My Weight Loss History

[k9ophile]

In my experience on WLS forums, there is much discussion on the progress of weight loss. While going through some papers, I found a copy of my weight at my surgeon's office visits. Please remember that everyone's experience will be different. As such I offer the following:

DATE WEIGHT(lbs.)
Oct 14, 2008 353 (Surgery)
Oct 22, 2008 333 (First post-op visit)
Nov 25, 2008 312
Jan 15, 2009 288
Feb 26, 2009 284
Apr 9, 2009 262
Jul 2, 2009 227
Oct 15, 2009 204
Apr 15, 2010 182
Oct 7, 2010 170
Apr 7, 2011 176
Oct 13, 2011 167 (Last visit to surgeon)
Oct 19, 2017 164 (PCP visit with lab orders for WLS)

At one point, I did get down to 144 lbs. due to a temporary medical problem unrelated to WLS. I did not like being at this weight. Due to carbohydrate consumption, water retention, etc. my weight varies from 160-170. I do not get excited or panic with this range. I don't bother with BMI for two reasons: One, it's more relevant to insurance companies policy rather than an indicator of health and two, I'm shrinking due to age and osteoporosis. (Pre-op height was 5'8" and now I'm 5'6".)

I have tweaked my supplementation based on lab results. My Synthroid dose has varied, as it has since diagnosis in 1986.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I need a full explanation of that last PCP visit!

 

[galaxygrrl]

Nice work!

 

[Ray_Of_Fricken_Sunshine]

Thank you for posting this!

 

[k9ophile]

I need a full explanation of that last PCP visit!

I get lab work every 6 months. For lack of better terminology, I call it the WLS panel. It's 17 vials of blood. It was a great appointment. I have been in a funk for months; malaise, worsening depression, pedal edema, yada, yada yada. Seems my T3 was off so my dose of Cytomel was increased. He's doing a cognitive function test due to my memory problems and feeling that I'm getting dumber every day. I am learning so much about thyroid since my DS.

We also talked about continuing treatment fro osteoporosis, yet haven't decided anything.

I'm not sure what else you wanted to know about that PCP visit. I swear I am losing intelligence. I can't find the words I want to use. I've become a malaprop queen. He does not participate in Medicare, so I pay for the tests myself. So far, they've been manageable. If they cost too much, I may forego them.

My immediate priority is to get the thyroid reined in. This other test is about the fats other than fish oil in my body. When I was at work I drank 4 to 5 cups with those non-dairy flavored creamers*. Now I drink an average of one cup six or seven times year.

I have a blood test to do at home and mail away regarding the fish oil and other fats. I tried to write notes, but had difficulty due to my erratic mental function. Too many big words I used to know now sound like gibberish.

*Oily flavored cups with only chemicals.

If you have specific questions AND I understand what you're saying I'll attempt to answer them.

 

[JackieOnLine]

memory problems and feeling that I'm getting dumber every day

I hope you find out what's going on and it can be fixed.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I get lab work every 6 months. For lack of better terminology, I call it the WLS panel. It's 17 vials of blood. It was a great appointment. I have been in a funk for months; malaise, worsening depression, pedal edema, yada, yada yada. Seems my T3 was off so my dose of Cytomel was increased. He's doing a cognitive function test due to my memory problems and feeling that I'm getting dumber every day. I am learning so much about thyroid since my DS.

We also talked about continuing treatment fro osteoporosis, yet haven't decided anything.

I'm not sure what else you wanted to know about that PCP visit. I swear I am losing intelligence. I can't find the words I want to use. I've become a malaprop queen. He does not participate in Medicare, so I pay for the tests myself. So far, they've been manageable. If they cost too much, I may forego them.

My immediate priority is to get the thyroid reined in. This other tests is about the fats other than fish oil in my body. When I was at work I drank 4 to 5 cups with those non-dairy flavored creamers*. Now I drink an average of one cup six or seven times year.

