Has anyone died?

[kirstyjade]

I'm constantly talking myself out of surgery as my app has been cancelled 2 times in a row now and I'm thinking maybe it's a sign I'm just not meant to have this surgery! I'm terrified of dying during surgery! I know if I wake up I can handle anything that's thrown at me but I just don't want to die!
So I just wondered if anyone from this site has ever died during bariatric surgery or if anyone knows of anyone outside this site who has?

 

[Butterfly_lady]

As with any surgery there is a risk and due to the very nature of the surgery with people of extreme weights having surgery sadly it happens but it is rare, I did battle with the "death" notion but tbh I'm hardly living as it is so it was a risk worth taking.

 

[Cicca]

I'm constantly talking myself out of surgery as my app has been cancelled 2 times in a row now and I'm thinking maybe it's a sign I'm just not meant to have this surgery! I'm terrified of dying during surgery! I know if I wake up I can handle anything that's thrown at me but I just don't want to die!
So I just wondered if anyone from this site has ever died during bariatric surgery or if anyone knows of anyone outside this site who has?

I don't know if they have, however I was so unhappy and unhealthy that I was willing to take that chance by the time I had surgery. It didn't even cross my mind not to, as I knew that staying the way I was meant I was not far from something awful happening anyway.

Sent from my iPhone using WLSurgery

 

[top_kat]

i don't know anyone but people have died, one of my must haves was a provider and surgeon with a zero % mortality rate as anaesthetic was my fear too!

 

[Yvessa]

I too don't know of anyone who has died but clearly people do. The 2% is average deaths - different surgeons will however have different mortality rates so like Kat says its really worth asking your surgeon when you do eventually see him. I too worried about whether or not I would wake up. I don't see how you could'nt - we are putting our lives in their hands and we are high risk, or at least I was at my weight. But I lived to tell the tale.

 

[chrisa]

Well ladies I haven't known anyone personally but am aware there has been the odd death, but like people said above there are risks with all operations and the only thing that kept me going was the fact that I would no nothing about it. I did say good bye and spoke to my friends not my family if anything should happen to me as I knew my family would not be able to handle this discussion. There comes a point when we can't carry on we were only existing if you don't feel like that then I suppose you should question if surgery is for you? I think its something everyone whether they voice it or not experiences in some way in their thought process.

xx

 

[paddyp]

When I last checked I was still alive and doing well although I do know that if I hadn't had the op in July I would have been not that far off choosing my own coffin by now as my health was deteriorating very quickly.

Don't know anyone who had died but know plenty who are living a life of misery as they are too worried about the risks. Only you can make that decision - it's such a big one, and only you know whether the risks you currently face are less than the risks of the op long term. x

 

[frankyboysh7]

^ great post. Very true.

 

[Maphillips]

If you watch fat doctor in the early season one guy dies just a couple of days after his op also a lady in chesterfield died the other year having it done private
It's a risk but all ops are at risk but if you look at the options life after is a far better option I felt it was worth the risk but that's up to everyone

 

[Paula Garner]

I'm constantly talking myself out of surgery as my app has been cancelled 2 times in a row now and I'm thinking maybe it's a sign I'm just not meant to have this surgery! I'm terrified of dying during surgery! I know if I wake up I can handle anything that's thrown at me but I just don't want to die!
So I just wondered if anyone from this site has ever died during bariatric surgery or if anyone knows of anyone outside this site who has?

Your appointments have probably been cancelled because all the consultants go on holiday in August. My emergency appt took 3 weeks to book!

 

[Butterfly_lady]

I also worry about having to have a bigger op ie if I had a heart attack or even something like a broken leg that needed pinning, then the chances of dying on the operating table when having an "open" rather than a keyhole operation would be much greater.

 

[fjsinc]

For those of us with high BMIs, in terms of anesthetic, bariatric surgery is the safest surgery. Its performed by the most skilled and experienced doctors in the field. My surgeon has a 0% mortality rate, and I felt reassured by that. Three days before my op, I had a moment where I suddenly believed that I was living the last days of my life, was beside myself with worry. But logic prevailed, I came through the op no problems, my recovery was perfect. 7 months later, im nearly 8 stone down and wearing size 18 clothes
I know of no one personally that has died. But as others have said, it has happend. But it is worth noting, that it is almost always the most ill people, with the highest known risks that die. On the day of my MDT I was given a 1/500 mortality risk rate. There was a gent there who was given a 1/40 risk rate. For him the op was literally a life saving operation, and he was willing to take the risk because he had been given less than a year to live otherwise.

 

[shell13]

Im glad someone started this thread.i think we all think these kind of things ,its such a big decision we have to make.

 

[penelope1008]

There is a risk with any op minor or major, high bmi or low. No matter what it's a risk.
I looked at it that we all will die eventually, if we don't have the surgery the chances of an early death increases, if we do then with luck all or most of our co-morbidities will disappear as we shrink. I decided that the risk was worth it, it was I won surviving the surgery, losing 8 stone in weight, feeling, looking & being healthier. I had no post-op problems as some have had & do I've been incredibly lucky. Happier, more confident, fighting my demons & winning. It's not easy it's no magic wand cure & fix for all your ills over night but it is so worth it.

 

[Rupert]

I have to say I too am glad someone has mentioned this I'm waiting for my operation, I started doing research on the internet but I am now of the belief that its the worst place to look for answers as you normally find the horror stories first which in turn really make you worry. I now am coming around to the fact that it is low risk. all I can do is hope I do make it. I know that not being here for my kids is a big issue for them to deal with they are worried I might not make it.

 

[femfrankie]

Did I worry about dying .. Off course I did but my odds of doing so without the op were almost guaranteed certain. At time of referral I was under the care of so many consultants I was losing track of what appointment was what.. Cardiology for an enlarged heart that was on the brink of going into early failure. Respiratory because my asthma was now into early stage COPD. Sleep clinic because I suffer sleep apnea. Orthopaedics because my spine is crumbling due to a degenerative disc condition and both my knees had given out completely as they could no longer bare my 27&half stone bulk anymore. Gastroenterology due to various troublesome hernias and diverticular disease... It was the ortho doctor who bluntly put it to me I that he would be surprised if I could/would live like this for much longer as my body had clearly now got to a critical point and I was in fact killing myself.
Blunt words yes but he started me on my WL journey and for that I will be eternally grateful. Any fear I had about the op paled into insignificance to the fear I had regards the consequences of not getting the op!

 

[Purple Owl]

........................................................

 

[Dinda]

My op was cancelled in Dec 2011 just as I was walking to Theatre, I had the rescheduled procedure in Jan 2012. A few extra weeks to wonder if I was doing the right thing, I had fears disguised as doubt even as I climbed up onto the operating table. It's natural to fear death when people are going to render you unconscious then operate on you - but that's their job, their speciality. The surgeon and anaesthetist are experts who don't want you to die, they want to help you live a different life.
I really didn't like the anaesthetist on the day of my op, he was talking about all the risks (because he had to) and I said 'if I die, I die. I will be asleep anyway' at which point he nearly had a seizure as he exclaimed 'oh my god, you're not going to die!!' He was just going through the motions about the risks of anaesthetic. I was lucky, apart from my size I had no other real problems.
I disliked him so much that as soon as I saw his smug face and heard him saying 'Donna, Donna, it all went well' as I came round, I promptly had a fit of my own! Did I die? Nope, not even close, I've really started to live again though! Do I know of anyone that has died? No, and each person is different and people die from bee stings, eating nuts etc!

I wish you luck with whatever you decide is right for you x