A WOMAN who travelled abroad for a tummy tuck claims she nearly died after doctors found a pus-filled mass the size of a baby in her stomach.
Caroline Kelbrick had hoped the would help her feel more confident after losing eight stone following a .
But the 50-year-old says that, just two days after returning home, she began experiencing terrifying symptoms, including uncontrollable shivering, severe pain and a stomach which had become red and hard.
After calling , she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, where doctors discovered she had .
Caroline was taken into surgery within two hours and medics removed a huge pus-filled cyst from her abdomen.
The infection had left her with such extensive damage that her stomach would have to remain open and heal from the inside out.
“Because I’d had the gastric sleeve previously in and it went well, I assumed this would be the same and I didn’t have any worries,” Caroline, a carer, from , said.
“I woke after surgery on my own in the dark.
“My body was shaking out of control so I shouted for help and a nurse came and said they were keeping me in overnight but I was told everything was fine.
“After four days I still had drains in and was in pain so I asked for the surgeon, who said everything looked OK and that it was probably the drains that were uncomfortable.
“I had my drains out in the morning before I flew back at night one week after my operation.
“I was still in a lot of discomfort and had been taking painkillers regularly.
“On the plane I started feeling freezing cold even though I was sweating and just thought it must have been travelling after surgery that was causing the problems.”
After two days at home, in August 2024, Caroline’s condition hadn’t improved.
She said: “I had layers of clothes on lying under a quilt with heating on full but still freezing.
“My stomach was going hard and I noticed it was going red in one area so I called 111.
“I thought I was going to die.”
She rushed to A&E, and within two hours was in theatre.
When she awoke, she was told the shocking news that she’d had , and that a “cyst full of pus” that was “as big as a baby” had been removed from her.
Her stomach would have to remain an open wound for up to two years to allow her to “heal from the inside out”.
She said: “It had to be cleaned out every day.
“When I walked to the toilet from my bed, I’d have liquid pouring out of the wound.
“I couldn’t stand up straight.”
Caroline spent two weeks in hospital, followed by seven months using a specialist vacuum dressing machine to remove fluid and infection from her stomach.
She also required dressing changes three times a week.
Caroline said: “I asked to speak to the psychiatrist because I didn’t want to continue living.
“I could barely look at my stomach.
“The wound was stomach churning and I was in so much pain.
“I was on so much morphine.”
Caroline had previously travelled to Turkey for in May 2020, believing she wouldn’t qualify for it on the NHS.
She went on to lose eight stone over three years, dropping from almost 19 stone to 12 stone and from a size 24 to a size 12.
While she was delighted with her , she was left with a significant amount of around her stomach.
Caroline said: “The excess skin was like a huge burst yoga ball hanging from my waist.
“It slapped against my legs when walking.
“It affected my confidence and the outfits I felt comfortable wearing as I wanted to hide the skin.
“I just wanted to be comfortable in my own skin after having the bypass.”
Having previously had a positive experience at the Turkish hospital, Caroline decided to return for a and .
She said she had researched the clinic extensively before her gastric sleeve and felt comfortable going back.
The package cost £6,600, which included a breast lift.
But she is now warning other Brits against the cut-price option, claiming a nurse in the UK had told her that the sepsis was caused by a germ which could only be picked up during surgery.
She has since been left with extensive scarring, including a large band of scar tissue across her abdomen following the emergency operation in Glasgow.
Caroline said: “I thought it’d be a simple case of getting skin cut off stitched up and that’s it.
“I wanted the surgeries to improve my health.
“I didn’t imagine it would impact my life so drastically for the next year.
“I don’t have the big apron flapping about but I do regret it because my body is full of scar tissue now and it doesn’t look good at all.
“I’m very uncomfortable and tight all the time.”
Caroline claims she contacted the Turkish hospital after returning home and was told that “these things happen” and that the clinic would be happy to have her return to have the surgery redone.
She says she refused and that the hospital eventually offered to return half of the cost.
Caroline said: “If you’re planning on getting surgery abroad, please do as much as research as possible, read all the reviews and take your time when deciding if it’s whats best for you.
“I’m getting there recovery wise but it’s taken me two years.”
