need some honest answers

[Guest guest]

Hi,

The results of the MGB are quite remarkable and many surgeons my self

included find them difficult to believe.

The Hospital, 30, 60 and 180 death rate in 480 patients is 0.

There have been three people that have died on unrelated problems over 10

months after surgery.

The leak rate is now about 0.5 to 1% and the overall complication rate is

6.5%

The average weight of preop patients is 300 lbs and the average weight loss

at 30, 60 90 days and 1 year is

30, 50, 80 and 140 lbs.

The average operating time is 45 minutes.

The average hospital stay is 1.2 days.

Hope this helps.

I must say I still find these results amazing.

Every patient who has had the surgery is strongly asked to over their email

to allow others to contact them to confirm personally these results.

Almost everyone has given that permission.

No other surgeon in the world that I know of provides so open access the

results.

Any suggestions to allow more open access or disclosure are encouraged.

My bias is that even a few minutes comparing results will show the truly

remarkable advantages of the MGB.

RR

Rutledge, M.D., F.A.C.S.

The Center for Laparoscopic Obesity Surgery

4301 Ben lin Blvd.

Durham, N.C. 27704

Telephone #:

Fax #:

Email: DrR@...

************************************************

Please Visit our Web site: http://clos.net

************************************************

Durham Regional Hospital:

Also, Please consider joining the

Mini-Gastric Bypass Mailing List

at http://www.onelist.com

MiniGastricBypass is a general discussion of the Mini-Gastric Bypass

( http://www.onelist.com/community/MiniGastricBypass )

Talk with lots of other Pre and Post Op

patients and friends.

Keep up to date on the latest news about

the Mini-Gastric Bypass.

Re: need some honest answers

> In the manual there is a very explicit chart which spells out the number

of

> surgeries, numbers of complications, etc. The manual is also very very

clear

> about the risks of complications...and is quite scarey in fact with detail

> about possible problems. Some of the emails of the day on the site

describe

> problems with complications and go into pretty vivid detail about them.

One

> of the videos deals with someone who had complications. Is it possible

that

> the success rate without complication is very high and thus there isn't

much

> more to reveal? Hope some of you will comment on this.

>

> Florence Ballengee

> florence@...

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> LOW RATE, NO WAIT!

> Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds! Get rates

> as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR and no hidden fees.

> Learn more at:

> http://click.egroups.com/1/937/1/_/453517/_/955157942/

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

> This message is from the Mini-Gastric Bypass Mailing List at Onelist.com

> Please visit our web site at http://clos.net

> Get the Patient Manual at http://clos.net/get_patient_manual.htm

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have a friend who is well known, and very involved in the community,,,she

knows a few people (personally) who has had this surgery done, and some had

very good results, but some were not good, and there results seems to be kept

secret,,,They are from very reliable sources...I know all surgeries have a

risk, but I am just concerned that it is kept quiet ...Such as there has been

14 deaths.....2 woman that has not lost any weight as all ( only that we know

of, in this community ) 1 woman who has to have a blood transfusion every

month due to surgery causing her to be anemic.....even against the odds,,I

still want the surgery,,,but I also want all the information and facts.....is

this true ????

[Guest guest]

If she knows these people personally why doesn't she tell them to post their

stories so to alert everyone. Sorry, but I don't believe anything is being

kept a secret. Anyone can post on this list.

Jane Kunert

MGB 3/20/00

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/7/00 8:29:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

McJaneygrl@... writes:

<< If she knows these people personally why doesn't she tell them to post

their

stories so to alert everyone. Sorry, but I don't believe anything is being

kept a secret. Anyone can post on this list.

Jane Kunert

MGB 3/20/00

the people that she knows are professional people, and would not have the

time to sit down and post to a list like i do,,,,I am lucky if I can even get

up with my friend,,,She is a very busy and professional person...I am not

trying to stir up anything,,I just wanted to ask,,,and I know my friend is

not like that neither, because when her life slows down enough, she is

planning on having this surgery done also...she just is someone that is very

through in anything that she does...and I felt that i should at least ask....

