Dealing with uwanted and unsolicited opinions

You need to decide what is best for you. I am just shy of my 7 month post op date. It has been very successful for me and the sky is the limit. The mortality rate for WLS is very low. Those who do die from it, it's not from the surgery itself per se, it's from their other underlying conditions they already had. Such as heart disease, high blood pressure, et al. Personally speaking, if I had it to do all over again, and those who have read my posts here know I was on the fence over it right up until they rolled the gurney into the OR, I would, I would have done it much much sooner. As to the risk, you have a greater risk of getting killed by a car while crossing the street than from this surgery, there is no right or wrong way to diet as some of your associates have said, and any who think this surgery is the easy way out, have no clue whatsoever. Good luck.

I generally immediately ignore and disregard any such input.  As for passing away due to surgical complications, statistically your brother is more likely to die in a car accident by a wide margin, particularly if you have a skilled surgeon and are very compliant with the rules.  A skilled surgeon decreases mortality rates considerably.  Following the rules does, as well.  There are also additional risk factors which can add to the mortality rate.  Statistically, you are far more likely to die younger if you are morbidly obese, particularly if you are super morbidly obese, and retain your old ways of eating.

It is true that people can lose weight without surgery.  However, the metabolic changes surgery does cannot be caused by any other method.  Even a ketogenic diet and fasting does not have the same powerful effect on a permanent level.  Neither permanently reduces serum ghrelin for instance.  

At any rate, these are a few mortality rates shift depending on these factors for any surgery:

1) Compliance

2) Age

3) Starting BMI 

4) Comorbidities

5) Overall health (pulmonary and cardiovascular are of particular import), and medications

6) Surgeon skill and experience.

7) Distance to the hospital in case of emergencies.

8) Immunity

9) systemic inflammation

9) Diet (protein helps one heal faster post-op, for instance.  Non diabetics heal faster, etc.)

10) Etcetera...

Basically the point is it's rather unscientific to say, "someone died from weight loss surgery!  You will die!"  It's more accurate to look at the particular situation.  There are too many confounding variables that may interfere with mortality, not all of them even related to the surgeon and hospital.  

I am having my surgery tomorrow and I have had continuous feedback from people - I have three people in my life who have had the surgery and who have done great.  Meanwhile, I have people who say they know this person or that person who had the surgery and they were terribly weak, the doctor's found cancer and they died, they gained all their weight back, etc.  It seems that everyone has an opinion.  I am not going to tell you these stories do not frighten me, but, I have to look at the people I personally know who have had it done and who are doing wonderful and make my decision based on that.

I think sometimes people like to be able to add something to every conversation and I wonder sometimes if what they say is actually true or if it is kind of true or maybe not true at all.  There are also those people who love to share things that they heard from a friend of a friend, which may be completely fictional.  Then, there are those who are doom and gloom anyway, and everything is always going to be a disaster. 

I try to smile and say, "really?" and then I move on with my plans - because I am the only one who knows what is right for me.