Hi everybody. I'm new here.

I've been reading and absorbing as much information as possible.

What do they differently during surgery if you have sleep apnea vs. if you don't?

I'm pretty sure I have sleep apnea...I think I've probably had it for a couple of years now although I've never had a sleep study done..at least not yet. I'm sure my surgeon will require me to have one.

I was just wondering what difference it makes to have the definitive proof.

I don't know what happens differently during surgery, but I do know during post-op they will want to put your CPAP on you to make sure you keep breathing during recovery. My travel companion said I had a very hard time to keep breathing without it after being wheeled out of surgery. Once I got my mask back on she said I was okay.

Bill

I had to bring my CPAP machine to surgery and they had it handy to put on me right after surgery. I believe it was put on in the recovery room (but don't know for sure, but I think this is what they said would happen). I know that I had difficulty breathing when they first moved me to my room (the first time I remember being awake after surgery) and the nurse told me to hold on as she fit the CPAP machine on me (it had fallen off?).

My surgeon required a sleep study before surgery that I thought was just silly. The technician that night did not have me do the second part of the study--sleeping with the mask--because he wasn't sure that I had enough episodes that night to warrant it. But after my data was gone over I had to go back in for a second night with all those wires...it was horrible to have to do two nights. So if you do a sleep study, you may want to ask them to do both parts of the test in one night if possible.

Good luck!

I too, had to go in for 2 separate nights. I agree with DeeDee....have them do it all the first night. Seems as though the excuse for me too was "AFTER they went over my records of the night before"....

Felt like the hospital was taking advantage of my insurance company in that they didn't do it right the first time...:tongue_smilie:

My doctor tried to get both done at the same time, but the insurance company was the ones who wanted it to be two separate nights. Go figure????

As I understood it, the first night gets the baseline and determines if you have sleep apnea. You are back a second time to be observed while you sleep with the mask. That is how it was done when I had my studies. I don't see how it would be done all in one night.

During the surgery, you don't breathe on your own since you have a breathing tube. When I was in recovery, the breathing monitor kept going off because I can't breathe while on my back so they adjusted the bed so I was sitting up. I have never been tested for sleep apnea but when I was at my highest weight I was sleeping in an armchair. Now that I have lost over 50, I can sleep in a bed again through the night and it is so wonderful.

Good luck!

Pennie

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2005 and have used a CPAP since. My surgery is 3/31 and they told me to bring it with me for use in the hospital. If you have sleep apnea, one plus of losing weight is you may be able to quit using the CPAP eventually.

Untreated sleep apnea is dangerous for a number of reasons, not the least being falling asleep behind the wheel and killing yourself and someone else. If you suspect you have sleep apnea I urge you to be tested. Using the CPAP and sleeping better has certainly improved my quality of life.