I have a blood test to do at home and mail away regarding the fish oil and other fats. I tried to write notes, but had difficulty due to my erratic mental function. Too many big words I used to know now sound like gibberish.

*Oily flavored cups with only chemicals.

If you have specific questions AND I understand what you're saying I'll attempt to answer them.

Duh....I read it as though "with lab orders for WLS" meant your PCP was thinking you NEEDED WLS, ergo my confusion. Sorry.

So...does your PCP know any specialists who DO participate in Medicare and will order the tests you need? (At one point, my daughter--a competent adult--belonged to an HMO and was assigned to a young female doctor who happened to think that HER religious beliefs should dictate how she prescribed medicine. So she just refused birth control to all single women...and referred them to a partner for that part of their care. MiniSue immediately changed doctors, but your situation made me think that maybe you need a Medicare-participating endocrinologist or something who WOULD order tests.)

 

[k9ophile]

Duh....I read it as though "with lab orders for WLS" meant your PCP was thinking you NEEDED WLS, ergo my confusion. Sorry.

So...does your PCP know any specialists who DO participate in Medicare and will order the tests you need? (At one point, my daughter--a competent adult--belonged to an HMO and was assigned to a young female doctor who happened to think that HER religious beliefs should dictate how she prescribed medicine. So she just refused birth control to all single women...and referred them to a partner for that part of their care. MiniSue immediately changed doctors, but your situation made me think that maybe you need a Medicare-participating endocrinologist or something who WOULD order tests.)

Dr. Haase, my fabulous PCP, orders my labs. I have them done at Lab Corp. Medicare apparently doesn't care that he orders them as long, they just won't pay for office visits and tests they deem medically unnecessary. Therefore, Medicare will pay for my usual lab work. If you're curious and have some time, you might want to check out the MaxWell Clinic in Clarksville, TN. Under normal circumstances, I only see him two or three times a year. He makes referrals to Medicare participating physicians. He has a non-traditional approach to wellness which some insurers don't endorse.

I feel for your daughter. In my wild and errant youth, I contracted an STD. I saw a doctor who told me if I wasn't on birth control, I might get more than an STD. However, his "religious beliefs" prevented him from prescribing birth control. I'm grateful that those beliefs didn't prevent him from treating my problem, yet it did make me question them. As if it's OK to be single and get an STD, but not use birth control?

(Admittedly, the health care *system* we have in the USA is confusing. Yet when I read about Great Britain's NHS policy changes to providing surgery to obese and/or smokers, it raised some concerns. Single payer sounds great as long as they don't get crazy about what gets treated and when.)

 

[KathrynK]

I am also having memory issues and word-finding issues as is my husband. We are 66. He was evaluated and they found a vitamin B12 deficiency, gave him a shot, and put him on daily oral therapy. B12 deficiency causes a rare type of dementia.

I know DS patients are not supposed to have vitamin B deficiencies, but the latest guidelines recommend B12 testing even in DS patients. (But he hasn’t had the DS, so his deficiency is age related more than surgery related.)
These are the guidelines http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550728908006308
“ R116. Assessment of vitamin B12 status should be done annually in patients who have undergone RYGB or BPD/DS” Although they acknowledge it is rare, but still think it’s worth regular assessment. Brolin et al reported an 11% rate of B12 deficiency in BPD patients (not Ds) . Ba et al reported, “Interestingly, vitamin B12 levels may not correlate with the severity of neurologic deficits, and measurement of fasting homo- cysteine and methylmalonic acid levels is more sensitive.” Most of the studies describe problems in RNY patients, so it is odd they advise testing in DS patients.

I am taking B stress complex supplement.

My nutritionist said zinc deficiency was related to cognitive function, and my zinc has been up and down. Copper is a strange one. Deficiency can lead to dementia, but so can excess. My copper has always been good, but I started taking it when I increased my zinc, because they compete for the same receptors. I stopped now.

