Hi, I have sleep apnea and my surgeon is concerned about it during+after surgery. He wants me to go through another sleep study before he does my band. I had a hysterectomy last january with no problems. This is going to hold up my surgery date because I can't get in for a month with the pulminologist, I am a self pay so I dont have insurance postponing me. I do have insurance but anything to do with obesity is excluded. I was wondering if anyone else had to do this? Also I hope that with weight loss my apnea will get lost also! I work retail and wanted to get this done while it was slow at work. I would appreciate any input, Thanks Sunnysea:)

Hi sunnysea

I also have a mild form of sleep apnea...but I passed the surgery no problems...My dr wasn't so concerned...but thats just me...How fustrating for you to have to delay surgery because of it...I feel for you.

becky

Hi Becky, Thanks for Your quick response, just wondering are you living in Australia now and if so, what time is it there???? Sunnysea (just curious)

Hi, I have sleep apnea and my surgeon is concerned about it during+after surgery. He wants me to go through another sleep study before he does my band. I had a hysterectomy last january with no problems. This is going to hold up my surgery date because I can't get in for a month with the pulminologist, I am a self pay so I dont have insurance postponing me. I do have insurance but anything to do with obesity is excluded. I was wondering if anyone else had to do this? Also I hope that with weight loss my apnea will get lost also! I work retail and wanted to get this done while it was slow at work. I would appreciate any input, Thanks Sunnysea:)

Hi ya Sunnysea

I am actually based in New Zealand at the moment and the time is 9.12pm.

becky

Hi again, I don't do much emailing , but think this is so cool without sounding dumb! It is 2:15 AM here in Wisconsin so I should be getting some sleep ! I am constantly reading these boards since looking into the lapband. Bye ,:notagree Sunnysea

cool sunnysea...

have a good sleep...but hey feel free to PM me if you want to chat or you have questions you think I might beable to answer. I look forward to hearing more from you.

becky

Hi Sunnysea,

Just wanted to say I have heard that some peoples sleep apnea has improved or gone away since loosing weight , so I wish you the best and hope yours goes away also.

I havent gotten banded yet , but hope to soon.. Take care,

I used to have to wear the scary mask ..the whole 9 yards because mine was really bad. I lost 20 pounds and I no longer need to sleep with all that stuff. I still snore ..but the apnea is basicly gone. Good luck to you!

My sleep doctor said there is a very good chance that my apnea will get better with weight loss, but it's not of course for sure.

Which reminds me, I need to schedule a follow-up. I'm hoping I can at least get the pressure reduced on my CPAP. I'm REALLY hoping I can get to the point where I don't need it.

I tried posting a reply on this thread a while back and it seems that it did not go through. I'll try again, sorry if this turns out to be a duplicate.

I'm just wondering, following up on the question of the original poster, has anyone had a doctor express concern about a person's apnea in relation to the actual surgery and the immediate recovery time thereafter? As everyone knows, when you have apnea you can stop breathing. I would imagine this could be especially troubling when you are on general anesthesia. Isn't it possible that this could be an issue during and immediately after surgery?

The doctors are ready to handle it, no problem. The US doctors are so test crazy. It the lawyers they are like a knife with two sharp sides (good/bad) easy to blame, most of the time they do not help, but every now and then they save your butt.

I tried posting a reply on this thread a while back and it seems that it did not go through. I'll try again, sorry if this turns out to be a duplicate.

I'm just wondering, following up on the question of the original poster, has anyone had a doctor express concern about a person's apnea in relation to the actual surgery and the immediate recovery time thereafter? As everyone knows, when you have apnea you can stop breathing. I would imagine this could be especially troubling when you are on general anesthesia. Isn't it possible that this could be an issue during and immediately after surgery?

Yes, there is a concern about that and that is why I had to go in for my sleep test before surgery.

The sleep doctor was very glad to hear my surgeon required it. He said he'd heard more then one story about someone having serious problems post-op because of undiagnosed apnea.

I am about 90% sure I have sleep apnea. I told that to my surgeon at my pre-op consultation and told him that I hadn't had the study done but I also don't have insurance right now (BECAUSE of my weight btw). He said that about 80% of the people with obesity have undiagnosed sleep apnea and being a bariatric surgeon, he just takes that in to consideration and takes the same precautions with everyone. He also said that's one reason they require that after surgery you have a support person who can be up awake watching you for 24 hrs following the surgery because of the affects of the anesthesia in relation to sleep apnea. *shrug* makes no sense to me why some docs want PROOF that you have it or don't- when they could just take the necessary precautions anyway.

That's one reason why I like my surgeon is his office is clearly geared toward those who are obese. No one makes you feel bad about your weight, the nurses he hires often are lapbanders themselves, and even the chairs in his office are oversized.

Guess I'm ranting, others may have more of an idea of why proving it is so important. I don't....good luck to you!

Thanks for the responses.

By the way, I don't mean to get on a soap box but sleep apnea is a very serious thing. I had it for years without knowing it. I was feeling more and more tired all the time and started experiencing irregular heartbeats. One day my wife said to me "um, dear, do you realize you often stop breathing for, like, 30 seconds at a time when you sleep? And, dear, do you realize that when you snore you sound like the cars as they are being crushed at the Monster Truck Extravaganza?"

So, I went to the doc, and the rest is history. I really think I might be dead right now without my CPAP. I certainly intend to lose the CPAP when I lose the weight, but until then, Gotta Have It!

Hi Everyone, Thanks for all your input. I do know that I have Apnea, I have a BiPap machine instead of the CPap because my Apnea is severe. I called today and now I have to wait until the 10th of Jan. just to see him and then it takes 2 weeks to get another sleep study done.:grouphug: Thanks Again Sunnysea

Hi, I have sleep apnea and my surgeon is concerned about it during+after surgery. He wants me to go through another sleep study before he does my band. I had a hysterectomy last january with no problems. This is going to hold up my surgery date because I can't get in for a month with the pulminologist, I am a self pay so I dont have insurance postponing me. I do have insurance but anything to do with obesity is excluded. I was wondering if anyone else had to do this? Also I hope that with weight loss my apnea will get lost also! I work retail and wanted to get this done while it was slow at work. I would appreciate any input, Thanks Sunnysea:)

I do not know why he would want another test if you have been tested and have a bipap at home that ytou can bring to the hospital so you can use it there. Anesthesia does not require at all that you breathe on your own. The machine/ventilator does it for you. That is why you are intubated during surgery. When anesthesia wears off if youhave sleep apnea they might keep you intubated for an additional couple of hours or so, but later they can just put you on bipap until you are fully awake again from the anesthesia. I think he just wants to able to charge for another test....hope your insurance does not mind!

Do not worry about a thing, a large group of people who havw WLS surgery have sleep apnea and gratefully for many once they lose some weight, they will not longer need it! If a person has central apnea, then it is different, and they could be skinny and have it. It is different than obstructive sleep apnea.... it is hard to tell with someone who is obese, so testing would be better after losing weight.

Good luck with everything!:welldone2: