Have you seen this? 1 out of 50 die?

Okay, I ran across this article from CBS News about a University of Washington study that said 1 out of 50 people die within one month of gastric bypass surgery!! And that that number increases dramatically with an inexperienced surgeon. Well, hopefully, we're all going to experienced surgeons, but I gotta tell you....this freaks me out!! It's from Jan. of last year....so not that long ago. What do you guys think of this? I'm shocked. Would love your input.....can this be true? I wish I had never seen it.

First and foremost, any surgery is riskey, people die from having a facelift and they only work with the outer layer of skin. It's a statistic and speaking statistic,,,one in every 5 women miscarry their child. I found that out with my miscarriage, and I remember that shocking me. If you dug deeper into that story, I bet most of the people already had such a high risk factor, being super morbese, with all the co morbidities that further complicate the process of healing so on and so forth,,should this scare you,,,,it scared the hell outta me. But I put my trust in the Lord, the surgeon, my attitude after surgery ,,,I told myself,,this can't hurt anyworse than childbirth!!!! I am so proud I did this, its given me new life and I just went forward and never looked back.....Good luck chickey.

Whoops, forgot to post the link. Here it is http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/21/earlyshow/contributors/melindamurphy/main668323. shtml

When I was researching surgery, I read (and I forget where I read this) that insurance companies include death from ANY reason in these statistics. So, for example, a person has surgery and tragically dies in a car accident two weeks after surgery. That person would be included in those stats. You have be careful of what you read and the sources of that information. Even though this was a University study, you still have to take it with a grain of salt. You aren't given all the background as to what caused these deaths. There are extenuating cir****tances. I had all the confidence in the world with my surgeon. Their statistics were actually better than the "average". Do your research! Tina 335/206/150-ish

Yeah that includes the quacks. kp

Thank God I hit my one month on June 25th.....guess I'm safe.....( kidding ) I know this is not a funny subject but the stats over the last 3 years have decreased from 1 in 200 to 1 in 400.....In 5 years there will be some different WLS....but I had to have mine now....when you step out the front door or drive you name it..it's all a risk....and the this surgery was a "risk" I was willing to take to save my life in the long run! Maria 5.25.2006 -42

Most of the deaths are not directly from the surgery itself. I almost died a month after my surgery (and on the table) but it was from my undiagnosed sleep apnea. I was happy before wls that my surgeon didn't require the sleep study. I thought i was lucky even, omg how wrong i was. You have to remember that you are the one in charge, your surgeon works for you! Be sure to be thoroughly tested, if he doesn't require it, ask him for it. Get all the medical clearance you think you need. Next you have to be as healthy as possible pre op. Get out and walk, drink and eat high protein, cut the carbs and sugar and take vitamins....this all helps in recovery. Hugs Linda

My wife almost died two months after my surgery when I dutch ovened her while she slept. That was when the gas started to really become something special. kp

Kevin, you are a hoot! LOL!

Those numbers just don't make sense. One out of 50? Heck, I bet we all know at least 50 people who have had the surgery. I would hazard a guess that if we all did our own personal survey, we'd be hard pressed to match those stats.