- June Jonigk flew to Poland to have a tummy tuck and a breast lift
- Her first operation left her with a hole in her stomach for three months
- Instead of lifting her breasts, surgeon reduced them by two cup sizes
- June, 54, was left in agony for months and needs corrective procedures
By
Laura Topham
16:00 EST, 20 July 2013
|
16:29 EST, 20 July 2013
Bad doc: June Jonigk went on a ‘luxury holiday surgery’ and ended up with an unwanted breast reduction and a botched tummy tuck
It’s website shows stunning – clearly airbrushed – models in ballgowns, inviting readers to ‘take the first steps .??.??. to a new you’.
Secret Surgery, which specialises in ‘luxury plastic surgery holidays’, seems to promise an indulgent, decadent treat to ‘leave you physically and spiritually rejuvenated’.
And if customers are in any doubt about its reputation, they are reassured by a regular stream of magazine articles and consistently positive reviews on the internet.
Sadly, however, in the world of cosmetic surgery things are often not as they seem – as one patient’s harrowing experience reveals.
June Jonigk, who flew from Britain to Poland for a tummy tuck, was left with a gaping hole in her stomach for more than three months.
Then when she booked a breast uplift, she was given a breast reduction that took her down two cup sizes and flattened her bust.
And when she dared to complain and was in desperate need of after-care, she found herself abandoned by the company’s support system.
The 54-year-old claims she has been left traumatised, deeply unhappy with her body, and in need of corrective procedures.
Hers is just the latest case to highlight the urgent need for regulation of the cosmetic surgery industry.
The Mail on Sunday launched its Stop the Cosmetic Surgery Cowboys campaign this year in a bid to force the Government to act.
Since then, a major inquiry led by Sir Bruce Keogh has laid bare shamefully inadequate practices in this sector.
His report echoed the legislative safeguards we are demanding to protect the public from irresponsible clinics: a minimum standard of training and experience for cosmetic surgeons; a regulatory body of registered, properly insured members; an end to hard-sell tactics; and a 30-minute consultation with the surgeon for all patients at least two weeks before they consent to the procedure.
Had such safeguards been in place, June believes her ordeal could have been prevented.
‘Now I can see through the company’s marketing tactics, I feel so foolish to have put my faith in them,’ she says.
‘When doctors or seemingly well-established medical companies tell you everything is OK or normal, you trust them – why wouldn’t I? But in my eyes, that trust was completely betrayed.
‘I feel my body has been ruined and now I have to live with looking at myself every day. I still can’t believe that patients can be treated this way. I had no idea that there was no legal regulation.’
Cases such as June’s are far from isolated. More than 16 per cent of overseas cosmetic surgery results in complications, according to research by Leeds University. About one patient in ten needs NHS assistance after arriving home.
‘Booking surgery overseas can be as much a minefield as it is in the UK – if not more so,’ says Nigel Mercer, plastic surgeon and past president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. ‘Companies’ sales tactics are so persuasive that people trust their claims of expertise and qualifications, when there’s no real way to know the truth.’
Dream versus reality: Secret Surgery Ltd’s website shows an airbrushed model and boasts a ‘UK team and support’ as well as a blog and information in several languages
For June, even when her tummy tuck left
her stomach seeping fluid, her trust never faltered. Hospital staff
insisted it was normal and didn’t require professional attention, and
she did not doubt their medical judgment.
The business support officer
returned for a second round of surgery. But the planned breast lift, in
January, was even more disastrous as the surgeon performed a breast
reduction – a different operation entirely.
Neither time did she hear from her surgeon afterwards, despite her pleas. Indeed, she had a proper medical consultation with her surgeon only on the eve of the operation, in Poland, when she was belatedly told through an interpreter what the procedure would involve and its risks. All she had to do for her booking to be accepted was to email photographs for the surgeon to look at.
But Mr Mercer says: ‘It’s absolutely unacceptable that patients only see their surgeon and hear the risks on the eve of their operation, by when they’ve invested their time and money in travelling abroad.’
NURSES ‘COMMUNICATE WITH CARDS’
Polish nurses at the hospital used by Secret Surgery have such poor English that the company is considering introducing picture cards to communicate with clients.
