Share review of Mr Bilal AlKhaffaf

Mr Bilal AlKhaffaf 2024-05-02 Person 5 5 0

From the day I made a decision to pursue weight loss surgery in October 2022, it was vitally important to me that I chose a surgeon with a good reputation and who I felt I was able to trust. I felt most reassured by Mr Alkhaffaf after our consultation. He was happy to answer questions, gathered lots of information from me, had a reassuring tone, and was able to offer follow-up consultations. At each point, he was reassuring and very generous with his time and his vast knowledge in this area. I am a person who needs to see the science behind things, in order to trust the process. Mr Alkhaffaf gives this information when speaking with the patient. I also attended his Live events with various hospital groups, to get as much information as I could, and also because relationship with clinicians is important to me so I felt it was important to know who my surgeon was going to be. This was especially important as this is private healthcare so there was no prior interface with him or the service. The Live events were informative and answered my questions. When I had the surgery, Mr Alkhaffaf again was generous with his time. He was friendly and approachable. I was a bit ill after the cholecystectomy that I had at the same time as the sleeve, and he spent time in the hospital and when I was discharged, working with me to find solutions and to get my local hospital trust to take over my care in this regard. He was very happy to make calls to discuss my ongoing pain (relating to my gallbladder removal) and offer reassurance. I feel absolutely certain that had I not had this ongoing link to my surgeon, given the impact on my mental health of my pain and fatigue following that surgery, I would not have been able to simultaneously stick with the plan and be as successful as I have been. I started this journey weighing 164kg in January 2023. I started the LRD on 6th March 2023 at 161kg. On the day of surgery on 27th March I was 151k. My BMI was 56 on 1/1/23 and on the day of surgery 49. Surgery on someone of my size would be complex and Mr Alkhaffaf and his surgical team offered reassurance and impeccable care during and after the surgery to keep me safe. From the moment I had the sleeve surgery, hunger and cravings stopped for me and have never returned now I am one year post-surgery. As of today - exactly one year since my surgery - I have lost 72kg, and continue to lose a little weight occasionally. I have lost a collossal 121" from my arms, neck, legs, waist, hips, and chest. My BMI has fallen from 56 at its highest to 29 now. My physical health now recovered, I feel the fittest and healthiest I have been in my entire adult life. I am the smallest I have been since I was 15 years old. I have lost 85% of my excess weight, have no health issues, and am certain that, at 40 years old, I have added years to my life. Mr Alkhaffaf, in performing this surgery so effectively, has not given me my life back: he has given me a life I had never been able to experience as an adult. I tried every diet and medication you can possibly name at least once; I gave thousands of pounds to slimming clubs, and believed every time this would work this time: losing a few stone has always been easy for me, but maintaining the loss and keeping the weight off was the problem. Until I had the sleeve. I live a normal life now. I can run and dance and skip with my children, and I don't feel the damage in my joints for three days afterwards. I can run up stairs, I'm much more agile. It has taken time for my head to catch up with my body and realise that most of the world just sees me as a normal person now, and I blend in. It has been the best decision I could have ever made for my physical and mental health, so that I can live a fulfilling life and not just exist. This is far far from being an easy path. It requires hard work and commitment; and effort to address the bad habits established over a lifetime. But choosing a surgeon I felt I could trust, who is so committed to the disease of obesity, and who has such a personable and approachable manner, has underpinned any efforts I could have made by myself. Thank you for giving my children a healthy, active, happier mum. I hope I never need another weight loss surgery in the future, but if that time ever comes there is only one surgeon I would trust with that.