Complications
Karen, I had mine done in Brazil (see my post) and had no complications what-so-ever! The key is finding a good surgeon who understands that you will be travelling to a foreign country wth no intentions to come back, he will be very carefull to take every step necessary and be extra careful in your case. How do you know if your surgeon is THE ONE? 2 key points are that 1) he will will insist on open surgery, not lap, 2) he will insist in you having the surgery in a government (if in Brazil) funded hospital, instead of the fancy private ones (because they have near ZERO infection rates).
Good Luck to you!
-Flávia
I had an open RNY in Ensenada on 11-19-03 and ended up with a large incisional hernia. I had it repaired on 4-01-04 and spent four days in the hospital. Hernias, unfortunately, are a common complication no matter where you have the surgery. Luckily, my insurance paid for the hernia surgery even though they wouldn't part with a single cent for the RNY.
I had a wonderful experience with my open rny. About the only thing that happened with me was I had a seroma (pocket of fluid...not infected) that opened up while I was napping and soaked my shirt. My incision remained closed though - probably thankfully in part to the fact that I had my staples in a little too long (couldn't get in to see my PCP sooner).
Other than that, I couldn't have had a better experience from beginning to end.
Dina