A man who lost half his body weight following a gastric bypass operation is now suing the NHS for hundreds of thousands of pounds – because he would rather be fat.
Tim Daily, 47, requested the £12,000 surgery after his weight spiralled to a staggering 24 stone and he suffered mini-strokes, diabetes and heart problems.
Father-of-two Tim lost 12 stone over the next four months but complications have left him in a ”living hell” where he is in agony whenever he swallows solid food.
He was rushed to hospital with malnutrition and is now fed through tube directly into his stomach and hooked up to a feeding machine when he sleeps at night.
Tim, a financial advisor, must now choose between undergoing corrective surgery, which carries a 25 per cent chance of death, or never eating food again.
He is suing Charing Cross Hospital for hundreds of thousands of pounds claiming surgeons failed to tell him he could suffer complications from surgery.
Tim said: ”I would rather be 24 stone again than live life like this. Life is a living hell. I’m not the happy-chappy guy I used to be. I feel down all the time.
”I’m ill and desperate. I crave food everyday. On a good day I can eat a biscuit washed down with plenty of morphine. Otherwise I don’t eat.
”I miss eating so much. I was always a very social person going out for meals was a huge part of my life. I can’t even pop out for a meal – it’s ruined my life.
”If I do eat a meal I’m having to down loads of morphine then my wife has to cart me off because I’ve passed out.
”Christmas dinner, easter, family occassions – they are all ruined out for me.
”I was promised when I had the operation I would still be able to eat afterwards. How would you like it if you could never eat food again?
”I could die if I have the corrective operation. I’m only 47 and I can’t put myself at risk because I have a wife, two daughters and two grandchildren.”
Tim, of Newport Pagnell, in Bucks., underwent a gastric bypass operation in October 2008 which realigned his digestive tract and reduced the size of stomach.
The surgery was designed to prevent him from consuming large amounts of food but he claims that surgeons did not explain the potential health risks.
A tube was fitted into his stomach in July last year after his weight halved and he was diagnosed with malnutrition because he was not eating enough.
Now nutrients are pumped straight into his stomach from a backpack worn during the day and a machine beside his bed at night.
Tim now weights 11st 7Ib and he is still losing weight leaving him too tired to work.
He downs four litres of oral morphine every month when he cannot fight the craving to swallow solid food.
Doctors believe that Tim’s nerves were damaged by complications following the operation – leaving him in pain whenever he attempts to eat solid food.
Charing Cross Hospital has offered corrective surgery but the procedure has never been done before and the operation has a 25 per cent chance of death.
Before the operation Tim worked 45 hours a week as financial advisor but now barely makes three hours a day and wife Jenny, 46, is his full-time carer.
He has instructed solicitors Kester Cunningham John to sue for medical negligence and loss of earnings.
A spokesman from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Charing Cross Hospital, claims the risks were explained to Tim.
He said: ”With every gastric bypass operation there is a five per cent risk of health complications.
”Before undergoing any form of surgery, we explain the risks and potential complications to every patient, and ask for their consent.”
The amount of weight-loss surgery on the NHS has risen by 785 per cent in the past five years.
There were 480 similar operations in 2003/4 compared to 4,246 in 2008/09.
He should realize that he made a choice and it didn’t work out exactly as he had planned and that is no ones fault but his own. He knew the risks , or should have had he done proper research, but decided to undergo the surgery anyway.
What kind of idiot financial adviser can claim he didn’t read the risk advisement papers?
Create your own problems, then blame/sue anyone/everyone else. How… human.
Honestly, I expect this story in America, slightly surprised to see it across the pond.
If you read the Daily Mail (which is, I guess, like a tabloid) they commit some horribly stupid acts over and over. Doctors in the US are much superior. The Brit docs obviously made some mistake which they are loathe to admit.
People are ridiculous anywhere you go. It has nothing to do with geography.
cause all americans are fat?
I guess he never considered the other option… healthy diet and exercise!
for some this is the only option. My mother was plagued by obesity, and after years of dieting and exercising with little to no success, she elected to have a gastric bypass surgery.
for some people proper diet and exersize just isn’t enough…. just because you were born blessed with a good metabolism, doesn’t mean everyone is… think about that next time you pass judgment because you are racist against overweight people.
Racist? Really?
you didn’t know “fat” was a race? It has to be, to ignore thermodynamics. They have special genes that cause them to actually absorb energy from the air. It is impossible for the fat race to lose weight. Sad, but true.
