Before you go for your "banding", please make sure you have a will, your living will, your funeral wishes and make sure all your personal affairs are in order.

My husband was "banded" the end of Nov, against my wishes. He died on December 7th at 1:30 pm with me holding one hand and the nurse holding his other hand. I watched him die over 5 days, all in the name of "wanting to loose weight"

His surgery was done in Mexico, he died state side after 6 days in ICU. Oh, and in that 6 days, he gained 75 lbs, was on a respirator and had 10 - 14 iv's going into him at any given time............oh, and I'm now a widow at 45, I have medical bills of over $120,000 to deal with along with the loss of my husband...........Need I say more?

May I ask, what was the cause of death? I am sorry for your loss.

Kammi in Everett, WA

Not to be crass and I am sorry for your loss, but comming from a medical back ground, Im going to have to say that your husband had some other medical problems and most likely died from that and not the Band. Im sorry you lost him, but I would really look into finding out what happened other than the Band.

I am very sorry you and your family have suffered this loss. Your advice is sound for everyone ( not just those being banded or having surgery). We never know when we will become a victim of car accident or other event and having our wills and insurance and other personal wishes in order could save our family members lots of additional problems.

I'm sorry for your loss.

I am so very, very sorry for your loss. You painted a very sad picture of your experience and my heart is so sad for you and your family. I will say a prayer for you so that somehow you can get through this. This is what we hope never happens to anyone. Condolences to you, and God bless you.

When we learn about lapband they tell us a risk of it could be death. We all know this, not to sound mean but not many people die from this procedure and it isn't very nice to try and scare people into doing these things or not having the procedure done. Yes I am sorry for your loss but we already know the risks.

I am so sorry for your loss. How did he gain 75 pounds in that six days especially if he was on a respirator? My Lord! What happened? What actually caused his decease? My heart goes out to you and thank you for your sound advice.

My condolences.

Your advice is for everyone undergoing surgery or not. certainly the risks of morbid obesity and its sequelae should put us all on alert.

Every surgery carries a risk of complications and possibly death. In fact everything in life carries a possible risk of death. The OP provides excellent advice, that EVERYONE should have a will and people who know where the will is located.

Before you go for your "banding", please make sure you have a will, your living will, your funeral wishes and make sure all your personal affairs are in order.

My husband was "banded" the end of Nov, against my wishes. He died on December 7th at 1:30 pm with me holding one hand and the nurse holding his other hand. I watched him die over 5 days, all in the name of "wanting to loose weight"

His surgery was done in Mexico, he died state side after 6 days in ICU. Oh, and in that 6 days, he gained 75 lbs, was on a respirator and had 10 - 14 iv's going into him at any given time............oh, and I'm now a widow at 45, I have medical bills of over $120,000 to deal with along with the loss of my husband...........Need I say more?

I am so sorry to hear about your loss and by no means is that an easy thing to deal with. However I have one question. Why? i am playing the devil's adv. right now..and it looks like u just signed up to be a member, and u just made 1 post.. We all know that it is a risk, however what we don't know is what medical issues your husband had prior to being banded, and also who his Dr. was in Mexico that banded him. The way you are coming across is like don't do it... don't do it.. and this is a support group. Did he pass from an infection or something? Plz give all of the details if u would like for someone to take what u are saying serious.... Like i said again i'm not trying to be rude or anything but i look at everything when i read post..

of course there are risks... it's surgery. while i was VERY confident with my surgeon, i still filled out a living will and power of attorney... much to my mom's dismay.

maybe my family is morbid but we all talk about what we want done if one of us dies. i have all my animals assigned to specific family members and my burial wishes were told to my whole family.

Wow, I am truely sorry for your loss but I wish I would not have seen this today of all days. I am having surgery tomorrow. I have all my things in order and I have made a very informed decision to have this surgery. I researched for over a year. My surgeon is here in the US with outstanding credentals and a member of the Bariatric Society. He has never had one mortality and very very morbitities. I know the risks, I am an RN and have worked in surgery for over 15 years. This website has always been a source of inspiration and positive support until today.

I apologize for sounding rude, but I have to question the woman's intentions on posting out here.....She hasn't returned to the website to answer anyone's questions on specifics (I recognize she has other things on her plate right now....) but if her intention is to educate people of the dangers, then do so fully, not with half of a story. I have to wonder why her husband would have to pay out of pocket for surgery and the ensuing issues. My insurance has paid for nearly everything. Is it because he was denied in the states and had it done in Mexico as a self pay instead? Clearly the man had co-morbidities that exacerbated his issues from surgery. There was a death recently of a woman from plastic surgery. She was denied by the first few surgeons she saw and kept looking until she found one willing to operate. At what point do we accept the responsibility for our own choices? No one forced this man to eat his way into obesity...and no one forced him to have surgery. Was the result what he wanted? Clearly not.....but get real. He made a choice and it didn't work out. We have to recognize that this is always a real possibility and that the surgery is entirely elective. I don't think we've been given the full story here.....

I see there is a lot of posts on this thread and I think this is a topic that needs to be talked about even though it is difficult. Statistics show that 1 out of every 2000 LB surgeries will result in death. These statistics are the same as with gallbladder surgery or any other minor surgery of this type. The major cause is from blood clots. This is why it is important to follow your doctor's orders and disclose your medical history.

I just lost my step-dad in February due to pneumonia that he caught while fighting cancer. I can see why the original poster felt like she needed to post the original post. When losing someone it helps with the healing process to talk about it. My mom and step-dad never talked about death and my mom has been left with having to not only grieve but has been stuck with a lot of legal stuff to deal with which has been very overwhelming. She swore that when she passes that she doesn't want anyone else in our family to have to deal with the emotional, legal hell that she's dealing with therefore she's made sure that everything is in place for when that time comes.

If you are going to have surgery, make sure you understand the possible risks because there are some. Have all of you legal matters in order, and let your loved ones know your wishes.

hate to sound like a B*TCH, but this person only posted once so far, and to me, the some parts of the story sound like b.s. imo, would never use advice from someone with one posting. especially when they're bashing other docs in another country. i'm not saying this because i'm getting my band placed in Mexico. heck, i did my part. i did my research and i am 100% comfortable with my decision.

there's a lot of p.c.'s out there posing as patients themselves/loved ones acting as if their band experience was a horrible because they went to this doctor, or went to this country...just watch out for them. like any other true fellow lbt member would tell you: RESEARCH,RESEARCH,RESEARCH.

sorry for your loss if the story is true. i just put up a guard if something doesn't sound right to me.