'Horrible ordeal': Woman nearly dies after botched weight-loss surgery turns her organs into 'concrete'
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: A woman who was eager for a gastric sleeve procedure to help her lose weight was left battling for her life with her stomach felt "like concrete" right after the surgery. Pinky Jolley, 45, who weighed 249lbs, traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, to undergo weight-loss surgery in November 2022.
The diabetic woman, who wore dress size 24, had been advised by British specialists to lose weight. The weight gain was the result of severe medical problems that confined her to a wheelchair. Jolley, who is currently unemployed, quickly raised $2,100 on GoFundMe for travel, accommodation and surgery.
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Pinky Jolley has been on feeding tube since November
When the doctors at the Turkish facility "could barely speak English," Jolley began to worry. She decided to have the surgery, which removed 85% of her stomach, because she believed she had to. After the two-hour procedure, she experienced numerous side effects, including severe stomach pain, vomiting and dehydration. Just four days later, Jolley arrived back in the United Kingdom, where her neighborhood doctor recommended that she go to the hospital immediately, 7News reports.
To save her life, three surgeons had to "jet-wash" the inside of her stomach. After battling sepsis in the hospital for more than a month, Jolley was finally able to go home. Since November, she has been dependent on a feeding tube because she cannot eat solid food without risking the infection spreading to her stomach.
'I just want to be well again'
“I feel misled and upset that something that was meant to help has caused me so much suffering,” Jolley, who is now down to dress size 18, said. “I’ve lost (25kg) in four weeks because my stomach is tiny. I wanted to lose (50kg) within two years. I’ve had to have a feeding tube to help but everything is so painful. After nearly dying I just wish I never got a gastric sleeve. They totally botched the operation and left my insides so infected they were all hard and like concrete, the doctors said. It’s been a horrible ordeal, I just want to be well again. Looking back it was so cheap that I really should have thought twice but I just got so swept up."
After four years of seeking treatment for her weight problems, Jolley said she decided to start a campaign to raise money for a gastric sleeve procedure with the help of her husband and full-time caregiver, Paul Jolley, 43. “I was excited that I might be finally doing something about my weight that I had waited four years to sort out,” she said. I had so much support from people after raising the money. I wanted to get started straight away.”
