A MUM whose £10k weight loss surgery left her "throwing up lumps of flesh" says she "regrets" going for a "quick fix".
Sofia Alessia, 28, piled on the pounds after and during her first pregnancy and went from size 10 to a size 16.
At 16 stone she struggled to shift the weight and decided to go for a gastric sleeve in the UK for a "quick fix". During the procedure, a portion of the stomach is removed to make it smaller, so food is more filling.
But the mum-of-one was left ''constantly throwing up lumps of flesh'', and was unable to keep any fluids or food down.
She had to be treated for pneumonia and blood clots in her lungs.
The clinic offered a gastric bypass - an even more drastic form of weight loss surgery - to fix the issue.
But she developed sepsis and has now been left with two hernias - and is still in constant agony.
Despite losing seven stone Sofia wishes she hadn't rushed into surgery and waited for weight loss jabs to be approved in the UK.
Sofia, an influencer, from Littleborough, Greater Manchester, said: "I'm still in pain every single day. I feel 'drunk' a lot. On bad days I can't get out of bed.
"I rushed it [getting surgery] and I wished I'd waited and done Mounjaro."
Before becoming a mum, Sofia ''easily maintained'' a size 10 figure but gained weight in 2019, after the birth of her daughter, Ayla-Valentina, four.
She began binging on family-sized packets of crisps and a multipacks of Kinder buenos, and soon inflated to a size 16.
Sofia said: "I didn't know what do. I knew I wasn't happy for my size, but I couldn't stop binge eating. I needed help. I needed a quick fix."
The new mum booked in for weight loss surgery at what she believed to be a reputable clinic in January 31, 2022.
After the procedure to remove a large part of her stomach, leaving just a thin sleeve, she woke to find herself ''uncontrollably vomiting'' and feeling extreme dehydration.
She was throwing up thick liquid that looked like "lumps of flesh" but despite her condition she was discharged after just 24 hours.
She said: "Everyday was a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from. I was vomiting lumps of flesh every day and night."
Just hours after the operation, Sofia was admitted to Blackburn Royal Hospital, in which she spent three weeks receiving nutrition through a tube due as she couldn't keep food down.
The influencer was then moved to Worcester Royal Hospital for further treatment. She was fitted with a feeding tube, and it was later revealed that two blood clots were located in each lung.
I hadn't seen my family in days, and I couldn't keep anything down. I felt like I was dying, and everything was getting worse and worse
Sofia Alessia
Sofia said: "I hadn't seen my family in days, and I couldn't keep anything down. I felt like I was dying, and everything was getting worse and worse."
Her condition continued to deteriorate and she developed pneumonia, while doctors discovered that more than 80 per cent of her stomach had been removed, causing a stricture - an abnormal narrowing of a bodily passage.
The clinic arranged to fix the surgery on 21 March 2022 - they sent transport to get her to the clinic from the hospital.
There, Sofia underwent a gastric bypass, which is when you have part of your stomach sectioned off and connected directly to your small bowel, bypassing part of the large intestine.
But due to the issues with the previous surgery, they were forced to remove ''almost all" of her stomach.
During the procedure, chronic sepsis developed. Sepsis is a life-threatening problem when the body attacks itself, over-reacting to an infection.
Sofia went straight back to Worcester Hospital for further treatment, where they successfully removed the staples from the lower intestine and stomach, and drained the infection from her body.
After three months back and forth from hospital, on April 9 she returned home.
Sofia said: "I didn't think I would ever say my daughter again. I wasn't getting answers and I felt like I was losing a bit of myself everyday."
Sofia, who now has multiple scars on her stomach, has now lost seven stone but has been left with two internal hernias which requires another surgery to remove.
She has been referred to a specialist to get this surgery and has to take daily painkillers for her agony.
Sofia wishes she held off surgery and tried other methods to lose weight first, saying she could have taken weight loss jab Mounjaro instead - which was approved in the UK in December 2024.
Sofia said: "I wouldn't suggest surgery at all. It's the last resort. I'll always have these scars now. I chose to do it - I've got to deal with it."
For many people who are overweight or obese, they may feel they have exhausted options for weight loss and want to try something more drastic.
Weight loss surgery may be available to them on the NHS if they have a BMI over 40 and have a condition that may be improved with weight loss, such as diabetes.
But the availability of these procedures largely depends on where you live in the UK. People can also pay privately.
Weight loss surgery is a common and safe procedure. However, as with any operation, there are risks, such as a blood clot, a band slipping out of place, a stomach infection, gallstones and excessive skin from weight loss that in most cases, won’t be removed on the NHS.
In all of the following options, the space in the stomach is reduced, therefore a person feels fuller after eating less food. They lose weight as a result.
However, it is necessary for them to also learn good eating habits and have a healthy balanced diet, too.
Gastric bypass
The stomach is divided into two using a staple. The smaller part is connected to the intestines, effectively cutting how much space there is in the stomach by half.
The operation takes around two hours.
Gastric band
A band is tied around the top of the stomach and inflated so that it tightens.
The operation takes three to four hours.
Gastric balloon
Patients swallow an empty balloon which is attached to a tube.
The balloon is filled with water via the tube, taking around 20 minutes, so that it fills around two-thirds of the stomach space.
Sleeve gastrectomy
Around 80 per cent of the stomach is removed in surgery to make it much smaller and a sleeve shape.
The operation takes between one and three hours.