[Guest guest]

It's funny that you should mention weight loss because I never heard anything

negative about the MGB before I had surgery and then after I had it I heard

lots of post ops complaining about not being very happy with their weight

loss. As far as the deaths associated with the MGB there were 3 post op

deaths but they were not directly related to the surgery itself.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/7/00 9:20:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time, mb7644@...

writes:

<< I heard

> lots of post ops complaining about not being very happy with their

weight

> loss >>

I have heard/read both sides. Could be because I read the stories on the

website and made a point of contacting many who had complications or showed

smaller weight losses. One common thread that I found among many who are

losing slower than expected is that they either had less than others to lose

(ie, started at a lower weight than the average 300 lbs) or they had a

previous wls which might have affected their current loss rate so far.

May I suggest you ask Dr. R. (sorry Dr. R. )

{{HUGS}}

Claire

Redhead in FL

Clinic 4/8/00, 1pm

MGB 4/10/00 !!!!

Dr. Rutledge (http:/clos.net)

BMI 53.6

" He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the

day of Christ Jesus. " - Phil. 1:6

[Guest guest]

With any weight loss surgery be it the MGB, the open RNY, the Lap RNY, the

VBG any of them you are going to have complications, slow results, unhappy

people and yes even death. Thats why before you enter any major surgery the

doctors let it be known that there are risks associated with the surgery.

Yes, the MGB is good but not any better than all the other weight loss

surgeries out there and I found that out when it came down to my sister

having the open RNY and me and her discussing it. It was not worth me and her

arguing over which one is best. They are all good but they each have their

drawbacks. Of course you are going to find that Dr. Rutledges patients lean

toward him and his procedure but you would expect that because who would want

to say they don't have total faith and confidence in their surgeon. Believe

it or not most people have never even heard of the MGB and Dr. Rutledge.

Other surgeons out there believe that his surgery is not as effective as the

other weight loss surgeries. Yes, research and do your homework before you

decide on one specific surgery. Don't be closed minded and only look into the

MGB get out there and research what the other surgeries have to offer.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/7/00 9:31:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time, amyp@...

writes:

<< If you find out more concrete information, I'd be happy to hear it.

Otherwise, let's not speculate on rumors.

Thanks,

Amy.

>>

I do believe since I am planning on having this surgery that I do have a

right to ask,,, I do not think that I was rude in the way that I asked,,,,and

am surprised at how angry people get.....It is quite possible this person was

misinformed,but what better place for me to ask but on this list..This is the

only place that i will be able to find out.My friend is in the medical

field,,,that is where she gotten her info from.....I am planning on getting

the information to talk to her contacts one on one,, ...I do not know why

anyone is so upset....I feel since I am new,,that I am only doing what any

normal human being would do....searching for all the answers......i know the

risks,,,,as i said before,,,I still plan on having the surgery

regardless,,,,,I just want to make sure that I have all the information

before me...

[Guest guest]

Well said Dr Rutledge,

Bless you

[Guest guest]

Hi I too am a professional and very busy between work, family and Church.

However I take thirty minutes a day to just myself, I choose to read and

reply to post. After all I am on a mission to have this surgery. So please

have your friends, friend share with us This is very important information

good or bad. Thank you for sharing,

Trish

[Guest guest]

I would like to see some sample letter too, if anyone will share. THANK YOU

IN ADVANCE

Trish

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/7/00 11:08:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

metrishal@... writes:

<< Hi I too am a professional and very busy between work, family and Church.

However I take thirty minutes a day to just myself, I choose to read and

reply to post. After all I am on a mission to have this surgery. So please

have your friends, friend share with us This is very important information

good or bad. Thank you for sharing,

Trish

Trish

I want to thank you for the way you responded back,,,I am going to ask

her,,that if this is indeed suppose to be true,,,that out of respect to our

friendship, and many of others, if she would post to list...

[Guest guest]

Joe, IM sure everyone does not mean to beat up on you, IM sure if your friend

says they are to busy to post It is not your fault

Trish

[Guest guest]

Professional people do not have time to post like this?

Let's see where do I start;

Im a mother of 3 girls 2mths,4yrs, and 6yrs

I own a contracting company with my husband, Handle all billing and

collections

Rehab property with my husband for our personal investments

AND i have a very busy Real Estate career

How much more professional and busy can one be? No offense but bad excuse.

