I had surgery in Turkey.

[AMATurk]

Ama!

Plastic surgery?

Hope you are recovering well x

Turkey teeth ??

What was the difference in price compared to UK?

Should have said what surgery

Why?

A gastric sleeve.

It was in 2021 and all went well.

I paid £2.5k and the UK price was around £8k/10k

Were you covered by travel insurance

Because I had severely disordered eating
I was 18stone and getting bigger.

I was under the NHS weight management team and had completed several courses and sessions to be approved for the procedure through the NHS but then Covid hit and everything was basic shut down.

I was told at that point not to expect any movement on the wait list for at least 4 years.

I was desperate.

If you had a gastric sleeve, do you now feel annoyed that the skinny jabs are out, which is much easier way to lose weight?

I bought specialised medical travel insurance that covered extended hospital stays, flight rearrangements and repatriation etc

Kind of.

I actually ended up using the jabs after the sleeve to lose the last 2 stone I couldnt shift.

I would have probably been able to lose it all with jabs BUT I may have regained it afterwards without the sleeve making it impossible for me to overeat again.

Thanks for answering that, I've always wondered how it works, because when I get travel insurance they always ask if I'm going for medical reasons or surgery.

Yes, normal insurance won't cover it. I think the insurance was around £100?

What was your weight before the sleeve and what is your weight now

What was the hospital and care like? Did you have to stay in a hotel post op?

Were you frightened of getting surgery done in Turkey? They have much lower standards of care than UK.

What was your weight pre op and now?
What's your age and height.
Do you still have disordered eating now?

What did you do to address the source of your disordered eating? Are you still on weight loss medication? What do you eat in a typical day?

I was 18 stone in Turkey.

I am now 9 stone.

The hospital was nice enough. The rooms were like Turkish holiday rooms. Bed for patient, pull out bed for companion. Bathroom, balony, air conditioning. All very white and clean.

The nurses in the operating theatre were absolutely lovely.

The aftercare nurses were nice enough and the care was very good. Regular after visits frkm surgeon. Full surgery report to take home.

Interestingly the ran a LOAD of tests that you just don't get in England.

In England I would have had a pre-op bloodtest alonee I think?

In Turkey they did a full abdominal ultrasound scan, xrays. blood test, lung function test, cardiology eco scan thingy (can't remember the name of it) and an endoscopy.

One of the women I was with actually failed one of her tests so they wouldn't operate.

Another lied about having a vlood related disorder which they picked up on and they denied her too.

Which was strangly reassuring to me at the time.

I just stayed in the hospital recovery suite until I had my flight home. Well not home, ai had to fly to Ireland for 10 days because of covid!

See above message for all tests etc...

I was scared, but not because it was Turkey at that time but because it was major surgery.

But I have to admit that going down to surgery was EXTREMELY scary as it was like a weird basement area and I had a complete 'WTF am I doing?? moment" But the nurse saw how scared I was and was so lovely and was stroking my hair and singing to me in Turkish.

5ft5.
18st pre op
9st now. Maintained under 11 stone for 3 years and 9st for 18months.

I do not.