Is it safe?

Hi all, 
Is weight loss surgery really safe? Share your experiences. My brother is considering this surgery with the help of an expert, but I need to ensure whether it is safe or not.

It depends on how overweight he is, what medical conditions he has, which surgery he is having and his general health.  Some people have no problems.  His surgeon can give you his best answer on how safe the surgery is for your brother.

He is now 242.5 lbs and has no health issues. I will definitely discuss about this with his surgeon. Thank you for the reply. 

It is generally safe for most people and much safer than it was years ago. That being said as White Dove mentioned only your brother's Doctor knows his health condition. They do put you through plenty of tests to assess that condition that they don't put people through for normal surgery. They try to catch any potential problems ahead of time.

hi NyMom, 
Thank you for your reply. 

It's about as safe as any major surgery can be when you're morbidly obese. I had gastric bypass at age 42. It was my very first surgery and I was scared.  

But I was also nearly 300 pounds,  insulin dependant, and I was slowly killing myself.  The surgeon will inform of the actual risks based on your brothers medical history,  and he'll have to weigh the risk vs. reward.  For me,  it was a no-brainer. It's not quite a year later and my life has completely changed.  

How safe is obesity and the co morbidities that go along with it if nothing is done?

It's great that you want to research, but this is 100% your brother's decision (with expert help). His body, his call.

The idea of safety is really in two parts.  One is the surgeon and their level of experience with whichever procedure he is considering (RNY, VSG, DS, and many in-between hybrids).  There are plenty of references out here if you ask about one.  If nobody has heard of them, you may want to consider another.  Another factor is your brother himself.  Is he capable of caring for his nutritional health?  This is not a "cut it and forget it" kind of thing.  Many of us take hoards of vitamins and get our blood levels checked regularly to make sure we are nutritionally healthy.  Those who don't would find themselves under grave cir****tances.  If he doesn't have the maturity and conviction to keep up with such ideas, then I would say it's unsafe.  If he is driven to be healthy by any means and able to care for himself via vitamins, labwork, etc, then it's perfectly safe.

As the others have said, there are pluses and minuses.  Being morbidly obese is very dangerous.  I myself developed an awful complication from my gastric bypass, but still, I'm 70 lbs lighter than I was at the beginning, and one heck of a lot healthier.  I developed severe hypoglycemia, but it's a rare condition, and I get by just eating protein and veggies.  Admittedly, never having any starch is a bummer, especially for someone who was a carb addict, but then again - I prefer to be healthy.

I get along very well with my brother but, if he knew I were asking questions about his decision, he would accuse me of mothering and get really angry.  Has he asked you to check out the answers for him, or are you questioning his judgment?  Either way, I wish you luck.