A London woman who spent thousands of dollars on weight-loss surgery was left fighting for her life after suffering a rare complication that left her with a gastric balloon stuck in her intestine.
Alaina Shaw, 33, weighs 115kg and paid £4,500 for the procedure, which involves swallowing a capsule that inflates in the stomach and reduces appetite.
If all goes according to plan, the balloon passes naturally through the body without the need for any removal procedure.
But the former accountant says she felt like she was going to die after the balloon became trapped inside her after passing from her stomach into her intestine.
Mrs Shaw, from Uxbridge, west London, said: “I didn’t lose any weight and I thought I was going to die. I want to warn people about the dangers of having this operation.”
Alaina Shaw underwent a gastric balloon procedure that ended in a near-death experience
The 33-year-old did not lose any weight after her gastric balloon procedure in November 2023.
Ms Shaw underwent the surgery in November last year at a local private hospital after doctors told her she could lose up to 20 per cent of her body weight in four months.
“It was supposed to be a temporary thing: you swallow a pill, they fill it with saline and check with an X-ray to see if it’s there,” he said.
The pain started immediately after inserting the balloon.
“I was in a lot of pain, it was like I had a foreign body, but they assured me that I would feel better soon.”
However, as the weeks went by, Ms Shaw found that she was not losing weight and her appetite remained exactly the same.
She decided to contact the office, but says they were “sending her somewhere else.”
“It didn’t seem like they were trying to help me. I said it was becoming a joke, that I wasn’t losing weight, that I hadn’t lost a single kilo.”
A procedure revealed the balloon had migrated from Ms Shaw’s stomach to her intestine.
Ms Shaw is now seeking a full refund of the clinic’s funds.
Ms Shaw made an appointment at the clinic but says she was told it would be bad advice to give an X-ray to a “healthy young woman”.
A few days later she was rushed to hospital “literally moaning in pain”.
At the hospital, doctors performed access surgery and discovered that the balloon had not dissolved but was lodged in his intestines.
“I ended up in the hospital and I was wondering if I was going to survive. I was in the ICU for two days. I was scared I was going to die.”
After a two-week stay in the ICU, she was discharged from the hospital, but was left in limbo because she had just quit her job as an account manager to start her own dog walking business.
“It was the worst possible time because I couldn’t work for eight weeks; that really affected me financially,” he said.
Mrs Shaw is now trying to get her money back in full from the clinic. “They were going to offer me £1,000 but I didn’t lose any weight and I could have died!”
According to the NHS, the surgery is generally a very safe procedure, although as it is a relatively new operation, its long-term effects are still unknown.
A spokesman for the balloon’s makers said the balloon’s “safety and efficacy” were “well established” and added: “We are committed to working with clinics to ensure any issues are thoroughly investigated and resolved in line with our commitment to patient safety.”