{"id":49482,"date":"2025-08-07T03:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T03:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/49482\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T03:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T03:44:13","slug":"i-ignored-everyones-warnings-and-had-a-boob-job-in-turkey-the-surgery-nearly-killed-me-and-ive-lost-half-my-left-nipple-to-necrosis-these-are-the-mistakes-i-made-and-the-signs-i-missed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/49482\/","title":{"rendered":"I ignored everyone’s warnings and had a boob job in Turkey. The surgery nearly killed me and I’ve lost half my left nipple to necrosis. These are the mistakes I made and the signs I missed"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Chloe Roiser lay in agony on the floor of an Airbnb<\/a>, bloodied and bandaged, having been discharged from a hospital in Turkey, her teenage daughter wept and pleaded: \u2018Mum, please don\u2019t die.\u2019<\/p>\n

It was a heartbreaking scene and all the more painful for Chloe to recall<\/a>, given she was a trained nurse and the reason she was in this life-threatening state, fighting a deadly infection, was not an accident or an emergency, but \u2018pure vanity\u2019.<\/p>\n

Feeling self-conscious about her \u2018deflated\u2019 cleavage after breastfeeding four children, in April she\u2019d opted to have a breast uplift and implants at a clinic in Antalya, southern Turkey.<\/p>\n

But four months later, Chloe was still recovering from the serious complications post-surgery that resulted in a deadly flesh-eating infection. In total she spent six long weeks trapped in Turkey, costing \u00a312,500. She has also lost half her left nipple.<\/p>\n

In fact, she made two trips to the Antalya clinic. A week after the op, Chloe came home to Wymondham in Norfolk \u2013 but then became \u2018very unwell\u2019 with fever and pain. When her breast began oozing discharge in early June, she made an emergency dash back to Turkey \u2013 accompanied by her partner and autistic daughter, Maisie, 13, as she was too weak to walk unaided or carry her own bag\u00a0\u2013 for medical treatment.<\/p>\n

Chloe says she didn\u2019t want to burden the NHS<\/a> with the fall-out from cosmetic surgery<\/a> in another country \u2013 but she also feared doctors here would simply take the implant out and hoped, by returning to Turkey, she could save it.<\/p>\n

On three separate occasions, the surgeon, who had performed the original operation, cleared the infection and the necrotised skin on her breast using a scalpel \u2013 meaning she lost half her left nipple.<\/p>\n

But then, instead of being kept in a sterile environment for monitoring, she was told to go back to her Airbnb, which is where she eventually collapsed.<\/p>\n

\"Feeling <\/p>\n

Feeling self-conscious about her \u2018deflated\u2019 cleavage after breastfeeding four children, in April Chloe opted to have a breast uplift and implants at a clinic in Antalya, southern Turkey<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A week after the op, Chloe came home to Wymondham in Norfolk \u2013 but then became \u2018very unwell\u2019 with fever and pain. When her breast began oozing discharge in early June, she made an emergency dash back to Turkey<\/p>\n

\u2018That moment, after Maisie found me on the floor, when she was crying and clinging on to my hand, will haunt me forever,\u2019 Chloe tells me having finally returned to the UK after what turned out to be a three-month nightmare. \u2018She should never have had to witness her mother bleeding and broken like that, but I\u2019m ashamed to say she did.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was too weak to give her the reassurance she desperately needed and all I could think was: \u201cI could die. What the hell have I done?\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

Chloe is among an estimated 150,000 Britons who travel to Turkey each year for cut-price cosmetic procedures, having discovered that a breast uplift and size D implants would cost around \u00a33,500 \u2013 half the price it would have set her back here.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m a nurse so I know all too well how deadly an untreated infection and necrosis can be,\u2019 says Chloe, 31, of the chain of events which followed the surgery. \u2018The thought of dying and leaving my children without a mum, just so I could bear to look at myself undressed in a mirror and go swimming again \u2013 neither of which I\u2019d had the confidence to do for years \u2013 is just unbearable.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone, friends, my mum, warned me not to go to Turkey for the surgery \u2013 so many knew people with horror stories \u2013 but I spent a year researching it and honestly thought, given my medical knowledge and training, I\u2019d be safe.<\/p>\n

\u2018Now I\u2019ve lost half my left nipple to necrosis \u2013 at one point it looked like I would lose my whole breast \u2013 and I\u2019ve no idea how bad it\u2019s going to look once the scars finally heal.\u2019<\/p>\n

Her appearance is no longer her priority, however. \u2018Feeling confident about my breasts seemed so important to me a few months ago, but having nearly died, I now couldn\u2019t care less how they look. The important thing, for me and my family, is that I\u2019m alive.\u2019<\/p>\n

