My family doctor FINALLY listened to me

I have been fighting weight since I was a young child. The last 3-4 years though I have been seriously trying to lose weight. I belong to a gym workout 3-4 times a week besides walking at home and my weight didn't move. Finally after my family doctor had to send me to a cardiologist for arrhythmias during exercise did he finally listen to me when I said I need help with my weight. He wanted to send me to Dr. Keating. I know he seems to be the best, though there is the lack of post op follow up. I have debated getting this surgery done, my family says it's not worth the risk, but I feel it's not worth the risk of getting obesity related diseases either. What were some of your battles about having surgery and how did you finally decide to have surgery? The pics look great, I don't think I can imagine being 100 lbs lighter let alone 50 lbs lighter. I want to be around for my family but I worry about the dieing during surgery. I personally have known 5 people who have died either during surgery or shortly after due to complications. Scary seems more than the 0.5% . What do you all think?

Lisa, Before I had my VBG surgery... (which failed and im going back for a Gastric Bypass) i had the same fears that you have. I bawled like a baby before my surgery..when i said goodbye to my husband. It was terrible. But it was unfounded...i was fine..and this time i think I'll know that my life is in God's hands. If he wants me with him, I'll break my neck walking out my back door if i DONT have the surgery. It's all in what HE wants and has planned for you. I am SOO not a SUPER RELIGIOUS type...but i do believe this. I just wanted to let you know that what you are feeling is TOTALLY normal, and I believe that it's just bad odds that you know so many people that have died in surgery. There is someone out there that takes the odds the other way and knows NOONE who has died in surgery (that person is me). I seriously know no one who has. So ... lets put our experience in the same basket... and then look at it and say.. dang.. those odds aren't too bad after all! Have a great day Lisa, and if you need an Angel or just a friend, or anything ... just email me.. call me.. whatever... I'm here for you. ~~~Dawn Phillips - Duncome, Iowa

I had the same fears about dying, I wrote my children letters before surgery- just in case I didn't make it through- and I can honestly say I would do it again tomorrow if I had to. I am so happy with the results. It is hard to picture yourself thinner when you have not had surgery yet, but now I look back at pictures and I can not imagine how horrible I felt back then (a whole 10 months ago!) when I was so overweight. I don't look like me in the old pictures! I have never known anyone who has died because of complications of WLS, but there are quite a few people in my support group that had problems that they brought in to surgery with them. Some were on vents, others had open wounds for months... but all in all, they would still go through it again because of the awesome results they had from surgery. My advice to you is to start attending a support group, listen to peole that have gone through with it- hear the good and the bad. Make sure that you a non smoker when you go into surgery, it helps you heal faster. Put your life in yoru surgeons hands, they would not perform surgery on you if they did not feel that it would be a success. I would have rather gone through the pain of surgery and recovery than carry around the excess weight for the rest of my life. It was like I was carrying 4 (count 'em, 4!!!) 40 pound bags of dog food ALL THE TIME. Anyway, welcome to the board, please keep us posted on your journey and GOOD LUCK! Take care, ~Julie

WLS is not unique to surgical risks. I have had many different types of surgery and the same risks were explained each time. I would imagine even a tonsilectomy carries a .5% risk of death! I even coded twice during one surgery and then went back under the knife 6 months later(electively!); that is how much faith and trust I had in the surgeons who worked on me. (That was at University of Iowa Hosptial and Clinics- THE BEST in my book!) the only reason I'm not going back there for my WLS is that they are not a provider for my present ins.. It is like going to the dentist, you can stress out all you want before-hand but when you wake up it seems so fast like "did you start yet?" I'm not saying that surgery is a picnic but with the right pain managment (which you should thoroughly discuss with your doctor ahead of time), you can get through it. That's why they go through all the preliminary testing, so there are no big surprises once they get in there. Remember how many years of schooling and experience your doctor has.... Hope that eases your mind some.