Speakers Corner: Ajax mom faces the fight of her life

A woman who underwent surgery she thought would improve her life says it has only made it worse. Living now with immense pain, she’s reaching out to us to share her story.

In her Ajax living room, surrounded by family, Heather Kontozis lays out a line of pills. The cocktail of anti-nausea, pain medications and other drugs is about all she can keep down these days.

“I cannot sit down and eat a meal with my family,” she told us. “It takes me an hour just to eat a slice of toast.”

Even that small amount of food doesn’t go down well.

“A lot of the times, I will end up vomiting because the pain is so awful.”

It all started 15 years ago, when she decided to get gastric bypass surgery.

“I got the surgery because I was extremely overweight. I wanted to be a healthier me — a better me for my family.”

The surgery and recovery were supposed to take two days in hospital.

She was there for two months due to a complication during the surgery. While rare, it can happen.

“To make a long story short, I ended up in the ICU on a ventilator. The staff told my husband that he should bring our three children in to say their goodbyes.”

She made it through but since then her life has been extremely difficult.

“I have had multiple obstructions, hernias and I haven’t been able to eat solid foods.”

Over the past 15 years she has seen several doctors, surgeons and specialists. But they all need some important paperwork — her medical records from her first surgery.

“Over the years, I’ve requested my medical files; my family doctor has requested them and we were all told those records were misplaced,” she said.

She is now planning to file a complaint with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario which could investigate further.

“I don’t even care if there were mistakes made during that first surgery,” she said. “I just want those files so I can give them to a surgeon with fresh eyes to see what the problem is.”

But even with those records, it might not help. Due to excess scar tissue from past surgeries, she was told by her new surgeon it’s too risky to operate any further.

“He said he does not want to do it because it could cause more issues and it could cause me to lose my life on the table.”

But living with immense pain and lack of proper nourishment, it’s a chance Kontozis wants to take.

“I can’t live like this anymore,” she told us. “My three kids feel like they don’t even have a mom.”

She’s surviving on the occasional protein shake but even those cause immense pain.

“The pain medications I am now on aren’t working anymore,” she said. “They want to put me on fentanyl and I don’t want to do that.”

“I understand if they don’t do anything that I’m going to die so why not take the chance to fix it and give me that chance to have a better life for my family? Why can’t it be my choice.”

She’s left with her only option — traveling to Cuba, where doctors are willing to try and correct her issues. She’s already gone there for past surgeries she says she could not get in Canada, but it’s not cheap and not covered by O.H.I.P.

“My health is just declining very quickly and if they don’t fix the hernia or obstruction it’s going to be completely blocked soon and I won’t be able to get in any nourishment at all.”

“Do I want to go to Cuba for this? No,” she said. “I just want to find someone here in Canada who will try… just try. That’s all I’m asking.”

Kontozis says she is not speaking out against gastric bypass surgery.

“I know so many people — a majority of people — who’ve been helped by this surgery.”

But there are risks. According to Obesity Canada, the country’s leading obesity registered charity association: “Complication rates associated with bariatric surgery are between 10% and 17%, reoperation rates are approximately 7% and the mortality rate is low (less than 1%).”

For the vast majority of Canadians the surgery has helped improve lives.

“I understand this surgery benefits so many people,” Kontozis said “If you want to get it and have done your research, you should. But everyone thinks this is the easy way out to lose weight and it’s not. It’s a daily battle even without complications.”

While Kontozis waits to see if her missing medical records can be recovered, she’s planning her next trip to Cuba. One she hopes will save her life.

“This is my last shot, but one I’m willing to take,” she said.

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