[Queenofthenile]

I went to the pulmonologist and he scared the crap out of me. He asked me if I knew why I was there to see him and I told him because I am a bariatric patient. He said No quite hastily. " The reason why you are here is to make sure you don't die in surgery. You want to die when you are 95 with your great grandchildren not under aneasthesia (sp is incorrect I know). If you have a sleep disorder that's it on the table, no more anything". Alrighty then....he takes my oxygen level with a pulse oximeter.It registered 100 but he said it was o.k. not what it should be for someone my age. Apparently someone can have O2 levels at 300% and that my CO2 levels were at the low end of normal so I will be off to a sleep study. I can't wait for that! Anyway, he scared me so much that I am second guessing myself.....This sucks.

[smease]

Don't second guess yourself. You have made it this far and you need to keep pushing forward. Stay positive and don't let those negative thoughts in. I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea a couple years before surgery and I came through the surgery fine.

[reastland]

Queenofthenile,

If I had quit pushing forward for bariatric surgery every time a DR was rude to me, I would never have the procedure! The day before my surgery, I had to have a arterial blood draw to check for o2 levels, and guess what? The technician tried to talk me out of it--with a collection of horror stories.

Don't let them get to you--people come from their own place of reference.
If the people in our lives were supportive and knew what we needed, we wouldn't need this board--my lifeline to what it means to change myself.

God Bless,
Becky

[qt82699]

dont let anyone get you down you are doing what is right for you...BTW...i see your scale moved!!! congrats!!!

[Hookemhigg]

Queen at 700 pounds in December and then just under 600 at surgery time in June I too was having many second thoughts, I think most do right up til time to go under. Heck I was pretty confident I think, but still did not stop the second guessing. In the end it is about you and your Surgeon, do you trust him and feel comfortable with them? If so talk to them about your fears when your tests all come back and talk to your anesthesiologist at your pre-op and yes they will tell you the worst case scenarios, but they will not move ahead if they feel like your surgery is too high of a risk.

[Perfesser]

Queen, I had already had my study years earlier that diagnosed me with severe obstructive sleep apnea (89 apneas an hour!), but I had also been on my CPAP and controlled for years. They need to know, not to reject you, but to prepare to handle any unique situations that may arise with your medical condition.

I had no problems in anesthesia, and I woke up in recovery wearing my CPAP and breathing normally. Now, months later, I no longer have sleep apnea, but I did then, and they did what they had to to keep me alive. My surgeon's practice has a really good record for safety because they do this kind of stuff in advance.

Be at ease regarding this.

CT

[DocSanae]

Aw. Sorry you had the scare. Actually, what is most important here is whether you have sleep apnea--which, incidentally, you most likely do have, and it also happens that it's one of the comorbidities for which insurance will approve surgery.
Unbeknownest to you, you stop breathing while sleeping, which causes enough trouble to make the list as long as your arm. If you decide to keep your weight, you will need a CPAP machine to assist you every night when you sleep. If you go on with the surgery and lose weight, you will be able to get rid of the CPAP machien and get rid of sleep apnea as well, and won't have to worry about all the issues that sleep apnea causes, or makes worse.
((((((HUGS)))))