'My Turkey boob job saved my life': Surgeons find pregnancy complication
A woman who flew to Turkey for a boob job says surgeons saved her life after they found a potentially deadly pregnancy complication.
Lauren Parker, 25, flew to Istanbul in September this year for a breast uplift and implants.
Before leaving the UK, she says she had visited her GP about unusual bleeding but they put it down to an abnormal period and gave her the green light to fly.
Read more: How attitudes towards C-sections have changed since Victoria Beckham was told she was ‘too posh to push’ (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)
"I was feeling really rough and was worried with all the bleeding that I'd not be able to have the operation," Parker says.
"I was worried about my iron levels to be honest and didn't want to bleed out if I did have it. I was a bit shocked my GP didn't try and find out a bit more or run any tests or see me in person. But I was told I was fine to go out there, so I went."
However, it was only during a consultation with her surgeon in Turkey and a routine blood test that Parker discovered she was five weeks pregnant.
"I was certain I wasn't pregnant - I didn't believe them at first," Parker recalls. "The staff in Turkey were amazing - they saved my life. On top of that I got my new boobs too, so it was amazing all around."
An ultrasound revealed that Parker was experiencing an ectopic pregnancy, which is a potentially fatal condition where the fertilised egg is implanted outside of the womb, usually in the fallopian tube.
Read more: ‘I’m constantly asking myself why’: Mother shares heartbreak of ectopic pregnancy (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
Concerned doctors decided to operate, with removal of the fallopian tube the most common treatment for an ectopic pregnancy, but one that can reduce chances of fertility in the future.
"If I didn't go for that surgery I might not be here today," Parker, an aesthetics practitioner and lash technician, from Southampton says.
The surgeons kept Parker under anaesthetic for another seven hours following the keyhole surgery to perform her breast enlargement, taking her from a B cup to an E cup.
"It was scary - they were all really worried about me and offered to do the operation themselves or advised I get back to the UK for it ASAP," she says.
Parker opted for the Turkish surgeons to perform the operation at a cost of £1,500, on top of the £3,600 she paid for her breast enlargement.
"They saved my life by being so thorough," she says. "They were absolutely wonderful, they really cared and put me at ease. It was amazing, I felt in such safe hands.
"I knew something wasn't right before I left the UK, I wish I'd trusted my gut and been listened to here. It was weird not knowing if I'd wake up with new boobs or not as they said they'd only do them if the keyhole had gone well."
The two fallopian tubes connect the ovaries to the uterus, and they alternate in providing an egg to the uterus each month. When the egg is not fertilised, this is when a woman has her period.
Read more: Laura Kenny endured 'hardest few months' with miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy (The Bolton News, 3-min read)
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when one of the eggs becomes fertilised while stuck in the fallopian tube. It can be deadly as it can cause the fallopian tube to burst as the egg develops.
Despite being left with just one fallopian tube, Parker says she’s not going to stress about her fertility just yet.
"I'm only 25 and we have lots of time to try," she says. "I have been told I'll have to be quite careful about how I get pregnant and have lots of tests. It's a bit scary but I've got lots of information."
Parker says before her boob job she felt ‘frumpy’ but she feels ‘so much better’ now.
She adds: "I feel so much better in myself and much more confident."
Watch: Lauren Conrad had ectopic pregnancy
