So did my EKG last Friday as well as my Psyc eval. EKG came back abnormal. Today i saw the cardiologist and to get clearance for surgery they are having me do a nuclear stress test next week. After that i will get the yes or no for clearance for surgery but the doctor said i should be good to go. Hate IV needles lmao.

I’ve never had one but I’m sure it’s just a precaution. Good news is even if it comes back abnormal at least you learned something is going on with your heart before it becomes an issue and they can most likely fix it and then do your surgery. (Im guessing of course).

Oh wow! I hope it goes well. I've heard that the nuclear stress test feels super weird, lol.

And you may as well get over the hatred of IV needles, you have your sleeve surgery IV to look forward to. This reminds me of a surgery I had and it lasted 11 hours. I woke up with an IV in each arm and in each foot. ?

I hope your stress test goes well and you get clearance. ?

8 minutes ago, WhispersOfAngel said:

Oh wow! I hope it goes well. I've heard that the nuclear stress test feels super weird, lol.

And you may as well get over the hatred of IV needles, you have your sleeve surgery IV to look forward to. This reminds me of a surgery I had and it lasted 11 hours. I woke up with an IV in each arm and in each foot. ?

I hope your stress test goes well and you get clearance. ?

In each foot???? i have never heard of that. My gosh

Yeah, it's because with such a long surgery it's easier for the nurses and anesthesiologist to push meds from either side of the OR table.

I had to have one (my clinic required it for everyone over age 50 (which I was..), or under 50 if they'd had a history of heart issues)

it's not bad - part of it just feels weird. They put you in a machine that looks kind of like an MRI only it's not as long (really just covers your chest) and the opening is a lot bigger -so you won't get that claustrophobic feeling that some people get in an MRI machine. Then you just lie there and they take a bunch of measurements of your heart. Then they'll take you out of the machine and give you an injection of something that mimics the feeling you get when you exercise REALLY intensely. That is the weird part because you can feel your heart racing - it's just kind of bizarre since you did nothing to get that way - it's just that shot. It feels a little freaky. Then they stick you back in the machine and take all the same measurements again. They're just trying to measure how your heart reacts to stress - and how quickly it recovers.

it's pretty easy and painless - it's just that racing heart drug feels weird.

29 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

I had to have one (my clinic required it for everyone over age 50 (which I was..), or under 50 if they'd had a history of heart issues)

it's not bad - part of it just feels weird. They put you in a machine that looks kind of like an MRI only it's not as long (really just covers your chest) and the opening is a lot bigger -so you won't get that claustrophobic feeling that some people get in an MRI machine. Then you just lie there and they take a bunch of measurements of your heart. Then they'll take you out of the machine and give you an injection of something that mimics the feeling you get when you exercise REALLY intensely. That is the weird part because you can feel your heart racing - it's just kind of bizarre since you did nothing to get that way - it's just that shot. It feels a little freaky. Then they stick you back in the machine and take all the same measurements again. They're just trying to measure how your heart reacts to stress - and how quickly it recovers.

it's pretty easy and painless - it's just that racing heart drug feels weird.

I just saw a youtube video of the procedure. Exactly as you described. I am kinda hoping they dont do the injection to raise my heart rate and instead put me on a treadmill like before (Non nuclear type stress test)

OMG, that injection is disconcerting. I was having heart issues a few years ago and they couldn't have me do the treadmill myself so they did the injection. It does resolve quickly but it is a weird, weird feeling. The actual imaging part is pretty easy other than having to hold positions for extended periods of time.

Good luck!

I had this stress test, too, and I'd MUCH prefer that to being on a treadmill. Just be ready for your heart to beat really fast, and know you're in the best of hands.

For me, it just felt kind of fun. Just go with it, you'll be absolutely fine

16 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

I had to have one (my clinic required it for everyone over age 50 (which I was..), or under 50 if they'd had a history of heart issues)

it's not bad - part of it just feels weird. They put you in a machine that looks kind of like an MRI only it's not as long (really just covers your chest) and the opening is a lot bigger -so you won't get that claustrophobic feeling that some people get in an MRI machine. Then you just lie there and they take a bunch of measurements of your heart. Then they'll take you out of the machine and give you an injection of something that mimics the feeling you get when you exercise REALLY intensely. That is the weird part because you can feel your heart racing - it's just kind of bizarre since you did nothing to get that way - it's just that shot. It feels a little freaky. Then they stick you back in the machine and take all the same measurements again. They're just trying to measure how your heart reacts to stress - and how quickly it recovers.

it's pretty easy and painless - it's just that racing heart drug feels weird.

The injection to raise your heart rate isn't always necessary, I've had two nuclear stress tests and both times I did the treadmill. They did tell me if I physically couldn't do the treadmill or get my heart rate to a certain level they would switch to the injection.

4 hours ago, Tufflaw said:

The injection to raise your heart rate isn't always necessary, I've had two nuclear stress tests and both times I did the treadmill. They did tell me if I physically couldn't do the treadmill or get my heart rate to a certain level they would switch to the injection.

yes - this is true. There's no way at that time I could have done the treadmill (well, even now, since I have arthritis). But back at almost 400 lbs, well, no..

I have had this done. it was really weird because you body feels like you have just run a marathon but your brain is saying wait you haven't done anything why do I feel like this. But other than that its fine they will have a Dr present "just in case" so you will be in good hands. good luck hope all goes well

8 minutes ago, SleeverSk said:

I have had this done. it was really weird because you body feels like you have just run a marathon but your brain is saying wait you haven't done anything why do I feel like this. But other than that its fine they will have a Dr present "just in case" so you will be in good hands. good luck hope all goes well

oh man lol. But yea the testing center is like 20 feet away from the cardiac office that has several doctors and next door is the actual Emergency room so i feel good about that.

So i got a automated phone call to call the hospital so they can review my insurance and see what my cost will be for the stress test... I do that. They said all my appointments were cancelled. I was like uhhhh no one called me to tell me... after back and forth its because apparently there is a weight limit for the Gamma camera table of 250lb and i weigh 315lb. I mean i got weighed at the cardiologist office yesterday and it was in my paperwork... So now they rescheduled me at another hospital. So annoying they cancelled without even calling or anything.

Well that sucks. Hopefully they get you scheduled quickly. ?

50 minutes ago, liveaboard15 said:

apparently there is a weight limit for the Gamma camera table of 250lb

Yeah, this makes you feel like sh*t. When I went in for mine, the nurse prepping me looked at me and said "hm, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not sure you can fit in the machine".

She then proceeded to - I kid you not - use her arms to grab around me to get a "measurement" of my body, and then held her arms like that and left the prep room. She was going to use her arm measurement to see if I would fit.

Again, this actually happened.

She then comes back in and says OK, let's try having you on the table and have it go in just to see before we prep you. I fit in that thing fine.

Then she comes back to me in the prep room with a hospital shirt in size L. Euro size L. That's what I wear now, 169 lbs lighter. Pretty annoyed at this point I say 'look, I can't fit into that, can't you find a larger one?' and she's like no, sorry, gotta put this on.

So now I've been utterly humiliated, been taken in in front the 4 people behind the screen, done a 'is he too fat' test, now back out to the room and handed a tiny button-down shirt that cannot possibly cover any of me.

With this open, I then consult with the very nice doctor, who apologizes for the whole thing and does the test. But man, this just strengthened my resolve that if ever given the chance, I'll f'in fight for people of larger sizes' right to quality healthcare, too (and access to bariatric surgery).