofia, who now has multiple scars on her stomach, has now lost seven but has been left with an internal hernia which requires another surgery to remove.
Sofia said: “Everyone told me to never go to Turkey for weight loss surgery. But I paid £10k here and I still was left butchered. I’m still recovering, but day by day my body is healing. Weight loss surgery isn’t worth the pain.”