scared to death...

[tray]

when i was at the hospital last week a man came in and was telling me how his op went wrong, this has put the fear of god into me.. and all the others that were in the room, most of us were pre opers, he told us how he woke up 20 mins before the end of the op and could feel it all as they were putting a shunt into him and noone realised he was awake, they pierced his intestines . he was in intensive care for 2 weeks on life support and then on the ward for 10 weeks .. i know there are horror stories but my god. i think he was a bit out of order to go into detail with all us pre opers. mind you when the others got worried i said for every bad story there is a hundred good ones . but it has made me worry now. and what the hell is a shunt ? i have never heard of this .

 

[lotsabeefy]

the others are right hun......for every bad story there are hundreds of good ones. noone was more scared than me i was sobbing on my way to the operating theatre. its the best thing i ever did xxx

 

[smilergem]

Oh my God, now I am petrified
I am a nervous person anyway, haven't had an op since I was a child, and have been really scared this last week knowing my op is so close.
Did he say how long ago this op was? xxxxx

 

[tray]

im not sure but he said he weighed 33 stone and to look at him now id say he is about 20 stone so maybe about 6 months ago. i know im worried now as my op is less than 2 weeks away

 

[smilergem]

Mine is on Monday , eeeeeek xxx

 

[fatidol]

Not good to hear with surgrey so near, but Tracey i only was there on 17th June and i was so well looked after they could not of done more, this is first i have heard from Luton and he did live to tell the story, i know he went through a big ordeal, but Tracey tell them what he said and i'm sure they will watch you closely come on girl you can do it

 

[angie790]

Ladies, don't panic! I think it is appropriate that those who have had the op should be honest & tell us pre-oppers the good and the bad with regard to WLS. Yes, I know there have been some truely horrifying stories about what can go wrong with WLS, but you surely agree you it is far better to go into this knowing everything that could (not will) possibly go wrong, otherwise how can you make an informed decision? However, keep things in perspective before letting your BP spiral out of control; as lotsabeefy pointed out, for every one bad story we hear, there are infinitely more successful ops that have occurred without any complications; we read about most of them every day on this forum.
On a slightly different note, have any of you had kids? If so, you must surely remember there was always one mum whose birth was the worst in the world... she had a longer more excruciating labour than you, she needed more pain relief than you, more stitches than you, stayed in longer than you etc etc. Get my drift? Now, I'm not saying that Mum didn't have a bad birth, but what I am saying is things like this are very subjective and sometimes people quite enjoy putting the fear of god into others. We are all under the care of very qualified, experienced bariatric surgeons & their staff, who do their utmost to make sure we are fit for surgery because let's face it, if we were all popping our clogs on the table, it wouldn't look good for them would it? Things will be fine, you will all be home before you know it on the losers bench xxxx

 

[phatmomma]

I'm with Angie and everyone else above....

There's always someone who had a bad experience and this man was wrong to share with pre oppers.

If it helps my surgery (altho different hospital) was amazing, i felt like i was asleep for seconds and although in discomfort i have had an amazing recovery, apart from being tired which is normal...

Now as for labour..........if i'd listened to all the stories from other moms i'd have asked to be asleep for delivery

Ladies fear not, you will be fine and you will rock your surgery's xxxx

 

[ladylite]

Yeah you two rock on you can do it. Think positive girls.

 

[smilergem]

I really hope so xxxxxx

 

[tray]

i do agree with allof you . i think it was how my hubby reacted to hearing the story. and likei said to him it is good to hear tyhe bad things as well so you know what can go wrong, but on the other hand i think sometimes ignorance is bliss..lol and yes there is always someone out there that will have a horror story to tell and that also like to put it on a bit .. when i spoke to the nurse about what he was saying she said i doubt very much hes telling the whole truth ...lol but then they would say that . she was not at all impressed by him tho.

 

[PuffinRub]

If you're really that worried about this, talk to your surgeon and ask for his mortality statistics. I wasn't worried but I felt that I needed this information to make an informed decision and he had no problem telling me that they (Whittington) had only lost two patients.

A quick search on Google revealed a summary of the coroner's report and it was just plain bad luck to the point where even the deceased's relative said they were confident that the hospital did everything they could have done.

Depending on what operation you're going to have, the mortality rate is up to two percent. Seems worth it to me because I feel like a prisoner in my own body sometimes due to not being able perform certain activites that those with normal BMIs have no problems with.

Sounds like bad luck to me although someone should have noticed he was regaining conciousness. I do think these hospital organised WLS support groups do try to scare people into dropping out by getting rid of the "this is an easy answer to being fat" crowd.

