Christina appears on Botched Bariatrics this May with hopes of a “better life.” She’s planning a wedding, adding that the big event is giving her “more motivation than ever.” After botched lap band surgery left her unable to eat solid food, Christina says Dr Arundathi Rao is her “last hope.”
TLC‘s all-new Botched Bariatrics follows patients who have had life-altering experiences as a result of surgeries gone-wrong. Christina has been suffering for over a decade since her surgery and is now crying out for help. She says doctors made her feel “completely ignored” when she raised issues about her surgery complications.
Christina on Botched Bariatrics
Twelve years on from lap band surgery, TLC fans are meeting Christina who can’t eat regular food anymore due to complications following the procedure.
The botched operation left her unable to eat solid food, so she’s been drinking her meals for 12 years.
Speaking of how her current condition came to be, she explains: When I woke up from surgery I felt sore but hopeful that I’d made a good decision on something that was supposed to change my life for the better.”
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She adds how, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case: “I was not happy with my results, not one minute.”
Christina said she “gained weight,” going up to 380lbs and how her “first physical complication” was “the food getting stuck.”
Christina couldn’t eat
After Christina and her family maxed out two credit cards and used their tax return for her surgery, she was left worse off.
She explains: “I could feel the tightness, it’s like there’s a cork, nothing going down,” as she coughs on camera.
Christina adds: “I tried to reach out to the doctor’s office several times and it was just ‘well, maybe you’re doing something wrong.'”
She reveals how she felt “…completely ignored and just pushed aside,” adding: “…that’s where it was left because I can’t afford another surgeon anyway, so why bother?”
It’s explained on the show that digestive-related complications should subside around a month after surgery.
However, Christina’s went on for over a decade.
She says she’s been drinking “meat smoothies” for 12 years, adding how she’s “looking forward” to those days been long gone.
Christina says: “I miss a sandwich, or a burger with the bun.”
Not only did she recall times where she had to “vomit in the bathroom” at family dinners but she also tells a story of how “food got stuck in her sinuses.”
She says: “One time I noticed my nose was stuffy, I thought I was getting sick.”
Then, three days later, she felt she had to sneeze: “Food came out when I blew my nose. Food was stuck in my sinuses for three days… I’m like this is insane.”
Dr Arundathi Rao saves the day
A Florida-based doctor, Dr Arundathi Rao, was Christina’s “last hope” on Botched Bariatrics.
Thankfully, she was able to use her skills in bariatric and robotic surgery to change the TLC star’s life and fixed her previously failed surgery.
Fans took to Twitter to share their surprise at Christina drinking her meals for over a decade, writing: “Even Dr Rao was shocked that it’s been 12 years.”
More couldn’t get over the combinations of food dshe’d been opting for, writing: “Pureed beef and canned string beans…”
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