What do purebred fat people look like? All I’ve ever seen are those that are mixed, like Fat White, or Fat Black. Btw, totally sucks for those that are mixed White, Black, AND Fat… they never had a chance! I wonder if we’ll ever have separate drinking fountains for fats and thins…
People don’t have trouble losing weight because of “bad genes” or a “poor metabolism;” it’s because the conventional wisdom of cardio exercise and low calories is wrong. Humans evolved as hunter-gatherers eating low carbohydrate meat and vegetables, and it’s *normal* to be overweight on a high carb diet of grains and sugar which are not natural parts of a human diet. I guarantee if these “poor metabolism” people gave up grains and sugar and ate an as much meat and vegetables as they want, they’d lose weight rapidly. My wife and I were still obese with hard dieting and exercise until we eliminated grains and sugar, and six months later we’re both extremely fit looking and eat until we’re full anytime we want.
You do know that Gastric Bypass just forces the limited comsumptionof food, withthe same effect that the voluntary limited comsumption of food would have. Gastric Bypass does not change your metabolism.
Unles the doctors did not tell him and he did not do any research at all (cough*cough* Darwinism), he knew that there was the possibility of severe (if not fatal ) side-effects to removing 75% of your stomach.
By the by, I’m not blessed with good metabolism, I workout every day and eat a healthy diet. But thanks for playing..
Man up, Nancy-boy. I’ve had gastric surgery done and I knew the risks. There are things I can’t do or eat anymore, but you don’t hear me whining about it. The surgery isn’t to make your life perfect — it’s to make sure you get to live for another 30 years!
did you read this? he can’t eat ANYTHING
He cannot eat solid food.
It hurts so bad when he eats solid food that he has to take large amounts of morphine.
And yet he still does.
He craves solid food so badly that he eats it even though he knows it will cause him so much pain that he will need to take large amounts of morphine to combat it.
And is he going to sue about the side effects of the morphine? That he wouldn’t need to take if he didn’t eat solid food?
And would he have sued if they didn’t give him the surgery and he had complications due to being obese?
He lost all that weight _and_ he gets as much morphine as he wants? Man, some people can never be satisfied.
He lost all that weight _and_ he gets as much morphine as he wants? Man, some people can never be satisfied.
I’d rather have the morphine and cracker. You’d save a ton on food and you don’t have to waste time cooking.
He could be the best WoW player EVER.
this story is sad…..buuuuuuut!!! lol He should be looking for a new career in farming gold for WoW! ur funny sounds like something i would see on Fark
…which is where I found the story 🙂
Really though. All of the morphine I’d want, time to do whatever the hell I want, and looking like a model while doing it? Damn awesome!
I had the gastric sleeve. I researched for over a year and saw 7 doctors before I made my choice. “The only true cure for stupidity is death” -Lazarus Long
Seriously folks…get a grip. Most of us do sincerely make multiple effects at diets, exercise, herbal this and herbal that. If you want to know how to lose weight, ask a fat person – we know it all. But the reality is this man cannot eat!! That is not a normal risk that they explain to you.
I had a gastric bypass in September of 2008. I chose to have it before I became too large because the most success I had was by continuing on with my completely different eating, yet very nutritious style with the small balanced meals yet STILL had to work out twice a day, six times a week to lose 60 pounds.
My metabolism and body didn’t work the same way.
I can handle the minor complications, like the extreme nausea if I eat something my new system doesn’t like – usually because there are hidden sugars or too much fat…I can handle the saggy skin…not having a normal life eating out and so on. But did I mention it? HE CAN’T eat anything. That is not a normal complication at all.
To cope with the lack of food to handle my emotions as I always had and to help me get food down, I started to drink. The sugars in alcohol don’t bother me but a bit of cake would, which is odd.
I am in recovery now, but even though I had this surgery done by the top surgeon in Canada, who trained many of the American surgeons , I was NEVER once warned that almost 30 per cent of patients develop a cross=transfer addiction…to alcohol usually, although sometimes opiates.
So this isn’t about some guy taking the easy way out and being lazy…it is about a surgery serious gone wrong and people needing to hear about it so they can make an informed decision.
I am asked all the time if I would have the surgery again…I honestly don’t know. But probably I would. I just wish that the people who work with these patients and who benefit financially from them did have to do full disclosure.
I don’t believe only five per cent have complications. Every single person I know through the chat boards and in person through support groups has had complications..most what would be deemed technically as “above the norm.”
So before all of you get all judgy and self righteous, get your facts straight and insist that your tax dollars are being spent in the best way possible when it comes to managing obesity.
Just my two cents. If you have questions, email me at fionaaah@hotmail.com. I am happy to share my experiences especially if they can help others.
Rich or poor, I hope this guy can get better and it sounds like reversal might be the best option. His weight is lower, therefore his risk of death would be substantially dropped I would guess.
Fiona
Let me Google that for you… yep, it is uncommon, but complications such as Tim’s DO occur after this type of surgery. I don’t know about the UK, but in the US you sign a form acknowledging you understand that there are risks involved with ANY surgical procedure. No one twisted this joker’s arm to get this ELECTIVE procedure, and now he wants to SUE the taxpayers for his stupidity?! Fail.
