Sad and a little bit scary...

On Monday, my mom got a call from a friend of hers. This man's sister had WLS about a year ago. She had no complications then, but later on developed a hernia. So they performed another surgery to fix the hernia, and gave her a tummy tuck as a bonus. Well, since then she's lost more and more weight -- her doctor was telling her she had to gain weight. Apparently, it got so bad lately that she was having trouble breathing and my mom's friend (her brother) was calling her five times a day and begging her to go to the doctor or to the ER. She kept telling him she would not have another surgery, but finally agreed that he could take her to the ER the next morning. Well, he got a phone call from her neighbor who had received a call from her that she had fallen and couldn't get up at around 5:00 a.m. Her brother called 911 from his house and drove over there, getting there before any paramedics. His sister was dead by the time he got there. The family has asked not to have an invasive autopsy done, which I understand, but right now the death certificate lists the cause of death as undetermined. For my own peace of mind, I wish I could find out if the death was in any way WLS-related. In any case, I just find it so sad. Please keep my mom's friend and his family in your thoughts today. Thanks.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom's friend. I'll keep her and her friends family in my prayers. I don't know if it's WLS related or not either..but it is scary and sad anyway. Anna

I am so sorry. You are right, it is sad and scary. I also understand the family's wishes, but I do wish that they understood just how important it is to find out if this was WLS related. My father died after open heart surgery for Marfan Syndrome related problems.(that was back in "72") He knew that there was every probability that he wouldn't make it. He requested an autopsy be done if he didn't make it, in hopes that they would learn something that would help others in the future. People just don't realize how important the kind of information gained from autopsys are to future generations. I will keep all of you in prayer. This is a rough time for all involved. Hazel

That is so sad. I have heard that a hernia after surgery is a possibility, so I can understand that. I guess that we all got the full list of possible complications with this surgery and of course you read all the bad stuff on the Internet. We all had to "weigh" the positives with the negatives and came up with the decision to have the WLS. But one thing we all have to remember is that our bodies are different now. If there is a persistent problem, we must go to the doctor to catch any possible life-threatening issues. Debbie

You said that right.... sad and scary! My thoughts are with your mom and her friend's family. Susan

Wow that's really scary. It sure would be nice to know what really happened. I guess we need to keep in mind that there is that small percent of people who have complications after surgery. How sad for her family. Karen S.