Vsg Surgery Death In Calgary?

[ATeam 38]

Not to be negative, but I had heard through the company I'm going through that a young woman just died in Calgary a few weeks ago after VSG in Tijuana. I've searched for info relentlessly, but haven't found a word. Have you guys heard anything about this? I think its important for VSGers and hopefuls to learn from incidents like this.

[peacequeen 434]

Not to say that it's not true but the internet would normally eat up stuff like that,,I can't find anything at all either. When did this supposedly happen?

[peacequeen 434]

Sorry, you did say "a few weeks ago"..

[KristeyK 3]

I haven't heard anything, but deaths aren't unheard of. There are countless numbers of complications that can occur with this, or ANY, surgery. It's important to do research and see what the risks are and weigh them against the benefits. So many people take it for granted that they will come out of surgical procedures just fine, only to have discovered complications. I've read stories here where people have almost died. Anything from a reaction to anesthesia, to an infection, to not eating properly can cause tragic results.

If anyone finds out any info on this, I'd sure like to read it. (I'm a nursing student, and I like reading about procedures and the causes of complications.)

[Felicia 28]

I haven't heard anything about that I am going to browse the internet for the story though. I'm not sure if I should read it though it might just scare the crap out of me before my surgery lol.

I do agree with what KristeyK said though. Anything can happen during any surgery, the more complicated the surgery the more risks involved. When I had my c-section 2 years ago they gave me way too much anesthesia. They weren't communicating properly and i wound up being numb throughout my entire body instead of just the belly down. They had to pump me full of medicine to start my heart because it was slowing down so much.

People I'm sure have died during bariatric surgery or shortly after but that's a risk you are willing to take when you sign up for this. Lucky for me my doc has no fatalities so I am pretty confident going into this.

[RickM 1,753]

When my wife and I were first looking into WLS about eight years ago, the official NIH mortality figures for obese people having surgery (any surgery, not just WLS) was about 1 in 200 simply from anesthesia. It seems like those figures have improved some since then, but it did illustrate that surgery is not risk free, and that such elevated risks would continue to be with us as we aged and needed other surgeries to live. That also put some urgency into getting the WLS sooner rather than later, and with a surgical team, particularly the anesthesiologists, who were experienced with dealing with obese patients.

[Soon2BMiniMommy 92]

There was a death by a highly respected Mexican surgeon a couple of months ago....I think maybe Kelly? It was through absolutely no fault of his, or the type of surgery. The female patient had a pulmonary emboli while in surgery, which can happen to anyone, in ANY surgery, without any warning.

I don't know if she was from Calgary, but this was a tragic event and does happen, even with a tonsillectomy. There was a member on here who asked the surgeon about it when it happened as she was scheduled for surgery with him the following week and he was extremely upset about it but was honest with her. It was his only death out of thousands of VSG surgeries.

Like I said, don't know if this is the same incidence you may have heard about, but if it was, it really had nothing to do with VSG specifically......

[GetInMyBelly 80]

I just heard only of a lapband surgery death. Sad.

[thinoneday 445]

Hi, this was one of my mom's caregivers friends daughter. She couldn't handle the VSG apparently and from what mom said, she committed sucide. This is why it's important to get the psych eval. It's the mental aspect that NO ONE is really ready for. It's a complete turn around to thinking and some folks just can't handle it.

[waterlover 15]

Hi. I'm new here, and have been doing a lot of research on the psychological aspects of weight loss surgery. It is completely possible that this lady may have commited suicide, as I've read many articles on the number of suicides in bariatric patients being double than general population. I could site my sources if you would like.

Either way, a very very sad thing that someone died while trying to improve their life. If i go during surgery, at least I know my last thoughts were that I was having something to look forward to. And if I can't handle it after I hope I have the support to see me through.