'My life crumbled:' Local woman undergoes months of complications from weight loss surgery

A local woman who struggled with obesity looked into a common surgery to get healthy. Instead, Ebony Brown said it led to months of complications.

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She weighed nearly 300 pounds before undergoing bariatric surgery at Flagler Hospital, which falls under UF Health.

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“This should help me lose the weight that I’m trying to lose because I’m overweight. I’m obese,” she said. But she claims it did the opposite. “My life then crumbled in front of me. I lost everything behind this.”

Brown had the surgery in St. Augustine in July last year. After several weeks she began noticing symptoms that turned into months of complications. According to medical records reviewed by Action News Jax, she couldn’t swallow or drink and was referred to several doctors.

Brown said she had a feeding tube in her nose for a while, and still has one in her stomach which may be necessary for the rest of her life.

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Her most recent doctor at UF Health Shands attempted to correct the surgery this May with only some positive outcomes. He noted, “this was a very difficult case, that only a selected few advanced bariatric surgeons in the world could perform.”

“I’m now settling with the point that I know I’m going to live with this the rest of my life. So, I’m trying to fix myself to be okay with this the rest of my life,” Brown said.

While she’s since dropped more than 100 pounds, Brown said she isn’t in a healthy state after losing her job as a corrections officer and her home. She’s now living in a shelter in Palm Bay, Florida.

“This put so much on my plate right now that’s so heavy to the point that I’m ready to give up. I’m tired. I’m fighting by myself.”

Brown submitted a complaint against the surgeon to the Florida Department of Health and even attempted to enlist the help of an attorney, with no luck so far.

According to Mayo Clinic, just like “any major procedure, bariatric surgery poses potential health risks.”

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UF Health St. Johns, which operates Flagler Hospital, said in a statement to Action News Jax, “At UF Health, the delivery of compassionate, high-quality care to all patients is at the core of our mission as a top-rated academic health system.”

The bariatrics program at UF Health St. Johns has been accredited since its inception in 2007 and has performed more than 17,000 procedures, according to a representative.

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