Question:
I heard someone had a serious complication

I was told about a lady that had a very serious complication. The person that told me talked to the patient about the situation, but I just wanted to get some advise from people on here who might be able to help me with a decision. The lady had a leak after her lap surgery. she went to have her stitches removed from her incisions and she told them she had been in dicomfort and the leakage didn't look right. they took her to surgery and found a bad leak and had real bad abcess and a lot of infection. she almost died in surgery . they removed the staples and now she is on a feeding tube for at least 2 to 3 months and not to go back to work for about 6 months. the family of course blames the surgeon and refuses to let him see her or talk to them. I am scared because he is the surgeon I am suppose to see on the 18th of this month for consultation. I have only heard good things about him before this from testimonials from his patients at this site. my doctor says he is a very good surgeon , but of course this scares the pants off of me. does this mean he is a bad surgeon and I could be in the same situation? any advise would be greatly appreciated. thanks    — taterbug898 (posted on August 1, 2004)

August 1, 2004
no, this does not NECESSARILY mean he is a bad surgeon. If you have done your research then you should know that these things happen every day and sometimes to the best docs patients. Complications can happen to anyone at anytime with this surgery. It is a very high risk thing and should only be our last option. I have had some very minor things happen but I was willing to take the chance to live a better life. I knew I could die going in and in fact, was told that I would have a three times higher chance of death than most people because of a past very serious surgery I had the year before. i was prepared. This is not to scare you but to encourage you to know all the possibilities. Good luck on your journey!!!!!!!!
   — Delores S.

August 1, 2004
Remember complications can happen with ANY type of surgery.My tummy tuck was almost deadly from complications but my RNY was a breeze. I point blank asked my surgeon how many RNY's he did, what year he started doing them and how many people he lost with the RNY surgery. ASK questions so you are comfortable with your decision. It's about a 1% risk of complications and that is very low.
   — ZZ S.

August 1, 2004
Don't be confused with an internal leak (which can be deadly) and having her external staples in or out. They're two totally different things, ok? The other thing that occurs to me is the fact that she survived a leak! That alone speaks volumes about the surgeon's skill. When my husband had his leak in 1995, the rate of survival was very low. He was rare then, and even now is excited to meet "leak buddies", as he calls them. Today, it is a survivable complication. I think it speaks well of his skills that she did survive the fixit surgery as that can be very delicate. I don't know who it is or anything about him or his attitude during that time, but just based on that, I'd have a little more confidence.
   — vitalady

August 1, 2004
Talk to the surgeon about your concerns. After talking with your surgeon, then you can make an informed decision.
   — barbara A.

August 2, 2004
Hi Melinda: I have a friend that is young (28), was in good physical shape in terms of heart/lungs, no major co-mobidities, etc. She was a "light weight," didn't smoke and only drank socially. Basically she was a very low risk person for surgery. She almost died from a leak post op. I don't know the exact percentage for death and complications with this surgery, but I agree that it's probably higher than gets reported. Bottom line, this is indeed a serious surgery, and a lot of times people like to not really hear that. I don't mean this for you specifically, just all of us in general. To answer your question about the doctor, one serious complication shouldn't cause you to change your mind about him. You should do as another poster suggested and have a discussion about your concerns and ask specific questions about his complication/death record. Good luck to you. Sherry
   — sherry hedgecock

August 3, 2004
I had major complications after RNY which required additional surgery . I was not the only one I found out later but the best advice I can give is to check with your state medical boards they have records that can tell you if your Dr. has ever had any problems with former patients or the status of his license.Be careful and God Bless!
   — Merri M.

August 3, 2004
I have to echo Michelle Curran's comments. First, a leak or drainage from external staples has nothing to do with an internal leak. Leakage from external staples can be an infection but is generally a seroma or fluid collection under the skin. The internal leak your friend survived is a very frightening thing. When we find ourselves in frightening places medically we generally feel the need to blame someone when, in fact, it isn't a matter of fault at all. It's just a "thing" that happened. Obviously her surgeon was able to skillfully correct the leak (and I say skillfully because that's a difficult procedure) and save her life. The fact that he had a patient with a leak, in no way means he is a bad surgeon. Directly question him about his complication rates and mortality rates if it will make you feel better but if it were me I'd do my best to put my fears to rest and proceed as planned. This surgery is serious business but in the grand scheme of things remaining morbidly obese is far more serious. Best wishes to you!
   — ronascott