Hi Everyone

I know it has been a while since I posted. And I need to update my profile I will do that soon. I just wanted to update you on my health problems. Due to the loss of my job and along with that my insurance last October I was not able to go to my surgeon for my annual check up that was due last January. My husband also lost his job and his insurance. So no Dr. Visits for me. We now have Kaiser and I went to see my primary care doctor, Well considering I feel fine I guess I am not doing so well. It seems that I have severe hi-blood pressure and am now on medication for that. My doctor said I was at stroke risk and that she did not want me to have lost all the weight just to have a stroke. I have to go tomorrow for blood draw to test for get this malnourishment it seams that my doctor thinks I am skin and bones. She said that I have no muscle tone and no fat. How could that be? I weigh 142lbs. Can skin and bones weigh that much? Oh ya I went from being diabetic to Hypoglycemic I am not sure what they are going to do about that. I go back to the doctor in two weeks for the results of my blood tests so I will update again. I just can't get over being malnourished. Me one who has been fat all my life. Oh well I guess I like go to extremes. Well thanks to all for listening, Alice

Hi Alice, Malnurishment may be just low protein. That is what will cause the loss of muscle tone and only skin and bones look. If you are not taking in enough protein, your body will "eat" your muscle to get the protein it needs. The solution may be a protein supplement or just eating more protein. You might want to review what you are eating. I had low protein levels and my doc simply had me drink more skim milk and eat more eggs. That brought it up quickly. Hope the tests answser the question and the cure is a simple one. Have a great day. Rich

Alice, so sorry to hear about your health issues. I think Rich had some good advice though. Bears asking the doctor about anyway. Does you PCP know and understand WLS? If not you may want to get back to your surgeon for a checkup and to do all the tests that they do to make sure this doesn't happen again. Praying it is an easy solution for you out there. Please keep us updated. (((hugs))) Anna

Alice, I am sorry to hear about the blood pressure and malnourishment concern, but I am so glad you are taking care of it. Did you check with your surgeon about whether the year check up was included in your surgery package. My surgeon included the six month and yearly checkup as part of the whole package so I didn't have to pay anything even though I had not met my deductible. When I questioned that, the office reminded me that it was included to encourage followup. I guess it is worth checking. I can't imagine that my surgeon is the only one to do that. Keep us posted on how you are doing!!!! Katy

Hi, Alice! It's great to see you around here again! I am saddened to hear of your health concerns. The protein or malnourishment problems could be as easily fixed as boosting your protein intake, as Rich suggested, and becoming more aware of eating a protein forward diet, if you aren't already doing so. As for the hypoglycemia, that is generally easily managed through diet, as well. Generally, it consists of a low carb, high protein diet that is composed of many mini-meals throughout the day to keep blood sugar levels constant and controlled. The mini-meals seem to be the key! I have followed this way of eating since day 1 and it really seems to keep the hunger at bay and my sugars level. Anyway, sadly, even as MO people, many of us were actually malnourished even while fat because we tended to eat poor diets and we weren't particularly concerned with nutritional intake. Thank goodness most of that has changed post-op since our lives depend on keeping track ! Please come back often and certainly keep us up to date on what your results say...hopefully the news will be better than you think. Just remember, we are always here to support one another...what ever is needed! ~Suz

Hey Alice - nice to see you back. I agree w/ what Rich and Suz said, so I don't have any other advice for you. We are here for you, even if you just need to vent. ANYTIME! I'll pray for ya hon.