Sad subject

my surgeon told me he had 3 deaths in the year with RNY and none with the sleeve. He said one was due to a blood clot that the filter... something.... Another was due to the man eating what he shouldn't have eaten after the surgery and I forgot what the other was. I think it was a health problem prior to surgery.

I am only a few days post op and I am trying to rest as much as possible. I know I'm not out of the woods yet. People die a month out sometimes.... People say your dr shouldn't have any deaths but I don't think that's realistic if they're being honest about what happened. I guess my surgeon didn't have to count the guy who ate what he wasn't supposed to as one of his deaths since it happened way later. Drs can always skew information and I read somewhere that the information is actually skewed so that some deaths aren't considered FROM weightloss surgery, but from other things.

I know no one personally. However, there was a young lady who died not too long ago on our group. We don't know what actually happened and may never know.

My surgeon has had one death, and the only info he could give me (due to hippa)was that it was a person who had an excessive BMI >50.

I had and still have the up most confidence in my surgeon. I got the best care from him and the nurses in the hospital. When a complication arose early, early one morning and came to the hospital immediately.

Talk to different surgeons (if you haven't picked one yet) ask a lot of questions. Make him/her aware of any concerns you may have. And if possible talk to people who have used him and had your procedure done, and see how they fared.

You are your own best advocate!

Technically, everyone dies after WLS.

It's natural.

But.  You are more likely to pass from complications of morbid obesity than from the actual weight loss surgery procedure or immediate complications.  They do happen (like others have told you...) but I woudl not allow that fear to stop you.  If it does, you may not be ready for this life change.

It's huge.

And, also be prepared that lots of things can go wrong outside of immediate complications.  You really need to be ready for a life-long change.

I believe my RNY surgeon has has 2 deaths in 10 years--both due to the patient. One guy tried to eat a whole pizza a few days after surgery.  The second involved a woman who was in pain, and her husband drove her to the local ER instead of driving further to where my surgeon did his surgeries. My surgeon was not allowed admission to that hospital, as he was not a surgeon on the hospital's surgical list--insurance issues I'm guessing. 

I personally know one woman who died after RNY. But this was within a few days of having plastic surgery some 3 plus years post op. She had a blood clot in her lung.  Any major surgery has risks. The risk of death from RNY is no higher than any other major surgery.  Go to some support groups and talk to the patients there. If you have a good surgeon, and keep them aware of any issues you think are problematic, you should be fine.  DAVE

I personally don't know anyone who died. I know my surgeon has had at least two patients die on him. One died while they were filming a tv show.

I know I would be dead by now if I hadn't had my surgery. Yes i've had complications. Yes it sucked....lol. But I would still do it all over again. The difference in my life is HUGE!!!

Yes I know of someone who died due to complications from wls, she was a sister of a close friend of mine. Actually she died a month before I had my surgery. I had family and friends ask me if I was going to go ahead and have wls knowing that someone close had died, I told them yes I wasn't going to be fearful because tomorrow isn't promise to anyone however, that was seven years ago and I have no regrets! I would do it over again in a heart beat.

I've never met anyone, personally, but I've gotten to know people on here who have died due to surgical complications. I've also known people who've died while waiting for surgery.

There are risks with every surgery. People have died from plastic surgery complications, routine dental surgery, etc.

I survived wls and live a full life. I survived a complicated revision & 2 sets of plastics. I figure if I hadn't had WLS, I'd be dead or near death by now.

personally i don't know of anyone who has died off WLS, i do know someone who almost died after having RNY shes 80 ponds now, what happen was her stomach closed and she almost died she had emergency surgery and survived :)

many things can add to complications after wls, like age, weight, diabetes, high blood pressure and other medical problems,  but wls have saved many lives!!! it's a big risk we take. Its your desicion to have wls and if its ment for u you will be fine!!!
now trust in god and he will keep you safe :) good luck on ur decision  

I had to sign a form acknowledging that the risk of death was 1 in 200 weight loss surgeries.  That was in 2007.  Before surgery it is a good idea to get your will, living will, funeral arrangements and other affairs in order.

The one death I know of was a lady who never exercised.  She developed blood clots in her legs a few days after she went home and died.

Blood thinning drugs, a device on the hospital bed to keep your legs circulated, special hosiery and exercise all help to reduce the risk.

Probably anyone who has done any research or spent any amount of time here on OH has heard about complications and deaths.  It happens.  However, the important thing to note is that each and everyone has their own health story that puts them within a specific category of risk. For the stories that you may have heard about people having extreme complications or even death from WLS, you often have no idea what the underlying health issues were.  
The job of your medical center is to determine where you fall within the range of risk, and then it is your job to determine whether the risks to you outweigh the benefits or vise versa. 

I would tell others that each cir****tance is highly individualized, and (assuming this is true),  that you and your medical team have assessed that the benefits to your health outweight the risks.  Also, as many have said, that there are risks to any surgery.