Need labs done

Hi All~

I am a year out this month and have my checkup in a couple of weeks.  No complications and I have lost about 150 lbs.  Does anyone have the checklist of what levels need to be tested prior to this appt.?  I am a St. V's patient and when I called today the secretary said not to bother because my results wouldn't be back in time for my appt.  Well, I know my pcp can do the tests here and fax the info to them.  If anyone has this sheet, please send me a pm and hopefully it will be taken care of.  Thanks so much! 

Christina, PM me your email address.  I can email you the scanned copies of the lab orders that Dr. Evanson had me get.  Just a warning though - it takes 14 tubes of blood!!  (Yes, that is not a typo!!)

I got a letter from Dr. E today (my appt is Thursday) - I am deficient in Vitamin A, Zinc, Serum Iron, and PTH - whatever that is.  Everything else was within normal limits.  I'll ask him more questions at my appointment.  I do take my vitamins and supplements daily.

Perhaps your doc won't want the same tests though. 

Done.  Thanks, my friend! 

No problem!  Email is on its way!  I think they check for everything including whether you ever believed in the Easter Bunny.....

I had the same labs done at Chris and I got my letter today too. I am low in B12, Zinc, and a few other things. I am gonna call them in the AM and ask them to send me a copy of the actual results for my records.

Christina!!!

Been a while since I've seen you out and about!  Just wanted to remind you to have your husband go with you because I was REALLY weak after giving all those tubes of blood, had to eat ASAP because I knew my sugar was WAY too low.  Miss you honey

Huggs!
Frankie

14 tubes of blood is accurate.  If any of you are not having this done, you are not having the appropriate blood draws for your bariatric health for your long term health.  Please DO THIS!  Take this list with you to your doc and say that all of them need to be done.  You need to be pro-active.  I have learned this over the last 9 years.  Not all bariatric docs run the same tests.  Even our PCP's don't know all the blood work that we need as bariatrics patients.  They will say that they know, but they don't know that they don't know. 

9 years ago they were not doing all the tests that they're doing now.  And 9 years from now, they will be doing different labs than they are doing now. That is progress.   But our bariatric health is for a lifetime!!  That's why its so important to track these labs on a spreadsheet that we make ourselves.

The bariatric surgeons main job is to be the surgeon. That is their expertise.  They are not the know all about our vitamin and mineral needs.  I'm not saying that they don't know anything but they have enough to do taking care of all their surgery patients, that's why many of them are passing their post-ops on to Dr. Gomez after they are 1 year post-op.

Get copies of all your blood work and enter them on a spreedsheet at home so you can track your levels easier.  I just added mine to a spreedsheet so I had 9 years of blood draws to add and that was not fun but well worth my time.  I learned alot by doing this.  I wish I would have done it from the beginning.  My eyes were opened to some loopholes over the years that went overlooked that otherwise would not have!!!  I brought all the reports home and thought that was enough but obvious it wasn't.  Please learn from me. 

As you become a far out veteran like me in the maintaining years, my experience under my belt tells me that my labs are like my foundation I stand on.  If they are weak, my foundation crumbles under me and I, also become weak and struggle physically, emotionally, and spiritually. They put me on a slipper slope that I refuse to stay on anymore.   But if they are strong, my foundation is as strong as a rock and I thrive on that stength physically, emotionally, & spiritually. 

Good luck.

Kathy - do you have a clean copy of the spreadsheet that you are willing to share?  You have my email address.  Just didn't want to reinvent the wheel!!  Thanks in advance!

Christie

I just sent you a PM..

Kathy,

Would you send me a copy also. I am about to reach my first year out. This sounds like a great idea.