Today I am in limbo with my journey. I had my Endoscopy done on 11/30. In the recovery room, the doctor told me my stomach lining seemed abnormally smooth, but he would need to wait until biopsy was confirmed to know anything for sure. So on Friday, Dr. Lee left a message telling me my biopsy was positive for H. Pylori and I would need to start antibiotics...ok cool. I picked up my antibiotics today and took the first dose...I have to take Flagyl..four times a day for 14 days, Tetracycline...four times a day for 14 days, Prilosec...twice a day for 14 days. The issue is that my surgery is on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19TH. I looked online to see if anyone else in this world had this situation happen to them a week before their surgery date. I found out online that those who were positive for the bacteria and had a surgery date...had to get it postponed until the antibiotics was completed and a recheck of the testing could be done. My heart sunk so low...because I have been preparing for this for over 6 months, my brand new job has given me the time off from work, my mom is using her vacation time to come here on Wednesday in this 18 degree weather to stay with me until New Years for recovery. There has been so much preparation and planning that has went into this just to possibly have to postpone the date. So I decided to call my surgery scheduler at the surgeons office. She told me not to take the antibiotics and it isn't a big deal...that they could treat the h pylori if it is still an issue after I have the surgery. I am a nurse. This was shocking information to me. Yes it would be wonderful if what she is telling me is true...but in the back of my mind I almost know my surgeon is going to postpone my surgery. Now I have absolutely no symptoms of h pylori. I only sometimes get loose bowels if I eat certain things or spicy food...but I've had that issue for years. I asked the surgery scheduler if the surgeon and endoscopy doctors communicate with each other because if that was the protocol...why would Dr. Lee call me personally to tell me to take these medications?? So I got off of the phone with the surgical scheduler and contacted the Endoscopy doctors office. I explained my situation and what was told to me by the bariatric scheduler. The endoscopy nurse basically told me she would have to gather the notes of both doctors and get back in touch with me. I want to have this surgery on my scheduled date, but I also don't want this surgery to cause me to have health issues in the future if it is preventable. So this is my dilemma because I am getting conflicting information from my healthcare team. Another issue I have is why would the surgical scheduler make the endoscopy evaluation so close to my surgery date. This is something I think I will have to ask her face to face. I would hate to have my life affected if she dropped the ball. I'm starting to realize this wouldn't have been a problem if my endoscope was 30 to 45 days ago and I would have been done with my antibiotic regimen. Another situation is I was diagnosed on 11/25 with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and have yet to receive my CPAP machine, yet my surgeon made me sign paperwork saying I would bring my CPAP to the hospital, if not my procedure could be postponed. So I'm trying to figure out whether to just pay out of pocket for the machine and let Tricare reimburse me later, but if the h pylori is a problem the CPAP won't matter right now. Anyway enough venting from me. Thank you all for being so supportive. Any advice or words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.
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