Risks on WLS

[Dinks97420 52]

Been going through this for a few months and my consultation is July 25. This weekend was my husbands 30th class reunion. There was an area with pics of those classmates that are gone. One of them passed due to complications from WLS. Another classmate stated that she has known too many people who have also passed away due to complications and of WLS.

Made me start second guessing again????????????. How many of you went through this period and is it normal!! I know I need the surgery and really ready for it but are the risks worth it ???

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

According to my surgeon the biggest risks are blood clots and pneumonia. They do a great deal to mitigate those risks. For me it came down to the fact that I was at much higher risk of dying from obesity than from surgery.

Talk to your surgeon about your fears. He or she should be able to help you put them in perspective.

[Cervidae 2,389]

I just need to point a couple things out.

First, the odds of having serious or long last complications if you use an experienced, well-reviewed surgeon who knows what he/she is doing are extremely low. The risk of death is even lower. Tiny. The chance of dying decades early from complications related to obesity is huge. Almost inevitable.

Second, things have changed in the last 10-15 years. The surgeries are safer and more understood, with more long-term data and so on. Someone who gets their surgery today has significantly less risk than they would have been taking even a few years ago.

There is always going to be a story about someone's mother's friend's dog's babysitter's uncle's sister who had some rare complication and died, but how many stories do you hear about the successes? Better yet, how many people do you pass on the street who had surgery, lost their weight, and are now maintaining healthy lives and you simply don't know about it? Without personally knowing someone who had either success or failure, how could you know why they failed? Was it a freak accident, or was it some kind of issue brought on by unhealthy actions post-op? Honestly, in 2 years of research and literally thousands of people I've come across, it's rare that complications just "happen", especially nowadays. You do occasionally come across an unlucky soul who just had terrible luck. It does happen. But usually, it's totally related to a patient error, like eating too much/wrong things, taking nsaids and getting ulcers, smoking, etc.

In the end, there is always a risk. But the tiny risk here is surgery, as opposed to the huge risk of remaining obese. You have to decide if it's worth it or if you're willing and able to take that leap. It's scary! But you can do it, you can do anything you believe you can do, and there will always be people here to support you and Celebrate your achievements, as well as people to mourn and commiserate with. Good luck to you! It's rarely an easy decision but whatever you chose, I wish you nothing but health and happiness.

[OKCPirate 5,323]

I just need to point a couple things out.

First, the odds of having serious or long last complications if you use an experienced, well-reviewed surgeon who knows what he/she is doing are extremely low. The risk of death is even lower. Tiny. The chance of dying decades early from complications related to obesity is huge. Almost inevitable.

Second, things have changed in the last 10-15 years. The surgeries are safer and more understood, with more long-term data and so on. Someone who gets their surgery today has significantly less risk than they would have been taking even a few years ago.

There is always going to be a story about someone's mother's friend's dog's babysitter's uncle's sister who had some rare complication and died, but how many stories do you hear about the successes? Better yet, how many people do you pass on the street who had surgery, lost their weight, and are now maintaining healthy lives and you simply don't know about it? Without personally knowing someone who had either success or failure, how could you know why they failed? Was it a freak accident, or was it some kind of issue brought on by unhealthy actions post-op? Honestly, in 2 years of research and literally thousands of people I've come across, it's rare that complications just "happen", especially nowadays. You do occasionally come across an unlucky soul who just had terrible luck. It does happen. But usually, it's totally related to a patient error, like eating too much/wrong things, taking nsaids and getting ulcers, smoking, etc.

In the end, there is always a risk. But the tiny risk here is surgery, as opposed to the huge risk of remaining obese. You have to decide if it's worth it or if you're willing and able to take that leap. It's scary! But you can do it, you can do anything you believe you can do, and there will always be people here to support you and Celebrate your achievements, as well as people to mourn and commiserate with. Good luck to you! It's rarely an easy decision but whatever you chose, I wish you nothing but health and happiness.

Damn, this is really good. Can someone put this on a billboard or something? This is about perfect.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I have known people who had WLS who have died. I also know people who have not had WLS who have died. I have known people who are not obese who have died prematurely. Unfortunately, we all die. The older we get, the more people we know die. It is part of life.

[Dinks97420 52]

Thank you for all the comments. I have my questions in my notebook for my consultation. All of this helped!!! I think it is just starting to get real. My surgery should be end of August to first of September. Thanks again for all the encouragement!! I have learned a lot from these boards and will continue to stick around

[KristenLe 5,980]

Great response from @@Cervidae . You can also reduce your risk of complications by following your surgeon's instructions and not going off plan (pre-op and post-op!). Good luck with your consult!

[theantichick 2,204]

Also, remember that a lot of people will be convinced any problem anyone had after WLS, even years later, is related to the WLS.

I have a friend who had WLS, and wasn't very compliant, and had a number of health problems after and ended up dying in her sleep. Friends blame the WLS, saying she was never "right" after. I know that she wasn't compliant, so it's unclear how the WLS played a part, but it wasn't a direct cause of her death. I have a friend who lost his sister years after a bypass, with a similar story. I don't know if she was compliant or not, but the WLS was unlikely a direct cause. My sister had VSG several years ago, and has had a number of health issues since. My mother blames the VSG for all of them, but my sister has several very serious chronic conditions that predate the VSG and developed auto-immune after the VSG. The VSG didn't cause the auto-immune, but the stress of surgery may have been part of the trigger to flare it.

Nothing is simple when it comes to health and complications, but death that is actually caused by the WLS is very rare. Whether it plays a part in later health conditions, is debatable. But compliance with post-op instructions greatly reduces the chance of complications.

Raise all of your concerns with your surgeon, he or she will be the best person to address them with the best information. But know that the associations lots of people make aren't medically sound.

[Sophie74656 1,572]

Well any surgery has risks obviously. The stats on deaths directly related to weihht loss surgery are probably available online. But i would bet that many od those people had otjer health issues to begin with

If you are really worried about dying think of this....being significantly overweight has a much higher risk of death than surgery.

[Christinamo7 4,042]

its normal to be nervous about that or a myriad of other things when you get close to surgery. You've already had some really good posts about the relative risk of this surgery so I will only say that for me, when adding up the risk/benefit I was far more convinced that my obesity had the greater risk of early death for me. simply put, I was more scared of the complications of obesity (diabetes and heart disease) than of the actual surgery it's self. if you follow instructions and are boldly transparent especially with anesthesiology - it is almost certain that you will come through with flying colors.

[melbell2222 244]

Keep to the doctors guidelines and don't go back to old habits! My granny is against the surgery bc one of her friends have passed away but why did she pass away bc she drank alcohol a lot!! It all depends how you take care of yourself

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Edited July 18, 2016 by melbell2222

[daniotra 298]

The risks are why I didn't even consider surgery for years. It took me a long time to decide that the benefits vastly outweighed the potential risks for me. I was the same way with getting laser vision correction. I was terrified, but it ended up being the best decision when I finally decided to do it after 10 years.

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[daniotra 298]

Write down the benefits you could experience, and talk to your doctor about your real risk of complications. I'm fairly young and healthy, to my risks were low, and the benefits were huge.

I've seen several people I know have complications, but I've seen many, many more success stories.

One other thought. My aunt had WLS 30-odd years ago. She regained most of the weight, but she doesn't regret the experience at all. The time at the lower weight was wonderful and incredibly valuable to her, and she still has some health benefits.

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