More testing before being cleared for WLS, I'm depressed....

I feel like I have been turned inside out and it's like I've always said "if you go to doctors long enough, eventually they'll find things wrong with you". After all that cardiac testing they insisted I go to a pulmonary specialist. Without a clearance from him my doctor wouldn't want to do the surgery. Yesterday I called the new doctor to see what other tests I needed to do for clearance as he was in the process of reviewing a previoius C-T Scan and a sleep study done about 6 months ago. His nurse, (the doctor had a day off) said to me, the doctor thinks I have pulmonary hypertension. I have never heard that from anyone with a DR. in front of their name. Great, what is it?!! I go on Wed MD and another site called med scape, and got pretty scared. So I don't know what all I have to do, but I'm thinking ignorance was bliss! My husband's surgery is Monday, and I have no idea what's ahead now for me. Maybe I should, or maybe I'll be forced, into another weight loss option. I feel terrible....CaroleM

CAROLE Please tell me you made an appt to follow up with your doctor , there are meds he can give you . You want to get this all under control. The whole thing is to get you healthy and to be able to withstand the surgical process. The internet is not always the best resource for test results ! please talk to your doctor. be patient and do what he tells you ... Before you know it you'll be on your way to thinner thighs .

Jean, I'm just waiting for the doctor's office to tell me what test I have to go through next. It just all seems endless and I'm not totally sure what is going on. We finally tracked down the sleep study from 6 months ago, to have it faxed over to the doctor may take awhile, it seems to be a key part of this in determining the sleep apnea part. Can anything else go wrong! I've always been healthy, maybe 1 cold a year, never so many things that are all coming together at one time. It's looking like there's not much chance of getting cleared by my appt. with the surgeon on the 16th. Thanks for the kind words.

Carole, Pulmonary hypertension is a serious thing if you have that.... a nurse should NOt have been telling you that! A pulmonologist is the person who needs to evaluate whether or not you have PH. My cardiologist mentioned the possibility of that to me preop also but I didn't have it. The internet is a good source of information but allow your doctors to do the diagnosis for you. Pulmonary Hypertension(PH) can be primary or secondary(a result from something else). A dear friend of mine lived with secondary PH while waiting for a transplant. PLEASE see a pulmonary specialist .....WLS surgery is a MAJOR surgery. Unknown to me, my pulmonologist was present for my whole surgery. I had sleep apnea and shallow breathing while at rest. Dr B wanted him there in case I had problems "coming up" after the surgery. The practice I used was Arizona Pulmonary Specialists up by Scottsdale Healthcare Shea....one of the docs there treated my friend with the transplant. Please, please follow a pulmonologist'sr advice and/or seek another opinion. Don't eliminate the WLS until you absolutely know that medically you can't have it. I had to have every type of heart test including a heart cath, a pulmonary clearance, colonoscopy, mammo and pap smear as well as other good stuff preop. I would do it all over again.......at my heaviest weight I was 370+ and now I am 220 and still losing six months later. Please feel free to email me anytime! Hang in there, Kathy