Thrilled about having a surgery date BUT...hubby's worried now!

When i went to HRRH for my orientation she said that they have never had a death while a patient has been on the table. They did have 1 death last year when the patient choose to eat a piece of pizza LESS than a week out of surgery. I have researched and  the ones that i have found were all over 400 lbs and had more serious health problems before surgery. One was more phsycological than anything. she was afraid to walk after surgery because she thought  she would fall. So she got a blood clot. She also was taken off her meds after surgery  for depression and was having huge issues. Right after surgery they went to their summer cabin for her to heal. ( FAR FROM ANY CLINIC ). It is sad but it happens. We can only do and try our best and pray that everything goes well. Educate yourself as much as possible in EVERY aspect of this surgery. The good ,bad and ugly. Listen to your body ,learn from what others have said on OH about pain and issues after surgery so you know what to look for just in case. And seek help if you are not sure . Better safe than sorry..... I pray we all have a safe and uneventful surgery..Take Care Everyone.. Krista....

I asked Dr Mamazza this question at my appointment with him. He stated that the mortality rate in Ottawa had not changed since I went to orientation in December 2011. Hope this helps.

2/100!?  Really? 

I thought it was more like 1/300.  Pretty sure that's what TWH told us at my orientation last year.  I thought the 2-4% number was for how many people who had complications, not death.

You are correct it is 1/300 that is what the stats for Canada show according to the seminar done last month that I attended. 

What people should remember is that when they google on the internet for stats they are getting stats for USA not Canada. 

Not sure if this will help or make it worse.........but it might be helpful to acknowledge that this is an issue that you have NO control over and therefore isn't worth your time. There are so many aspects of this "journey" that we do have control over, it might ease your mind to just focus on those. I know the lack of control might be what scares people - but again, you can't do anything about it, so its wasted worrying energy.

Just my 2 cents.

Andrea

As the last poster indicated, we have no control over this.  So I prepared for the eventuality by updating my will.  As well I made a power of attorney for medical issues and one for financial issues.  So if I survived but was unable to manage my affairs that was looked after.

I am still alive and kicking.  I take my nutritional needs seriously and ensure I take the appropriate vitamins.  I also want to be able to enjoy the pension that I paid into all those years. LOL

Judy

One thing you need (and your husband too) to have faith in is that there will be a whole team of people who are focused on the success of the surgery.  None of them want anything to happen and are trained to handle emergencies.   That's a whole bunch of people on your side who don't want your death or complications messing up their stats. Not the dr, not the anesthesiologist,  or nurses.     Key is to follow their instructions to the letter.  Don't cheat on opti, get moving ASAP after surgery, follow their diet instructions.  They are centres of excellence for a reason. Not just general surgeons doing the odd gastric bypass.  This is pretty well all they do.  They are specially trained. I think a question to ask your surgeon is to ask how many surgeries they have personally done. And what their rate of deaths and complications are. 

Good luck on your journey.  Initially my husband was concerned about death and complications.  By the time I approached surgery week, we totally flipped around. I had a freak out moment and was trying to tell him what I wanted done with my rings if something happened.  He calmly reminded me of all the above and the fact he wasn't worried about that. And that indeed every time I went out in the car I had practically the same risk of death.  And with that my freak out moment was over

The stats are low, and much lower than the past and the USA.  Also the USA has tackled severely morbidly obese folks in a very real way, these folks need walls removed and cranes used to get them into the hospital, so its not surprising their numbers are higher re mortality.  

I know some folks don't like when I take to me soap box but I highly recommend you embrace this view of our mortality to make sure your wills, estate plan, living will, power of attorneys' and guardianship(s) are all done and up to date.  Its just silly to not have your passing prepared to ease your loved ones difficult time, grief is hard enough, you don't want to compound their grief with legal or financial difficulties that are simply avoidable.   

Well said Ian!  

My surgeon said something very useful to me when on that subject.  He said that yes, there are risks and gave me all the appropriate statistics etc but what really hit me and stuck with me was when he said "Can you die from surgery, well there's always a risk...can you die if you do not have surgery?" and then he said "yes...if you keep going the way you've been going and keep gaining weight each year then you may not live to see 60".  That struck me and stayed with me.  My surgeon was a really nice and kind doctor and he said this to me to understand that yes, there are risks with surgery just as there are risks with ANY surgery, but there are just as many risks, if not more, from letting myself keep gaining more and more weight.  It was an eye-opener for me and helped me realize I had made the right choice.  It helped put some of my fears to rest.  I'm not sure if this will be helpful to you or not, but when he said that to me, it really stuck with me.  Because let's face it, I had been slowly killing myself for years.