In Britain, it is public health care though…so he has to sue the government. I did sign a form acknowledging some of the risks. Myself, I had to have three corrective surgeries to cope with scar tissue that prevented the food from dropping into the pouch..it took them three months to figure this out while I dropped almost 75 pounds, suffering from that nasty dehydration=nausea=more dehydration cycle.
I wouldn’t sue my health system (unless I lived in Britain), but I if I were this guy and lived in North America, I definitely would sue the doctor if that is truly where the problem occurred.
I am also concerned about the management of his condition – it seems odd to me that getting someone hooked on morphine (which also causes nausea) just to get food down is very counterproductive. Biscuits aren’t the best choice either.. protein supplemented chicken broth or soup would be a better choice.
Before I had the scar tissue surgeries I did use some marajuana (was never a drug user really before, once or twice in high school) to cope with the nausea. It did help me get liquids down and keep them down.
And just to be clear I don’t believe that blaming my surgeon or the surgery for causing my drinking problem would be fair or right. But it is all about giving adequate pre=op information.
” If you want to know how to lose weight, ask a fat person – we know it all.”
Does that really make sense to you? That’s like asking an alcoholic how to drink responsibly. The fact that someone hasn’t lost weight despite trying is precisely, without question, undeniable proof that they don’t know how. No one has genetics that cause them to ignore the basic laws of thermodynamics. Make calories in less than calories out, and you’ll have to come up with those calories somewhere. You can pretend it’s more complex than that, but…it isn’t. Sit and count your calories some time. Hint: beer counts, and counts big.
You seem so smug in your certainty, I hate to disillusion you, but you have your head so far up your ass I feel a responsibility to do so.
Almost all fat people know that all they need to do to lose weight is to take in fewer calories. They don’t even have to exercise, the body has to burn a certain number of calories per day to survive, if you eat less than that, you burn fat. So why, then, do people become morbidly obese?
I’m convinced that it’s simple addiction. Alcohol makes you feel good. Most people can stop drinking when they need to, but some become alcoholics and can’t. Gambling can be fun for many people, most people stop gambling when they’ve lost all they are willing to lose, but some become compulsive gamblers and lose everything. Pigging out once in a while makes you feel good, but most people can keep the pig-outs from becoming a regular thing, and maintain a reasonable weight. Others become compulsive overeaters, and take in so many calories they’d have to exercise to the point of injury or death to burn them all off.
If you think about it, you’ll see I’m right. When you weigh 450 lbs, can’t get out of bed without huffing and working up a sweat, can’t reach all the areas you need to wash in the shower, are constantly uncomfortable, in severe pain, humiliated and effectively crippled, resisting that cheesecake is EASY, because your incentive is incredibly great–unless you have a pathological compulsion to eat, in which case you’ll keep eating and gaining weight until you die. Compulsions overwhelm willpower. The ONLY people I’ve EVER heard of who were super-morbidly obese (BMI of over 45-50) and managed to lose the weight AND KEEP IT OFF without surgery were those who got treatment for compulsive overeating.
Exercise is a wonderful thing. I was overweight for years, changed my eating habits and started off with walking. After about 2 months of walking at least 1 mile every day, I graduated to regular exercising. I still walk and exercise to this day and over the last 2 years I have lost about 7 stone.
No sympathy…he got himself into this problem.
The metric system, use it. WTF is a stone
Let me google that for you http://lmgtfy.com/?q=stones+to+lbs
this is why you should lose weight the natural way, by not eating a shit ton of unhealthy food and by exercising
That would be an anorexic’s dream come true.
Here’s a tip – instead of getting surgery, simply DIET AND EXERCISE!
If you would have started eating right and exercising when you had the surgery, you’d be happy and healthy right now instead of trying to sue someone because of your own lack of foresight. Congratulations: you’re an idiot! 😀
c’mon really? did he honestly think a major surgery had no possibility of side effects? I seriously doubt they didn’t tell him anything about side effects. just another lazy person trying to get free money at the expense of raising healthcare costs.
Fail
Almost all the comments are critical of Mr Daily. I’m sure he realized there could be complications, but nothing this hideous. Who reads the fine print of everything? Do the readers below take seriously the potential side effects of every medicine they take, including aspirin?
Yeah, because having your stomach effectively removed is the same as taking an aspirin. Do you this the potential risks and complications for taking a Tylenol are the same as having brain surgery too?
“Who reads the fine print of everything?”
I do. My husband does. My parents and children and siblings do. Many of my friends do. Yes, including aspirin and ibuprofen. We take seriously the possibility that the rare horrific side effects of any medication or procedure could possibly happen to us. Then we consider how rare those horrific side effects are, and we make responsible choices.
This may have something to do with why none of us have ever had to sue anyone for anything that wasn’t categorized as gross criminal negligence. We understand the difference between an unfortunate outcome (even a really horrific unfortunate outcome) and the doctor being at fault.
