Scheduled surgery but scared. Question for veterans

I already had my date but due to h. Pylori diagnosis, it was pushed back to undergo treatment. In the time that I'm waiting, I've been having serious second thought. I would like to know if there are any veteran VSG that have developed cancers directly caused by the surgery. Like colon or esophageal cancer. This is seriously keeping me up at night because I don't have any major health issues besides OSA and my BMI is 39. I was only approved for surgery because of my OSA. I've never experienced heartburn or acid reflux and worried that I will have to live with that. Hearing your stories will help me so.

I did a lot of research, and have never heard of cancers being caused by the surgery. I'm an RN and am trying to think of a mechanism that is affected by the VSG that might cause cancer, and reflux is honestly the only thing I can remotely think of, since if it's not controlled you can develop Barrett's and that can turn into cancer.

But...

Some people do have reflux after VSG. Lots of people don't. If you did have reflux prior to the surgery, you would need to find out why and let your surgeon tell you if it can be corrected. For instance, lots of people have hiatal hernias that cause reflux, and they can usually fix that at the same time as the surgery. My mild reflux before surgery was caused by the obesity. Losing weight fixed it. The people who do get reflux after, usually find it's manageable with a PPI med like prilosec. There are a few that do not find relief, and they have to consider other options like converting to a bypass.

Your surgeon is the best source of information about your risks of developing reflux since you don't have a history of it.

I had been on P******ce before surgery because of medication I used to take for my auto-immune arthritis. My auto-immune is now in remission, so my doc wanted me to try to get off the PPI. I'm 21 months out and with the PPI had zero symptoms of reflux. I quit the PPI cold turkey to see if it was going to be an issue, and I had a few days where I felt a little discomfort as if there was more acid, but I didn't have any reflux, and it was gone by a week without the PPI.

I can tell you that VSG is hands down the best thing I've ever done for my health. My only regret is that I didn't do it years earlier. You may not have health issues now, but I firmly believe based on my observations as a nurse and my own experience is that the extra weight puts a strain on our bodies. Our bodies are very good at compensating, and we seem to be relatively healthy... until the day our bodies simply can't compensate any more, and then it all falls apart, and it's FAST when it does. That's not saying it will happen to you if you don't have surgery, but I've seen it often enough to believe that it happens to most people who are seriously obese.

Why would surgery directly cause cancer? If anything, WLS GREATLY reduces your risk of many cancers. Obesity is a leading cancer risk factor, and losing weight is a huge help.

You may not have any major health issues now, but for many of us it's pretty inevitable. The earlier you can get a handle on your health, before your joints suffer more wear and tear, your pancreas works itself to death, or your other organs are overtaxed, the better.

I'm 7yrs out and no regrets whatsoever. The behavioral piece is still a struggle for me, but having had the VSG has been a godsend -- it's the only thing that's kept me from going right back to where I started (and then some).