Staying the Course -- 06/03/2019

[Superbob]

Wow, things are really popping now on our beloved site! Love it. See some of our regular coursers online right now, so thought I should put up a quick week's starter. Thanks to Gordo, we had delightful discussions last week of delectations from Down Under -- custard apples and such -- and I hope there will be many happy thoughts here again this week.

Would love to hear your stories. A lot of the heartland is dealing with terrible flooding, but we are in a drought. Supposed to get some beneficial showers later this week.

Cheers,
Superbob

PS: Wow -- I just looked back on some early Throwdown posts (2008 -- 11 years ago!) after Cooker started us as a fun-filled weight loss competition. Neat to look back on some of those.

 

[Superbob]

So just got the dreaded (by me) breathing (PFT) test scheduled for tomorrow, and hospital heart center is to call and schedule me for the cath, which will complete the gauntlet of pre-op testing. Then I guess we will talk surgery date (assuming I don't flunk any of the tests).

So stress level is high but I am staying the course...

 

[Paleowoman]

Will be thinking of you tomorrow SB - I do hope they manage to make it less stressful for you.

So just got the dreaded (by me) breathing (PFT) test scheduled for tomorrow, and hospital heart center is to call and schedule me for the cath, which will complete the gauntlet of pre-op testing. Then I guess we will talk surgery date (assuming I don't flunk any of the tests).

So stress level is high but I am staying the course...

 

[Superbob]

Thanks, Anne! I have just watched videos of people being given the PFT in various ways. I have also read a guidance from Johns Hopkins Medicine that includes people with chest aneurysms as being among those who should NOT take the PFT! I mean, what the heck? You can bet I am going to tell them (1) I can't take this in an enclosed box, and (2) I am not going to inhale or exhale so strenuously as to risk an aneursymal rupture. Just report the results accordingly.

 

[Seaton]

So just got the dreaded (by me) breathing (PFT) test scheduled for tomorrow, and hospital heart center is to call and schedule me for the cath, which will complete the gauntlet of pre-op testing. Then I guess we will talk surgery date (assuming I don't flunk any of the tests).

So stress level is high but I am staying the course...

Yes, all the best for the breathing test tomorrow, @Superbob

 

[Duffey]

So . . . it’s tomorrow. Did you survive the PFT?

 

[Superbob]

No it really happens tomorrow -- I'll let you know (if I can)...

 

[Gordo60]

All the best with the test mate.

 

[Paleowoman]

I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when you told them SB !

I have just watched videos of people being given the PFT in various ways. I have also read a guidance from Johns Hopkins Medicine that includes people with chest aneurysms as being among those who should NOT take the PFT! I mean, what the heck? You can bet I am going to tell them (1) I can't take this in an enclosed box, and (2) I am not going to inhale or exhale so strenuously as to risk an aneursymal rupture. Just report the results accordingly.

 

[Superbob]

I had the most thoughtful, patient, understanding lab tech ever! She agreed with the risks to person with enlarging chest aneurysm, given the super-strenuous inhaling and exhaling, and thought that only 2 of 5 parts of the test would be safe. One of the 2 would involve me sitting in a closed container about the size of a tomato can. I said, sorry, but no way I could do that (supposed to keep my stress level down). So she proposed we just forego the test, and maybe do it months later after the surgery. Music to my ears! Now we'll see what cardios and surgeons think about all this. Sincerely hope tech doesn't get in trouble for taking human element into account.

I am perfectly willing to sit in a chair and blow into a spirometer. But I see no reason for the exotic stuff. I quit smoking 53 years ago and have never had lung disease.

Will see if we get blowback, so to speak. Supposed to get a call to schedule a cath. I am good with that. Know the purpose, the routine, and have had it done before.

 

[Paleowoman]

Brilliant SB ! Sounds a really sensible lab tech - and to even propose maybe doing the test after surgery shows that it's not essential for surgery. Sometimes cardios and surgeons want too much testing. If the surgeon is, for some reason, concerned about your respiratory equipment they should give you a reason why. The spirometer test should certainly give information about the state of your lungs.

I didn't write this yet, but the cardiologist who did my echo the week before last advised that I have a cardio pulmonary exercise test with maximal oxygen uptake - that is where you either go on a treadmill or bike and breathe through a facemask so that they can measure the oxygen you inhale and the carbon dioxide you exhale all the while exercising to your max heart rate. Both I and my cardiologist rejected the idea as an unnecessary test.

 

[Superbob]

n't write this yet, but the cardiologist who did my echo the week before last advised that I have a cardio pulmonary exercise test with maximal oxygen uptake - that is where you either go on a treadmill or bike and breathe through a facemask so that they can measure the oxygen you inhale and the carbon dioxide you exhale all the while exercising to your max heart rate. Both I and my cardiologist rejected the idea as an unnecessary test.

Very interesting (and instructive)! I wonder if some of the medical higher-ups thoroughly consider the practical side of some of these tests -- the negative impacts they can have. I think sometimes the tests are just little blanks to be checked off on a chart somewhere.