ALL CLEAR FROM DR WORLEY

I HAD TO GO SEE THE PULMONOLIGIST LAST THURSDAY AND HE WAS A VERY NICE MAN. MY APPT WAS AT 11:00 AND I WAS IN AND OUT BY 11:30. HE GAVE ME AN ALL CLEAR. HE DOES THINK I MAY HAVE SLEEP APNEA AND WANTS ME TO HAVE A SLEEP STUDY DONE. HE SAID "THAT IF I DO HAVE SLEEP APNEA THAN IT WOULDN'T INTERFEAR WITH MY SURGERY.
I GO SEE MY SUGEON THE 21ST OF THIS MONTH.

KRISTIE

Kristie~  That is great that you got the all-clear from the pulminologist!  Now on to the surgeon~  You're getting closer and closer to the loser's bench! 

Glad you got the all clear from Dr. Worley. I really thought he was nice too. Good luck with your consult visit.
Emily

Emily have you got a date for your consult yet?

No, I haven't gotten a date  yet. I am supposed to call Crystal after I go for my psych eval on Thursday. Hopefully I will get one then. I would really like to get this done, but I know it my surgery won't take place until after the first of the year. Dr. Katsis had 20 people ahead of me about 8 weeks ago. Hopefully that number has gone down some by now.
Emily

Kristie, it is great that things are moving so  for you You will be on the losers bench before you know it!
My pulmonoligist  was really nice too....He had me in and out in 5 min and charged me 185.00  I was sent to HIS sleep clinic for 1300.00. and was to have another study to set the rate of a machine for another 1300 and then would need to purchase the machine, mask and tubing......
I was found to have severe apnea.  Thank heaven I was blessed in ways that I did not have to have the last study or buy the machine....Honestly, I think this was a racket....I know these are great doctors at times, but if I had found out that it was HIS sleep clinic before I went....I would have gone else where! I'm just talking about my situation here.....not all docs are in it for the money.....mine just happen to be.
It is odd how some doctors are about the Cpap's. Some require you to be on it for the surgery if you have Apnea and some don't. I wonder what the difference is.  Also is there a scale where it shows what is severe and  what is mild to medium....My Cpap is set to a 9. My study showed I needed between 8 and 9. I hear others on here with settings much higher than that. If I am severe and my ratings are set for 8 to 9.....What do they call those with settings of 18??? 
Anyone know???
Good luck Kristie! I hope all goes well and you are back on your feet in no time!
 

Sherrry, as I understand it, the severity of your apnea is measured by how low your oxygen saturations fell and how many times you quit breathing and for how long, as well as other diagnostic measures and NOT how much pressure it takes to keep your airways open.  The CPAP setting is simply a measure of how much pressure it takes to open your airways.  It takes more or less depending on your anatomy.  It has nothing to do with your severity of apnea.  Hope that helps explain apnea (at least as I understand it.)

Denise

Thanks Denise,
I assumed that the pressure settings were set according to the severity. I did quit breathing a whole lot in my study. All I know now is that I AM feeling better...well, I was, before getting this resp. virus. I am beginning to get attached to that machine....I still yank it off during the night a couple times, but I still am beginning to like that restful feeling it gives me.
I got to look at the results of my study and it had a graph that showed how many times I went up on the scale. I could see where the autopap had to push the air up to the level I actually needed. That's how they then set my regular Cpap.  He didn't show me anything other than that. However; I did read the report saying that I woke up an average of 30 something times in one hour and there was one hour I woke up over 50 times. It is scary when you read something like that!!
Thanks for taking the time to explain it a little better. I only read the symptoms of this...never how they go about treating it, other than the mask.
Sher

I'm like you Sherry.  I was so glad to start using my machine.  I finally woke up feeling rested and could actually drive to work without getting sleepy.  I have been able to reduce my settings a couple of times now and will go back in a few weeks and use the autopap again to re-adjust.  As we loose weight that will change.  I didn't re-test the first time until after a 100 pound loss and I felt like I had a tornado blowing up my nose then before I re-adjusted it.  They told me I should have it re-checked about every 30 pound loss.  I hoping after my next one I can get rid of that snake around my face!!!