Question:
IM AFRAID TO HAVE SURGERY IS IT SAFE ?
— [Anonymous] (posted on August 5, 2000)
August 5, 2000
I think you need to discuss this w/ your surgeon. He/she
is the professional and knows much more about this issue than we
do. I understand that the more comorbidities that you have going
in to the surgery, the more risky that it can be. I, too had
fears of dieing. This is normal. Talk about it to people that care
and can give you emotional support. Please take the time to ask
your surgeon any and all questions that you have about this.
He is the expert. Good luck!
— kathy S.
August 5, 2000
Hmmm, hard question. Safe. Compared to what? Are you speaking of the
surgery itself? Pretty safe these days. The immeidate chance of post-op
complications? And do you mean more safe than some other operation? Or do
you mean long-term safe? And then you need to factor in your
comorbidities. For me, I was GOING TO DIE of sleep apnea, or diabetes, or
asthma, whichever got me first. Sure thing, no questions. The chnace of
dying from immediate post-op complicaitons due to it being an OBESITY
surgery was less than 1%. The chances of dying from other complications
common to any form of surgery (blood clot, pnuemonia--misc), well, that was
another guarantee for me. Already had has gall bladder, hystie and one
biopsy, so further surgery was a guarantee for me, as it is for most
morbidly obese. So, then I asked me: die from co-morbs for sure? Die from
complications, possiblly? That's how I reasoned out my choice. It was
nearly 6 yrs ago. I gambled and won. But you have to sit down at the
table with yourself and ask you those questions. Then run around to the
other side and answer them for YOU.
— vitalady
August 5, 2000
None of the weight loss procedures are without an element of risk. You and
your doctor are the only ones who can decide if this surgery is for you. He
can give you the statistics on the risks but only you can decide if you do
it or not. What are your risks if you don't have surgery. There are a lot
of co-morbidities that could kill you on any given day. The percentage of
risks for this surgery are a lot less than you imagine. Bad things can and
do happen. Reasearch all you can before any decision you make. Good luck.
— char T.
August 5, 2000
Nope , we're all dead!!
— [Anonymous]
August 5, 2000
Keep in mind we all have fears ! It boilds down to what scares you the
most?
— Tamaria W.
August 6, 2000
If you didn't have fear of surgery then I would say you have some thing to
worry about. I have my surgery in less than two weeks. Do I have fear??? I
do... Wanna know a secret? I did a background check on my doctor (as much
as I could). I researched statistics. I should feel confident-but I still
have fear. Keep the faith.....
— V B.
August 7, 2000
Hi There,
That is a normal reaction, but, yes it is safe, I am 58 years old, and had
my surgery 2 years ago, and my surgon would never have allowed me to under
go the surgery, if I was a too big of a risk, they do all the testing to
make sure you are able to with stand the surgery. What was worse for me is
I was too afraid I was going to die fat at 400#s, and I am now 156# and
loving everyday I am alive and so grateful to God, for allowing me the
faith, that I was going to get through it. Fear is not from God, and I
know for me, I am a miricle to be here to encourage others to take a big
risk and live thin, that is the way we were meant to live, and were created
to be. Linda
— Linda H.
August 9, 2000
Anytime you have anyone put anything inside your body and start mucking
around, there is risk. People have died from having their teeth cleaned,
although very few and very seldom. For me, having surgery (open VBG,
4/17/00, 83# gone forever) was safer than just waiting around for my heart
to explode, or my joints to give out, or my lungs to permanently cramp up
with asthma, or the diabetes to get me. The risk of dying from obesity
surgery, as Michelle (bless you, darlin') pointed out, is less than 1%. I
figured my risk of dying from the co-morbidities I had was about 100% ...
so choosing to have surgery was a no-brainer. Also, as my surgeon
explained it to me ... if you took 100 randomly-selected morbidly obese
people and put them on a diet, ALL of them would eventually lose the weight
they needed to lose. However (and this is the mother of all howevers, in
my opinion) only THREE of them would keep the weight off for a year or
more. So, for the morbidly obese, diet alone has a 97% FAILURE RATE ...
and I think most of us on this site can testify to the truth of that
statement. The choice of whether or not to have the surgery is yours, and
yours alone -- you shouldn't let anyone "talk you into it" (that
would be the same as going on a diet to please your husband, your mother,
or your best friend) -- but don't let the process itself scare you. The
complications and consequences of living life morbidly obese far outweigh
(pardon the pun) the risk of having surgery to permanently correct it.
Good luck -- and all good thoughts and wishes going your way, whatever you
decide.
— Cheryl Denomy
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