When booking her cut-price surgery, what Chloe hadn\u2019t taken into account was the lack of aftercare. This meant that she returned home having had a three-day course of antibiotics, but with no follow-up appointments to check on her wounds.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The area around her nipples was swollen and the skin was sore and blackening, while discharge leaking from the surgical wound smelt putrid \u2013 all of which she knew indicated infection<\/p>\n

\"On <\/p>\n

On seeing her breasts, her aunt, an experienced beautician, confirmed Chloe\u2019s worst fears: she had necrosis in her left nipple<\/p>\n

In those post-op weeks, she was in a lot of pain. She had bought strong painkilling medication from a Turkish pharmacy before she left but, having never had surgery before, Chloe says she didn\u2019t realise how disproportionate her pain really was, nor that it was actually a sign of infection.<\/p>\n

Drains and steri-strips had been removed from the incisions before she left Turkey, but her breasts were then covered with micropore tape, designed to help the wounds heal as well as reduce scarring. It meant she couldn\u2019t see what was happening to the flesh beneath.<\/p>\n

With four children\u00a0\u2013 as well as Maisie, she has three sons aged 10, nine and seven, who stayed with family and friends while she was in Turkey \u2013 to take care of, and with a sense that the discomfort was self-inflicted, she struggled on.<\/p>\n

However, when the time came for Chloe to remove the tape, at the end of May, she saw the edges of her left nipple, in which she had no sensation, were red raw and raised.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d followed all the aftercare. I have a nursing degree \u2013 I\u2019m not silly, I know what I\u2019m doing \u2013 and did all the redressing with the kit they gave me.<\/p>\n

\u2018But I knew this wasn\u2019t right, so I contacted the clinic and they told me to just keep applying antibiotic ointment.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, by early June Chloe felt very unwell, feverish and in so much pain she couldn\u2019t move her arms.<\/p>\n

The area around her nipples was swollen and the skin was sore and blackening, while discharge leaking from the surgical wound smelt putrid\u00a0\u2013 all of which she knew indicated infection.<\/p>\n

\"Worried <\/p>\n

Worried about becoming one of the many who drain the NHS each year,\u00a0Chloe ignored her family\u2019s pleas to go to A&E<\/p>\n

\"When <\/p>\n

When asked what she would say to anyone else considering going to Turkey for cosmetic surgery, Chloe has a simple message: ‘Don’t do it!’<\/p>\n

On seeing her breasts, her aunt, an experienced beautician, confirmed Chloe\u2019s worst fears: she had necrosis in her left nipple. It needed urgent treatment or she could lose it. Indeed, her entire breast was at risk.<\/p>\n

Worried about becoming one of the many who drain the NHS each year, by turning up at hospitals needing corrective surgery after undergoing treatments in Turkey, Chloe ignored her family\u2019s pleas to go to A&E.<\/p>\n

\u2018I thought the doctors would be annoyed with me for going abroad for cheap surgery then dumping the ensuing problem at their door,\u2019 she says. \u2018I\u2019ve heard colleagues complaining about this, so would have felt really ashamed.<\/p>\n

\u2018Of course, I knew they would do what was needed to save my life but thought that would also probably entail removing the implant, leaving me with very lopsided breasts, whereas, if I could get back to Turkey, I might get to keep it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Chloe\u2019s concerns about being a burden on our creaking NHS appear legitimate. The total cost of addressing complications from cosmetic procedures \u2013 the majority of which are the result of surgeries abroad \u2013 is estimated to be an astonishing \u00a3110million, according to a report in the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, earlier this year.<\/p>\n

So, after a video call with her surgeon in Turkey, who confirmed that the area around her stitches did appear infected, Chloe booked a flight back to Antalya.<\/p>\n

On June 4, she returned to the clinic where she\u2019d had the surgery and doctors performed the first of three procedures to remove dead tissue from her breast.<\/p>\n

\u2018No sedation was provided, only local anaesthetic, so I was fully awake and in horrific pain throughout,\u2019 recalls Chloe, whose only other foray into cosmetic treatments was having lip fillers two years ago. \u2018It was incredibly traumatic.\u2019<\/p>\n

She was given IV and oral antibiotics, which she had to pay \u00a320 for, and the wound was left open until she returned to the clinic the following day. Despite ongoing signs of infection, it was then stitched up.<\/p>\n

In an attempt to reduce spending on hotels, Chloe had booked a room in someone\u2019s house on Airbnb \u2018with poor hygiene and no air conditioning\u2019, and this is where she now returned. Over the next couple of days, Chloe\u2019s breast became swollen and inflamed, with increased levels of discharge, and she again developed a fever.<\/p>\n

The clinic told her to come back on June 8, when a second surgery was performed, more infected breast tissue removed and IV antibiotics administered.<\/p>\n

