Told by the people who lived it.

It took me two years to decide. My biggest fear was that a promise made from a distance would not hold once I landed in Türkiye.

My coordinator Élise spoke French from the very first call, and she sent me the name of the surgeon who would perform the transplant, how many years he had been doing DHI, and examples of his previous cases — before I even asked. I was met at the airport, and by the time I reached my hotel room the next day's hour-by-hour plan was already on the desk.

The procedure itself ran eight hours. There were breaks with water and food, and twice the surgeon showed me the design in a mirror and waited for my approval. The next morning they did the first wash and handed me an aftercare guide written in my own language.

Six months on I still get a message every month. I send a photo, the surgeon comments on it. That is the part I did not expect from a medical travel company: attention that continues after the job is done.

I had quotes from three different places. Two of them gave me a number and a date, nothing more. At Nexera my first conversation was with a dietitian, and the word surgery barely came up.

For two weeks before the operation I had a nutrition programme, and I was told plainly that if I did not follow it the date could be pushed back. Hearing that was the first time I felt taken seriously.

The surgery was laparoscopic. I was on my feet on day two and discharged on day six. But the real programme started afterwards: a dietitian call every two weeks for the first three months, and a psychologist once a month.

I lost 41 kilos in fourteen months. What I value most, though, is what they taught me so that it does not come back.