I am writing this review 6 weeks post-op so I can share my whole opinion from lead up to being back on solid food.
When I first enquired I got an extremely swift reply and organised a phone call conversation when it was convenient for me. Which was amazing, after having all of my questions and queries answered I decided to give myself a few weeks extra to think about it which Novamed was extremely accommodating with, they were checking on me rather than pestering me, I also had consultations with other clinics in turkey but after I had said I was unsure the other clinics stopped messaging me which novamed did not.
Once I had paid my deposit novamed put all of the plans in place and once I had sent over my flight details I had confirmation of everything and my surgery date, during the time of waiting for surgery I did have second thoughts which my coordinator Jade was very kind and reassured me but also did tell me that if I really didn’t want to have it done that she supported me regardless which I thought was amazing.
Then was flight day, after getting out of the airport at the other end there was a lovely man who organised the taxi to the hotel, the transfer was clean and the driver had seen that we had been travelling for a long time so offered us water which was extremely kind. Once we got to the hotel there was a small issue that my companion was not on the booking but novemed sorted this very quickly and we were ready to prepare.
I flew into Turkey on the Monday and my surgery was on the Wednesday so we had 2 nights at the hotel which had a sauna, swimming pool and lots of facilities which helped ease my nerves prior to the surgery.
On surgery day we were picked up very early in the morning and taken to the hospital which was called BHT clinic, it didn’t feel like the hospital which I was used to in the UK, it was marble, quiet and felt very professional, we were greeted at the door by our coordinator and she took us straight to be checked in at the hospital with their admin team, which was quick and efficient, then we went to see the dietician, who handled the money and took my height and weight as well as helping me go through the extensive consent forms as well as informing me of the procedure that would happen if anything didn’t go to plan which really eased my mind.
The pre op tests were very thorough, blood test, ECG, ultrasound, chest x-ray and finally the endoscopy which was done while I was sedated. After all of the tests, I went up to the anaesthetists office and they gave me the final okay for surgery. All of these tests took less than an hour and I didn’t have to wait for anything. Once into my beautiful room, they came in gave me my surgery clothes and inserted my cannula, I am terrified of needles but this nurse was amazing and had the cannula in in less than 10 seconds which was amazing.
Then I was taken down to surgery, in the lift I did get quite emotional as it was my first time ever going under anaesthesia but everyone was reassuring and trying to distract me and make me smile which I loved. Also, my companion was allowed in the lift with me so I could be with my friend all the way up until I was in the theatre which was amazing as they knew I was very nervous.
When I got into the theatre I was still upset and one of the lovely nurses was speaking to me very calmly and was reassuring me the whole time. Then I woke up 2 hours later and was in a little bit of pain which they did prepared me for and there were lots of nurses with me which really reassured me.
After completing the leak test and being given the all-clear, my drains were taken out which was painless.
I was soon given the all-clear to go back to the hotel to recover as the hospital could get quite noisy at night (which is understandable) and the dietician came in and gave me a full rundown of my diet plan, goodie bag as well as giving me all of my travel documents and my medicines with my fit to fly letter.
Once I was home it was liquid diet for 2 weeks and every week I was sent a WhatsApp with different meal plans and advice from the surgeon and dietician which I was very impressed with. They have continued to send me messages with meal ideas and how to hit all of my goals which I think is amazing.
All in all, I cannot recommend them enough, from start to finish they have been angels and they are so dedicated, from the receptionists to the nurses to the surgeon himself it has all been amazing and they are a credit to themselves!!!
