***SweetSherri***

I was reading your response to Brok about Dr. Brooks.  I have my pre-op appt with her - glad I'm not her regular patient.  At any rate, I see Dr. Lisa Childers off Naab Road near the 86th Street St. V's.  She's great.  She does have a habit of leaving the room mid-sentence but she always comes but with free drug samples so I'm good with her wierdness. Their number is 872-2479.

She is actually who diagnosed me with hypothyroidism. I did opt to go to a specialist for more aggressive treatment for several years until I developed pre-diabetes and he had his nurse hand me an insulin pen with no instructions and no firm diagnosis.  At that point, I stop seeing him and now Dr. Childers monitors both my diabetes and my thyroid levels and all is well with my little world.

I have been hypo for over 20 years... I get my blood tested every 3 months... for 20 years.. then after my surgery she tested it twice and this last time she filled my script for a whole year!! I guess throid problems are for life but after surgery a nd I quit gaining she is assured I have leveled off... I havent changed doses in 5 years.. Linda Kay

Kim, Thank you! I will definately check out Dr. Childers! Dr. Brooks is nice enough. She's young and hasn't been practicing long...which I had thought of as a plus since she's up-to-date on all the latest & greatest. Her weight loss program really is suppose to be very beneficial to people and for that (and JUST for that), I would recommend her to anyone.  If I had to just choose one dissatisfaction, I guess it would be that she didn't care enough to stop in my room a single time while I was a patient there. The dietician's office even came up to see me when they heard I was there! Her not following up properly on my meds wasn't too good either though.  I wasn't diagnosed with my thyroid until about 3 months post-op. Here it is 3 years later and it still gets screwy on me. Last summer, we (me & the Endocrinogist)  thought we'd be able to go 3 months between checks and about half-way through it, I had my regular physical at work. They do the entire blood check when they do a physical there. Yep, my TSH was screwy...again! The employee health services (EHS) called me and told me to set up an appointment asap with my doc. And that was only about 5-6 weeks after my last endocrinologist appointment. So...I was put back to having it checked every 6 weeks. Because of all this fun stuff with my belly, I will have gone about 6 months between appointments. It should be interesting to see my results then. While I was at Seton, they checked it...and adjust it...once a week. I know..it takes 4-6 weeks for you to stabalize after a change. But that goes along with the coumadin too...they checked & adjusted daily and it takes at least 3 days for your body to stabalize after a change with it!  When I was pre-op, my body was responsive toward meds pretty much the same way every time. If it took two laxatives to help me go in January, it took two in August.  If it took 4 Tylenol to get rid of a migraine in June, it took 4 tylenol to get rid of a migraine in February. Since being post-op though??? We just never know how my body is going to react to stuff. Really, those daily coumadin draws should have showed Dr. Brooks that even if she didn't learn that lesson with my thyroid results (oh..she also didn't realize synthroid came in 137 mcg dose either. She'd have me on 125..test me, too low....up me to 150...test me..too high...put me back on 125...test me...too low...then yep, back on 150 to repeat the process! My body now however does need 150..for now anyway but has been anywhere between 100-175 mcg ). With the coumadin, Dr. Brooks had me on between 2-3.5 mg...tested daily but not many dosage adjustments even though my results were mainly at 1.1-1.2 (although I did have one screwy one at 3.2..that even the visiting nurse thinks was a absorption issue). I am suppose to be at 2.0-3.0. With the Hemophillia Center, I'm at 8.0 mg now and my P/I results are usually 1.7-1.8. I did have two checks that were over 2.0 (2.0. 2.2) so aparently those days my body decided to asorb more of the med than at the other times. So...guess what I'm saying is that some people, like Linda Kay, doesn't have any asorbtion issues at all when they are post-op (lucky duck! ). Others however, like me, can't depend on their body to asorb the same thing the same way two times in a row. So just be aware that when you are post-op that your body may take a little bit to get use to and you may need some things checked more often than pre-op...at least until you see how your body is going to be. I know someone who had to switch from the birth control pill to the shot because her body wouldn't asorb the pill right.  Thanks again for Dr. Childer's info! Sherri

Thanks for the warning.  Luckily, I have an IUD for birth control. I'd poop a brick if I turned up pregnant.  I love my daughter but we have other plans for how to add to our little family and a second pregnancy is not the method we are choosing. Even pre-op I am checking my thyroid about every 6 mos or so.  You might want to read What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypothyroidism: A Simple Plan for Extraordinary Results by Ken Blanchard.  It doesn't have anything it relating to how hypothyroid relates to WLS patients but it does a great job of explaining the disease, treatment options, and how to get your doctor to think outside the box. Currently I am on Armour thyroid medication which is derived from pigs rather than synthroid that is a synthetic version.  For me, now, it seems to work.  I have been on other combinations and ****tails as well.  This book is a Godsend. Mary Shomon is also a patient advocate for all things thyroid and often times has some really good information.