Pulmonary Specialist Appt

Has anyone had to get pulmonary clearance before surgery? If so what exactly do they do at this appointment?

I did! They just put you in this glass box with a chair then have you put clips on your nose and breath into a tube. Then they tell you to inhale as deep as you can and blow out (for what feels like an eternity). It's to make sure you don't have any issues with the tiny airway passages as this is where blood clots like to form. Blood clots in your lungs can kill you so it's important to have this.

It's really easy though! She told me that you have to have at least 80% of your estimated lung capacity and I scored 112% consistently! They do make you do it 3 times or so to make sure they get replicable results.

I didn't go in a glass box. You have do preform breathing tests. you put your mouth on a hose and the clamp (very soft) your nose.. they make you blow very hard or rapidly. It's no problem, no pain. They then gave me puffs of an inhaler and had me do them again to see if the numbers improved... They also usually depending your weight/BMI/health they may require a sleep study, which you would schedule at a later date. I had one already preformed so I was able to bring the result in from a test I had two years earlier. It showed I had sleep apena, so in order to clear me for surgery I had to use the cpap machine for a week of motioning... then they cleared me. It's an easy appt. 

Good luck

Jess 

Hi,

I just had this test done today. It was just as the ladies described lots of breathing in  and out in side a glass case and the use of a nebulizer. It was not hard.