Surgery Postponed? Abnormal EKG

I had bad news yesterday.  I have an abnormal EKG from preop testing last week.  They say I can still go ahead with surgery if I get cleared by a cardiologist.  My cardiology appointment is next Tuesday and surgery scheduled for Thursday.  I'm continuing my liquid diet in hopes of no change.  Anyone else out there have an abnormal EKG experience?

How disappointing!  But the good news is that they are being careful so that you have the best outcome possible from the surgery.  I'll hold you in my prayers, and hope that you can go ahead on schedule.

best wishes,

Carol

I had my first abnormal EKG reading when I was 29 (I'm 55 now).  The reading was showing an "acute myocardial infarction" - basically that I'd had a heart attack.  When the cardiologist finally saw it, the final answer was "you have a heart murmur; you were probably born with it; there's nothing you can do about it and it's not hurting anything."  And every time I get an EKG that isn't performed by a cardiologist, I get the same "abnormal" reading that the cardiologist then has to clear.  So don't borrow trouble.  Chances are it's nothing that will postpone surgery.  And, if it is something that needs to be addressed, thank your stars that it was caught before you went under anesthesia!

I am sorry you have to go through this. We work so hard jumping through all the hoops just to get a surgery date. Then to have this happen, it is so frustrating. My surgery was supposed to be August 19. Three days into the pre op diet i ended up having my appendix removed. So my new date is sept 16. Having to postpone the sleeve surgery after working so hard to get it really does suck. But it is better to be safe then sorry. But it still sucks. Best of luck to you.

my surgeon sends all his heavy weights to the cardiologist at the beginning of the prosses and some of the waves where off he said it was probably from all the extra weight  he wanted to do a stress test that week but we decided to weigh till closer to surgery to get a better reading.  loosing weight makes the test more accurate , I needed to do the stress test using meds I did not think I could walk on the tread mill long and fast enough for the test, , the stress test came out fine and now I know I have a healthy heart ,I had my surgery with no problems

My baseline EKG is abnormal enough that it sends doctors running in a panic if I don't remember to warn them up front.  Have you ever had an EKG before?  If so, see if you can get those results and if there has been a change.  If no change, it may just mean that you have an abnormal baseline.  

Good thing to catch before surgery though, just in case there is a problem!

Yes, and it made things take longer.  I have what are called PVC's and they are completely normal for some people.  Doesn't mean there is anything wrong.  I had to do a Echo and have a holt monitor.  It wasn't too bad.  Don't worry! Your going to be just fine!  They are just making extra sure your going to be ok.  I went through it and I still got my surgery. 

I had an abnormal right before surgery--sent me to cardiologist, did a stress test EKG, and ruled out any issues.  Mine was 3 days before surgery...keep going until they say stop with the liquid diet...you'll kick yourself if you stop and then you still have surgery!!  Good luck...

I also had an abnormal EKG.  The cardiologist took a second one, asked which surgery I was having, and if I could walk up stairs or short distances.  After I answered that I could, he cleared me without further testing.  He said that my EKG would likely always be abnormal, due to a heart murmur I was born with, but that I didn't need a full work up because the surgery puts about as much stress on my heart as climbing a flight of stairs or walking the dog.

Don't panic yet.  As a nurse, I have run many EKGs, with automated interpretation.....and most everytime, the machine interprets inaccurately.  And the most common inaccurate reading is acute mi.  It takes human understanding to correctly read these things.  Best wishes for you.