I'm writing this morning because I need a place to unload. I have been elated this last 10 days and my surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. I had no fears and even wondered if that was normal as I had posted before. Today all of that has changed. When I started this journey it was by myself, but I was joined by a sister and a friend. The sister had her surgery and found out she had a rare form of stomach cancer called Gist. Fortunately after months of testing, a trip to Dana Farber, she is cancer free and the surgery actually saved her life in more ways than one. She feels and looks great.

The friend who was larger had a bypass. She discovered that she had a fatty liver, with cirrhosis from a lifetime of ibuprofen use and that her liver was dying, all this during her surgery. She too is doing well, losing greatly, exercising and last Friday went to Boston to be added to a liver transplant list. Last night I received a call from her sister. She has not been feeling right for a couple weeks, spoke with all of her Dr's, they all assumed it was liver related. Increased her pain meds and she went on with her life. Christmas day she was in too much pain and asked to go to the hospital, they discovered a leak. This is 3 months post-op. She did mention to my sister that she hurt herself at the gym a couple weeks back and heard a pop, and had been taking it easy and just walking since.

She went into emergency surgery which lasted 7.5 hours, she is on life support, has kidney failure is septic and the Dr was brutally honest and said she may not make it. This gave me reason to have a melt down last night.

Today I'm in a fog. My feelings are all over the place.. I have always known the risks, have read the complication forum and yet, it had never been this close to home. My excitement has turned to fear. This journey has already been such a roller coaster. It was so difficult and took so long to get approved. Is God trying to tell me something? I have been doing this the whole time to get healthier. I'm so confused, frustrated and unsure.

I'm so sorry your dear friend has had such a serious complication.

When you are weighing your options, please consider the health risks and life imitations of being overweight. For me, those risks and limitations far outweighed the risks of surgery. I was very afraid when I went to surgery, but not too afraid to follow through with it.

One thing that helped me was to read people's stories. Most people with complications have overcame them and gone on to succeed. And the majority of people sail through without complications. I'm seven months out and the only issue I've had is that I'm now lactose intolerant. I can deal with that!

Best wishes to you on your weight loss journey and healing wishes for your friend.

Lynda

It does give you a reality check. It is painful to see someone you know and care about have this horrible disease. Your body is no where like her body and it is hard to say if this is a warning. I am so sorry you have to go through this. Your fears are normal and I had these fears also. I did it anyways. Best wishes! Please keep us informed.

I think most of us would be confused and unsure in your situation.It is difficult to be objective when things hit so close to home. Like Isereno said, health risks need to be considered. Your sister and friend had VERY serious health problems that have nothing to do with bariatric surgery. Your sister was saved because of having VSG, so if anything, she is the perfect example of why we chose to do something as drastic as surgery to treat our obesity.

Going in to this I knew death and serious complications were a risk (as with any surgery) but inaction was going to bring me the same results, so I went for it. Your sister and friend had no symptoms and nothing came up during all the pre-op testing. Thanks to bariatric surgery they had a chance to fight their liver disease and cancer. When taking risks, sometimes we lose and sometimes we win, but I would rather go down fighting. I hope you choose to fight.

Lastly, I suggest you call your surgeon today. He/she can answer some questions for you and can be more compassionate tomorrow.

A big hug to you!!!!!

Thank you for your kind words. I can't help think about my friend and what she would say to me. She was so excited for me to have gotten approval after such a long drawn out process. All three of us did this for our health. I will continue my journey. I know the risks, pray that she recovers, as today there have been no changes, but there is hope for tomorrow. I have to continue with the hope of a better future for myself. I am still so full of emotions. I think it is to be expected.

Hopefully tomorrow when I wake and feel up to walking, II can see her in ICU and there may be better news. Again, thank you for listening.

I am so sorry these serious problems have happened! On the one hand, having WLS actually found a deadly cancer for one person and perhaps saved her.

On the liver problem - what a tragedy to have it compounded by a leak. I have to say the story gave me "pause" in that i would hope that my surgeon would NOT go ahead with WLS if he found my liver was dying. It seems so strange that didn't show up in the pre-op blood work. I am not a medical person, so what do I know, but it is shocking.

You have my prayers for your friends recovery. Keep us posted.

Happy,

Fear and confusion don't come from God. Your first friend's outcome was a miracle; the second was malpractice. Hang on to what you know is best for you.