Confused by my yearly appt. at Dr. Inman

[Elizabeth N.]

Yay you @Velvetkiss ! Practice letting your inner bitch out while still preop, so you know how to do it if needed postop when you're not at the top of your game .

 

[hilary1617]

I'd advise research on milk thistle prior to use as I think there are mixed views from the medical profession as a number of studies are either flawed or inconclusive. It only comes to mind as it comes up on a cancer newsgroup in which I participate and my oncologist (who deals with many patients with liver issues, since that's where my breed of cancer tends to metastasize) typically advises against its use.

Here is some information from the National Institute for Health

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/milkthistle/ataglance.htm

"What the Science Says
Previous laboratory studies suggested that milk thistle may benefit the liver by protecting and promoting the growth of liver cells, fighting oxidation (a chemical process that can damage cells), and inhibiting inflammation. However, results from small clinical trials of milk thistle for liver diseases have been mixed, and two rigorously designed studies found no benefit.

• A 2012 clinical trial, cofunded by NCCAM and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, showed that two higher-than-usual doses of silymarin were no better than placebo for chronic hepatitis C in people who had not responded to standard antiviral treatment.
• The 2008 Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment Against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that hepatitis C patients who used silymarin had fewer and milder symptoms of liver disease and somewhat better quality of life but no change in virus activity or liver inflammation.

Top
Side Effects and Cautions

• In clinical trials, milk thistle appears to be well tolerated in recommended doses. Occasionally, people report various gastrointestinal side effects.
• Milk thistle can produce allergic reactions, which tend to be more common among people who are allergic to plants in the same family (for example, ragweed, chrysanthemum, marigold, and daisy).
• Milk thistle may lower blood sugar levels. People with diabetes or hypoglycemia, or people taking drugs or supplements that affect blood sugar levels, should use caution."

 

[KathyF]

My mom's liver specialists didn't have a problem with milk thistle. Guess they figured it wouldn't hurt. And she was diabetic on insulin. Don't remember it causing any problems with that either. Can't really say if it really helped or not... though she did survive 16 years after her transplant.

 

[Sheanie]

Yes Terri, I met Lon as she was the one I saw at the end of my pre op testing and she did the whole EKG thing and said you may have had a heart attack and need to see a cardiologist before we will clear you for surgery. So I did and all was fine, they even did a stress test to make sure and all was good. Elizabeth, Lon doesnt seem very bright with having done this to not one patient but now two. I honestly feel Dr. Inman is great and the nurses on the bariatric floor are great, but I have not been impressed with the people like Lon or the people who run her revision class and I was not impressed at they way they told us in the revision class that Vita Lady schedule for vitamins is too much and over kill and not needed and how their patients do fine on there schedule. They did not like when I asked how they knew for sure that they people they claim are doing well on there schedule really were not just following the advice of Vita Lady and the Vets that have had surgery and just not telling them. Needless to say I am not popular on the lower level of Building 4, LOL and I dont care!

OOOOOoooooh, @Velvetkiss , you are really sharp. THAT last comment is something like I would come up with. Keep up the deep thinking. I'm suspicious like you, too. We think outside the proverbial box, not everyone can do that, especially in a medical setting.

You're going to do very well with your DS. I can just tell.

 

[brooklyngirl]

@Velvetkiss that's why I wish everyone would speak up instead of "smiling and nodding" to the nutritionists. If gives them the belief that their advice is working and then they'll never change! I can't wait to see my surgeon when I'm back up north in the summer for my one year check up and give him the list of supplements I'm taking!

 

[southernlady]

@Velvetkiss that's why I wish everyone would speak up instead of "smiling and nodding" to the nutritionists. If gives them the belief that their advice is working and then they'll never change! I can't wait to see my surgeon when I'm back up north in the summer for my one year check up and give him the list of supplements I'm taking!

I tried to explain to mine and yes, she had my list. She kept telling me I was taking 1) the wrong stuff and 2) too much and that was in spite of having my lab work in front of her. After 2 years, I gave up and resorted to the smile and nod. Can't educate stubborn!

 

[brooklyngirl]

I tried to explain to mine and yes, she had my list. She kept telling me I was taking 1) the wrong stuff and 2) too much and that was in spite of having my lab work in front of her. After 2 years, I gave up and resorted to the smile and nod. Can't educate stubborn!

True, but at least you tried

 

[Velvetkiss]

Thanks Sheanie! I try to speak my mind but sometimes if they wont listen then yes it becomes the smile and nod. I am not afraid to tell a Dr or medical person I do not agree with you and will seek a different opinion or go with a different plan of action and explain in great detail why. I expect when I have my labs done that they will not be open to hearing I am following the Vets advice and not their advice. Their advice is honestly not to far off from Vita Lady in some areas and exactly what she says in other areas, which is why I was surprised that they took such a hard line against her in the revision class.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Thanks Sheanie! I try to speak my mind but sometimes if they wont listen then yes it becomes the smile and nod. I am not afraid to tell a Dr or medical person I do not agree with you and will seek a different opinion or go with a different plan of action and explain in great detail why. I expect when I have my labs done that they will not be open to hearing I am following the Vets advice and not their advice. Their advice is honestly not to far off from Vita Lady in some areas and exactly what she says in other areas, which is why I was surprised that they took such a hard line against her in the revision class.

It's kind of funny how Vitalady elicits such strong reactions in certain quarters. I appreciate this all the more ever since I spent the better part of two weeks with her and Vitaguy partying and thrift shopping our way through southwestern MT a couple summers ago. Weird how such normal, sensible folks should make medical peeps wig out that way LOL. Even though I'd spent all that time with them, when she and I sat down to review my lab history, she STILL made me sit through her several minutes of explanations and disclaimers and insistence of how she was nothing but a supplement seller with zero clinical, medical or professional training and that NOTHING she said replaced medical advice, yadda yadda yadda......And then peppered her commentary with similar reminders that it was ONLY her opinion and she had NO letters behind her name. She could not possibly have been more self effacing. This despite the fact that she cited heaven knows how many studies and encounters and professionals--in her own somewhat ADD way, but still nothing she couldn't back up with a little effort--throughout not only her review of my stuff, but our gazillion hours of time together.

I also learned a lot about how they have stayed humble and self effacing and gotten screwed over sixteen ways to Sunday over time because they never sought any limelight but have only tried to serve people like us. This despite the fact that Vitaguy is a very experienced sales and business professional who COULD have cut a lot of corners and gotten a lot more breaks than they have ever embraced.....because to do so would have gone against their personal ethics.

And if they ever read this screed, I promise you they'll yell at me loudly. Because they are THAT kind of quality people.

 

[Velvetkiss]

Elizabeth N., that is so great to her about Vitalady and Vitaguy, you confirmed what I figured to be true about them, just in how they handle and carry themselves online. I also do not get why the medical community has such an issue with them, but glad they are here helping us regardless of what they medical community thinks.