Heart Problems
Hello Anita,
I have cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure and I'm 17 days LAP RNY post-op today. My ejection fraction prior to surgery (I had an echocardiogram 9 days prior) was between 35 and 40. Surgery itself was a breeze. I had virtually no pain (must have been some great morphine in that pump
) and I had the complete backing of my cardiologist. My BMI was about 51
and he felt that...in his words..I had reached the end of the line as far as losing weight on my own and the WLS was my best shot at improving my longevity (I'm 54 but have the mind of a 29 year old..so I've got a lot of living yet to do)
.
The only thing I would do differently
is specifically request that my heart meds NOT be discontinued for the 2 days immediately following surgery while I was in the hospital. I went into fluid overload from the IV's and my first night home was hell
. I could not breathe!
I ended up spending the entire next day in the ER where my cardiologist practices (KU Med Center) while they poked and prodded to find the cause of my distress. My BP at one point was 235/176. After a 100 mg shot of lasix in my IV and about 20 trips to the bathroom, my BP was normal and I was not laboring to catch a decent breath
.
I've had some other issues since then mainly related to my diabetes but I'm not sorry for the surgery and I would do it again in a heartbeat. If you'd like, you can email me [email protected] I would be glad to talk to you further and let you know how my heart's doing as I get further down the road.
Theresa
) and I had the complete backing of my cardiologist. My BMI was about 51 and he felt that...in his words..I had reached the end of the line as far as losing weight on my own and the WLS was my best shot at improving my longevity (I'm 54 but have the mind of a 29 year old..so I've got a lot of living yet to do).
The only thing I would do differently is specifically request that my heart meds NOT be discontinued for the 2 days immediately following surgery while I was in the hospital. I went into fluid overload from the IV's and my first night home was hell. I could not breathe! I ended up spending the entire next day in the ER where my cardiologist practices (KU Med Center) while they poked and prodded to find the cause of my distress. My BP at one point was 235/176. After a 100 mg shot of lasix in my IV and about 20 trips to the bathroom, my BP was normal and I was not laboring to catch a decent breath.
I've had some other issues since then mainly related to my diabetes but I'm not sorry for the surgery and I would do it again in a heartbeat. If you'd like, you can email me [email protected] I would be glad to talk to you further and let you know how my heart's doing as I get further down the road.
Theresa 
I have had an aortic valve replacement and my cardiologist is all for me having WLS. I was born with a defective heart that is abnormally small and my weight is a huge strain on it. All they are going to have to do is switch my bloodthiners to Heparin for a while before the surgery and a bit after...no problem.
Don't assume you aren't going to be eligible. I did and wasted time. I hope to be having my surgery early next year since my new insurance starts tomorrow.
Good luck!
Dannielle
I have cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure also. My cardiologist told me I would die on the operating table. I had surgery anyway and did fine . That was over three years ago. My heart still is pretty crummy but losing all that extra weight makes it much easier on your heart. The surgery was not that bad I went in on MOnday morning and left on Wednesday morning. They put me in ICU for a day after surgery to watch my heart. I am doing pretty good now. I had a pacemaker put in this JUne and I now work 5 days a week which is pretty good for me as I have been on disability since 2000 because of my heart. My first heart doc thought I would not live a year that was back in 2000 and I am still plugging along pretty well. I was pretty high risk but God got me through the surgery.
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