Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group

Hmmmm....I can't do that and I did have surgery almost 3 weeks ago. It's interesting what different doctors require. Good luck with the test.

Be sure you're comfortable with this cardiologist. If I could have walked up two flights before surgery I probably could have stayed the weight I was. I can do one flight now but two.. probably not. An echo isn't a big thing prior to surgery.
Good luck
Maggie

Yes I did have to have an echo, but not the stress test. Again, as stated before I am a Kaiser patient and had to go thru quite a few hoops, but a stress test? I'm with everyone else, if I could walk two flights of stairs we wouldn't need the dang surgery! I'd call the surgeon's office and ask them if it is necessary, after all the surgeon is the one doing the surgery and asking for all these tests. Just a thought.

No magic answer for you, however.

An EKG prior to surgery is normal as they need a baseline of what is normal for you as they will monitor you throughout.
The operation is hard on all your systems, Any General Anesthetic will put additional strain on the heart and I was very surprised on how hard it was on the lungs (They get a bit squeezed with all the rumaging about below and are as a result reduced in capacity, hence you need oxygen and the heart needs to work a bit harder too).

You need to talk all this through with your Surgeon, he/she should explain all of this to you as you need to understand the process, risks and what you can do to help mitigate them. A few weeks of trying really hard to get a bit fitter before surgery (with whatever excercise you can do) is a good idea and it sounds like that is where the Cardiologise is coming from.
They are looking out for your best interest, even though it must feel like they are putting more hurdles in your way and no doubt you will have already had to negotiate several already.

Stay strong, speak to your surgeon and follow their advice.

Hope it all works out for you, you never know how things will look next week

yes i had to have the same tests done but wasnt told i had to be able to do the flights of stairs. I barely passed the test. I did have the surgery in may of this year.You will be fine :)

If you were asked to come back it is usually b/c they found something off in the initial testing and want to be sure all is well. If this is the case, it should have been clearly explained to you. I suggest you call the cardiologist's office and get your questions and concerned answered BEFORE the testing so your mind can be at ease.

I had to do the stress test and the ekg... All I had to do was run on a treadmill for a few mins and get my heartbeat up.. I didn't think I was going to be able to handle it but I did and they were very pleased but they didn't tell me if I couldn't do it I can't have the surgery.. they just want to cover their own butts if you know what I mean... your surgeon is the one that will go over all the test and tell you if he will do it or not, not the cardio people.. hope this helps.. you will do fine...

I had back surgery four years ago and they did the stress test. I heard it is normal for any surgery.

I am still at the beginning I will get my physicaitric review in about a week. Good Luck

well, it's over, I had the tests today and they weren't bad at all. the minute I got out of there I headed for the first drive-thru for coffee. yea, it's done. get my surgery date on monday. seems like I've waited forever and jumped through a dozen hurdles. thanks for all your advice, it helped me as always. you guys are the greatest....