[Guest guest]

Even if you decide not to have the surgery, It is your choice. You are

correct, this is the place for information. You are very welcome. But

remember, everyone on this list is going to react to speculation and gossip,

it is fact we listen to. If you do find concrete, we want to hear it.

cassandra

[Guest guest]

It seems to me that if there really is such a problem as this, that

the pre op list would be the place for it to be discussed. We are the

ones needing information to make decisions.

Mitch

In MiniGastricBypass (AT) e, smittyx03@a... wrote:

> It's funny that you should mention weight loss because I never

heard anything

> negative about the MGB before I had surgery and then after I had it

I heard

> lots of post ops complaining about not being very happy with their

weight

> loss. As far as the deaths associated with the MGB there were 3

post

op

> deaths but they were not directly related to the surgery itself.

[Guest guest]

I fully agree with Mitch!

Please no sugar coating - saying everything is fluffy etc. It is always easier

to cope with things, once the facts are known.

And yes, us pre op people, or those who are just investigting at this time, NEED

to know ALL the facts. What are the RISKS, what type and what kind of

percentage of COMPLICATIONS? What's the percentage of INFECTIONS? What's the

percentage of LEAKAGE after surgery.

Getting answers will help everyone. We all know there are risks, but we need to

know more details...

Thanks.

Christa

Re: need some honest answers

It seems to me that if there really is such a problem as this, that

the pre op list would be the place for it to be discussed. We are the

ones needing information to make decisions.

Mitch

In MiniGastricBypass (AT) e, smittyx03@a... wrote:

> It's funny that you should mention weight loss because I never

heard anything

> negative about the MGB before I had surgery and then after I had it

I heard

> lots of post ops complaining about not being very happy with their

weight

> loss. As far as the deaths associated with the MGB there were 3

post

op

> deaths but they were not directly related to the surgery itself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This message is from the Mini-Gastric Bypass Mailing List at Onelist.com

Please visit our web site at http://clos.net

Get the Patient Manual at http://clos.net/get_patient_manual.htm

[Guest guest]

I take offense at this remark. Many of us are professional people, yet we

take the time to read and post on this list. This is an open forum. If

someone is having problems, they post here. We also hear a LOT of success

stories. Nothing is perfect, and everyone has their own unique

circumstances, but this is a whole lot more successful than any of the diets

I've wasted thousands of dollars and many years of my life on! Nothing

works for everyone, and as Dr. R says - this is a TOOL. If you don't watch

what you eat and drink carefully, you're not going to lose (as much) weight

no matter how small your stomach is. This is not magic - but it's the

closest thing we've got!!!

If you find out more concrete information, I'd be happy to hear it.

Otherwise, let's not speculate on rumors.

Thanks,

Amy.

Re: need some honest answers

In a message dated 4/7/00 8:29:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

McJaneygrl@... writes:

<< If she knows these people personally why doesn't she tell them to post

their

stories so to alert everyone. Sorry, but I don't believe anything is being

kept a secret. Anyone can post on this list.

Jane Kunert

MGB 3/20/00

the people that she knows are professional people, and would not have the

time to sit down and post to a list like i do,,,,I am lucky if I can even

get

up with my friend,,,She is a very busy and professional person...I am not

trying to stir up anything,,I just wanted to ask,,,and I know my friend is

not like that neither, because when her life slows down enough, she is

planning on having this surgery done also...she just is someone that is very

through in anything that she does...and I felt that i should at least

ask....

[Guest guest]

The contents of the letter of support from your doctor is located on

Dr. Rutledge's site.

Lynda

This

> At the risk of being a pest, does anyone have a sample letter that

I could

> use for my Doctor? I have written him a note and have put it in an

envelope

> along with the manual. I know he will ask me what the letter to Dr.

R. has

> to say and I haven't a clue. Thanks for any help you may be able to

> provide.....

>

> Florence Ballengee

> Hollywood, land

> florence@...

[Guest guest]

Your well known very involved friend needs to get her facts straight.

