A WOMAN who spent more than $10,000 on weight-loss surgery was left 'vomiting up lumps of flesh' but says 'it was worth it for the glow'.
Sofia Alicia, 27, piled on the pounds after and during her first pregnancy and went from a size 10 to a size 16.
After tipping the scales at 16 stone, she next tried running, but struggled with “emotional eating” and decided surgery was her best bet.
While searching online, Sofia decided not to go to Türkiye for cheap surgery – after hearing “horror stories”.
She ended up choosing a UK clinic that claimed to have given her £3,000 off her £10,000 surgery – to share her review online.
After just three weeks, the mother went in for a long, three-hour gastric sleeve surgery on January 31, 2022.
But after recovering from general anesthesia, she said she felt “immediately sick.”
Over the following days, he remained “constantly vomiting clumps of flesh” and unable to keep down any fluids or food.
After 24 hours, she was released from the house but was only there for three hours before calling 999 and being rushed to Blackburn Hospital.
There she was treated for pneumonia and blood clots in her lungs for three weeks before returning to the private clinic to have a gastric bypass operation.
The clinic thought a bypass would fix the problems as they admitted removing too much of her abdomen during the first procedure.
But unfortunately, the treatment was unsuccessful – Sophia's condition deteriorated significantly and she developed sepsis.
Four days later, she was back in an NHS van at Worcestershire Royal Infirmary, where surgeons tried to salvage what was left of her stomach.
During this latest surgery, doctors were able to remove staples from her intestines and small intestine, which had caused the fatal infection.
Sofia has lost a total of seven stone, now weighs nine stone, and is recovering at home with her daughter Aliya Valentina, four.
The influencer, from Littleborough, Greater Manchester, said: “I've always been told never to go to Türkiye.
“But staying in the UK almost killed me anyway.
“I couldn't eat or drink for weeks.
“Every day was a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from.
“I was vomiting lumps of flesh every day and night.
“I love my glow, but I wish I didn't have to go through hell.”
Before becoming a mother, Sofia “easily maintained” a size 10 but gained weight in 2019, after giving birth to her daughter Alia Valentina.
I started binging on family-sized packages of potato chips and multiple packages of Kinder Buenos, and quickly ballooned to a size 16.
“I didn't know what to do,” Sophia said.
“I knew I wasn't happy with my size, but I couldn't stop overeating.
“I needed help.”
After gaining weight, the new mum booked in for weight-loss surgery at what she thought was a reputable clinic, on 31 January 2022.
Sophia said: “I was really happy with the original surgeon but they changed it at the last minute.
“I was nervous but I had already booked everything and didn't feel like I could pull out.
“I just wanted to get started.”
After an operation to remove a large portion of her stomach, leaving only a thin sleeve, she woke up to find herself “vomiting uncontrollably” and feeling extremely dehydrated.
She was vomiting a thick liquid that looked like “lumps of flesh” but despite her condition she was discharged from hospital after only 24 hours.
A few hours after the operation, Sophia was admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital, where she spent three weeks receiving nutrition through a tube due to her inability to keep down food.
During this time, Sophia's mother, Lisanne Meadowcroft, a 53-year-old nurse educator, cared for Ayla Valentina while she was in the hospital.
The influencer was then transferred to Worcester Royal Infirmary for further treatment and was fitted with a feeding tube, an insertion of which later revealed two blood clots in each lung.
“I haven't seen my family for days, and I couldn't hide anything,” Sophia said.
“I felt like I was dying, and everything was getting worse.”
Her condition continued to deteriorate, and she developed pneumonia, while doctors discovered that more than 80% of her abdomen had been removed, causing narrowing.
Communications continued with the clinic as they sent a care package worth £250 worth of aftercare products, arranged to repair the botched surgery themselves, and even sent transport to take it back to their headquarters.
On March 21, 2022, Sofia underwent gastric bypass surgery, but due to problems with the previous surgery, they had to remove almost “all” of her abdomen.
During the operation, the surgeon stapled her intestines into her small intestine, causing chronic sepsis to quickly develop.
I went straight to Worcester Hospital for further treatment.
“I begged a nurse to save my life and I begged other doctors,” she said.
“I didn't think I'd ever tell my daughter again.
“I wasn't getting answers and I felt like I was losing a little bit of myself every day.
“The surgeon called my mother and told her I might die.
“My family was distraught.
“The clinic spoke to me every day via WhatsApp.”
For two weeks after the operation, Sophia remained in Worcester Hospital completely weak, unable even to pick up her phone.
On 25 March 2022, NHS doctors performed a successful surgery to remove staples from her lower intestine and stomach, draining the infection from her body.
After three months in hospital, she returned home on April 9.
Sophia, who now has multiple scars on her stomach, has now lost seven scars but has developed an internal hernia that will require another surgery to remove.
“Everyone told me never to go to Türkiye for weight loss surgery,” Sophia said.
“But I paid £10,000 here and I still got slaughtered.
“I'm still recovering, but my body is recovering day by day.
“Weight loss surgery is not worth the pain.”
