Question:
Postpone surgery due to severe apnea?

I was recently approved for surgery. I've been working on having surgery (duodenal switch) since November 99. I have completed most of my preop requirements, testing, clearances, etc. I was aiming for a 3/20/00 surgery date. Unfortunately, my sleep study has shown severe sleep apnea. My pulmonologist says I'll have to postpone surgery; my surgeon absolutely will not operate until apnea is treated. I'm being referred to a sleep specialist for further treatment. Can anyone tell me what to expect next? Any chance I can be ready for surgery in a month? How does treating apnea make it safer for me to have surgery? Thanks. Vikki Clark    — Vikki C. (posted on February 18, 2000)

February 18, 2000
Vickie, I had the same problem as you! However, I was put on a cpap machine and my surgeon told me I needed to be on it 3 weeks before surgery. If that is your surgeon's protocol too, you can get it done before the 20th without any trouble! Good Luck!
   — M B.

February 18, 2000
If you have already had the sleep study test then next thing is be fitted for the C-Pap head gear and have the machine regulated and calibrated to your Doctors RX.. Then probably do a repeat sleep study wearing the C-Pap to make sure it alleviated your apnea symptoms. You will need to take the C-Pap Machine with you to the hospital at time of surgery..
   — Victoria B.

February 19, 2000
Hi Vikki, I too have sleep apnea. I stopped breathing 113 times in 123 minutes and some of the incidents were for longer than 1 minute at a time! Do not worry. You will probably be given a CPAP (Continous Positive Air Pressure) machine. the sound a lot worse than they are. They are small enough to sit on a noght stand and make very litlle "white" noise. It is a pump that forces you to breath thru your nose. You wear a nasal mask which looks like an oxygen mask but only covers your nose. Make sure you get a Humidifier too. That is a small plastic container that you put distilled water in and then the air your breathe is forced over the water and you do not get nose bleeds or horrible dry nose and mouth from the air.The mask is held in place by a headgear that looks like a swim cap or a set of straps. and it is comfortable to sleep in. the mask has a long enough connecting tube that the air goes thru so that you can turn over at night with no problems. If you have a mate that you sleep with they will thank the sleep gods for the new silent nights rest! LOL That is what my husband said any way. By treating the apnea you will make sure your brain is getting the right amount of oxygen and your lungs will be working more effeciently. It will make you feel like a new person the first night you get a full nights sleep. No morning headache, and you actually feel like you got some rest.I have had mine for 4 years now and I "Never Leave Home Without It"!That is if I am going to be gone at bedtime. Good luck. Cheri
   — Cheri H.

February 19, 2000
Vikki - You did not mention shich style of apnea you have - obstructive, neurological, or a combination of the 2. My response reflects my experiences with obstructive apnea. I have Obstructive Sleep Apnea - at a pressure of 19 when I had the surgery. I have had my CPAP now for 9 years and can't live without it. I guess that most people would say that this is a severe case of apnea. Please have your sleep study done, consult with your surgeon (or choice of surgron if you decide to change) and follow his advice. Before I got my machine, I could not sleep. During the testing stage, the sleep study center found out that I had stopped breathing over 250 times in 6 hours, and that over 30 of them were over 2 minutes each! (and they only count beathing stoppages if they last over 30 seconds!) I slept on a waterbed and would have to remake the bed each morning because I would tear it to pieces even with fitted sheets on them. The first night I got my machine, I went to bed. My boyfriend came in about 3 hours later to check up on me, and I had not moved my position at all. He thought I was dead! He shook me, I startled and nearly made him jump out of his skin. We both laugh aobut it, but it was so scary - his being used to me tearing up the bed within an hour of going to sleep, and here, 3 hours later I had not even moved. While I now do toss and turn occassionaly, It is more from dreamin - which I did not do before. A co worker of mine was diagnosed with sleep apnea, got the machine, but could not handle it mentally. He has a very great fear of enclosed spaces. His doctor and insurance then opted for a surgical solution. He had it, but still has apnaptic episodes. Good luck to you in your decision. It is worth it IMHO.
   — Jerry K.

February 20, 2000
Get your cpap machine and use a few weeks to rejuvenate for the surgery. You won't believe how much better you will feel. After you lose wieght your apnea might go away. Mine did just losing 25 lbs.( off my breasts)
   — [Anonymous]

February 22, 2000
Sleep apnea is a very common co-morbidity of obesity. There are mainly two treatments. One is a CPAP machine which is a machine that gives you the oxygen that you are being deprived of while sleeping. The other is surgery. The CPAP is not going to make the sleep apnea go away. My surgeon was aware that I had it at the time of surgery. I made sure that the anesthesiologist new so that he could take any precautions he felt were necessary. WLS surgery was the best treatment I could have chosen and my sleep apnea was pretty well gone at about three months post-op. Maybe you should check with a different surgeon or at least question his reasoning for wanting you to have treatment prior to surgery.
   — dboat