Life expectancy post-gastric bypass???

Looking at the last several generations of women in my family, if I make it past 60 I'll be over the moon.

That is all.

 For what its worth my aunt had her gastric bypass done in the mid 80's..she is now 68 and still going strong. My plan is to keep have labs done on a regular basis and add vitamins as needed. Who knows what medical advances and research has in store for us in the next decade. 

 
I've already surpassed my life expectancy by 6 years by initially getting the Lap Band when I did and losing 100 lbs.  At that point I was told that in the condition I was in I'd be lucky to make it to my 37th birthday.  I was 36 at the time, so, I've already reaped the benefits and with my revision to RNY coming up, I plan on extending my life expectancy even more. 

I am not a doctor, but I do not believe these studies.  I especially don't believe the part about the "only 3 more years" theory.  I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, diabetes, severe back problems and was lazy to boot - all of these are gone now - you can not tell me I have not extended my life by greater than 3 years (unless there's an accident or cancer or something like that) with these problems cured or in remission and exercising now, too.  Sorry, don't believe it.

The article also touched on my first thought - many people refuse to make the necessary lifestyle changes needed to live the WLS life - refusing to take the necessary vitamins that we KNOW we must take - is that the fault of the surgeon or the surgery, or our own stupidity, for lack of a better word.  Having this surgery and NOT following the rules may even shorten our life.

I, too, am of the belief that when it's my time it's my time, but I think my time has been greatly extended in quality and quantity.

Just my 2 cents!

 You have to keep in mind that many people who have WLS are in terrible health to begin with and the weight loss may not come fast enough to avoid a serious problem, and that the damage we have done to our bodies with years of obesity is sometimes not reversible, especially when it comes to heart and circulatory issues.  I do agree that quality of life is SO much more important than the number of years.  The side of the family that I take after is not very long-lived, so I would not have expected to live to be 90 even if I had not had any weight issues at all.

It is quite surprising, though, that there are still no controlled studies on this, since the WLS population is now more than adequate to do a study with a good sample size.

Lora

I had a friend who past away last year from breast cancer.  She was only 56.  She did everything right.  She was thin, and ate well all the time.  She avoided processed foods.  She exercised.  She didn't smoke.  She didn't drink.  I have seen others that smoke, are overweight, and never exercise that live well into their 80's.

We have to do the best we can to live a healthy life and make the most of the time we have.  I would much rather have a healthy 60 or 70 years than  spend my life dealing with the complications of obesity.  We do all we can, but we do not determine when we die.  ( Actually I think self determination may play a role, but that is another topic all together.  I've seen too many loved ones hold on for a few extra days or hours until the time was right.)

 This website was run by a lady named sue widmark who was very anti wls after having difficulties after surgery.  Her whole site is very anti wls

 Thanks for mentioning this.  I wondered what the site was just because of the odd way the "article" was worded.  I went back to the site and went to the main page.  It is full of anti-WLS stuff... and some very dubious "information" and statistics (as was the original article).  The site has articles written by people *****gret their surgery but are pretty vague about exactly what the post-op problems were (one mentions years and years of vomiting and one just mentions it being the worst decision of her life with NO explanation of why).  

I also Googled a couple of the names of the "professionals" cited on this web page. Let's just say that what I found did not exactly give me any reason to give any particular credence to what they have to say.

Lora

I didn't click the link, but just the info I read in this thread led me to believe this was an article I did read a long time ago and the anti-WLS community is as alive and well as the WLS community.... I've read articles from fat-fans and WLS-phobics and all in between. and anything from someone with an AGENDA is a tough pill to swallow as "unbiased"

If someone asks me if they should have WLS I would never say "go for it" I would want to know why they want it and what they expect out of it, because I honestly don't think it IS right for everyone.

Too often people refer to supposed experts, but they don't hold up to real inspection.

Yes, clearly some of the professionals in the article are making their living (and selling books) criticizing WLS and have an agenda (which is why their credibility is zero with me).  I also have not been able to find ANY info on the alleged study by the Mayo Clinic in 2000 that showed a 20-25% rate of "life threatening complications within five years".  I found several other studies by the Mayo Clinic that year, but nothing even close to that one. {sarcasm on}  Imagine that.  {sarcasm off}

Lora