Doctors acknowledged that the infection was entrenched and yet she was sent back to the Airbnb and collapsed later that evening.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was dizzy, faint, shaking, and physically unable to stand,\u2019 recalls Chloe. \u2018I was scared to go to sleep in case I didn\u2019t wake up so just dozed, fretfully, upright in bed.\u2019<\/p>\n

Chloe spent the next three weeks in constant pain, in blood-soaked bandages and with a raging temperature.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the infection flared again and, on June 30 \u2013 by which time her partner had had to return home for work, leaving daughter Maisie as sole carer for her mum, helping her wash and doing their laundry in a sink \u2013 she returned to the clinic for a third surgery.<\/p>\n

\u2018This time the surgeon warned me I could lose my breast completely and suffer permanent nerve damage,\u2019 she recalls. \u2018The toll this ordeal was taking on me, physically and emotionally, was so great I completely broke down afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was too dizzy to stand, in lots of pain and barely had the energy to put one foot in front of the other, and still they sent me back to the Airbnb, with no medic checking on me that night or the following day.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was treated as an outpatient for something that should have been managed in hospital, with round-the-clock IV antibiotics, fluids, and observations.<\/p>\n

\u2018If that had happened, I feel sure they could have got rid of the infection much sooner.\u2019<\/p>\n

As things turned out, Chloe booked, and had to cancel, five sets of flights home over the six weeks, losing hundreds of pounds when the clinic told her she was not fit to fly.<\/p>\n

Finally, on July 18, having been issued with a \u2018fit to fly\u2019 note, Chloe took a four-and-a-half-hour flight back to London.<\/p>\n

Maisie, who is autistic and, according to Chloe, couldn\u2019t have coped at home without her, had by then missed six weeks of school.<\/p>\n

While Chloe acknowledges that this was a significant price for her daughter to pay for her choices, she says the school was understanding and that Maisie is diligent, so studied while they were away.<\/p>\n

It is only thanks to the support of friends and family, who have helped out both practically and financially, that Chloe was able to survive this ordeal.<\/p>\n

\u2018I owe my family and friends, who dipped into their savings to support me, so much money,\u2019 she says. \u2018I\u2019m determined to pay it back but I don\u2019t know how long it will be until I\u2019m fit to work again.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not just the physical toll but the emotional toll this has taken on me. I\u2019ve been left feeling so anxious I\u2019m constantly on the verge of a panic attack.\u2019<\/p>\n

Last week, Chloe relented and gave into her concerned family\u2019s pleading to seek medical advice here.<\/p>\n

A visit to A&E resulted in a referral to a breast surgeon who performed an ultrasound scan.<\/p>\n

\u2018He said, tissue-wise, my breast looks OK, which is a relief, but they\u2019re not going to know how much nipple and breast skin I\u2019ve lost to necrosis until the scars have healed.\u2019<\/p>\n

A follow-up NHS appointment has been made, for six months\u2019 time, when the longer-term effects should be clearer.<\/p>\n

So what, I wonder, would Chloe say to anyone else considering going to Turkey for cosmetic surgery?<\/p>\n

\u2018Do not do it!\u2019 she almost yells. \u2018I know problems can arise after any surgery but, at least if you have it done here, you can access the follow-up care you need.<\/p>\n

\u2018I know people reading this will probably wonder why on earth a woman with a nursing degree would go to Turkey for a boob job, and I do get it.<\/p>\n

\u2018But the clinic I went to had lots of positive testimonials online. Just four days after surgery, they stuck a camera in my face and asked me to talk about how well it had gone, too, so now I question their validity.<\/p>\n

\u2018Testimonials should be recorded six months down the line, when patients really know how it\u2019s gone.\u2019<\/p>\n

Chloe says that, since April, she has learned another hard lesson about her generation\u2019s love of cosmetic procedures \u2013 aided and abetted by social media influencers.<\/p>\n

\u2018If we feel insecure, we decide that what will help is Botox, a boob job or a bum lift,\u2019 she says. \u2018In fact, we\u2019d be better off focusing on the mental health issues underlying these insecurities.<\/p>\n

\u2018I thought all I needed to cure my low self-esteem was breast surgery, but now I feel even worse, and my anxiety is through the roof.\u2019<\/p>\n

Horrific though the past three months have been for Chloe, now that she\u2019s finally back home with her family she is counting her blessings.<\/p>\n

\u2018Going to Turkey for cosmetic surgery has been a nightmare from which I thought I\u2019d never wake up,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

\u2018But I\u2019m very lucky I didn\u2019t lose my whole breast or, far worse, develop sepsis and die, leaving my precious kids without their mum.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Chloe Roiser lay in agony on the floor of an Airbnb, bloodied and bandaged, having been discharged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[24277,97,59,102,104,1644,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-49482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-airbnb","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-nhs","13":"tag-turkey","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}