How did you reconcile the rare, but real, risks of RNY surgery to benefit?

I am going through pre-op approval at a WLS Center in Massachusetts. I received an email from another WLS candidate this morning, who is an RN for a visiting nurse association. Whe was called last night to see a patient in distress after a gastric bypass. The patient is a 32 year old girl who had RNY September 08; and at that time spent 4 days in ICU, bleeding internally and needed transfusions. She now suffers from kidney problems, malnutrition, and is down to 102 lbs and still cant eat or drink; has been on IV TPN for nourishment. The nurse was called to remove the IV because of blood clots in her arm and now may need a feeding tube. This patient, of course, goes to the weight center we attend. She told the nurse that when she walks in the waiting room, they call her right in, they don't want her talking to any patients. She also said they never said there was an error, but they have not yet given her primary MD a report on what went wrong. They told her she was a perfect candidate and passed all tests with flying colors. While this is rare, it is reality, and we share this scenario with others who would understand the risk and have made the decision to have RNY anyway. We have asked how many complications our surgeon has had and were told the two surgeons had one serious complication each. Both have had done at least 500 RNY laprascopic sugeries each; both have had 9 months of specialized training at great teaching hospitals. But it makes us wonder do we mess with this or live lives to the fullest, and be happy"????? Can anyone share their thoughts?

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