When it is appropriate, I hope someone who is close enough to the family to get correct information can share whether she died from complications of the cancer or not, as opposed to complications of her DS. While I understand that Dr.K was going to lengthen her common channel suggests that she was malnourished because of her DS, it is important for those of us living with our DS, as well as preops who hear about her passing, to know whether the lengthening of her CC was because the cancer was preventing her from properly absorbing nutrients or meds, or due to primary issues involving her DS itself.
And my science/med side wants to know why this revision wasn't done a long time ago, since she was apparently struggling with keeping her weight in a safe range for a LONG time. I remember very early on in my DS education learning that doing a revision on someone who is losing too much weight (and is clearly NOT going to stop) should be done sooner rather than later, because there is a point of no return (or hard to return) where, once you get TOO thin, doing the surgery is no longer safe - e.g., you can't be safely put under, etc. Knowing when that line is crossed is not easy to determine, but our surgeons should know how to do it.
I know it is very common to hear vets say "don't worry, you won't lose too much weight, and even if you do, the bounceback will come, so DON'T let your surgeon talk you into a revision!" My point is, that is NOT always the right answer, and we all need to be aware of the difference between someone who is sliding to a BMI of 19 or so, but who is otherwise healthy and will bounce back, and someone who is sliding into the abyss, whether due to organic illness or a self-destructive fear of regain (e.g., anorexia) or both.
And even then, if the outcome is that the person SURVIVES but ends up with a BMI of 32 instead of 22, SO WHAT?!
