8/6/2019 They dared to win weight-loss battle

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EWS dompost.co.nz4 THE DOMINION POST MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2011

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espite dire warnings from New Zealand doctors that they could lose their lives, two Kiwi women boarded a plane to South Korea for weight-loss surgery.ate Newton reports on a life-changing week for Jasmin Sciascia and Lynda Sim.

They dared to winweight-loss battle

Pre-op nerves: Lynda Sim waits to be taken into the operating theatre for her operation. Photos: KATE NEWTON

Only option: Whanganui woman Jasmin Sciascia, 26, at Soonchunhyang UniversityHospital in Seoul before her surgery.

am a doctor and I

re about people.

ople who are in

ed of [care]ouldnt be limited

r whatsoever

ason.DSURGEON KIM YONGJIN

Complicated task: Lynda Sims surgery took several hours longer than expected.

FOR YEARS, a wheelchair size large has stood at theready by Lynda Sim sfront door for the occasi-onal forays that the Wel-lington woman makes

m her house.Not for much longer.One day, not many monthsay now, Lynda will be slimugh to walk to her own mail-, and along the winding Karorid beyond it and she already

ows how shell celebrate.One of the big milestones forwill be giving the wheelchair

k.Her life, and that of Whanganuiman Jasmin Sciascia, changedever two weeks ago when therbidly obese pair travelled to

uth Korea for the weight-lossgery that New Zealands healthtem had refused them.

They went despite concerns ofw Zealand surgeons that theyuld die from deep vein throm-is on the flight; or during sur-y; or from post-operative com-

ations.They went despite their ownrs and the possibility that theyght never see their familiesin. They went because they

re desperate, and desperationde them willing to take ance.

Fortunately, chance went theiry.On Wednesday, February 23,nda and Jasmin were wheeledo surgery in Seoul, closed theirs for what felt like a moment

d then opened them again;ake, alive and minus part ofir stomachs.Each underwent a sleeve gas-ctomy, generally considered theest option for the super-obeseh as Lynda, 151 kilograms, andmin, 200kg.

A bo ut 8 0 p er c en t o f t hemach is stapled off and re-ved, leaving a banana-shapedeeve for food to pass through.Bariatric surgery is sometimes

last option for the morbidlyse with obesity-related healthblems preventing them fromng weight any other way.

The results are dramatic. Aftert a few months, patients cane up to half their weight alongh any related illnesses.

For both women, that means anto their type 2 diabetes, whichbeen robbing Lynda, 44, of her

ht and raised the spectre ofb amputation, and put Jasmin,in hospital for weeks at a time.For Jasmin it also means an

to predictions by doctors that would die before her 30th

thday unless she had surgery.

Until last December that lifesentence seemed destined to playout, after both women were first

told by their district health boardsthat they met the criteria, butwere then informed that the sur-gery would not be paid for.

Neither woman nor their famil-ies could entertain the idea of pay-ing up to $35,000 for private sur-gery in New Zealand.

They went public last year,pleading for the Government topay for the surgery.

But it was South Koreas Gov-ernment that answered offeringthem an all-expenses paid trip toSeoul in return for becoming theposter girls of a drive to marketSouth Korea as a safe, high-qualitymedical tourism destination.

And so two weeks ago, the twowomen met in person for the firsttime at Auckland InternationalAirport, accompanied by Jasminsmother, Kathy Floyd, and Lyndasimprobably tiny, fine-featured sis-ter, Raewyn Glenyse-Stockdale.

Both women had seats in busi-ness class, after Whanganui sur-

geon Clive Solomon earlier kickedup a fuss after hearing that theKorean Tourism Organisation hadbooked them into economy classfor the 12-hour direct flight.

With more space and greaterfreedom to walk around, bothwomen made it to Seoul withoutsuccumbing to deep vein throm-bosis a risk for overweight long-haul travellers.

The next hurdle came the fol-lowing day, when the pair wereadmitted to Soonchunhyang Uni-versity Hospital a hospital whoseinternational clinic caters to themany foreigners living in Seoul.

Exhausted and anxious, Lynda

and Jasmin were put through abattery of tests to assess whether,after travelling all that way, sur-

gery could go ahead.The lead surgeon, Kim Yongjin,had reviewed their medicalrecords but still insisted onmeasuring their heart and thyroidfunction, and performing a throatscope to check their airways.