Not the most comforting answer you'll ever see, but if you're scheduled to die, death will find a way whether it be during surgery or by a piano falling on your head. I think Monty Python said it best: "always look on the bright side of life"

Regards, Ade.

 

[tray]

i totally agree with you ade. im a great believer in fate and what will be will be . but it does throw you a bit when u hear a horror story. i think the bad stories stay in the head a lot longer than the good ones .. but if my time is up on the 19th then so be it .. i will just have to ask the big guy, if in my next life i can be thin ..lol

 

[PuffinRub]

Oh, and I absolutely hate myself for paraphrasing Jordan / Katie Price on that Fat Psychic Sally show but she does sort of have a point.

It's a bit of a "fishing story", someone's always got to be the one that had the operation they "almost didn't make it back from". Take it with a pinch of salt.

Regards, Ade.

 

[Stellap]

I think you have to look at averages and this website has an awful lot of people who have had the surgery. Most have had no trouble, with a few who have had some problems with eating afterwards but I can't remember any that had any problems on the operating table. He might have had other health problems as well - isn't a shunt something they use when the blood is not flowing through the veins properly - seem to remember a colleague had one when they had heart problems. I had a pain free operation and its been plain sailing since with no food problems, no sickness, no pain, a slight problem with wind (solved by taking windeze) and now I'm almost 7 stone lighter 6 months down the line. There - my story has equalled the balance with that guy. Think of all the horrow stories you have heard on here in comparison with the great 'best thing I've ever done' stories to get an overall picture.

 

[Kerry Jo]

I'm sure you'll be fine hun. Its natural to be worrying though with your op being so close, you lucky thing, so jealous. Actually dying on the table is very low, its blood clots that cause the most probs deaths, so make sure you keep moving Read all the successful stories on here again and good luck with your op xxxx

 

[thinkbethin]

Tray some people think that its ok to tell their horror stories. What they don't realise is the fear they put into those waiting for their ops. I personally think its inconsiderate and feel if pre ops want to know then tell them but if they don't ask then to tell. We all have our own fears about the surgery so really don't want horror stories. We know there are risks, we have researched good and bad experiences but we make the decision on the good and try not to think too much about the bad. Don't let this put the fear of god into you sweetheart. Sorry for rambling but like I said not everyone wants to hear it xxx

 

[PuffinRub]

Actually dying on the table is very low, its blood clots that cause the most probs deaths,

(Just to clarify, "you" below doesn't actually refer to Joanne personally, just a generic third person)

Correct, DVT and PEs are going to be the major contributor to mortality stats. To put that into perspective, if you're overweight you're risking DVT every time you go on holiday. Most (if not all) hospitals are going to pump you full of anti-coagulants prior to surgery so the risk is minimised.

The point to remember is that if the NHS has agreed funding then they're pretty much convinced that you're of a sufficient risk that you will die if they don't intervene.

To recap:

1. You will probably die of an obesity related disease if you don't have the surgery.

2. You're more likely to die as a result of going on holiday than you are dying as a complication of weight loss surgery.

Except those with a massive phobia of flying, who considers the very real fact that you might be dead within 48 hours of getting off that flight to DisneyWorld? The happiness from a holiday only last a few weeks, the benefits of being able to play with your children, do the gardening and exercise as a result of losing the weight via WLS will last the rest of your life.

Looking at the BMI stats posted by people, some people aren't just going to appreciate the blessing that WLS can bring. It can probably only really be fully appreciated by those with Type II Diabetes, Sleep Apneoa or with a BMI of more than 40 kg/m2 whose quality of life is so degraded that WLS is more of a "rebirth" than a procedure to assist weight loss.

I can honestly say with a slight tear in my eye that as much as I enjoy my life, I'm not living it to the full becuase I simply can't at the moment. I am medically classified as "Super Obese" which means I'm the size of a standard mid-terrace house. My body is my prison and WLS is my escape attempt: true, I might be shot by a guard whilst trying to escape but that's still better than spending what would have been the rest of my life trapped in that cell.

Regards, Ade.

 

[gaelic girl]

Certainly can't add any more wise words than have already been said. This guy was thoughtless when he told you what had happened. Please try not to worry too much(not easy i know) ladies you will soon be joining the ever growing losers bench and sharing your positive stories with us. Big hugs full of positive vibes to you both xx

 

[dreamofbeingslim]

If you don't know their stats I can let you know them Tracey but they are really good ones so try not to worry.