Dying from WLS

I just read a post on fb and a mutual friend commented that she now has 2 friends that died from gastric bypass surgery. I want to ask all my vets (Poet Kelly) have you heard of this? Could it be because of the malnutrition or lack of vitamins? I have never heard this except in one case where the girl in the UK did not do well and she was not eating and other things. I am somewhat confused now. Am I paranoid? What do you guys think?

My surgeon said the death rate for RNY is less than .1% and those are usually cases where there is something else underlying that plays a part. No surgery is 100% safe as I'm sure you know.

If you aren't feeling well at any time after, you should not hesitate to go to the ER! I think people sometimes put this off and end up in bad shape. Trust your instincts.

Now keep in mind, staying morbidly obese will almost certainly kill you. It is the number two cause of preventable deaths (smoking is number 1). I too share your concerns, but I think the benefits outweigh the risks...at least in my mind.

Thanks, many ppl think having surgery is the easy way out. I have so many talks where i have to explain my decision and why i chose surgery and how hard it is but all ppl see is me losing weight fast. Thanks

I am not a vet... but last night or maybe the night before there was a lengthy threat on Gastric Bypass Complications and there were several Vet-posts about stats and stuff.  

We had someone die here in my community hospital last summer on the table undergoing bypass.  He was over 500 pounds with a lot of other health issues.

There are many factors you have to consider.  

Sure, it's possible to die from any surgery.  It's not very common, though.  I'm pretty surprised that you have a friend that has had two friends die from WLS.  I think the mortality rate is something like one in 350, so statistically you'd have to know about70 people that had WLS in order to know two that died from it. 

The mortality rate is about the same for WLS as it is for any other major abdominal surgery.  That means you're about as likely to die from WLS as you are from having your gall bladder removed or a C-section.  Now, since many people that have WLS are in poor health - morbidly obese, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, diabetes, etc- any major surgery is riskier for them than for a healthy person.  It's more dangerous for a 300 lb person with high blood pressure and diabetes to have their gall bladder removed than it is for a 150 lb person with normal blood pressure and no diabetes to have the same procedure done.

I think dying from lack of vitamins after WLS would be very rare.  It would only a happen if you didn't take vitamins and/or didn't get blood work done to know what vitamins you needed (and did that for a very long time).

If you were going to die from WLS, which is not likely, it might be from heart failure during surgery or a blood clot after surgery or something like that.

I think you should ask your surgeon how many surgeries he's done and how many of his patients have died.  I think you should ask him what he thinks the likelihood of you dying from WLS is, and what he thinks the likelihood of you dying young from obesity-related health problems is if you don't have WLS.

Thanks Kelly,

I know some ppl want to blame everything on the unknown and some are just so judgmental of WLS, but I wanted to know had any body else heard this. It is just crazy the stories ppl come up with to discourage some else.

What Kelly said!
I know of 2 people in real life that almost died from complications. One had a reaction to the anesthesia and coded on the table. She was a little more sore from the compressions, but has done well and is almost a year out.
The other almost died from bleeding ulcers because they started smoking again after surgery. Spent a while in intensive care and had several transfusions, but has been OK (did finally quit smoking).

My surgeon's practice has lost one patient to a blood clot.  It is possible, but statistically rare.  All surgery has risks, but just like the vets are always saying we shouldn't compare our progress to that of others because we are all individuals, you also have to consider the risks for your cir****tances based on your own health.  Also, once the sure is over, much of the outcome is dependent on you.  The people you heard about may not have followed their plans.  If you are committed to doing that, your odds of success are very good.  The fact that you are here asking questions is a good start.

Thanks Karen

Yes you must be committed and not just do it for the physical appearance  yes its a plus but health should be first.

Of course any time you go under you re at risk, but now I'm curious, about after the fact, like more then a year later type thing... What could you die from that is directly related to the wls it's self?