Patients will be asked to point to the cards for basic requests, such as water and ‘please call the doctor’ or ‘I need to go to the toilet’.
New figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) show problems from overseas procedures are on the rise, with 60 per cent of their members reporting an increase in complications, usually caused by poor aftercare, outdated procedures and poorly performed operations.
About 25,000 people now have cosmetic procedures abroad each year, often lured by low prices.
‘There’s currently little regulation of cosmetic clinics in Britain, let alone abroad, and if something goes wrong abroad there’s nothing you can do,’ says Nigel Mercer.
‘The clinic may have no medical insurance and there’s no comeback on the British company arranging the trip as technically they’re acting only as a travel agent.’
Yet while one in 25 cosmetic surgery procedures brings a complication – and going abroad further increases that risk as flying raises the chance of a pulmonary embolism – most companies offering cosmetic surgery overseas do not mention the risks.
Many, like Secret Surgery, provide no proper patient consultation or complication information before booking.
June decided on the £2,810 tummy tuck after losing 5st by having a gastric sleeve in 2011.
‘I
loved being slimmer but loose skin can look even worse than fat, and I
hated the overhang of my stomach,’ says June, who lives in Hereford with
husband Steve, 57, a driving examiner.
‘UK
prices were very high so I looked into foreign clinics and found Secret
Surgery. The information pack kept reiterating the surgeons’
qualifications and how important safety was, so I thought I’d be really
well looked after.’
In January 2012 she paid an £850
booking fee to Secret Surgery owner Angela Chouaib, which covered
flights and accommodation, and travelled with Ryanair to Wroclaw on
August 22. Once there, she paid the balance of £1,960 for the operation
two days later.
She recalls: ‘The procedure went
smoothly and it was only when I removed the bandage when I got home that
I noticed a bigger scab on part of the stitches.
‘Three weeks later the
scab came off and a hole opened up. It got bigger and bigger until it
was about the size of a 50p.’
June was so worried she emailed
pictures to the hospital interpreter – her main contact. But the
interpreter insisted it was of no concern.
‘They said it was my body’s
reaction to the sutures,’ says June. ‘I was told to keep it clean and
dry. It took three months to close and it wept constantly.’
Mr Mercer says: ‘After a tummy tuck,
sometimes fat tissue can die, causing these symptoms. June should have
been given regular appointments to dress the wound and ensure infection
hadn’t set in. And she should have been told about this possible
complication so she knew what to expect.’
The result was a partly puckered scar.
The month before her tummy tuck, she
had paid Secret Surgery a further £850 booking fee for a breast lift,
provisionally booked for December. Despite the problems after the first
operation, she decided to go ahead.
‘At the time I was happy with the
result of the tummy tuck as I believed their explanation and didn’t
realise my wound should have been looked at,’ says June.
‘My breasts
have always been quite large, and gravity had taken its toll.’
But in December, when June flew back
to Poland, she was shocked by what her surgeon told her. ‘He said he
would have to completely detach and reattach my nipples,’ says June. ‘I
was horrified, but as I’d already paid, flown out and was geared up, I
couldn’t say no.’
After a sleepless night, the next
morning June was anaesthetised and taken to theatre – but the operation
was halted as her previously healthy blood pressure spiked so high that
she was at risk of a stroke. She was told this was due to extreme
anxiety and to take beta-blockers for two weeks, then return.
The hospital refunded her fee and she
rebooked directly with them for three weeks later, arranging and paying
for flights and accommodation herself.
Terror ordeal: June was left traumatized and in agony after her two surgery trips to Poland, but when she tried to complain and demanded aftercare, the only responses the ‘UK team and support’ gave were threats
But back in the UK, Angela suggested
June rebook through her, despite not having refunded the original fee.
June refused and heard nothing more before she flew back in January,
where she paid the balance of £2,157.
‘I was quite relaxed that time because
I knew what was going to happen. But when I woke up and looked down, I
thought “Oh my God,†as my nipples looked nearly under my chin.
