Thinking of going vegetarian...

 I LOVE cheese crisps!!!  I've always struggled to be able to make them.. I've done it on accident before but any time I've tried on purpose I never got it right.  This is a great idea!!!!  AND, I had no idea about the extra carbs in the anti-caking agent in shredded cheese.  UG!  Carb detectives at work.  lol  

I'm definitely going to try making these.  Thanks!

You have gotten a lot of good advice here. Please be sure to use it. I love Dr. Houston and recently his nutritionist came through for me big time when I was hospitalized and my nurse was trying to feed my all carbs all the time and calling me picky. The nutritionist came by my room within a half hour of calling her with a protein shaker and protein powder and put orders in for a high protein diet right away. That being said, I follow the nutrition advice of this board. High fat, high protein and vitalady vitamin regime. My labs are always great and I am still losing slowly but surely. I recently have gone back to basics and the weight is coming off again. This board will be a much better source of nutritional information. Get your labs done on time and post the results here and you will find people will be willing to analyze them for you and help make sure you are getting what you need. If I followed the low cal, low fat plan and the minimal vitamins that his office advices us to take, I think my health would be in a severe decline by now.

Do you feel that his office has us on minimal vitamins?  That thought had never even occurred to me but, of course, I don't have that much to compare it to.  He didn't want to run 9 month labs but I pushed for them and got them... which was a good thing.  For whatever reason, my body is not holding onto Vit K1.  I absorb it just fine, but I don't hold on to it.  That became really evident from my transition from my 3 mo labs to 6 mo and then 9 mo's.  I took vit K at 3 mo's to 6 mo's  Didn't take any vit K from 6 - 9.  And even though at 6 mo's it was very high, it had plummetted to a sub # by 9 mo's.  Anyway, I feel like they are addressing the areas where my labs have shown a shortage.  My only complaint would be that they could have me be more aggressive to get my vit D levels up.  They are low and are barely budging.. but they are coming up.  And, I feel like they probably should have asked me to increase my protein levels earlier.  My 9 mo labs were the first time.  I think they were maybe thinking they would just come up on their own as my body got more used to things???  I don't know.  They weren't really low.. mostly just borderline low.  

Any suggestions on how to get through to nurses in the future about dietary needs?  That she was dismissing what you were trying to tell her is awful!!!  I'm really glad the nutritionist came through!!!

Get on the Vitalady plan. That's the simplest solution for now, since it's clear that place is giving you substandard care in every other way. Then once all your levels are way way up, you can experiment with changing what you're using, IF adjusting downward really seems like a good idea.

Get your PCP on board with this.

I'm pleased to hear that the NUT has a tiny bit of use. But obviously that use is reserved for such things as hospital emergencies. You could keep that in mind for if you have that kind of a problem. Otherwise, everything you've reported her as telling you is totally wrong for DS.

Yes their vitamin plan is inadequate. Are you taking the ADEK vitamin? If so that would help account for your deficiencies. You need to take separate vitamins. The Vitalady plan is great. I get my multi vitamins, B-12 and Calcium from Sam's club to help cut the cost but get the rest from her. Dr. Houston always comments on how good my labs are and even when I have posted them on here they have been good. I'm feeling very sluggish right now as I'm fighting a kidney infection and can't take my vitamins with my antibiotics. I thought the ADEK and other chewables were fine for just after surgery but I would think anyone over 3 months out should be on the Vitalady plan or something similar.

As far as dealing with nurses, it i**** or miss and you have to advocate for yourself. I was admitted thru the ER and sent to Sarah Cannon as all the beds in the Centennial tower were full. I explained to the nursing staff there about the DS and had no problem. A few days later I was sent to the tower when the a bed opened up and the nurses there DID NOT GET IT. They kept telling me I can eat the same as other people, just less and that when I refused to eat my breakfast I was being picky. My breakfast was pancakes, a chocolate chip muffin, a biscuit, OJ and coffee. Not a piece of protein on that tray. When she refused to listen, I called Dr. Huston's office and the nutritionist came over right away and straitened it all out.

 Wow!  That's nuts that they insisted on feeding you that breakfast!!!  Everyone needs some protein to start their day!!!

I had been to vitalady's site months ago and had tried to find information.  I had heard a lot about her and that she had plan information.  But, when I visited her website, I wasn't finidng it.  I will have to go back and look.

Yes - I am taking the ADEK multi.  What kind of multi do you take?  

As for calcium, I think I'm settling on Citrical D plus with magnesium (and other stuff).  I sometimes have trouble finding that exact bottle in the stores but last night I found where I can order it off of Amazon. 

I'll take another look at vitalady and check out her plan.  I got really frustrated when I ordered my vit K1 from her though.  I felt like her cost of shipping was absolutely outrageous.  It's been months but I want to say it was maybe $12 for shipping one small bottle if Tender Dry K1-1000.  I was not happy.   

Ella,

You might start another thread with your labs and vitamin regimen. The Vitalady plan is definitely the to be on. You mentioned a problem with your D. How much are you taking and is it dry? I take 150,000 a day.

Went back and read your comment. You know, it's not up to them to get more aggressive with your D,....it's up to you.

I take 20,000 IU of the dry.  The last time I had my labs run and talked to the nutritionist after the results were in, I was interested in taking a larger dose.  But, the nutritionist advocated me staying with 20,000.  She said that my vit D was (very slowly) moving up and she preferred me to stay on the 20,000 iu regimen since it was going up and then to see where I am with the next labs.  This is a little bit in contrast to when I met with Dr. Houston. He was pretty easy going with it when I mentioned that I had upped it from 10,000 iu to 20,000 iu on my own and he made the comment that even 50,000 would be just fine.  When I pressed it with the nutritionist, she spoke with Dr. Houston and then got back to me.  He told her me staying on the 20,000 iu was fine.  So... I wanted to up it and would have upped it, but I was/am giving it a shot their way.  After this next lab is done, though, I will most likely increase it to at least 30,000 iu and possibly 50,000 but I haven't decided.   I did notice that vitalady's dry D was for 50k.  If I go with hers, then it will be a sure thing that it will go up to 50.   

You take 150,000 iu a day???  Wow!!!!  Are you in the normal range?  Does your body not retain it?  Or are you working to bring your labs up?

I will try to find my lab results and will post them in a new thread.  I think that's a great idea.  

You can stay on that plan if you want to lose your bones. Please get rid of those people. They don't know what they are doing.

The best way to order from Vitalady is by phone, and try to order a bunch of stuff at once. If your order totals over a certain amount, shipping is free. You also gain access to her AMAZING accumulated wisdom which she dispenses at no charge to any customer who cares to contact her.

 I'll have to remember that about the order amount and the free shipping.  Paying as much or more for the shipping as I did for the product was a super turn off for me.  

Does she do the phone sales herself?

I feel like I do pretty good with my bones..  D aside.  I've started taking L-Lysine with each dose of calcium.  There have been some indications that it can aid calcium absorption.  I very much need to start exercising though to support bone strength that way.  I've gotten into walking.. although i've recently fallen off the wagon with it.. but I haven't done much wt lifting.