Question:
Has anyone been denied surgery because of high blood sugar?

I have pre-ops tomorrow and when I get stressed my blood sugar rises. If it is high, will they postpone my surgery until it is lower?    — Earline V. (posted on June 1, 2003)

June 1, 2003
As long as your A1C is okay they will do your surgery. An A1C is your sugar level over the past 3 months. I have a diabetes doctor who said she would not allow me to have the surgery if my past 3 month blood sugars were not an 7.5 or lower. I don't know the range of 7.5. If I had to guess I would say 180-200. My WLS doctor did not care about my sugar level, because he said I'm having this surgery to cure my diabetes. He was not concerned at all and would have performed the surgery without my diabetes doctor's blessing. He said that my sugars would drop to normal real soon after the surgery which they did. I was taking insulin before each meal and bedtime along with a pill. I now take nothing and my sugar level runs consistently 75 to 80. It does not drop or raise. I'm 7 weeks post op. I hope this takes care of your diabetes! Good luck!
   — Lisa C.

June 1, 2003
Don't go nuts! :~) Your HA1-C, like the first poster said, will be what they use to determine that. Even so, as a brittle diabetic prior to surgery, things went extremely well for me. My sugar the morning of my surgery was 385, so... don't fret! Also, At fifteen months out and 205 lbs smaller, I am no longer diabetic and haven't taken any insulin, or any other medication for high or low sugar! It is awesome and a little scarey... but oh so worth it! Good Luck!
   — Sharon M. B.

June 1, 2003
HI,WLS 5-9-2003 AT THE TIME OF SURGERY MY BLOODSURGER WAS 402 MY DR.HAD A FIT WAS GOING TO CANCEL BUT THEY PUT ME ON A INSULIN DRIP WENT DOWN TO 165 EVERYTHING WENT FINE.BY THE TIME I LEFT THE HOSP. IT WAS 65.NEVER ON INSULIN BEFOR.MY SURGER IS ANYWHERE BETWEEN 99 AND 127 AFTER EATING.I AM HOPEING SOON NO DIEABETICE?TAKE 1/2 OF AMARYL WHEN OVER 120.BEST OF LUCK,KEEP CALM THINK OF ALL THE NEW CLOTHS AND GOOD HEALTH IN THE FUTURE.GOD BLESS HAVE A UNEVENTFULL SURGERY.
   — DEBORAH D.

June 1, 2003
I, too, had high blood sugars going into surgery. I don't remember the exact number but it was over 200. I had this surgery because even on 4 shots of insulin and 3 different oral meds, I could not get my sugars under control. I left the hospital still on insulin and continued that for several months then switched to just metformin 2X a day till about 7 months. I'm now almost 11 months out, down 118, and my A1C at the end of April was 4.9 and on NO medications for diabetes. I tell my story to let people know that not everyone is "cured" of diabetes right out of the hospital, some times it takes a while. I was a diabetic for about 10 years. Best of luck.
   — Sunny S.