Re: Risks (was Re: Surgery - 9 Aug 05)

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the information, Cathy. I too gave the

amnio odds alot of thought; however, I decided against

the amnio as I had a slightly better chance of having

a miscarriage from the procedure than having a baby

with an " amnio detectable " birth defect.

As for the odds with surgery versus the odds of

premature death as a result of the obesity, I agree

with you: the excess weight is a bigger issue than the

surgery. I may or may not die from the surgery;

however, I KNOW that I will die prematurly should I

continue the way I am now.

Pam

--- Cathy catic15@...> wrote:

> Hi, Pam -

> The most commonly cited figure I've seen is 1 in

> 200, or .5% - but

> I've seen figures ranging from 1 in 300 (cited by a

> medical practice

> that was promoting the surgeries) down to 1 in 50

> (from a recent

> analysis that re-examined prior studies). So there's

> a lot of

> variability. Ditto in the time-frame they look at

> to consider the

> mortality figures. . . 30 days is the most common

> period if they're

> considering simply direct complications of surgery,

> and it's certainly

> the highest-risk period. However, I've seen some

> articles in medical

> journals that look at a full year and at

> complications that come from

> things like nutritional problems from the rapid

> weight loss and the

> changes the bypass causes, that sort of thing,

> rather than just the

> actual surgical procedure.

>

> The biggest thing they all seem to agree on is that

> the experience of

> the surgeon is critical - the more experience the

> surgeon has with the

> procedure, the better the outcomes are. To which my

> response was,

> " DUH! "

>

> 1 in 200 is nothing to sneeze at - I gave those odds

> a lot of thought

> when I was pregnant and my OB wanted me to have

> amnio done, which had

> a .5% chance of inducing a miscarriage. I

> eventually had one when I

> realized that at my age the chances of miscarriage

> were slighly less

> than the chances of discovering a life-threatening

> birth defect. For

> the same reason, I've become more willing to commit

> to WLS as I've

> come to realize that my weight has become a bigger

> risk to my health

> than the surgery.

>

> Cathy

>

>

>

> > Hi Cathy, #1, I thought that the mortality rate

> was 1

> > in 100, and #2, I thought that if you were to have

> > life-threatening complications from surgery, it

> would

> > have been in the first few weeks, (you know,

> gastric

> > leaks, blood clots, etc), not within the first

> YEAR!

> > Pam

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________