This is getting discouraging

So, I received a call from my surgeon's office last week and I expected to hear I had been approved and given a surgery date. Instead I was told I would be required to have a cardiac clearance, something that had been missed earlier in the process. OK, this is disappointing but if it needs to be done it needs to be done. Thankfully I get scheduled quickly with the cardiologist and see him this past Wed. (the 23rd). He says everything looks pretty good and the ekg only shows minor bradycardia but due to my relative inactivity he wants a stress test before he clears me. Again, better safe than sorry and they realize surgery depends on this and they get diagnostics to do the test that day. Yay! Assuming everything is alright they will send clearance to my surgeon that afternoon. I get on the treadmill, do the 9 minutes they hope for and hit my target heart rate. I have no symptoms except my legs feel as if they are melting beneath me. The tech says those are the benchmarks they look for to give clearance. She says she just wants to show the test to the PA. I think Cool, this is almost done. Wrong, the dr walks in a few minutes later and says there were a few borderline abnormalities on the test and he wants to do further tests. He says he can redo the stress test which will probably be inconclusive again, do an angiogram, or a cardiac ct. I don't want another inconclusive test and I have no desire for the angiogram so I opt for the cardiac ct which he was really wanting to do anyway.

Now I am just waiting til Monday morning for the ct to see what the results of that will be. I'm confident everything will be fine and I'll get the clearance but it just seems like one thing keeps leading to another and after awhile it becomes discouraging.

Sorry for the long whine, I just needed to get it out. I know this is necessary to be safe for the surgery and I appreciate that they are taking these precautions.

Thanks for listening.

Randy

I had similar stuff. I ended up having to get a cardiac cath procedure. I was cleared after that. All the hoops are just such a frustration aren't they? Good luck!

I'm very sorry you're going through all of this. Hopefully, everything turns out alright! I remember going through all of that stuff and now I look back and it seems like it was SO long ago. I was finally told that most of the times an abnormality is something that is SLIGHTLY off, but they want to make sure that there's nothing SERIOUSLY wrong so they won't be liable. Which is for your own good anyway, but you want to have your surgery and get it over with. I had to go through 2 stress tests, a nuclear heart scan, and 4 EKGs. I was like, "Enough already!" And of course, there was nothing wrong! Anyways I hope you get through this and go on to have your paperwork sent in soon! Good luck!

I understand that the delay is frustrating.  It is good, though, that they are being careful.  Hopefully the CT comes back OK, but if there is a problem, it's much better to find it now rather than in the middle of surgery.  Hang in there.  A few months from now, when you're on the loser's bench, this will look like just a tiny bump in the road.

Thanks guys for the replies and the understanding and advice. I truly do appreciate that they are being cautious and you're right, I really would rather find any problems now than on the surgical table. I just needed to give a voice to my feelings. My wife is very supportive and understanding but I don't want to be a burden with my frustrations, especially when there are such good reasons for the delays. So, I chose this forum as an avenue for my discontent. I really appreciate your listening and your kind words. I give a great deal of credence to those of you who have gone before us and are willing to share your experiences.

Randy

i can understand. i was due to have surgery on 12/12/12 and my preadmission was on 11/28/12. at the end of my  preadmission (5 hours later) the Dr comes in and says he isn't clearing me for surgery due to my triglycerides being 621 from a med i was on and well.... i didn't exactly eat well.

i was so discouraged cause i had to wait till Jan 4th for my next preadmission. my surgery was rescheduled for jan 14. had to wait over a month for surgery.

it is very discouraging when you are all psyched up and ready for surgery just to be put off; however, i am glad because my surgeon told me I  would (definitely) have come down with pancreatitis and ended up in CCU in excruciating pain. So its for the better to be safe and get those extra tests done.

just be patient and it will happen. its worth the wait, believe me.

will pray that all of your tests come back normal and things go smoothly. keep us updated.

Ellen

 

A similar thing happened to me.  My stress test turned out negative so I had a heart cath.  It turned out perfectly fine, however, surgery was delayed a month.  That was the second time that happened but I am happy to have a very careful doctor and now I know that my heart is in excellent health.  At my year visit to the cardiologist, he said I added years to my life with Gastric by pass.