Revision in my future???

OK first of all, I love my new doctors office. The PA spent 1 1/2 hours with me today!!! Seriously, he earned him pay today. LOL He wanted to know EVERYTHING!!! He wanted to know any and all symptoms or possible problems. Here's the low down - 1. Got to get treatment for the iron. ASAP, this is "critical" . 2. Nutritional issues - need to eat more. easier said then done. He wants me to try Ensure, slim fast, WHATEVER to get more in and no more McDonalds. However after hearing my symptom he did say that more then likely the drinks wont work for me because of my low tollerance of sugar and carbs. UGH, but I'm to try over the next two weeks. 3. Vitamin issues - He said... I have some "tweeking" to do here to, but he's not holding out a lot of hope that they will come up. Basically, I'm malabsorbing more then I should and so I probably wont be able to eat enough and vits probably won't help.... but we're going to give it one more try! After that, he said my only option would be a surgical revision. This would be to unbypass some of the intestines to get more absorbtion. UGH, lots of mixed emotions on this!!!! Too many to write here today. But lets not worry about tomorrow today - right?!! Laurie

Hey, Laurie! Glad you liked the PA. Did you see the hematologist today too? As for Ensure, Slimfast, etc.... do you tolerate milk? What about Calorie Countdown (Hood)? Or Soymilk? If you do okay with one of them, you could add protein shakes made with one of these. That would boost each shake up by about 100 calories and the only added sugar would be the lactose since whey proteins do not usually have added sugar. Also, do you tolerate fruit sugars? Rich used to make a mongo shake with Calorie Countdown, protein powder, a banana, a few teaspoons of peanut butter and ice. It was too big for you but it is definitely calorie dense. If you made one half the size he had... it would be 500 cals. Scarey prospect, I know, but for your health - you can do it! One of the reasons that I do so much of the vitamins and protein shakes is that I do not want to trust my body to absorb anything from real food. I know I absorb some of it but I just don't want to count on that since I have no real clue how much of what I absorb. I'm not saying I get my day's worth of calories from shakes cuz I don't but I try to get the protein my body needs from shakes alone and I assume that the protein from food is a bonus. Since shakes are already predigested... I assume that I have a much, much better chance of absorbing the protein from that then from food. Another thing that I'm trying to avoid is hypertrophy. That is when the intestines grow because the body senses it isn't absorbing enough and it tries to adapt so that it can absorb more of what it needs. By feeding it adequate protein and fuel, that should minimize the hypertrophy. Why do I want that minimized? Because hypertrophing of the intestines means I'd absorb more calories of what I eat and more fat then I did at the beginning. Boy, I waxed on there about myself. Sorry about that. As for you, Missy, I hope that the doctors can get you straightened out with iron infusions, protein and calorie supplementations, and changes to your vitamins and supplements. I hope you can avoid the revision. But one has to do what one has to do for one's health. Do not try to look too far ahead. Work on what needs to be worked on and hopefully it will be enough. BTW, are you a distal RNY or proximal? Do you know? Hugs, hon! I can only imagine that this is overwhelming to you and is an information overload. We are all there for ya through this whatever comes. Hugs, K

Thanks Kathy - You're a doll!!!! Yes, I did see the hematologist. He said it's a good thing I didn't listen to my surgeon and got an apt. to see him. With my levels, and my physical symptoms I'm in the permanent damage danger zone. Hence, the iron infusion first thing tomorrow morning! I can do fruit pretty well. I've been eatting an apple and peanut butter just about every afternoon for a snack. My two protein drinks currently give me 60 grams of protein and about 400 calories per day. I can't do milk, I can't even make my oatmeal with it. I've tried some of the soys and whatnot - major GROSS !!!! I'll have to spend some time at the store this weekend looking for some different things to try. I don't know if I'm distal or proximal. I was under 300 so I think I should be the shorter one (I forget which is which). It is quiet overwhelming today. Tomorrow will be better, after I can process some of this more. I really CANT think about the "other" option at this point... it's too much!! I know you all will be there for me, you're there for everyone!!! That's why I LOVE the May board mostest!!!!!! Laurie

Good luck with the iron infusion tomorrow. Glad the hematologist saw the urgency. Whew! Good man. Pffft, on that old doc. Distal is a further hook-up... and proximal is closer. More malabsorption with distal. I guarantee I'm proximal - not that I mind AT ALL. The "other" option is only that and more of a last resort. Don't worry too much about that for now. Just focus on the positives and working with your new docs. I'm so very happy you found good folks to work with. Smooches, K