Despite her tiredness after theflight, Lynda had a sleepless night.Oh God, I hope theres nothingwrong with me. Ill probably bedevastated at the end of today if hesays, No, we cant do it.

Jasmins general health wasbetter than Lyndas, but she tooawaited the test results with trepi-dation. Coming heres quitescary. After [testing], well knowwhats happening for sure.

Late in the afternoon, Dr Kimreturned with the message thatthe pair had been waiting years tohear: they had the all-clear andwere booked for surgery firstthing in the morning. I was justlike, Oh my gosh, its actuallyhappening, Lynda said.

For Jasmin, determination wasdominating any other emotions. Iwas given five years to live fouryears ago, so its very importantthat I have this surgery. I feel a lotmore at ease now.

SURGERY day in Seoulwas freezing; the cold,dry air biting throughlayers of mid- winterwoollens.Enveloped in the close

fug of centrally heated Soonchun-hyang, though, Jasmin and Lyndawere inured to it as they wentthrough final preparations.

Lynda, scheduled first for sur-gery at 8am, was thinking of herfamily husband Jono, teenageson Zach and Maddie, the dog.

She had spoken to Jono thenight before, but there were nogoodbyes, she said. Jonos an op-timist. He has this little mantra: Ilove you, see you soon.

Dr Kim had said the surgery

would take about two hours, buttwo hours came and went.

Three hours.Raewyn, Lyndas sister, was

quiet now all her thoughts con-centrated on what was happeningin the theatre a floor below.

Four hours.

Finally Dr Kim reappeared,still in scrubs, to say that the sur-gery had been successful, thoughlonger than expected, and Lyndawas about to be wheeled into in-tensive care for post-op recovery.

It was now Jasmins turn.Normally the louder, jokier of

the two, she was subdued anddidnt try to bat her mothers handaway as Kathy stroked and pattedher head.

A few hours later, the theatredoors opened again and Jasminwas whisked along a corridor to

join Lynda in intensive care sur-

gery successfully over.Lynda had been more likely to

have complications and a rougherrecovery if she made it throughsurgery, because of her age andher many health problems.

Instead, the opposite provedtrue. The next morning she wassitting up with no post-surgeryproblems beyond some musclepain.

You know when youve hadthe flu and youve coughed for along time and all your musclesache? Its just like that, but a littlebit more severe.

Jasmin, on the other hand,spent the 24 hours after surgeryvomiting and in acute pain.

Dr Kim stayed overnight at thehospital to keep an eye on her butwas pleased with her progress thenext day.

He had done everything poss-ible to ensure the women weresafe, he said. Before they came toKorea I thoroughly checked their

medical records and there is nodoubt that they are candidates.

Please remember that theyhave no other options.

He was not worried aboutallowing them to return home justa few days after surgery.

Ideally, if patients could stay

longer that would be great. But ofcourse I will keep in touch [and]Im going to give eating instruc-tions that they can follow . . .

In the end, he was able to keepthem in South Korea anotherweek after being discharged onthe Saturday, Jasmin had to be re-admitted for a few hours thatweekend and Dr Kim put his footdown.

The women would not return toNew Zealand on Monday asplanned, but the following Sunday.

He and the tourism officialswere still adamant they had done

the right thing by offering thewomen surgery.

Dr Kim said: I am a doctor andI care about people. People whoare in need of [care] shouldnt belimited for whatsoever reason.

If medical tourism is an op-tion, then we look forward to be-ing able to help more patients.

Lee Jaekyong, the tourism or-ganisations marketing executivevice-president, said it had done allit could to mitigate the risks.

If the women needed futurecare, it was willing to fly themback to South Korea, he said.

For Lynda and Jasmin, therewas no question over whetherthey should have gone. I cant sayenough what a huge gift its beenfor me, Lynda said.

Ive lived all my life beingashamed about the way I look. Forme, this is just a chance to be nor-mal.

Lynda cried when she arrivedat Wellington Airport yesterday to

find Jono waiting for her.I knew it was going to happen

but there were always thesedoubts that something would gowrong, so coming out this side isgood amazing.Watch the video of Jasmin and

Lyndas trip at dompost.co.nz.