1 in 300 really??

I read on a web site today that 1 in 300 people die from RNY and DS? Yikes!! Is that true?
That's scary! I know that people die from co morbidities also but 1 in 300??
My surgeon says that he has had a zero mortality rate....let's hope it stays that way.

You know, with free speech and all, anybody can say anything they'd like.

What studies are they taking the data from (and what statistical analysis did the authors do?)? How old are the studies (if any)? yada yada yada....

These surgerical proceedures and the malnutrition they cause are VERY serious. Once you are recovered from surgery, the malnutrition is something you can monitor and intervene in.

That being said, the stats about morbidity and mortality related to obesity are also VERY scary and serious. And they are a sure bet.

100% of people alive on earth at this moment will be dead in 120 years. Bet ya $ on it!

Choose your surgeon and your hospital well. Make sure you are taking vitamins and protein (well over the recommended amounts) for several weeks prior to surgery. Follow the pre and postop instructions. Then you have done all you can do and the rest is up to God/ the universe/ whomever.

I would highly contest that statement. My surgeon told me that (and I am quoting from my written information here)... "Roux-en-Y procedure carries a national mortality rate of 1.9% in the first 30 days and an operative complication rate of 30% (national)." That 1 in 300 is probably where the author confused mortality with morbidity.

The complication rate is the same for ANY laparoscopic procedure.

Now according to my research, most of the mortality cases (that 1.9%) in those first 30 days are from blood clots, bleeding, and respiratory problems such as pneumonia. To prevent these, we are told to WALK and move around to prevent the blood clots and respiratory problems and to report ANY symptoms of bleeding immediately. Education and early detection of problems is the key to avoiding them.

The other complications (30%) range from minor like constipation and fatigue to major like bowel obstruction, anemia, gallstones, hernias, and they even include in those statistics weight regain. Most of these are preventable by following the rules. Some like, the gallstones just suck and have to be taken care of... interestingly though many people have the gallstones in there before surgery but they don't cause problems maybe until after weight loss, but if they show up after WLS, they have to be included in the statistics. Stregthening muscles through exercise helps prevent hernias. And of course, taken all our vitamins prevents the anemia. Doing your follow up appointments and blood work is crucial for preventing some of these complications.

The bottom line is that for most of us, the mortality rate from obesity-related diseases is much higher than the 1.9% mortality rate from the surgery. I decided to play those odds.

Someone here on this forum, I think, said they would rather have died on that table doing something positive in the right direction than die years maybe just a few years later from obesity, having done nothing. I agree.

It is important to look at the statistics but be careful where the information comes from. Ask your doctor about his mortality rate but ask him/her as well what kinds of complications he/she has seen in their patients. Ask for specifics. Ask for the worse case they've had. This is what I did. The worse cases my doctor had were obstructions due to adhesions in patients that were 4-5 years postop. No way to prevent those... it's all about how they healed. It was correctable and they are fine now. No deaths. Most of the other complications are self-incuced by not following the rules... eating things on the no list, not taking vitamins, etc.

Be aware, be concerned but don't let fear keep you from doing what is best for you.

This is just my opinion of course.  

Stepping off the soapbox! 

Thank you both for responding. That feels better. whew....

This is the link..... http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight-loss-surgery/weight-loss-surgery-for-you.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthHealthyLiving_20090317

Thanks for the link to the article. I read it and found a number of misleading statements. While the majority of the information contained in it is fairly right on, some of it is downright wrong. GERD is usually cured in people who have it preop and not a complication. How can you get stomach acid refluxing when there is nothing attached to the stomach? I had horrible GERD to the point of a pre-cancerous condition. That is one of the reasons my surgeon recommended the Roux-n-Y because it cures it. Yeah, I think their stats are off.

But the one statement they said that impacted me more than their scare stats is that having this surgery increases your chances of living longer by 90%. Now that's a risk I can live with.

I think of it this way. If you look at the statistics of living in California and dying from a car accident... does that keep you from driving to work? Why not? I have a suspicion it's higher than the stats from dying from WLS. Is it perhaps that it is such a familiar activity we take it for granted and that we feel more in control? And how much of that control is an illusion? Just some esoteric thoughts thrown in for ya cuz I loves ya!

Big hugs!

My surgeon told me 1 in 200. I have to complete a Will and Power of Attorney before I can have the surgery.

I think it sounds worse told in those terms. How about .5%, does that sound better?

I think it all depends on the surgeon. I've heard of surgeons with 1 in 1000 odds.

For some people the odds without having the surgery are worse. So you have to weigh your options I guess.

-Annie

Studies of all kind are so biased.. Is the study done by a weight loss product (i've seen those and they say surgery has a much higher mortality rate than 1 in 300..) 

or was it done by a company that makes the Lap Band? (Seen this too, and we all are miraculously cured!)

Look at our media even! Ron on the biggest loser "never lost any weight with RNY.. They say he is hopeless)  That was falst he was over 500 pounds. He lost over 200 with RNY and gained x amount back. Here he is on the biggest loser and STILL not able to lose like other people of his size on the show. It wasn't the fault of RNY.

Best advice, and you have already been given it, is ask for you surgeon's/hospital's statistics... That is what is going to count not whatever article is written by whoever may have an agenda.