My experience was holistic and peaceful

My experience was holistic and peaceful

When Faith Mukiri qualified for bariatric surgery, Viva Serenity schedules her for a mini-gastric bypass surgery and began preparing her for both surgery and her life after the surgery. A few days to her surgery in Dubai, which was scheduled for 5th November, 2021, Faith was put on a pre-operative diet that was low in carbohydrates and high in protein causing her to use excess fat as energy.

The pre-surgery diet was geared towards reducing the amount of fat in and around the liver. This reduces the risk of complications during surgery.

For the surgery to be successful, Faith also had to make other lifestyle changes, which included a pre-operative exercise plan with our in-house fitness trainer, George. This was focused on weight loss and improving cardiovascular healthy.

George together with our nutritionist, Gladys took Faith hiking at Ngong Hills in Nairobi. The trainer took her through a training session tailor-made for her and factoring in her medical and physical background , taking extra caution not to cause injury prior to surgery.

A day before Faith travelled to Dubai, Viva Serenity organised for a Covid 19 test in line with the requirements of the country of arrival.

On D-day Faith was a ball of energy. She was excited about the outcome. Faith was accompanied by Eva, a representative from Viva Serenity. To ensure that you have a seamless travel experience, Viva Serenity has concierge services where our trained staff travel with patients to the centres of excellence, offering them personalised care while in the hospitals abroad.

Faith and Eva arrived safely in Dubai and after they settled in, it was time to join the other team of medical and tourism consultants, who are based in Dubai. They were ready to show them around before the surgery. The team organised a medical tourism trip to fit Faith’s needs, which included a few days of sightseeing and relaxing before her procedure.

The team got a chance to attend the Expo 2020, a World Expo currently hosted in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The Expo runs from 1st October, 2021 to 31st March 2022.  They visited many pavilions including; India, Thailand, USA, Russia, South Africa, Jamaica, Turkey, Australia among others. Faith was also lucky to go on the Desert Safari where she and the rest of the team had fun.

After an exciting two weeks of medical tourism experience in the city of Dubai, it was time for Faith to undergo the mini-gastric bypass, which entails reducing the size of the stomach and bypassing a part of the small intestines. After surgery, the patient eats smaller portions of food and a result, less food is absorbed in the body.

After weight loss surgery, patients are started on a liquid diet, which consists of protein shakes, tea

s, juices, water or milk. This is then followed by purees and soft foods and then sold

foods. This slow introduction of solids allows the stomach to heal and majority of patients are able to resume a normal diet after about one and a half or two months.

During her short stay in hospital, the surgeon checked on Faith as often as he could to ensure that she was healing well, which relieved her of any post-operation anxiety.

Seven days after surgery, Faith weighed 5kg lighter from her initial weight of 122kg. And eight days post surgery, it was time for Faith to go back home to Kenya. After her surgery, Faith spent two days in hospital and the rest of the days relaxing at the hotel.

Three weeks later back home, Faith met one of our doctors, Dr Jelda for a post-surgery medical review, which included tests and counselling to see how she was fairing. She also met Japheth, our nutritionist, for nutritional assessment and further dietary advice. She was progressing well and weighed 114.3kg.

One month post surgery, Faith describes her experience as holistic and peaceful.