Urgent Message for Sleep apnea people having surgery...MUST READ THIS

[Jeffreyj]

I went to have surgery this Wednesday. The nurse was asking me last minute questions.
She had even put in the I.V. I was ready to go.
The surgeon came in and asked me if I had sleep Apnea.
I said yes but I never got the Air Machine that they recommended to go with it.

"I have to cancel this surgery, I'm very sorry."

I was shocked!
"Why" I asked.

Two men had sleep apnea and the both died the night of their procedures. We are guessing the combination of pain meds and the sleep apnea may have caused their deaths."
I still can't believe what I heard.

So I called my DR. and it's off to the sleep center. (Wonder if Micheal Jackson had Sleep apnea?)
I thought this was important info to share with all of you!

[Grinch]

Sleep apnea combined with pain meds administered via PCA pump (The machine that gives a dose of pain med when you push a button) has become a severe problem.  PCA usage has increased in recent years due to staffing cuts and patient expectation.

Unfortunately the practice of measuring SPO2 (The amount of oxygen in your blood) is not a good method of avoiding this. 

My hospital has just spent several million dollars purchasing new pumps that measure PCO2 (CO2 in your blood) and disable the pump at preset limits.  We've already had several "negative patient out comes" avoided by this monitoring.   Many patients either don't know they have sleep apnea or are less than forth coming when asked.

Ortho proceedures seem to be highly problematic due to the meds used.

Physicians are understandably reluctant to perform elective procedures on patients that have not had suspected sleep apnea tested and addressed with CPAP.

[David_CA]

That surgery sounds nasty anyway; it would be a distant second choice to CPAP for me.  Besides, CPAP machines have a greater success ratio than the surgery.  I'd go ahead and see if you can get the machine.

[AboutToStart]

I chose to have the surgery 6 months ago. I tried the sleeping machine (CPAP) for 3 months and did pretty good with it as far as quality of sleep, but I hated the dependancy on it and just didn't see myself sleeping with a breathing machine for the rest of my life... ENT surgeon gave me a 50-50 chance for the apnea to be "cured" by surgery and I opted to take the chance.. Personal choice I guess..
Surgery went very well. I had 4 procedures done at one time (tonsils, uvula, nose septum and turbinates all in one shot). First night was a bit of a challenge but otherwise pain medication worked well and I was fully recovered in 10 days (shorter than the 2 weeks predicted). My apnea was cured by 95% and I sure am glad I did that surgery(ies). .
It is not clear whether in your case your HIV status and/or meds had any factor in cancelling your surgery. I wasn't on any HIV meds at the time of surgery and my ID Dr said my CD4 of 300 is good enough to keep me out of trouble, but even if I were taking meds there shouldn't be any problem...