Has anyone been to turkey for a gastric band?

[atravelnovice]

Hi all,

I know this isn't a AIBU but the traffic here is good and I was wondering if anyone could share their experience here. I'd like the know the good the bad and the ugly and what it's like afterwards.

I'm 27, 5'7 and 17st - I'm pregnant and would like to have this surgery once the babies born (when it's okay to) so just wanted to ask for some experiences please

Thank you

If I was obese and battling daily with the mental drain like a fighting soldier I'd have the operation in a heartbeat.

One big change for my friend was nights out, prior to the sleeve she'd have to plan clothes for weeks, it caused great anxiety now she can wear anything she has lost 7 stone.

I'd no idea going out caused her major stress.

@JudgeRindersMinder Wow that is amazing, congratulations.
You must feel like a new person.

@Snog

OP is there an obvious reason for your weight gain?

I've always struggled with my weight as I have BPD and a binge eating disorder however this has been made worse due to having my baby in jan 2021 and my dad passing away in March 21 - I was grieving and had PND and didn't get out of bed for about 9 months which has helped put the three stone on - now I'm pregnant and bigger than ever I'm just looking into my options of when this baby is born.

[quote EmeraldShamrock1]@JudgeRindersMinder Wow that is amazing, congratulations.
You must feel like a new person.[/quote]
Thank you, and yes I really do! I won’t lie, sometimes the mental stuff can be a toil, but a much smaller issue than my weight was. I’ve a way to go yet, but I’m on the right road (for me)

@atravelnovice

I mentioned earlier in the thread about a relative who has had serious issues since having a bypass. Please please ensure you have proper counselling. They also have BPD and tbh they never should have had it done as the emotional issues are still there and they cannot any longer be eased with food so they have turned to other methods which are far more harmful.

Please please PLEASE do not get a band - join some bariatric groups and you'll post after post about problems, some mild but many of them are life threatening - some people have lost years of their life after their band has slipped or eroded their stomach away, they're absolutely not worth it. That's before you even get into fills / defills / restrictions etc.

Your best options now are bypass or sleeve - slightly more money if you're paying but inherently more safe, feasible in the long-term and will be more effective than a band.

I had a sleeve in December, I'm 30kg down already. Trust me.

@JudgeRindersMinder That is fantastic. The brain will catch up with the body eventually.
You've achieved the hard part onwards and upwards in time.

I work on a ward that deals with the repercussions of gastric ops done in Turkey. Please dont . If it goes wrong the after effects are brutal . People end up tube fed . Recovery is harsh. Please rethink where you are going.

My friend has gastric surgery lost all her excess weight and was a changed and different person. She was soo happy and loving a life she had dreamed of as she had always been really big.

We then lost touch l. I aw her recently 5 years on and she is bigger than she was before. Heartbreaking.

Sorry to hear that you have had such a tough time OP.

Have you had much in the way of psychological support especially over the loss of your father? It might be good to access this before the gastric surgery if you have not already.

Don't even consider a band, most surgeons worth their salt would not even do one now.
Gastric sleeve or bypass is the way to go.

Whats the price you found in Turkey?

I went to Czech Republic, had an excellent standard of care, all pre op tests, 5 nights in the hospital- actually in the main hospital with a private wing within the hospital.
I saw my surgeon daily whilst there.

Much better standard of care than my friends who had theirs privately at x3 the cost in the UK and were out a day or two later having seen their surgeon once since the operation.

I would do it again 100x over, but PLEASE look into the mental aspect of your relationship with food too or you risk failure in the long term.

I managed to lose 120lb throughout the pre op diet and first year after having my gastric sleeve. 19 months in, I binge and binge. I'm sick upto twice a day. I eat as soon as the un omfortable feeling from binging goes. I've out on about a stone from my lightest weight since the op.

I’m a nurse, I’ve also had a gastric bypass. I wouldn’t go to Turkey, not for any amount of cost saving. I had it done at the BMI Alexandra in Cheadle.

I came into contact with someone the other week who had booked and paid to go to Turkey for a tummy tuck and liposuction with a BMI of 29. When she arrived at the clinic they told her she was too fat for those procedures and coerced her consent to have a gastric sleeve instead. They wouldn’t even get a competent English speaker or a translator to talk her through the process. She was so vulnerable and had travelled on her own. So she arrived back to the UK with no idea about the new stomach she had, no idea about how to eat, what to take, etc. She didn’t even know it was irreversible. She was tearful, embarrassed and ashamed that she hadn’t been able to stand up for herself. Understandably as she’d essentially been assaulted. A surgeon in the UK would lose their GMC number and go to prison for practicing in that manner.

And of course the NHS end up sorting out the problems afterwards. Where else would you go?

Also, I will add that I had integrative psychotherapy for binge eating disorder for a year before I even considered surgery properly. I needed to heal my relationship with food.

Sorry I didn't see that you have binge eating disorder.
I've been diagnosed with it since I've had my surgery. I've been told that my risk of death has increased ten fold given that I can cause a rupture with the binging.

Please, please address your eating disorder as a first port of call.