I flew back yesterday from Greece. I finally rested in my bed and had my hubby taking care of me... It felt nice.

His sister came with me to Greece, she took a friend with her and they visited the city while not keeping me company, I think it was a good deal (I paid for the tickets and her friend managed to get us the hotel rooms for free...)

Anyway,.. Now I feel good and relaxed but I have been through a difficult and painful couple of days.

I have to say that the surgeon, the nurses and the hospital were even better than what I expected, I am going to write about them in the right section. Simply amazing.

Surgery went well, I remember people talking to me in English and Italian (Greek and Italian people have one motto: one face one race), saying how cute I was. Then I woke up with somebody saying: "Open your mouth" and extracting whatever it was from my throat: I didn't feel a think. They gave me painkillers straight away and I was OK.

In the evening I started walking a bit I didn't feel too well, I had pain in my left shoulder.

Then next day I started walking again but the pain was getting worse by doing that. I felt dizzy, neausous, and the pain was killing me.There I felt like a failure. I thought I should have never done it. I was crying and I couldn't tell anyone, I didn't want to annoy my sister in law, I didn't want to worry my family back home and at the same time I didn't want them to think "We told you so".

The surgeoun decided to take an Xray with a disgusting contrast liquid. Thank god. He found out that the drainer war the problem. It had turned itself into a weird shape which was pointing straight ath my diaphram. Once he removed it the pain disappeared. I started walking. I started getting fed. I was reborn.

From that point on everything got better. I had to stay an extra night at the hospital, then one night with my friends at the hotel and then we flew home.

I can say I am happy I did it.

I just weighed myself and I am 6.5 kilos (14.33 lbs) down and I feel REALLY good!

The only pain I have are the stitches, but being a 20-year-diabetic makes me more sensitive than other people.

I know I won't be losing weight so quickly in the future, but right now it feels great.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences on this website. I don't think I would have ever done this without reading them. And now I am happy!

Congrats and well done!

Do you mind me asking how much this cost in athens?

Thanks

Of course I don't mind!

The surgery was 6500 Euros or 8800$.

There is an extra cost for the gastroscopy, which I had already done here in Italy, and the extra night costed me 355 Euros (480$).

Thanks a lot! Hope ur feeling good? I read ur other post & I'm having same prob as you had. I wanted dr ciarny with cosmetic bliss but my bmi is just 35 and at the moment are saying no. Did you ever think about going further for your surgery? The packages available in mexico are awesome, for so much cheaper but the long flight is putting me off!

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your story, please keep us updated on your progress.

Thanks a lot! Hope ur feeling good? I read ur other post & I'm having same prob as you had. I wanted dr ciarny with cosmetic bliss but my bmi is just 35 and at the moment are saying no. Did you ever think about going further for your surgery? The packages available in Mexico are awesome, for so much cheaper but the long flight is putting me off!

I tried to explain my reasons for getting surgery to the team of Dr. Cierny but I didn't even get a reply. I didn't like that and I wasn't going to beg anyone. I know they have many patients and don't need my money, but still.

Dr. Valsamidis on the other hand was super friendly. You talk straight to him instead of to an intermediary. Why don't you give it a try? I wrote more about him in the surgeons/hospitals section, you can also look at his website.

I also thought about Mexico, seeing what great experience people on this website had, but at the end of the day I didn't want to fly for so long and with the flight ticket the price from here isn't that low anymore. And the jet lag (from Greece to Italy is only 1 hour and to the UAE it's 2 hours)..!

Ok i have been checking out your surgeon. Read your review and everything sounded fantastic! The only thing that is putting me off is that i will be coming on my own so i really want a whole package kind of thing where i will be picked up and dropped of at the hotel, someone to "hold my hand" when i need it!

I had recieved some info from a place in india, whole deal is 6800 dollars and the flights from UAE to there are very cheap. There is still somthing drawing me to Mexico though.

I am just hoping that things will fall into place and i will know when it is right to book and who with.

Like you said in a post, this board has been wonderful, it is my bible at the moment!

xxx

Congratulations!

Bilka, I'm so happy the surgery went well and that your overall experience was positive!! Hooray! And you're already losing weight