What I Learned Tonight

As usual, I was the person in the room who was furthest out from surgery. Most groups have people who are from 4 months to a year and a half out from their surgeries. I hate to ask a bunch of questions because I don't think they would be of interest to those folks who are trying to figure out if they'll ever stop dumping and when their hair will grow back, but tonight, on behalf of the Marchers, I made it the Connie Hour. Lizbeth, I didn't get to your question, but it looks like Maureen covered it anyway. The group tonight was led by a dietician, but one of the group members who was about 6 months out is an RN. Here's what I learned: The best way to avoid the sugar lows is to eat enough protein. Nothing will prevent a sugar low better than protein. Protein maintains your sugar levels longer and stays with you better. It takes longer to level out already low sugar by eating protein, but the effects last longer. Should your sugar levels get below 40 or 50, you could find yourself having a seizure. The ties to wls and seizures are because of low protein levels. Protein, protein, protein. I had no idea that not getting enough protein could trigger a seizure, but Nic had oatmeal the morning she had the seizure, but I don't know how much protein she had in addition to the oatmeal. The nurse suggested that if you are prone to sugar lows, carry a Reece's Peanut Butter cup. You'll get enough sugar to pull you out of the sugar low right away, but the protein in the peanut butter will keep the sugar level stable for longer. I talked about my liver and pancreas and found that some of the folks that are just a few months out are showing increased liver enzymes. The nurse in the group said that in the ER, she sees a lot of teenagers that have tried to OD on Tylenol. She said that they will survive the OD and think they've pulled through and 2 weeks later, they'll be back in the hospital with liver failure. The nurse asked me if my cholesterol was high and it's not. In fact, it's great. With my cholestreol so great, the nurse thought that Tylenol could very well be the culprit in my liver/pancreas issues. Another woman told us that her sister-in-law died 2 years after wls from pancreatic cancer. No evidence that it was related to the wls, but she has been nervous about it ever since. When I talked about my pancreas being enlarged, she got upset. So that's it from this week's meeting. I'll let you know when I'm going to the next support group. Next stop is my pcp on Friday so we'll see what the blood tests show. Hugs, Connie

very interesting! michael learned that his vicodin has tylenol AND he is taking add'l tylenol-when he had this last surgery a nurse educated him aboutthe tylenol which then frightened him about his liver--which i had been telling him for years-but whadda i know??? i did NOT know it could act so quickly as in the OD cases. wow. and damn i am sitting here eating oatmeal as i read...hmmmmm........

I love this...that this Board is so strong that all over the country we're taking care of each other in our doctors offices and in our WLS support groups and in our conversations with our husbands, our children, and at the grave sites of our pets ... we are family. Connie, thanks for championing these issues for us. Two things are becomming increasingly clear - (1) be very watchful and vigilent about variances in blood sugar tolerance; (2) continue to get our blood work done at least twice a year. I'm going to add that we continue to educate our PCPs on healthcare post-WLS. I am very, very lucky in that I have a doctor *****ally cares about me and making sure I stay healthy - he WANTS to learn as much as he can about all of this, not just for my sake, but for the sake of his other patients who are considering WLS (a few others have had the surgery but sadly have not kept the weight off - so his partnership with me is important to him so that he can better help other folks). Help your doctors learn as much as possible about all of this so that they can first and foremost help to keep you healthy, as well as be better equipped to help other WLS patients. Go Marchers! Love you, Maureen P.S. Does anyone know how to get a hold of Nic??? Phone? Email?

Hi Connie! Thanks for that!!! Wow! so protein helps to level the sugar! I did not know that! Very interesting and I'm freaked about the tylenol/acetominophen. I've heard about that beofre. I'm going to be very careful about taking it from now on. I'll try an alternative headache thing if I feel headachy. Oh and as far and feeling a bit odd asking those type of questions, I remember when I first started out and went to meetings and I was actually very interested in what the long timers had to say because I knew I would be there one day. I bet those women were WAY more interested than you think because one day they will be in our shoes! Thanks for thinking of us!!! ((hugs!)) Elizabeth M

WOW! ok...I just read this... the morning I had my seizure, I had coffee and oatmeal with soy milk in it so what was that maybe 8grams of protein if I used al lthe milk...I can't remember if I did or not. hmmm... the tylenol thing scares me to death not that I take olost of it but the fact thsat I was told it was ok to take after WLS and it is the only thing I will take...ugh... when I have a headache I first drink a complete glass of water and tehn wait 1/2 hour to see if I was just dehydrated. I may start going to support groups...well crap I will have to see if someone can drive me to support groups, it is too far to walk about 4.5 miles along the main road in town...not my idea of a good time. but I did like hearing the questions and ideas from people farther along than I was because it helped me know what was coming ya know??? if you ever need to email me personally... my regular email is bjsmumniki @ aol (no spaces obviously) sorry for kind of disappearing. after the seizure, I spen that next weekend basically asleep, then finished the last day of school, slept the next 2 days, went to trainings the next 2 days and slept away the weekend again... we think we have the medication figured out. and I have started classes to get my master's degree in reading this week as well as all of the rest of this...I thought about dropping it but then decided it gives me other things to think about and "stress" about! This year has completely sucked pond scum... hopefully things get better from here on out. I am starting to feel safe enough to walk with the kids during the day, (we have had practice seizure drills just in case, I don't want them to completely freak out if I have another one and Daddy isn't home ya know??)and hopefully we will be starting to ride our bikes to the pool next week if it ever breaks 80 degrees. although why the idea of a person prone to seizures on a bike seems safer than me driving the .9 mile to the pool I will never know... nic