Question about Pre-op Clearance
Hi, Nancy!
I didn't have to have cardiac clearance, but my husband did. He had a resection of an aortic coractation done when he was 17 years old.(He had WLS at age 46). He never really had any follow up for years after that. (It was a congental narrowing of the aorta, and this is usually corrected when a child is 5 years of age or younger). As far as his testing,he had an EKG and also, he had an echocardiogram to make sure his heart valves were unaffected by having the coarctation untreated for so many years. He also had a CT angiogram. This took about 15 minutes at a local hospital. He had an IV started with a contrast material and they did a CT of his chest. A few days later, we got a call to have him get an MRI done, as they found a "mass" in his chest. (Being a nurse, I am immediately thinking the worst.) It turned out to be a cyst in his pulmonary vein. No big deal. None of the tests he had were any problem. I did have a baseline stress test done a few months after surgery. I had been walking and losing weight and was in such good shape they had to stop me after 10 minutes on the treadmill to get the technesium injected and rescan me! I could have kept going! My husband had had one done a few months before (when he was still heavy) and thought he was going to die! What tests you have done will depend on what they are checking on.
All the best!
Sue
Hi Nancy,
I had to have clearance. I had to have a stress test, and they took pictures and I had to have an ultra sound. Test took about 3 hrs total. I seen a Dr Roberts, and he is a good Doc. The stress test is a little hard on you but the Doc is right there just in case. If you need any other info. let me know
JackieC
Hi Sue,
Thanks for sharing, I am required to see cardiologist for clearance and before I read your post I was very concerned about the test. Back in 1999 I had extreemly high blood pressure which was affecting the left side of my heart. My Dr. need to see if condition have changed for better or for the worse to determine if I can have surgery. I feel hopeful that I will do fine and thank you for making me feel better.
Georgeann
Nancy,
I had to have cardiac clearance. I had to have a heart echo and stress test. Failed the stress test and had to have a heart cath. It was one of those "false" fails on the stress test-all was ok thank goodness but I darn near had a heart attack from thinking I failed and having to have the heart cath!
All in all, the tests weren't that bad-including the cath. The stress of having to have them done far outweighed the actual tests themselves. That plus the equipment for the stress test was new to the hospital I was having them done at and it took FOREVER because they didn't know what the heck they were doing! Lucky me, I was the first one they had used it on! If I had known that, I would have told them to reschedule me for sure!
Beth