I have 3 more months to wait of my 6 month required for insurance before they will approve surgery. I keep going from excited and wishing it was done and over with, to scared to death and asking myself if this is the right thing for me. I am so scared that something will go wrong. I am so worried about a leak. I am not the best at good luck. In fact people who know me usually say that if something bad is going to happen it will happen to me. My doctor has said he had one leak out of 150 surgeries. He told me that having a leak is a painful and long recovery. I just don't know what to do!

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The risk of dying during surgery is low. It's way more dangerous to drive a car like most of us do on a daily basis. The risk for leaks is also extremely low, about 1% overall. It's 100% if it's you, so this is definitely something you'll have to think about.

Talk to your doctor about it until you are comfortable with his responses, or find a new doctor. A leak CAN happen, but they're pretty uncommon. Look at the complications forum here, though. 99% of the people that I know of who had a leak say they would still do the surgery again once they've recovered from the leak. That speaks volumes to me.

Good luck!!

Thanks Lissa!

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I have 3 more months to wait of my 6 month required for insurance before they will approve surgery. I keep going from excited and wishing it was done and over with, to scared to death and asking myself if this is the right thing for me. I am so scared that something will go wrong. I am so worried about a leak. I am not the best at good luck. In fact people who know me usually say that if something bad is going to happen it will happen to me. My doctor has said he had one leak out of 150 surgeries. He told me that having a leak is a painful and long recovery. I just don't know what to do!

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I was in the same boat as you are. I scheduled my surgery early so I had a long time to worry. I have no luck at all and things never seem to go my way. I was also worried about all the things you are. I decided I was going to take a positive approach about the surgery and do it for my health. It was bad luck that got me fat and unhealthy. Good luck and don't be a negative force in your life. Stay positive.

I have 3 more months to wait of my 6 month required for insurance before they will approve surgery. I keep going from excited and wishing it was done and over with, to scared to death and asking myself if this is the right thing for me. I am so scared that something will go wrong. I am so worried about a leak. I am not the best at good luck. In fact people who know me usually say that if something bad is going to happen it will happen to me. My doctor has said he had one leak out of 150 surgeries. He told me that having a leak is a painful and long recovery. I just don't know what to do!

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My doc's leak rate is more like...1 in 1500. If you are not comfortable with his rate, I'd shop around. Keep in mind also...Leaks are not always caused by the doc. Some are caused by non compliance in the post op diet. I don't know the percentage of each, but there is patient responsibility involved in preventing leaks as well.

Well at the risk of sounding like a sad sack if ANYONE has piss poor luck it's ME. I never win at anything and if something can go wrong, even with the simplest of tasks, it'll go wrong for me.

I tempted fate and went to Mexico for surgery after determining I did NOT want to wait for all the crap insurance makes you go through pre-op. I went to MX, came through it fine and have had tremendous success with the VSG. Beside a few bouts of kidney stones due to dehydration I've not had any issues worth speaking of. I've had 3 sets of full blood work labs and the last 2 were stellar - dang near perfect and INCREDIBLY good for a man in his 50's.

Now, having said that, YES there IS a chance something will go wrong. Let's not kid ourselves a VSG is MAJOR surgery and can lead to some dire complications. Chances are it will NOT but there is still chances it WILL. Only YOU can weigh the pros and cons of surgery VS remaining morbidly obese and determine if the risk is worth it. Do your homework, ask a lot of questions and make up your OWN mind. Don't let ANYONE, a surgeon or VST member talk you into ANYTHING, make up your OWN MIND.

We all wish you the best!

Thanks everyone so much for your comments and support. I am trying to keep my attitude positive about the surgery and pray that it all turns out well for me. It's really nice to be able to talk to others on here that have been in the same situation. God bless you all!