Question:
Is it true that having surgery could deduct years from your life?
I heard that having gastric bypass surgery you could live about 15-20 years from when you have surgery. I am only 27 years old and have three very young children. I would hate to have this surgery and die when my children are young. My father died when I was young and it devastated me. The only co-morbity that I have is hypertension and I am now on two medications that seem to be working. I really want the surgery, but now feel selfish to get it. Please give me your imput. Plus mother-in-law feels that I am being selfish especially to my children, because I am having surgery. — Tarsha B. (posted on July 22, 2002)
July 22, 2002
Hi. I don't know where you heard that but I don't think it's true. For one
thing, the types and methods of WLS that are done today have been advanced
and perfected. I don't believe that there are any statistics showing an
altered life span following surgery 15 -20 years down the road. If
anything, I think that most of us are hoping that the surgery will EXTEND
our lives 15-20 years MORE than if we were to remain morbidly obese.
Please do lots of research. Good luck to you!
— Rebecca T.
July 22, 2002
This rumor pops up on a regular basis. According to the doctors it is not
founded on any facts or data. I personally think it was probably started
by someone in the diet industry. Americans spend millions of dollars
annually on diet programs and foods. I makes sense that the leaders of
this industry are threatened by WLS. In my case, NOT having the surgery
would have surely shortened my live by 20 years.
— Patty_Butler
July 22, 2002
I asked my doctor this same question and he said it was absolutely untrue.
He said if anything, the surgery will add 15 years to your normal life
expectancy. As far as feeling selfish for having the surgery, I felt that
way at first myself but then I think about all of the things I would like
to do with my kids that I can't do because I am so overweight. Good Luck to
you!
— Sandra D.
July 22, 2002
This statistic is DEFINITELY untrue, since the current version of the RNY
has only been performed for about 7-8 years!!!! And only about .03% of us
have died from it so far!!! LOL
— Terissa R.
July 23, 2002
Yeah how many really OLD MOs do you see. Now if we agree getting old doesnt
make them somehow thin then obviously they never get old.... They die
young.
— bob-haller
July 23, 2002
Current studies show that an older woman who gets her BMI down to the 40
range increases her life expectancy by 2.7 years. The increase in life
expectancy goes up as your age when the procedure was performed goes down
and also as your final BMI goes down. The numbers are not as high for men,
but their life expectancy does still INCREASE, not DECREASE. Good news for
us! The side effects of the surgeries they use today are predictable and
preventable. So if you are committed to taking your supplements and eating
right, at 27 you should statistically have a great chance at a long healthy
life.
— ctyst
July 23, 2002
You say you only have one co-morbidity Now. If you continue down the road
of being morbidly obese, I wonder how many co-morbidities you will have
Then. I cannot give you statistics as to how long you will live after you
have the surgery. But your quality of life will increase ten-fold. As for
your stick-in-the-mud mother-in-law (as many of them can be), she is
entitled to her opinion...but this is YOUR life and your body. You would
be doing this surgery so that you can feel healthy and improve the life you
share with your husband & children. Imagine how great you will feel
when you can run with your children in the park! Good luck to you in
whatever you decide to do. :o)
— Jennifer A.
July 23, 2002
How kind and considerate of her sharing that with you. Must be a gem of a
MIL! The best gift you can give your kids is a extension on your life.
How your MIL can say you are being selfish for wanting to do this FOR your
kids? I don't feel it's right to have the automatic idea that once you
have children, *you* are not important anymore- especially YOUR HEALTH.
Sure there are a lot of sacrifices you JUST DO for your children, and there
are even those you'll do out of sheer love- but when you start to give up a
piece of you, that doesn't benefit ANYONE.
— Karen R.
July 23, 2002
Regarding feeling selfish, and your MILs comments.....a mom who has to go
to the doctor constantly for more check ups and med changes instead of
taking the kids to soccer practise, is more "selfish" than one
who can be on the caoching team. A mom who has to spend extra money on Omar
the tent- makers clothes, is more "selfish" than spending the
difference on kids toys. A mom who stays home from a family day at the
beach because she is uncomfortable in a swimsuit and gets teased by other's
small kids, is "selfish" compared to the mom who is just busting
to get out and do a hundred fun family activities. A mom who won't go on
the kids field trip because she knows she can't keep up and her own kid is
embarrassed by her size, is more "selfish" than the mom who can
go and have fun too. A mom who dies from a co-morbidity a few weeks before
her first born's wedding day, or a month after her first grandchild is
born, is more "selfish" than one who's kids don't have to go
through this stress and pain for decades to come. You may be MO and live a
relatively healthy life for a long time. But the odds are, none of us will
be so lucky. If you have the opportunity to make changes like the surgery
will give you, rather than take your chances, I believe it is far LESS
selfish to do so. Maybe your MIL is just afraid of it all. Don't let
someone else talk you out of a decision that could make the difference
between a long and happy life as an involved mom (and vivacious woman in
her own right too!!) and one filled with limitations, pain and
complications. Just my humble opinion.
— Katie E.
July 23, 2002
As far as I know, that rumor has been started & circulated by a known
anti-WLS crusader and is simply not true, IF we take care of ourselves. If
you have HBP, is it due to other comorbs, as yet undiagnosed? Mine was due
to critically severe sleep apnea that went un-dx for at least 5 yrs!!!
Imagine! And so, like dominoes....... ANd I was going to be dead before I
was 46. My grandson was born when I was 48. I almost missed it. My
ex-husband was "only" 100# over, and he was dead by age 49. He
died 2 yrs before our grandon was born, OF HIGH CHOLESTEROL! So simple, so
deadly. He didn't want to be "cut". Sigh. Now, true, we were
not still raising babies, but we still had lives, spouses, kids &
family who loved us, etc. I only wish I had not had to wait until I was SO
sick that I was ultra-high risk on day of surgery.
— vitalady
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