'I spent £10k on weight loss surgery - it left me vomiting flesh'

A mum who splashed out £10,000 on weight loss surgery only to end up "throwing up lumps of flesh" has opened up about her regret over choosing a "quick fix" rather than waiting for Mounjaro injections. Sofia Alessia went from a size 10 to a size 16 during and after her first .

Sofia couldn't lose the weight, prompting her to undergo a gastric sleeve operation in the UK for rapid results. However, the mum-of-one was soon plagued with extreme vomiting and an inability to retain food or drink.

She faced further health complications, suffering pneumonia and blood clots in her lungs, subsequently rectifying her earlier surgery with a gastric bypass. After dealing twice with and living with two hernias, Sofia remains in relentless pain.

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Although she dropped seven stone, the influencer from Littleborough, Greater , expresses deep regret for not biding her time until weight loss jabs became available.

Sofia 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."

Pre-motherhood, Sofia easily kept to a size 10, but her weight soared post-pregnancy in 2019 after giving birth to her daughter, Ayla-Valentina. Indulging in large bags of crisps and chocolate bar multipacks, Sofia's size quickly expanded.

Sofia said: "I didn't know what do. I knew I wasn't happy with my size, but I couldn't stop binge-eating. I needed help. I needed a quick fix."

After electing for weight loss surgery at a clinic she thought was reputable, on January 31, 2022, Sofia underwent an operation to cut away a large section of her stomach, leaving just a slim sleeve. She described the horrific aftermath as she started ''uncontrollably vomiting'' and suffered severe dehydration.

She threw up thick liquid that looked like "lumps of flesh" and yet, in spite of her alarming state, she was discharged within a day.

She said: "Every day was a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from. I was vomiting lumps of flesh every day and night."

Complications escalated shortly after her procedure, leading to an admission at Blackburn Royal Hospital. The fitness influencer spent an agonising three weeks there, subsisting on tube feeding because she wasn't able to tolerate food.

Later, at Worcester Royal Hospital where she continued treatment, it was discovered she had developed two blood clots, one in each lung.

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."

But things went from bad to worse as she battled pneumonia; doctors found out a staggering more than 80% of her stomach had been removed, resulting in a stricture. Sofia received a £250 care package from the clinic, along with an offer to rectify the flawed surgery that was performed.

On March 21, 2022, Sofia's life took a drastic turn when she underwent a gastric bypass surgery that led to near-fatal complications. Due to issues from previous surgeries, the doctors had no choice but to remove "almost all" of her stomach.

During the procedure, the surgeon stapled her bowel into her smaller intestine, which caused chronic sepsis to quickly develop.

She was rushed to Worcester Hospital for immediate intervention. Medical professionals there worked tirelessly to remove the staples and drain the deadly infection that ravaged her body.

It was a long road to recovery for Sofia, who spent three gruelling months hospitalised before she could finally return home on April 9.

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 every day."

Despite shedding seven stone as a result of her ordeal, Sofia has been left with not only emotional scars but also physical remnants in the form of multiple scars on her abdomen and two internal hernias. She now faces the prospect of another surgical procedure to correct them and is currently awaiting specialist care, all while enduring daily painkiller regimes to manage her ongoing discomfort.

Sofia said she deeply regretted her decision to undergo the weight loss surgery and wished she'd explored alternative options first. Following her painful journey, she's now an advocate for less invasive methods, namely the weight loss injection Mounjaro, which received approval 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."