Weight Loss Surgery Story: COVID, Complications, and 60kg Lost

In 2022, I had weight loss surgery. When I first woke up from the operation, I drifted in and out of consciousness. The room was full of doctors, and my partner stood quietly in the corner. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I just couldn’t. The next morning, the nurse manager asked, “What happened?” I said, “What do you mean?” She told me something had gone wrong during the surgery but they didn’t know what and strangely, all my paperwork had disappeared. I had no answers, only a foggy memory of struggling to wake up. After that bizarre conversation, I was discharged and went home. Everything seemed fine, until three days later, I got COVID. Suddenly, I couldn’t eat or drink. The thought of food made me vomit. After days of nonstop vomiting, it started to smell like chemicals and look like coffee grounds. At one point, I vomited and heard a ripping sound inside me. The next day, I went to my small local hospital, but they refused to see me because I had COVID. Then I lost control of my bowels. Desperate, I drove over two hours into the city to another hospital. They made me wait in the public waiting room. I begged them to put me somewhere private, I was literally soiling myself in front of strangers. It was humiliating. After hours with no help, I left and went to a third hospital. They gave me fluids and told me to call my specialist. By the next morning, my whole body hurt so much I felt paralysed. I called my surgeon’s office, and the receptionist told me vomiting was “normal” and to wait for my monthly check-in. I was stunned. When my appointment finally came, my surgeon greeted me casually: “Hey, how are you doing?” I told him I was so sick I wanted to die. He rushed me in for a CT scan. That’s when they found a hole in my stomach. The infection had spread into my lungs. I was immediately admitted to hospital. I was fitted with a feeding tube, a PICC line, and given a mountain of medications. I stayed like that for nearly two months. A new doctor inserted internal drains to help clear the infection. Two months on liquids. Another month on purée. It was hell. I was off work for six months. I was so weak I couldn’t even tie my own shoelaces. But now, three years later, I’m 60kg lighter. I waited three years on the public list for that surgery, and I still see a specialist every six months because I still have a drain inside my stomach. And despite everything? I don’t regret a thing.