MsChris72

Ok, I was scheduled for surgery on June 26th. I arrived at the hospital, they prepped me, and rolled me back right on time for my 7:30 surgery. The next thing I remember, I'm waking up with people all around me. They told me that they weren't able to finish my surgery because my heartbeat stopped for 30 seconds. Apparently, when they made the first incision and inflated my stomach with gas, they immediately lost my heartbeat. The doctor had to give me CPR so they immediately brought a portable x-ray machine to my bed in the recovery room. I'm assuming they wanted to make sure I had no broken ribs. As soon as they finished taking x-rays, the cardiologist was waiting to check me out. They did some sort of ultrasound at my bedside and said that everything looked good with my heart. They starting running lab work after that to make sure I hadn't had some sort of heart attack. They kept me overnight in ICU to monitor me and continued to take blood tests at 8 hour intervals to confirm their original findings that I had not suffered from a heart attack. Thankfully, all of the tests came back negative. The cardiologist believes that when my stomach was inflated with the gas, it put pressure on my vagal nerve causing me to have some sort of "vagal attack". This is supposedly what caused my heart to stop. I felt pretty okay all day yesterday, other than some aching ribs. The area where my incision was didn't even hurt. But when I woke up this morning, I felt like I had been in a car accident. My chest, ribs, lungs, and neck hurt so, so bad from where they gave me CPR. But, I suppose that it sure beats the alternative! The cardiologist cleared me to have surgery but is suggesting to my surgeon that they take certain preventative measures to keep me from coding again. The surgeon is currently booked up until September. But, he says he's going to try to squeeze me in for then. So, as of now, my surgery date is unknown. Has anyone else had this happen or heard of this happening? If so, did they end up having the surgery the second time around without incident?

Thanks, Julie. I saw that you had plastic surgery. Did your insurance cover it? If so, How'd you get them to do that? :thumbup: Also, Congrats on your weight loss success thus far!!!

Yes, I feel very fortunate. The didn't say much other than the gas hit a nerve and shocked my heart. I do have a new surgery date scheduled now. It's July 24, 2008. I did have a pre-op diet and I get to start it all over on July 10, 2008. (yay) :wink_smile:

Is there a support group available in Hickory, NC? Also, if I'm being banded by a surgeon down in Charlotte, am I still allowed to attend the support group here in Hickory? Thanks - Christina

Lunabeane... Thank your husband for the info and thanks to you for relaying it to me. I feel a lot more confident that moving forward with the 2nd attempt should be safe. I know the doctors said it should be fine. But, hearing it from an unpartisan third party makes me feel a little better for some reason. Anyway, I just hope they're able to get me in sometime soon so that I don't have to wait until September. :thumbup: Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Yes, the docs were very surprised too. They said they've never had this happen before. And, OF COURSE, I would have to be the first!

Hmmm... I wonder if my doctor's office knows that Tricare makes you stay overnight. Are you in the Tricare North region? I wouldn't mind staying overnight at all, anyway. It would be a nice little break from the noisiness that is home! :cursing: So, I'll definitely have to make some calls about this tomorrow. Thanks for the info - Chris

I have read that most people get a quick response. So, I was definitely disappointed when I didn't get one. To be honest, I think the problem was not with Tricare but the nurse reviewing the docs and making the decision. :frown: Overall, it seems that Tricare is one of the fastest companies to give approval. Anyway, none of that matters now. I've gotten my approval and only have 11 more days until surgery. :smile:

I just got approval a few weeks ago. But, I think it tooka about a month and a half. The RN making the decision kept saying there were things that weren't sent in with my package. But, a week would pass before she told us. And, then, every time we sent in what was requested, there would be something else she would say she didn't receive. This whole process most definitely taught me PATIENCE! :frown: Anyway, where are you at in this whole process? I'm in the Tricare North Region, what about you? Talk to you later - Chris

Hmmm... It looks like I'm 187! After waiting a month and a half for insurance approval, I finally have surgery scheduled for June 26th. (Yippeee!!!)

Hello. My name is Christi and I live in Hickory, NC with my husband of 11 years. We have 2 daughters, Chelsea (age 9) and Shelby (age 3). My husband just retired from the military so we relocated here about a year and a half ago. I am a personal banker at the Bank of America in Lenoir, NC and absolutely ADORE my job! I just attended the WLS seminar at CMC-Mercy in Charlotte on 02/13/08. This is about an hour from my house. But, they are the closest bariatric surgeons that take our military insurance, Tricare Prime. Every other place I contacted said that even if my insurance covered the operation and agreed to pay, I'd have to pay out of pocket first and then file myself with my insurance company. :wink2: There's NO WAY I can afford to do that! At this point, I'm just waiting to hear from the surgeon's office to set up my initial appointment with them. They took our information at the seminar and said they had to verify insurance coverage and calculate our BMI, etc. to make sure we even qualify for the WLS. I'm very anxious to get my package together and have it submitted to the insurance company so we can get the ball rolling. I've already requested my medical records for the past 5 years and am thinking of making my psych eval appointment to move things along more quickly. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. But, at 5'4", 273 lbs, and 46% BMI, I can see no reason why they should deny me. (fingers crossed) Their requirements to qualify for WLS are that you have to be 100 lbs. overweight w/ comorbidities or 200% of your ideal body weight. Anyway, that's where I'm at in this process. If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do to speed up this whole process, let me know! :wink_smile:

I live in Hickory also! My insurance just started covering the LapBand January of this year. So, I decided immediately to have the surgery. They've covered Gastric Bypass for some time now. But, I have 2 children and have been too scared of the possible complications involved with the Gastric Bypass. I recently attended the WLS Seminar at CMC-Mercy in Charlotte. I think they're the closest ones that actually take my insurance. :wink_smile: But, I'd drive God knows how far to have this surgery! How long from when you first started this process did it take to get your surgery date?