Hello,

I haven't slept all weekend because I'm a nervous wreck right now. On Friday I went for both clearances (PCP & Pulmonary Doctor) and I was cleared from the Pulmonary Doctor and my PCP said he was going to send his clearance. On Friday at about 4PM my PCP calls me and says that he won't clear me until I get a stress test. He said my EKG shows abnormalities. He said that he was surprised no one else caught it. He said he won't clear me for surgery until I go in. My insurance won't pay for that exam so he had to do a peer to peer to prove I need it. Now I'm scheduled for a stress test on Tuesday at 6AM, and I'm scheduled for surgery on Wednesday morning. I'm upset because this doctor since day 1 has ALWAYS given me problems. He didn't want to authorize the surgery in the first place so I pretty much had to plead him that I need this for me. Every single time I go to the doctor he gives me issues, and he said on Friday that if it doesn't come back normal that he won't clear me and I would need to go to a heart doctor and he could recommend one. He said you can just postpone it. I'm paying Cobra right now which is an arm and a leg for this insurance. I finally sorted out my insurance issue and now he comes with this last minute. He said it was a "mild" change on my EKG but he said he's not going to risk himself by clearing me. "I'll just have to wait." I'm beyond livid. He called my surgeon and my surgeon wasn't concerned at all, and my PCP was annoyed because the surgeon dismissed him as if he didn't have time. Well that's how my PCP explained it to me. My blood work and all other exams came back normal. I don't suffer from high blood pressure nor am I diabetic.

I bought relaxing tea over the weekend because I can't even think or sleep. Out of the entire process, he stressed me out the most on Friday. He has never wanted me to do this surgery. He was always against it. My mom keeps telling me to relax because it won't help with the exam on Tuesday. How can I relax when he pretty much told me he will cancel it if the exam shows something. He said, "You can just do it some other time." I plan to email the doctor's coordinator and get her opinion, but I'm seriously stressed out.

Any thoughts? Perhaps I just needed to Vent

This morning the Surgeon's Coordinator emailed me and said:

You are absolutely not bothering me. Of course you're stressed out. You can see any physician to get your pre-op clearance, even a walk-in clinic. I have had patients with similar situations. We should be able to get the results tomorrow afternoon from the stress test. Where are you having it done?

I replied and asked her if she could possibly send me the paperwork just in case. I'm going to take the stress test tomorrow and hoping my primary will still clear me but I want to have a second opinion as well. These next 2 days will be the longest ever.

How are things going?

Thank you for asking. I haven't been on the site since last Tuesday. My update is that I went for the exercise stress test last Tuesday which was the day before surgery and that afternoon my PCP said he wouldn't clear me because it came back abnormal again. I did a lot of crying and I was down that night. The Bariatric center called me to reschedule surgery for Dec 21st (next Monday), until I received clearance from the Cardiologist. I saw the cardiologist on Thursday and he said that he believes it's a "false-positive." He said that at times it could be the breast affecting the test, which I thought it was a very odd thing but that's what he said. He said he wants to be 100% sure it's a "false-positive" before he clears me, so on Thursday morning they're doing an echo stress test.

He said that test will indicate if something is actually wrong or it's nothing. He thinks it's nothing but he doesn't feel comfortable clearing me until he's sure which I understand. Once/if the cardiologist clears me on Thursday then the PCP will clear me as everything else came back normal. I'm scheduled for next Monday, and at this point in the process I feel numb and I don't want to get my hopes up for another disappointment. I'm going on Thursday for that test and that same afternoon I should hear from the doctor what it is... fingers crossed.

You'll be in my thoughts! I've been where you are and the thoughts of something being wrong is definitely hard to handle at times.

Thank you! I went for the stress echo this morning and the doctor told me that my heart is 100% good to go. He cleared me so I'm all good. I can't even begin explaining to you the stress I went through for clearance but at least I know I have a healthy heart with no blockage or anything. I'm scheduled for Monday morning. I went also for another pre-op today but since I'm a hard stick, they said they're going to do a PICC Line, which I'm scared, but I heard it's not painful (hopefully). I'll keep you posted.

Thats awesome!! I had a cariologost tell me I had a blockage (without testing me) he even drew on a diagram where the blockage was. Had me terrified. My mom cancelled her vacation because he said once the test showed where the blockage was, we were doing surgery stat. I had a 3 hrs test done on every artery surrounding my heart and there was no blockage. He came in and said, "the test was clear, there's no blockage, you're free to go". I've never been so mad at medical professional before or since. With all of that I was relived that my heart was healthy But man I could've strangled him.

Congrats! And don't forget to take a deep breath. I've been fighting with my insurance company for the better part of a decade about WLS.

I can say be determined... but if ever there was a word that fell short of what it represents, it's that one.

You have to know that you're going to walk into whatever they toss at you, shake your head clear and get back up. When you can't do that anymore crawl and bite em on the ankle.