Rumors like this are the reason we have lawyers I guess. I am sure it will

come as a great surprise to Dr. Rutledge that he has 14 dead post-ops. I

bet we haven't heard from them on the list personally because of their

being dead and all.

My guess is that if your friend has any fact straight it's that there have

been deaths attributable to the older forms of gastric bypass surgery which

are real buggars compared to the MGB. The business about " professional "

people being too busy to post to a list is garbage. Many of the folks who

do post to the list are professional people. Unless your friend works in

the estates section of the clerk of court's office, I am puzzled as to how

she would know that there are 14 people who have died as a result of Dr.

Rutledge's MGB procedure. The probability that anyone...even our Dr.

Rutledge... could " hide " 14 deaths in one community from an essentially

elective surgical procedure has to be around zero. I can assure you that

if that were true that you would have heard about it in places other than

this list....like the newspaper, t.v., etc.

need some honest answers

>I have a friend who is well known, and very involved in the community,,,she

>knows a few people (personally) who has had this surgery done, and some had

>very good results, but some were not good, and there results seems to be

kept

>secret,,,They are from very reliable sources...I know all surgeries have a

>risk, but I am just concerned that it is kept quiet ...Such as there has

been

>14 deaths.....2 woman that has not lost any weight as all ( only that we

know

>of, in this community ) 1 woman who has to have a blood transfusion every

>month due to surgery causing her to be anemic.....even against the odds,,I

>still want the surgery,,,but I also want all the information and

facts.....is

>this true ????

>

>------------------------------------------------------------------------

>LOW RATE, NO WAIT!

>Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds! Get rates

>as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR and no hidden fees.

>Learn more at:

>http://click.egroups.com/1/937/1/_/453517/_/955153200/

>------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

>This message is from the Mini-Gastric Bypass Mailing List at Onelist.com

>Please visit our web site at http://clos.net

>Get the Patient Manual at http://clos.net/get_patient_manual.htm

>

>

[Guest guest]

At the risk of being a pest, does anyone have a sample letter that I could

use for my Doctor? I have written him a note and have put it in an envelope

along with the manual. I know he will ask me what the letter to Dr. R. has

to say and I haven't a clue. Thanks for any help you may be able to

provide.....

Florence Ballengee

Hollywood, land

florence@...

[Guest guest]

In the manual there is a very explicit chart which spells out the number of

surgeries, numbers of complications, etc. The manual is also very very clear

about the risks of complications...and is quite scarey in fact with detail

about possible problems. Some of the emails of the day on the site describe

problems with complications and go into pretty vivid detail about them. One

of the videos deals with someone who had complications. Is it possible that

the success rate without complication is very high and thus there isn't much

more to reveal? Hope some of you will comment on this.

Florence Ballengee

florence@...

[Guest guest]

Thanks Lynda, I couldn't find it so I'll go back and look again. Thanks.

florence

[Guest guest]

Thank you Dr. Rutledge for those statistics and I hope you make YOUR email

the " email of the day "

Jane Kunert

MGB 3/20/00

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/8/00 12:19:28 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

interiormagic@... writes:

<< Let's see where do I start;

Im a mother of 3 girls 2mths,4yrs, and 6yrs

I own a contracting company with my husband, Handle all billing and

collections

Rehab property with my husband for our personal investments

AND i have a very busy Real Estate career

How much more professional and busy can one be? No offense but bad excuse.

>>

I understand where you are coming from,,I cannot speak for you,,but i know

how her life is,,besides being a wife and mother,,,and helping her husbind

starting a business,,and being a director of a homeless shelter for woman and

children,,,she has rescued it from the bottom,,,i know for a fact that she

leaves home by 5 in the morning and most times does not make it home till

after midnight,,,to make the shelter survive,,she does all the

funding,,presentation,,,seminars, also helps people in recovery with

addiction,,,i know it is not an excuse,,,but it is a fact....sometimes she is

awaken at 3 in the morning ,,,because someine has dropped of homeless woman

and children at her doors,,,and no one has room for them,,,,it takes all day

and all her energy to find a place for them,,and she will never turn any one

away,,,,for her,,she just not has the time to post,,,,and i sincereley do

understand,,I just had to answer this post,,because all of our lives our

different...