this is a long story so ill try to make it short. I am selfpay so i dont have to do the 6 month diet like all the ins calls for. So why after 9 months on this journey havent i had the surgery by now? I had to go to 3 seminars which were a mounth apart. thats ok then i could make my first appt with the doc. well that took 2 months to see him and then when i do he calls for a ton of tests . and you know docs it took me 2 months to get all those tests done. then when im all done they say I need to get cleared from a cardiologist for surgery.WHAT? why didnt the cardiologist that did my stress test clear me? so i go to a cardiologist thats close by to read the test to clear me andd he said its to vaighe so he calls for a echo. another 2 weeks of appts. Im fed up . I am paying the thousands and thousands of dollars to have this surgery why so many obsticals? I have heart palpitations Ive never had a heart attack and im young. I dont get it.

I think these are questions you should ask your surgeon. Since you're self pay, you have a bunch of choices; you chose him for whatever reason. If you aren't happy with the service you're getting, take your test results and find another doc.

Well, it only makes sense to me that you would need to have cardiac clearance since you have heart palpitations. No surgeon is going to risk doing surgery on you and having something go horribly wrong with your heart and you die on the table. That would be setting themselves up for a law suit. He obviously thinks the Echo is necessary or he wouldn't have ordered it. I agree with restless. If you aren't happy with what the surgeon is doing, find another surgeon.

Joan

Well I am self pay also. I am not having the problems you are having but I am healthy besides being overwieght. I don't have any heart issues or anything else. My first seminar was on June 30, 2009 and my surgery is July 29, 2009. So it has moved really fast for me. I don't even see my surgeon until the day before surgery. I got clearance from regular doctor who did EKG & blood work, went & saw nutrionist and that was it. I am ready to go. I would really check into your doctor and see why it is taking so long for everything else. I do agree if you have some type of heart problems they do need to check it out b/c anything could go wrong and you want to make certain that you are fine and they want to make sure you are fine. Good Luck to you and I hope things work out!

Not sure where in PA you are but I know where my Mom is (Western PA) every medical situation results in a huge run-around situation and to make matters worse, the choices of doctors are not so plentiful.

But I agree with others, if possible try and find another surgeon or at least let the doctor know that either they get on the ball or you will move on.

I'm self pay too and I completely understand your hardship. However I have to agree with your doctor to get cardiac clearance. Your age+morbid obesity could equal disaster on the operating table. Add a history of heart palpitations isn't helpful either. Your stress tests really only looks for ischemia in the heart.The echo takes a look at the valves and how well the blood flows to different chambers of the heart. If you have sleep apnea or have ever had a bad illness in childhood, these could be affected. these tests can usually be done together, I dont know why you have gotten the run around, but the point is, you probably need these two tests. If you choose a different surgeon, be sure to collect the records of these tests, you have a right to them.

Oh I agree I need the tests I just cant understand why the first cardiologist didnt clear me? I thought the test was the clearence. Its not just the tests its how long it takes to see all these docs. Know next week they will tell me if Im cleared and then it will probubly take a month just to see the doc just to schedule the surgery. What then another 2 months. And I cant switch docs. Hes the best one in the area. and I dont have that many to choose from i live in the middle of nowhere

my question here is why not have all these test results collected rather than repeated? i had the results of my month old stress test faxed to my surgeon...as well as a 6 mo old TSH test that was later called for... no problem. i would not repeat recent tests... it is a waste of health care cost for whomever is paying for them... not to mention a waste of your time and prolonging your surgery.

get all your test results gathered that are applicable to LB preop and be ready to fax them to whomever needs them. And as mentioned above...move on to someone who is not dragging his feet with your future with those tests in hand!!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Edited July 21, 200917 yr by katwmn63

I agree the tests shouldn't be duplicated, but it doesn't sound like they are being repeated. I guess I always get a chuckle when people are soooooooooo determined to have surgery right away. I've been waiting since December, 2006, so a month or so doesn't seem long at all to me. Just try to be patient and get all of the testing they want done. They are running the tests for a reason. I have 5 different doctors ranging from my PCP to my cardiologist, and my surgeon wanted clearance from 3 of them. A pain in the butt, yes, but I'm sure he will learn everything he needs to know from my records.

Joan

You waiting since 2006 is crazy Why. If I would have got this done 8 months ago like I wanted to I wouldnt have developed type 2 diabetes. anything could go wrong with being obese.

You waiting since 2006 is crazy Why. If I would have got this done 8 months ago like I wanted to I wouldnt have developed type 2 diabetes. anything could go wrong with being obese.

This is a long story, so I will try to make it short. I went to see my surgeon for the 1st time in Dec, 2006. He said he wanted cardiac clearance, so I saw my cardiologist. He ran a PET test, which is a test that shows if you have blockage in your coronary arteries. It turned out that I had to have 2 stents put in my heart. He used medicated stents, so I couldn't be off of my blood thinners for at least a year. During that year, Medicare decided to make you have a 6 month dr supervised diet. It took some time to get my PCP to do that. I finally got finished with that and was going to make an appointment with my surgeon again. Well, my surgeon moved out of his big group that he was the head of, and opened an office in another city. It's 5 to 6 hours away, so that didn't matter so much. The problem now is the hospital where he is practicing now is not a Center of Excellence, which Medicare requires. So, I'm waiting for them to get the certification at this point. He offered to send me to someone else, but I don't want to change surgeons. I trust him completely, and that's hard to find in a doc. Hopefully soon.

Joan

I have had cardiac problems for a long time now and almost lost my life and could at anytime. It is SO very important to ensure you are "heart" ready before you have WLS. You will go under general anesthesia for this procedure and even though it has become a common procedure and is a shorter recovery time, general anesthesia is no small matter. Fortunately, I already had a heart surgeon that I had been established with for awhile and it was no problem for me, however, I did have to have a cardio standing by for my surgery. Actually, for every procedure I have done. It is nothing to mess with and I believe they are being cautious as well they should be. The band won't do you any good if your six feet under.