Last November, British Pinky Jolley (45) went to Istanbul to have a gastric sleeve operation.
Jolley had weighed almost 110 kilos for four years, and had, among other things, diabetes 2 and PCOS.
It is recommended to carry out such bariatric surgery if you have had a BMI of over 40 for many years, according to The pocket doctor.
Pulled up the sweater – received a shock message
For two months, she collected NOK 30,000 from friends and acquaintances to afford the operation and the stay.
– I should think about it, she says now.
HUGE PAIN: Pinky Jolley is fed via a tube after the failed bariatric surgery. Photo: SWNS
sea view
The alarm bells rang
The 45-year-old tells the news agency South Wales News Service (SWNS) that the alarm bells started ringing as soon as she landed in the Turkish city.
– They could barely speak English, she says of the hospital staff.
Despite being very skeptical, she chose to do as planned.
– I feel cheated, and I am angry. What was supposed to help me has caused me so much suffering, she says now.
sea view
– Constant stabbing
After the two-hour gastric sleeve operation, she woke up with enormous stomach pains.
She was vomiting and severely dehydrated, but she claims the doctors said this was completely normal.
– It felt as if someone was constantly stabbing me in the stomach. The only painkiller I was offered was paracetamol, which only helped a little with the pain, she tells the news agency.
Sent home
Just four days after the operation, she was sent back home to Liverpool.
There she visited her GP, who advised her to go straight to the hospital.
It might have saved her life.
Got my chin knocked off my nose
Had internal bleeding
At the hospital, Arrow Park Hospital, an urgent CT scan of her abdomen was taken.
It turned out that she had internal leaks which, according to her, had turned her internal organs into what she describes as “concrete”.
Jolley says this about the surgeons in Turkey:
– They failed completely. My insides were completely infected, and my organs were as hard as concrete.
Here is Harald (4) at work
Battled sepsis
Hovering between life and death, Pinky underwent emergency surgery at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
There she battled sepsis for over a month.
Sepsis, also called blood poisoning, is life-threatening organ failure triggered by probable or proven infection, according to Large Norwegian encyclopedia.
She was only able to go home again on 26 March this year, with a stomach that cannot tolerate solid food.
BEFORE AND AFTER: Pinky Jolley has lost weight, but says it certainly hasn’t been worth it. Photo: SWNS
sea view
Food via tube
Jolley tells SWNS that she has not been able to eat solid food since November, for fear of further operations on her stomach.
She now receives food via a tube in her nose.
Jolley is now being looked after by her husband, Paul Jolley (43).
– I almost died. I wish I never had the operation, she says.
– Lucky to be alive
Pinky Jolley weighs 82 kilos, but is not happy.
– No one should have to experience such pain. I am happy for all the help I got when I got back home. I have lost a lot of weight, but this was not the way I hoped it would happen.