For all of you who have never had to deal with obesity, sometimes diet and exercise isn’t enough.
sometimes there are other extenuating circumstances that hamper diet and exercise ( severe asthma, joint problems, metabolism issues etc). perhaps he already tried diet and exercise, perhaps this was a final option, everything else having been tried. i cant say for sure this guy is such a case, BUT not everyone is born healthy and problem free, and sometimes, you have to make these kind of choices to have a better healthier lifestyle
maybe he shouldnt have gotten so fat that it threatens his life. i like food too just not buckets of it. now its somebody elses fault
Your unhealthy diet and lifestyle led you here. The choice to have corrective surgery was yours. You were lucky enough that other people paid for your medical care, and now you want those people to give you more money? Sorry, life isn’t fair.
Surgery has risks. You rolled the dice and lost. Stop complaining.
Isn’t it odd, the way our bodies second guess us on things like sugars?
The digestive tract converts sugars to alcohol, and converts alcohol to sugars.
It’s mutiny, that’s what!
It truly is just so easy to put on the pounds.
Had you gone from your “healthy” weight, to your obese weight overnight, you would have no difficulty getting up, out, and active.
So strong would be your horror at finding yourself FAT that trying to stop your excersize would be a fools mission.
You would eat healthier foods, and less of them.
You’d sew your lips closed rather than over eat.
But we don’t grow fat overnight.
We might notice we need larger sizes in our wardrobe.
We tend to write the pounds off with a chuckle, “too much good living” we tell ourselves, as we huff and puff our way to the checkout, these black warm-ups will make us look slimmer…maybe.
Slowly but surely your clothing will run into the ++ sizes, and consist primarily of stretch fabrics.
You dream you are being scouted for the Olympic See-saw team…or maybe you could get a reputation as a Sumo Ninja.
We only see our porcine gross obesity in the disapproving sneer of the cashier as he calls for price checks on cases of Twinkies, and 48 packs of Diet cola.
The grocers has you so upset you have to stop by the bakers for a couple of dozen doughnuts on your way home.
You settle into your sagging flat cushioned recliner, and sooth away all your weight problems with a half gallon of Swiss Double Butter Pecan ice cream…pecans are nuts you remind yourself, see you are already eating healthier!
You’d stand up and do a few jumping jacks, except at triple your ideal weight your ankles would probably collapse.
Suddenly it hits you.
The thumping of your heart isn’t as regular as usual, and it’s even louder than the telly, which now has a metallic “Darth Vader” quality in it’s audio.
Pain shoots down your arm, a tight band constricts your chest.
This time your self diagnosis of heart attack can’t be blamed on acid stomach.
You reach for the telephone to call an ambulance, but all your speed dial has on it are pizza joints, and “We deliver” Chinese takeout.
As you try to remember the number to dial for 911, darkness closes in on you one fierce and final time.
Dark is good…makes you look slimmer.
You wheeze your last breath trying to reach the half Twinky that has slipped between the cushions of your couch, and settle buns up, face pressed into the carpet.
You can’t get up.
This isn’t temporary.
Fade to black.
Time’s up.
No more last chances to take off some tonnage.
You’d have gotten your tummy stapled, sleeved, or something, but no surgeon still does that…insurance problems, too many lawsuits.
1 Sone = 17 lbs approx I think
one stone = 17 lbs approx
14 lbs = 1 stone …I will get it right yet so 170 stone = a lot of weight or stones
A “stone” is a British measurement of mass that equals fourteen pounds. And, the plural of stone is also “stone”.Before surgery, Tim weighed 24 stone, which is 336 pounds. Tim currently weighs 161 pounds. Pete .
Here’s the thing – if this were about someone who had complications from joint replacement or a kidney transplant, this would no be news. Tragic, but not news. Because it was due to complications from gastric bypass surgery, on the other hand, well, that makes it different. Now it’s all about how he was a fat slob, and brought it all upon himself, and how look at what happens if you take the easy way out.
I had gastric bypass surgery several years ago. I went through a psychological evaluation, stress tests, counseling. I had the procedure explained to me, the risks spelled out. I was told that there could be complications – hell, I was told there was a 1 in 200 chance I would not wake up.
I took that chance and am glad I did. I got my life back. I didn’t have to order clothes – I could go to a store. I wasn’t pointed at anymore, I didn’t have people burst out laughing when I passed by anymore. I could even entertain the possibility that someone might find me attractive someday.
I am very sorry that Mr. Daily is hurting, and I hope he can regain some normality, but attacking a procedure that has helped many thousands of people all over the world is not what should be happening.
Ouch. Poor guy, I was fed through a feeding tube during chemo, but that was just a temporary thing. I can’t imagine the type of hell he’s going through.