Please Don't Do It!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

There could have been a lot of different reasons your friend passed away, not necessarily because of the surgery, but how she took care of herself after surgery.  It could also have been something totally unrelated to the surgery.

I don't have a RNY, I have a Duodenal Switch...but regardless, I know that it's important to pay close attention to your nutrition.  Get all your protein in, take your supplements.  The RNY is a little bit more forgiving in that area than the DS, but nevertheless, sloppiness in nutrition and supplements will lead to malnutrition with either surgery, and left unchecked the vitamin deficiencies can kill you.   With any weight loss surgery comes a great deal of responsibility in paying close attention to nutrition, which everyone should do, but most of us don't as pre-ops, and that carries over to life as post-op bariatric patients. 

Many programs take a multi-disciplinary approach to weight loss surgery, making sure that aptients are well-educated about their nutritional needs.  I hope that you are with a program like that.  If not, bring your questions to the forum for your particular surgery.  We take care of each other here on OH.

 

Thanks for all of the responses ladies! I think heron was just worried about me. After I explained to her the surgery I was having, she felt better.

Alot of people have that misconception that surgery causes all evil, but just let her know you've researched your options. You may not have the same health issues or risks that your friends had. It's different for everyone. I wish you the best on your journey

VSG is not RNY.  The death rate is higher with RNY.  If you speak to her again and she tells  you not to have the surgery, tell her, the Sleeve is totally different than RNY and you have done your research and feel comfortable having the surgery as it's safer.  It's very sad.  I lost 4 friends to RNY - something I will always remember was my one friend, she was 35 y/o and had been obese her entire life.  She knew her life was ending and she said she would have still had the surgery, just to be normal for once in her life.

There are still risk that can lead to death with VSG so saying it's not RYN is not really saying much. If you happen to be in the small percentage that die the rate becomes  100% - not trying to scare anyone but don't think it's responsible to keep touting the statistics of another surgery to make one feel better about the surgery they chose By the way the rny statistics have improved dramatically over the years and if you have FOUR friends who passed from Rny I would be afraid to have any type of surgery in your area

Thankfully, not one of my 4 friends who died from RNY complications lived in my area.  Two lived in California, one in NYC and the other in Illinois.  I'm not sure what surgery you had, if you had one, however, the stats are very different between WLS.  I think it's important to understand the differences.  I, personally, wouldn't have had RNY, ever.

Actually the stats for complications are not that  significant  to 1) comorbidities and 2) RNY to vsg. 

Absolutely agree with you. ALL surgery comes with a risk be it weigh loss surgery or ANY other surgery. 

You have to weigh the risk to the reward, the necessity to elective factor. 

I know of several people that had WLS and have since passed away. Complications from surgery caused the death of two (RNY-leak, vsg-blood clot). The others two could have been surgery related but their isn't a guarantee and the last was due to vitamin deficiency. Not sure if this person was supplementing correctly and getting labs drawn. 

When a family member or close friend passes away of course those that care become concerned and may even look for something to "blame". 

Comorbidities can kill us too. I knew what I was facing with comorbidities and the risk of surgery was worth the chance to put those health issues in remission. 

Ok sorry for rambling I agree with you I could die tomorrow there are no guarantees what I can vouch for these last 8 years living life like I never experienced being MO has been well worth every risk taken. 

I am very sorry to hear about your friend, and for her mother, I just can't imagine losing one of my children. 

One of my dad's friends died a few short months after she had RNY.  He was terrified when I told him I was doing the VSG.  I simply told him, Dad, the weight or the diabetes will kill me if I don't do something.  If the surgery kills me, at least I died trying to get myself to a healthier place.    As much as it hurt for him to hear that I was so far gone I was willing to seriously risk my life, it helped. 

to add some perspective to the discussion, do you suppose if her daughter had died while having a potential life saving heart surgery and you had the same heart problem you were planning surgery to correct,reckon she would tell you not to have it? 

I know her heart is broken,but at the end of the game ,we still have to do what is best for ourselves,what happens to other people really has nothing to do with ourselves,cause we are just all different with different genes and different medical histories. What happens to one will not happen to all.

gl