I'm new here- Any sisters with sleep apnea had surgery?

Hi, This is all so new to me. I have tons of questions swimming in my head. I'm scheduled for a TVH on September 16th. I have obstructive sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine when I sleep. I had a terrible time with breathing problems last year following a hysteroscopy and D and C. Wanted to know if anyone could give me any pointers so this trip to the castle doesn't make me ill for weeks. Thanks!

Hello and welcome,

I am sure that if anyone can help it will be some one on this site.

We all have questions!!

I see we are having surgery on the same day, that nice. Good luck to you and I hope you find the answaer you are looking for.

here's an to look over you.

Hi there and welcome to Hystersisters.

I have sleep apnoea and I have had my hysterectomy (almost 3 years postop now).

Here are a few pointers for you.

This one is most important of all - make sure your anaethesist knows you have sleep apnoea and that you use a CPAP.

Find out if your hospital requires you to bring your own CPAP with you or whether they have a machine there you can use.

If you are able to take your own, find out if it needs to be electrical tested by the hospital before you can take it with you.

I know there are other ladies on here who took their own CPAP with them and I am sure there will be more along to reply shortly.

Hugs and regards

It would be best to talk to your doctor about this, and to the sisters who also have it. My son and nephew are in the same boat as you but are lucky enough not to need a machine. It has become a lot more common now and we are hearing about it alot more. Good luck to you and all the other sisters sharing your date. Please let us know how it goes. Hugs, Kay.

Thanks, sisters, for your encouraging words and kind thoughts (and that angel, too). I have talked with my doctor, but still have a lot of unanswered questions, because everyone has vague answers so far. The machine does need to be checked, but the hospital staff won't do that until you are in a room. That means that I can't use the machine at all during the recovery room time, which is when my problems occured last year with my previous surgery. I guess I'll have to leave the details to Him who can take care of things better than I. This is a stressful time. My primary care doc had scheduled me for a lot of tests, some of which led me to having the TVH. I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy on Sept. 13th, just 3 days before the TVH. Can't believe I have to do 2 preps in the same week. Uggh! The gastro doc said that this way if they find something suspicious, it can be taken care of at the same time as the hysterectomy, which would then be a TAH, with more than one doctor doing what needs to be done. I'm a Nervous Nellie. Glad it's a 3 day weekend. Thanks for "listening" to all my new friends.

Welcome...I hope you're finding lots of answers here. My surgery is scheduled for September 13, and it has been a blessing being able to read and do most of my research here on this site!!

I also have Sleep Apnea and use a CPAP machine. A few months ago I was in the hospital for an unrelated problem, and had a laparascopic surgery. I told the anesthesiologist about it and he said to make sure I had it to use in my room after surgery, because my airway would have a more difficult time staying open after anesthesia...I can't remember exactly what he said about it, but seems like he said something about the muscle relaxants they use in anesthesia.

My husband brought it to the hospital and I used it as soon as I got to my room; the nurses didn't say anything about it needing to be tested, they just made sure I had it when I needed it.

I am going to talk to the pre-op nurse about something tho. When I had the surgery a few months ago and was waking up in recovery, I had a hard time breathing and would panic and have severe anxiety. The post-op nurse kept asking me why I was panicking, he kept saying I was breathing "just fine", my pulse/BP were fine...of course, I couldn't pinpoint it at the time, but looking back, I understand now that I was panicking because my airway was closing and I should have had my CPAP during the recovery/wake up phase also. So I will ask about bringing it to use in Post-Op.

Blessings to you on your journey....
Cathi

LAVH, RSO, TVT - September 13, 2004

Thanks, Cathi for your insights. I had a similar reaction after waking up from a hysteroscopy. I was discharged with what I know were breathing difficulties (I also have asthma), and the difficulties only got worse until I almost ended up in the ER two days after the procedure. I don't want to go through that again. My prayers are with you as you go through your surgery. I hope my new friends are getting more sleep than I am while waiting for my hyst. Have a great weekend.

Well, I'm getting some sleep...but I'm not getting much done during the day!! When I first got my surgery date, I cleaned and cleaned for three day straight...now I can't seem to focus or concentrate on anything!!! My husband said I was "nesting", like just before I had a baby.

About the CPAP, I don't have asthma, so I didn't have any breathing problems after waking up and getting to my room. One thing I was thinking about tho...if I wasn't breathing while sleeping in Post-Op, wouldn't my oxygen levels drop and be noticed on the monitor? Remember that little thing they snap on your finger to monitor your oxygen levels? When I had my sleep study, my oxygen level dropped to 50% when I was without CPAP. You'd think the nurses there in Post Op would have noticed and wondered why my numbers were dropping...if in fact they were. Another thing to ask about....

Enjoy your weekend!
Cathi

Hi, again, Cathi,
I go to AWAKE (Alert, Well and Keeping Energetic) meetings, a support group for sleep apnea patients. Unfortunately, there no women around my age in the group. However, some of the men have said to make sure that the nurses know to keep track of oxygen levels, because otherwise it is so routine that they may miss when the oxygen saturation levels go low. That may or may not have been the case when you were wearing the pulse ox monitor. They also told me to make sure that the pulse ox monitor was indeed being used. I guess not every patient keeps one on during the entire recovery phase.
I wish I could stay on task. I'm so easily distracted and my house is a mess. I'd like to get things under control both here and at work before the 16th. (Actually before the 13th). Bye for now. Carol