Question:
My husband is considering Surgery!

I am 10 weeks postop, 60 lbs down and doing wonderful, My husband is 6'2, 307lbs and is considering surgery also. My question is, do men tend to have more complications than women? I have heard that it is harder on men and they suffer more complications.    — Tammy G. (posted on May 8, 2002)

May 8, 2002
I am 10 days post-op from a LAP RNY and I've had no complications whatsoever. I lost 22 pounds in the first week and am feeling great. Good luck to both of you! -Mike
   — Michael N.

May 8, 2002
No the BIG thing is men generally loose faster, and have a easier time adjusting. At least thats the case for me and my wife jen. My weight fell like a rock, hers is falling slowly. This irritated her no end, I got to goal in 6 months and am now bmi 25, I lost it all, see my profile.
   — bob-haller

May 8, 2002
My husband and I are 1 yr apart. He reached his goal and stabilized before I did! Now that just is not fair! We were close, though. We pretty much slid into goal together. I was the really sick one going in, weighing more than double my correct wt. I lost 150, weigh 110. I had a few small glitches, nothing major. He was a relative lightweight, really. He lost 110, weighs 180 or so. He did have one of the most dangerous complications specific to WLS and that's the post-op leak. He was in the hands of skilled bariatric docs, so he came through OK and has done very well. I've worked with a lot of people, pre & post op, LOTS of different docs and I surely can't say that men are more likely to have problems. IF there was any predisposition for them, it'd have to be stubborness, so wanting to get back to normal too soon, perhaps. But that's not surgically induced!
   — vitalady

May 8, 2002
We men are probably just more wimps when it comes to pain. My wife is 1 yr post op & down just over 100 lbs. I am 9 weeks out and down over 60 lbs. But I had a lot more to lose. Wifes BMI was 47, mine was 63. Only complication either of us had was I had a severe sleep apnea episode the 3rd day in the hospital. They took me off CPAP for first 2 weeks after surgery, and was supposed to be on constant oxygen that whole time. But my oxygen got accidently turned off, so I stopped breathing and had dangerously low oxygen levels. Other than that, which was due to a nurses aid's mistake, neither of us had any other complications. But back to the pain thing, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. (Just had to get in a laugh)
   — Dell H.

May 8, 2002
My husband and I both has wls surgery in 2001. I had mine in June and have lost 95 lbs. I still have about 40 more to go. He had his in Oct. and has lost 195 lbs!! He has maybe 15-20 more to go. He had no complications at all while I had one minor one. I had an infection in my incision but I always get an infection after surgery because of my diabetes. Men just seem to lose their weight faster. My dr said that their metabolism just works faster than us women. Doesn't seem fair to me!!! But in the end, we look better than them!!!!
   — RODEO CLOWNS S.

May 8, 2002
As all women know we men are BIG BABIES!!! We suffer with a cold when a woman still does everything she has to like cleaning cooking running the faimly and working. We lay in bed and ask for sympathy. So we get to loose weight faster think how bad we would complain if you lost faster!! You guys can take it we can't. :) I think that it is just as hard for a man or woman. It all depends on the skill of the Dr and how anyone recovers. Good Luck
   — Robert L.

May 8, 2002
I'm not sure it's harder on them, but they will think it is! ;-)
   — Nancy G.