As we get past the 10year point, there probably haven’t been enough DS patients to detect rare deficiencies. I knew we were guinea pigs, but it is concerning that no one knows what happens in old age. Time will tell.

 

[k9ophile]

Thanks for the link. I'm getting my labs drawn this coming week. My B12 was always high, so I was advised to quit taking it.

I'm also 66. I'm planning to get a tattoo on my 70th birthday, a big DNR on my chest. I don't regret my DS, yet I do wonder about what will happen to me as I age even further. I'm just grateful to have had the last nine years being able to enjoy things I couldn't while morbidly obese.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I (think) I hear (a couple of) you. And this isn't supposed to sound maudlin. I don't THINK I'm depressed about getting closer to the end of my life. Sad, sometimes...but not depressed. I don't want to dwell on it...but I do. There's a lot of stuff to do/get done. I'm too controlling to let the rest of my life just happen...I need to arrange things. And yet, I'm apparently not allowed to DECIDE precisely when I will die and to make sure that the cause will include some surprise that is painless and tidy...and not in my house.

And, of course, I'd have expired long ago without the DS. Anyway...this just happened:


I went to the dentist(s) (regular and endodontist) last week. Five times in three days. Ended up with one root canal and two crowns. And a temp crown that fell off (visit #4) and later broke (visit #5) and like that.

Conversation Dentist #1...who noticed the healing incision on my leg.
Him: You have a lot of stuff going on right now, don't you?
Me: Typical age 70s stuff. All my specialists will spend the next decade concentrating on fixing the parts they know about, none of them noticing the "big picture."
Him: And then?
Me: Then I'll turn 80 and they will look up and decide I'm too old and too frail, and what's left of the next decade will focus on palliative care except they will automatically decide that my complaints are invalid because I'm old and therefore senile.
Him: So...what then?
Me: I'll find online info, diagnose myself, prescribe for myself, spend most of my money at the cannabis dispensaries.
Him: I'm always impressed by good planning. Open wide...

But...and this IS a positive thought: Our ancestors, like so many people today, especially in developing countries, struggled to survive each day and failed at that survival so very early in their lives. Getting old enough to figure out that we are falling apart and "the end" isn't all that far away is a bit of a luxury that they did not have the opportunity to enjoy. It is something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving!

I shall now continue with my Death Cleaning! LOL
https://www.youtube.com/embed/fXj3iy1Sgc4









Sent from my iPad

 

[KathrynK]

Thank you for the link on death cleaning! I suspect there is a biological trigger for death cleaning that happens 10-15 years after menopause, because every person my age talks about it. One said she just moved when she was 70 and took only those things she would need for the future. Then she called a company to clean out the house so it could be sold. I am jealous of that plan. Some of my cleaning is having time not working to be able to sort through accumulation. I care about my kids having to throw out so much stuff, but I am leaving them enough money to hire a junk dealer to clean out the house. I am still tossing stuff when my husband isn’t looking, because he doesn’t seem to have the same urge to death clean.

I also don’t think I am depressed about the pending end of my life. I am grateful for the time and especially the health to enjoy the last decade and be able to live and travel without the burden of excess weight. But I am greedy for as much time I can get, especially time when I know who I am and who my children are. And having cared for someone with dementia, I know I want as few days with that when and if it happens. Finger painting with my poop (true story about my MIL) doesn’t seem like a good day to live. I have a stash of pain killers (from dental work) and I hope I have the strength and cognitive function to use them if I know that day is coming.

And, I was also going to tattoo DNR on my chest, but when meeting with a lawyer to do the end of life documents, he said it wouldn’t work, because it wasn’t dated and signed. He said it was important to give your documents to your PCP as well as your health care proxy and to review them with the PCP annually and re-sign them with a new date. My husband works in a hospital and he said the only thing that stops aggressive doctors are coffin nails!

