POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: Positiveoutlook77 on July 30, 2012, 01:05:41 pm
-
Hello everyone, I am new to this site. I've recently tested positive about 2 weeks ago. It wasn't that shocking to me. I've been off and on for like 16 years with the dad of my kids who I've known has been positive for 14 of those years. We had two more kids since his positive status and I never got it. I guess I thought I was immune or something. I was also about half way thru the process of getting lap banded. I'm afraid my status will disqualify me from getting. I've found very little info on that and I find nothing that states it should disqualify me. None of the professionals I've spoken with nor any of the paperwork for the lap band procedure ask of my status nor do they test for it. I'm thinking not to tell my surgeon. I will be seeing an I.D. Dr. next week and get his opinion. Anyone know anything about this???
-
Why would you tell you infectious disease specialist about something and then turn around and not tell a surgeon that you are HIV+?
Other than that, I know nothing about this particular procedure other than what it addresses. Nor do I know what "half way" through the process means. But I have had surgery three times in the past year and my HIV hasn't hindered anything, nor have any of the specialists looked at me in horror when they found out.
-
Thx for ur reply. I'm not exactly sure what I'm goin to do. I'm afraid the surgeon may deny me after he finds out my status. Not that Im afraid that he will look at me differently but he may feel that since my immune system is compromised I won't be equipped to fight off any infections or things of that nature shud they arise. My primary doc was all for me doing the lap band but once I told her my status she suggested i not do it but sed to speak to my surgeon and I.D. Doc. I'm sure there are plenty of ppl with HIV that has had various surgeries so being denied bcuz of it doesn't make sense to me.
-
Have you had surgery before? Even if you didn't inform them of your HIV status (which is a bad idea in the first place for other reasons) they're still going to check various things with pre-surgery blood tests. I'm sure they check your cd4 count just to see how good your immune system is, like they would for any other patient.
But regardless, either your ID doctor will say it's OK or he won't. If he says not and you still go through with having surgery and not informing the surgeon of what the ID doctor said then you're not a very wise patient.
-
I only found out my status 2 weeks ago n I haven't had surgery n that time. I'm new to this that's y I'm constantly for info n the opinion of others. I'm almost finished all the required steps for lap band n I've done plenty of bloodwork they don't test for HIV or viral load or cd4 count nor do they ask your status. Thank you n I appreciate ur opinion.
-
Hi PositiveOutlook, welcome to the forums.
I would imagine the main consideration here would be your current counts. As you only found out two weeks ago, is it safe to assume you haven't had those numbers back yet?
Provided your numbers are good (particularly your CD4 count), there shouldn't be a reason why you can't have the surgery. However, if your numbers indicate a need for immediate treatment, you might want to hold off on the surgery for at least two reasons.
One is the slight increase in the chance of having trouble warding off infection with CD4s under 200. (I say slight because hiv doesn't really affect how well we deal with bacterial infections - viruses and fungal infections tend to be the problematic ones.)
The other is that two life-changing situations at the same time (a life-changing surgery coupled with starting meds, which may have side-effects in the first few weeks) doesn't really sound like a good idea to me. Dunno, maybe you're made of stronger stuff than me, but I prefer my dramas one at a time if I can possibly have any influence over them.
If you do start meds before the surgery, you need to be aware that some of the heavy-duty anesthetics they use during surgery can be contraindicated with some of the hiv meds. For this reason, your anesthesiologist absolutely MUST know what meds you are on. While you might be able to get away with not informing the surgeon about your hiv status, you leave that information out with the anesthesiologist at your peril.
When you speak to your ID doctor about the op, ask if he or she knows of any hiv-friendly surgeons. Although Miss P has not had many (if any) negative experiences with people in the healthcare profession, many people do have negative experiences, often depending on where they live. Miss P lives in a metropolitan area where there are many hiv-experienced doctors across the spectrum of specialties.
By the way, I have a mate who had the lap band procedure and while he's very happy with the results, he did struggle for months in the beginning getting used to it. That's why I mentioned it being a life-changing, dramatic situation. He didn't expect to go through some of the emotions he did following the surgery, and he was told it was often the case where that op is concerned. So be aware that it can have an unexpected emotional effect. Good luck!
-
Thanks Ann for your response. I haven't gotten my cd4 or viral load results as of yet and I did expect those results would be a deciding factor. If I did have to start meds immediately there would be no doubt I would tell everyone including my surgeon bcuz they need to know the meds I'm taking. My ID doc whom I will be meeting next week actually had the lap band done himself. I will be definitely asking him if he knows any HIV friendly bariatric surgeons. I will remain hopeful and consider all my options. Thanks again Ann.
-
You're welcome.
It sounds like your ID doctor is well-placed to answer your questions and help you through this, so that's great. :)
By the way, I removed the new thread you started in the Nutrition forum that was asking the same exact questions you've asked here. For one thing, it makes it easier for everyone to have all the questions, information and subsequent replies all in one place and two, posting the same thing in more than one forum is considered spamming and is not good forum netiquette.
-
Just an aside to the above discussion. I had a friend who had the lap band done and it caused him to throw up each and every time he ate. Once you start HIV medications this effect could be problematic. I would discuss the surgery with ALL the doctors involved, you dont want to mess with the absorbtion of your HIV meds.
-
Thx Ann as I don't know proper ettiquette in the forum. Thx for ur response buginme2. I appreciate the help.
-
Thx Ann as I don't know proper ettiquette in the forum.
No problem! :)