‘Then when I had the dressing changed I
saw my breasts and was absolutely horrified – they were oddly shaped
and flat. There was nothing in the middle, where I’d expected two pert
full breasts and a cleavage, like in the pictures – instead the tissue
had been removed and spread sideways. I told staff I was concerned but
they kept saying it would improve as I healed.’
She texted a Secret Surgery ‘patient
care manager’, saying she felt ‘absolutely desperate’. The firm replied
that it was too soon to worry and to speak to a hospital interpreter.
June says: ‘The support I’d expected wasn’t there. My breasts looked
worse with every passing week – instead of being hidden in the fold
beneath the breast, the scars are actually on the breast, above the bra
line.’
RESPONSE FROM SECRET SURGERY
Secret Surgery refutes the allegations made by June, denies any liability and says its contractual obligations were only to provide travel and hospital arrangements, adding ‘Secret Surgery Ltd has acted with the utmost integrity throughout.’
With reference to the cancelled operation, the company says that ‘the state of June’s health was beyond the control of the hospital and not a moral or contractual obligation of Secret Surgery Ltd’.
The breast surgery ‘was not booked or arranged via Secret Surgery Ltd and no contacts exist. Any complaints must be dealt with by the appropriate medical experts who perform the surgery’.
June repeatedly emailed the hospital with photos. ‘Their response was that the results were fine. But I hated my breasts and needed them put right.’
So in April June saw Shivram Singh, a plastic surgeon at Nuffield Health Hereford Hospital. He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The way June looks to me – based on the scars and incision and that her breasts are completely flat – is that it looks more like a reduction than a mastopexy [a breast lift], and that’s what I feel has been done.’
The Polish hospital still insists it was an uplift – showing that major misunderstandings can ensue without proper consultation.
Consultant plastic surgeon and former BAAPS president Fazel Fatah said: ‘If the patient wishes to keep their breast tissue during a lift, you do not remove it – and if you feel that necessary, this must be discussed thoroughly with the patient first.’
June had been blocked from the Secret Surgery Facebook group. So she contacted Angela asking why. Bizarrely, she received a threatening email from Angela’s mother, who was working for the company, warning: ‘I will kill for my children.’
The relationship between June and Angela deteriorated to the point that the police intervened, advising both women not to make contact.
When June sought compensation to cover her extra expenses, she received a letter offering £400 if she signed a gagging order. ‘I refused. There is no way I’ll be silenced after what I’ve gone through.’
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Be thankful for what you have got.Stop being so vain!!!
dt
,
Ipswich Suffolk,
20/7/2013 23:13
Report abuse
So she wasn’t entirely happy with the tummy tuck but still returned to the same hospital for the second operation, which she arranged herself…so the whole thing was conducted without interpreters? Seriously?????? I’m sorry for this lady’s pain but to me she brought it entirely on herself and dragging this medical ‘agent’ into her dispute is rather unfair.
Succinct
,
Contiguous forty-eight, United States,
20/7/2013 23:12
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Do not fool around with your body. Hope you learned your lesson. In need of a man???
Fantomas
,
Vianen, Netherlands,
20/7/2013 23:10
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Don’t do it then. All doctors time should be for treating the sick. Not pandering to vanity. I cannot raise any sympathy for these people.
reggie
,
ipswich, United Kingdom,
20/7/2013 23:07
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Those who choose to have their body ‘sculpted’ by quick fix cosmetic surgery are risking their health and sometimes their lives. Wouldn’t it be wiser, albeit harder work, to undertake an exercise regime and eat healthily to achieve a better body shape? The ethics of doctors who agree to do this work is questionable – I bet their wives don’t do it and they certainly don’t do it on themselves – I wonder why not?
ELIXIRMAGAZINE
,
London, United Kingdom,
20/7/2013 23:05
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That’s what vanity does to you!!
now_anon
,
somewhere close by,
20/7/2013 23:03
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They are very high in price for a reason, you actually pay for this kind of thing not to happen.. she was stupid and I think she knows it too, hopefully she’ll learn from this.
John Locke
,
Worthing,
20/7/2013 22:52
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You get what you pay for when you fly to Europe for these procedures- shoddy work and no follow up. And why on earth did she go back a second time after the first one went so wrong?!
KatieP
,
Essex,
20/7/2013 22:49
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