I May Not Get Approval For Surgery

I should elaborate for you - I too have an enlarged heart, Mild cardiomyopathy and chronic LBBB along with a birth defect that affects the flow of my blood.  I still hope it goes well for you.

Hi Sue - thanks for sharing your heart issues with me. Yes, my cardiologist did also talk about me having Cardiomyopathy, along with the enlarged heart. I can only wait to see what the blood test shows, right? Thanks for your kind words, Sue.

Deb

 Well like you said you know they are doing this in your best interest but sometimes what we feel and what we know are two different things.   I am sorry your going through this. Its even harder when you put your hopes on one thing. But I am glad your pulling up your big girl pants. Remember most of us have had some success at one point or another losing weight short term just not over the long term. So remember if you can drop some weight it is just part of your journey and the surgeon is not expecting you to keep that pre-op weight off just lose it to get to the surgery. Its all part of your journey.

Thanks for those encouraging words - I know what you are saying. I'm just going to try my best to lose weight if I can't have my surgery at this time. Yes, I'll be very disappointed but they did stress that we need to show that we're willing to do our share of the work on this journey and that's what I have to do, I guess. I hate to sound like a whiner, but I just had to share my disappointment with my forum friends.  We're all in this together, right?

Deb

Deb, can't you continue through this process and work on getting healthier as you go? Optifast may help too?

Hi Jennifer!

Yes, that's exactly what I'm hoping to do. I'm hoping that my cardiologist and the doctor at the bariatric clinic here will allow me to keep going on. Maybe the 3 weeks of Optifast will allow me to lose enough weight to satisfy the surgeon's requirements. I just don't know what to expect. It's my understanding that Dr Cheung, my internist here at the bariatric clinic, will be the one to decide whether or not to refer me to the surgeon - I think that's correct - if not, maybe someone could set me straight. So, if that's the case, this could all hinge on what he decides and I see him on June 15, so maybe I can lose enough weight by then to convince him to set me up with the surgeon in Guelph. Thanks, Jennifer!

Deb

Well, Deb, you need to keep the faith that this will work out.  WLS is possible, even with an enlarged heart, it just needs to be controlled. And believe me, I know what I'm talking about.

In 1999 I had a heart attack and a small stroke which lead to cardiac investigation which revealed that I had Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy.  Literally this means that I have an enlarged heart which, when put under stress allows an obstruction to pop up and interfere with blood flow.  Cardiomyopathy quite literally means "abnormal heart'' as cardio =heart and myopathy =abnormal.  Hypertrophic means enlarged.  There's a great site to fill you in on the condition www.4hcm.org/ which YOU MAY NOT HAVE, but it's good to know that this is a condition which can be managed quite nicely.

I had to be screened by my cardiologist before they'd OK the surgery, but he totally supported it and there was no problem.  They kept me in ICU for about 4 hrs to make sure I was OK, and I'm happy to say that the surgery and recovery were textbook.

I understand how you're feeling right now, and it's not a nice place to be.  For 'way too long I felt like I was living with a ****ed gun aimed between my eyes, but as my condition has improved and I've educated myself, that feeling has passed.  The hardest part of this whole thing was learning what my limits were ... now I do what I know is right for me and if I can't keep up, well, that's OK.  The GOOD NEWS is that since my surgery my heart has been feeling better and better tho' there are still many days when I'm out of commission.  c'est la vie.

Sorry this is so long, but I had to speak up and hopefully reassure you that in all likelihood you'll be just fine and your WLS will happen.  Just follow doctor's orders and listen to your body.

Big hugs
mo

Bless your heart Mo, for sharing your situation with me! You can't imagine how much better it's made me feel. I will most definitely check out that website and I appreciate the link. My cardiologist does not seem as supportive about the surgery as he originally did. He keeps telling me to really think about it and then he told me of a couple of patients who suffered cardiac arrest during their surgeries and have had nothing but trouble since then. He stressed that these patients claim that they wish that they had never had the surgery because of all the problems they are now having with their hearts. It just felt as though he was trying to dissuade me from having the surgery. I hope that he doesn't recommend that I NOT have the surgery as I'm sure that I'll be out of the game for sure if he does.
Thanks also Mo, for letting me know that you've lived your life very well since your surgery and learned how to listen to your body. I sure hope that I get to follow your lead!

Deb

Deb, that's your family doctor who's saying you might not be suitable for surgery? With all due respect to him/her, it's the surgeon and the internist who makes that the determination. Don't sweat it yet, until you hear it from the surgeon or the internist associated with the bariatric program.


Best of luck.

Monica

Hi Monica! Until now, my family doctor wanted me to have the WLS and the internist at the bariatric center said that I seemed to be an excellent candidate for the surgery. My cardiologist just cautioned me to do my homework & know what was involved. Okay, all good so far. Now that this heart issue has come up, my cardiologist doesn't seem too positive about the surgery because of patients he's had who've had cardiac failure during WLS and really bad heart problems afterwards. I got the feeling that he doesn't think I should have the surgery and I'm afraid that he will recommend to the bariatric doctor that I shouldn't have surgery, so I may not get the referral to a surgeon in Guelph because of this. I'm so confused about who's going to decide this. I mean, can't I just keep going in the hopes that I may lose enough weight that the surgeon will proceed. Nah, guess he won't want to take a chance like that.  ~~~Sorry Monica, it seems like I'm answering my own questions! You're right, I'll wait and see.....

Deb