The gastric bandits: How women risk weight-loss surgery abroad
The gastric bandits: How women risk weight-loss surgery abroad because they’re not fat enough to have it here.
Jilly Trela and I first met in a Bristol tea room. The Victoria sponge looked quite tempting and I asked if she would like some with her coffee.
‘Not for me,’ she said. ‘I can’t have cakes – not with a band. It doesn’t go down.’ ‘What would happen if you did?’ I asked. ‘I would probably be sick.’ Jilly Trela is one of a number of people who are travelling abroad for obesity surgery.
At £3,000, her stomach band operation, which was performed in Belgium, cost half of what it would have done if carried out privately in the UK. But it wasn’t the price that attracted the mother-of-two. Jilly travelled abroad because when she tried to get the operation done here, she was told she couldn’t get the operation on the NHS or privately, because she simply wasn’t fat enough.
The keyhole operation involves wrapping a plastic band around the stomach. After surgery, a liquid is injected into the band, known as a ‘fill’, to make it contract tightly around the stomach. This reduces the patient’s appetite and means they might be sick if they eat more than a few mouthfuls at a time.
Aftercare is an vital part of the treatment, making up around 60 per cent of total care.
In the UK, private patients who qualify are offered aftercare packages that last for up to two years, while NHS patients can expect a lifetime of follow-ups. Those who have the surgery overseas, however, get little or none.
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Safe weight loss surgery including gastric band operations here in the UK with excellent support and after care visit www.vitaclinics.co.uk.
If you’ve had surgery abroad Vita Clinics also offer surgery rescue.
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The old addage “you get what you pay for” appplies here. I’ve had experience of over 1,500 bands and whilst I’ve seen hundreds of lives simply transformed by the procedure, I’ve also sadly witnessed some tragic (fortunately few) situations directly resulting from patients choosing the cut price route. Why do they do it? Some people think the surgery will lose the weight (’magic cure’) so they don’t need to pay for the ‘luxury’ of aftercare = WRONG!. Others don’t understand what is and isn’t included when they go abroad for surgery (hidden costs…)but think the aftercare is automatically covered = WRONG! Others don’t realise the cost of travelling to Europe for band adjustments along with accommodation and think they’ve had value for money and won’t have to spend a fortune like their UK counterparts = WRONG! I’ve seen enough patients duped into taking shortcuts with their health. With finance available why would anyone take such a risk? Get your surgery with a UK provider and ensure that the aftercare is ‘top notch’. It’s the aftercare that gets you the long term results not the op! Trust me…
As specialist bariatric nurse at Vita Clinics my advice would always be to do your research prior to going ahead with any form of surgery. Weight loss surgery is my no means a quick fix solution and long term aftercare, support and advice is just as essential as the surgery itself in getting the best results. Vitaclinics provide 24 hour advice from specialist nurses for all their patients as part of their aftercare programme.