 

[k9ophile]

My remark about the tattoo was tongue-in-cheek, sort of. After my career in healthcare and dealing with the end-of-life details of parents, I have strong opinions about advanced directives and medical power of attorney. I haven't actually had them drawn up, mind you, but have those opinions.

And the junk... I'm thinking about hiring someone to help me go through it. I'm not worried about death, just the mess I might leave behind. (The guilt is strong in this one!)

The last of my relatives from my parents siblings died in June. This has somehow placed a sense of urgency on me to get things in order, on paper if nothing else. Yet my lifelong practice of procrastination is obviously in conflict with this. I do know if I end up widowed, I will have to move to a smaller, more manageable house/apartment. For years I thought I'd move to Ohio where I have family, but then realized they are as old as I am. My new plan is to stay in TN with one of those "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" things. Of course this all depends on my mental acuity, which seems difficult if not impossible to predict.

And since my thyroid is out of whack and I've just changed dosages of my prescriptions, I'm somewhat optimistic about my depression lessening.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

@k9ophile
"The last of my relatives from my parents siblings died in June. This has somehow placed a sense of urgency on me to get things in order, on paper if nothing else."


You are ahead of me there. Two of my mother's cousins--aged 83 and 97--are still acting as my "buffer generation," that group of relatives providing an assumed cushion a between me and imminent death.

My mother's sociopathic brother may still be breathing. But his equally honest son (and grandson), who used to do a NarcAnon father-son gig are now enjoying life as failing rock musicians. Last year, son posted a photo, entitled "Dad playing football for Army, early 1940s," of my uncle (his dad) in a football uniform. (It's like reading certain demented Twitter posters.) No. See, you "play football for Army" at West Point. He didn't go to West Point because they don't take assholes who never finished high school because they were incarcerated for Grand Theft Auto. (He did get INTO the army because my grandfather was connected and got him moved from Juvenile Detention to the Civilian Consevation Corps. Then another relative, who ended up retiring as a general, got him from the CCC into a National Guard Unit. There was a war, you know. And he was in good physical shape. That unit got deployed to Alaska, where my uncle promptly started acting like himself and got court-martialed.)

So, officially, my mother's sibling is alive. But in reality, his druggy descendants may have him in a deep freeze in the garage so that his SS checks keep coming in. On that side of the family, ya just hever know.

Once that buffer generation is gone, I'll probably get crazier.

 

[KathrynK]

K9ophile: You need Alexa. Amazons information robot. Not very expensive. You don’t have to buy a monitor and pay for the $30 monthly charges. If you fell, you’d just call out to Alexa to call someone in your family. She can even text if they don’t answer. I am loving Alexa. You can call out and ask her to play a song, do a math problem, or add something to the grocery list or even ask her to tell a joke. She can keep a list of contacts, so you call her name from the floor where you fell and ask her to call a neighbor too. She can’t dial 911 yet but they are working on it. I’m not going back to my birthplace either just because my sisters are crazy and I end up taking care of them. I know someone who was widowed who moved in with a close girlfriend and they travel together and take care of each other. I’m probably too cranky for that solution.
Spiky, I laughed at the freezer remark. You do never know with some people. I don’t have a buffer generation any more but I do have a soon-to-be ex-con among the next generation. Made it clear to all that she wasn’t welcome here. My other sister has said she’ll call the police if this girl shows up at her door. She took advantage of my mother at the end and ran up charges on a stolen credit card. To quote The Godfather, she’s dead to me.
I procrastinated with the lawyer too until my friend did it for himself and made me the executor. Visiting the lawyer was worth it for a new will and all the end of life paperwork, but he also explained the need for financial protections. I thought my husband would have access to the savings account in my name when I died, but there is a process that can take months at the bank, unless he is named on the account. He doesn’t know he’s named on the account, but when the time comes he’ll have immediate access. He and his second wife, I’m calling her Bambi, can go wild.