Really need an UNBIASED answer

I knew exactly what I was going into from the beginning. With the RNY, I asked the mortality rate of my surgeon. As with the DS revision. I was told flat out by Dr.G, that my operation was 10X riskier than before.

I accepted that and still went forwards. I believed in my surgeon's abilities. If you don't 'believe' and 'trust' your surgeon. Move on until you find one you feel comfortable with, you 'literally' are putting your life in someone's hands.

Dana

Thanks Dana. I will bear that in mind for sure when I start talking to doctors about the surgery I choose. ;)

Point number 1: I explained that I am NOT trying to debate the morality rates of ANY of the surgeries. I explained that from what I had read up to the time of my post that DS has a low mortality rate. I NEVER said DS has the LOWEST mortality rate of any of the surgeries.
Point number 2: I stated clearly the questions I needed answers to in my first post.
Point number 3: I am not debating the merits of a vetted surgeon versus non-vetted. I was asking questions about the sort of questions I should ask ANY doctor I consider going to for wls.
Point number 4: I DO read the posts on this board and the main board and in several other boards. I have even commented or ask further questions if I didn't understand something.
Point number 5: I must have been mistaken in my perception that this was exactly the place I SHOULD ask questions because quite frankly how the hell else am I supposed to LEARN what this stuff means if I DONT???

If anyone reading this thread is simply here to bash on me for being a newbie and asking newbie questions and not understanding what i am trying to discuss then please don't bother posting a reply. I am asking for HELP not for undue criticism over whether or not I have accurately quoted mortality ratings, whether or not my choice of surgeon is vetted, or whether or not I have the right to ask questions just because I am new here.
Quite frankly, if you are here to pick me apart you are welcome to not post to this thread.

*sigh* I am not trying to pick you apart, I am trying to UNDERSTAND WHAT THE **** YOU ARE TRYING TO ASK. Obviously, since so many people have chimed in with answers to questions you say you didn't ask and with corrections to which you respond with unrelated information, your communications skills are an issue. Do you want to improve that or not?

As for your UNVETTED surgeon, use him or not, whatever. I don't know him from Adam and would welcome information about him from his patients. If they don't post here (or on duodenalswitch.com), I'm not going to hear about them. So go get your DS from him and post your experience, if you're so inclined.

 The DS Facts website is privately owned and operated and represents the best guesses/opinions of its owner, *****lies on fellow DSers for their input. It doesn't take a GED to figure out what her site is about. How she chooses to list surgeons is HER decision and HERS alone. She is not required to explain her criteria. I happen to know what they are, but I am not her spokesperson. If you want to know how she does what she does, ASK HER. If someone has a surgeon they'd like to see included, submit REAL INFORMATION about the surgeon to her. She's not going to include a surgeon because someone, whether a patient, a surgeon or a representative, asks her to.

Did anyone ask their doc what their mortality rate was before their surgery? In other words... Did (or is it appropriate to) ask their (the patient's) doctor what their (the doctor's) mortality rate (how many people have died during his tenure as a bariatric surgeon) was before their (the patient's) surgery?

How do I know what is an acceptable mortality rate realistically? In other words... Is it acceptable for a surgeon to have have had 3 patients out of 750 bariatric surgeries die on the surgeons' table or is 25 patients out of 750 bariatric surgeries an acceptable number. Acceptable meaning that the doctor is not imcompetent and there was simply nothing he could do to prevent the deaths aside from not doing the surgery in the first place.

I really hope these questions are more clear now. And Elizabeth I was not coming down on you. I wasn't trying to come down on anybody but it sure seems to me reading several posts from some of the vets here that I was out of line asking any questions. And yes I was told to not ask questions until I had read more of the board posts. People seemed to be jumping on different statements made in my posts and forgetting the point of what I was trying to ask. I usually don't seem to have great difficulty communicating what I am attempting to say so I am not sure why suddenly I can't seem to get my meaning across.

But it's all good and I'll shut up now.

If you had confined your first post to two lines, it would have been a lot simpler for you and for everyone reading.

However, it's probably a good thing that you said all that other stuff, because it became clear to all, hopefully particularly to you, that you still have a significant learning curve and some comprehension things to clear up. The way you responded to Diana's post is proof positive of that.

Addendum: Yes, you need to read a LOT more of the forum history here. You've been expecting us to repeat a bunch of things that we repeat regularly here. How many pages back have you read on this board?

I'm going to join the "I don't think you've quite wrapped your head around this" team.  Because...well...you haven't quite wrapped your head around this.

I may be repeating here, but the bolded parts are perfectly reasonable questions, followed by explanations that are pretty close to bizarre.  The first merely had to be, "Did any of you ask your surgeon what his mortality rate with the DS was?"  That you think all the other stuff makes it clearer is the scary part.

Then on the second question...is this a math comprehension probem?  Diana told you the mortality rates in percentages, when she said, "But the rates are in the 0.5 - 1.5% range for all bariatric surgeries."

And then you want to know if 3 out of 750 is acceptable or 25 out of 750 is acceptable and one of those equals four one-thousandths and the other equals closer to three one-hundredths and then all you have to do is compare those to what Diana told you, assuming this is something you completely understand.  If not, you need to tell us you don't speak math when you ask what are essentially "math word problems."  Because the answers may be a bit tricky to understand.

But I'm still hung up on whatever you were trying to say about the DS and safety at the beginning.  each explanation made me more convinced that you are confused about the vocabulary as well as the math.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't have the surgery...it means you don't seem to understand those things you seem to think you understand.  And the more you explain them, the more confused your readers become about how much of this info you have really mastered to date and how to respond to you, since you state your premise--essentially unfounded--and then launch your question from that rather unsound position.

Please try to understand---we're not jumping on your for asking questions. The problem is that you ask questions in such a way that we don't understand what you're asking, and/or it's clear that YOU don't understand what you're asking. It's frustating for everyone.

I should have read more before responding...this was much more concise.