Woman faces complications after weight loss surgery in Istanbul
Earlier this month, a woman from New Zealand finally had her stomach completely removed following months of pain after a weight loss surgery she had undergone abroad.
According to RNZ, local doctors said there was nothing Helen Watson could have done differently to prevent her current predicament as the complications arose from the surgery itself.
The clinic in Türkiye, however, disagreed and is threatening to sue.
Woman sought weight loss surgery overseas
Last September, Ms Watson traveled to Istanbul for the operation. She had sought out an overseas operation after her weight hit 80kg, which classified her as obese.
She had chosen an overseas clinic because she did not qualify for the public wait list, which required her to have an illness such as diabetes.
Furthermore, the asking price of the Turkish clinic was NZ$5,500 (S$4,150), well short of the NZ$20,000 (S$15,000) price tag of going with a private option in New Zealand.
It only took several days of observation before Ms Watson flew home. However, the woman said she immediately felt that something was wrong.
“I was still dry retching and vomiting, even when I got home,” she said.
She sought advice from her doctor, who told her to immediately head to the hospital.
Stomach removed after several operations
Ms Watson then had six smaller operations before one last month that resulted in the removal of her entire stomach, or a total gastrectomy where doctors attach the patient’s esophagus to the small intestine.
Source: RNZ
According to her surgeon in New Zealand, they found a large number of surgical clips at the top of her stomach.
This suggested that there had potentially been bleeding during the operation in Türkiye.
The clips had cut off blood supply to the area, which caused issues that eventually led to a leak.
The team in New Zealand is of the opinion that there was nothing Ms Watson could have done to prevent the outcome.
However, the clinic that performed the operation has staunchly denied this.
Instead, they claim that Ms Watson did not follow their recommendations which included dietary restrictions and avoiding additional medical intervention without the approval of the clinic.
Ms Watson has asked the clinic to refund her, but instead they have threatened to sue her.
Also read: Hospital in China exposes female patient’s genitals to over 50,000 viewers during surgery livestream
Hospital in China exposes female patient’s genitals to over 50,000 viewers during surgery livestream
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Featured image adapted from RNZ.
