Lunch was great with Vinca and Ron.  Shopping was even better!

We'll definitely be doing this again soon :-)

Carrie

Had my six month and all is well, the first time in years that all my blood work came back in the normal ranges,, what a good feeling,, I do not know of anyone going there but if I hear I will let you know

ron

Hi Ron, How are ya bud, I sure have enjoyed seeing you in Miles Town the last couple of months. You look incredible. You already go to Great Falls for your 6 month? I need someone to go to Ryan's Cash and Carry and get me stuff for my protein shakes if you hear of anyone going that way would you let me know?

Thanks, Carrie Beach

Tyna, It was so good to see you and Vinca tonight, You have done a great job with the band you look great.  I hope to see you and others next month.  Keep in touch I will be watching for more posts.  See you soon.  Debbie

Well, the good news is that the kind of complications Amy has so powerfully described are at the far end of a "bell curve" of results. The majority of people who have WLS will lose at least 50% of their excess weight and will--assuming they know how to take vitamins and get lab work done once in a while to make sure they aren't malnourished--have no particular issues.

HOWEVER, notice that there are several caveats implicit in that statement: (And Amy, if you are reading this, I am in no way implying that you are guilty of ANY of this, okay?)

1. You must be compliant with the rules for living with your surgery. This means not just diet and exercise, but SUPPLEMENTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!! eleventy!!!!!! And getting labs done regularly, at least twice a year, and NOT trusting some doctor to say, "Oh all is well" and waltzing off on your merry way, throwing back a couple of Flintstones and a calcium pill.

You see, doctors go by the medical model, which is to look for "disease" and then treat it. When you're talking about nutrition, this means that they look for deficiencies and disorders (if they're smart and you're lucky to find someone who has a clue about the subject at ALL) and will then try to "treat the disorder." MAYBE. But the other side of that coin is that in the, oh, maybe 6 credit hours they got as undergrads about nutrition, they got drummed into their skulls that too much of a nutrient is "poisonous" and they were indoctrinated to be afraid of going to "excess." 

BUT.....The definition of "excess" in almost all nutrients is a nebulous thing in any case, AND once you add malabsorption to the mix, the rules about "excess" totally go out the window. This is a young science, this bariatric medicine, and frankly, NOBODY really knows what we truly need in general once we have malabsorption-causing procedures. Give it another 50 years and things will look very different. But right now you and I (and Amy and everyone else) are guinea pigs. Basically research subjects, if we are so fortunate as to be connected to someplace that is collecting data about us and thinking about it within the parameters of good scientific method.

(Um, you have to sign a consent form and participate knowingly in such research. Did you do that? I didn't think so. Neither did I. So guess what? NOBODY knows or gives a **** about our experiences except us.)

Therefore, guess what? NOBODY is going to advocate for good health for us in our oddball altered states except US. I'm sorry to say this so harshly, because I realize that this is new to you and probably really terrifying, but my goal is to educate and inform, not to give happy hugs and say everything will be wonderful forever. You must, MUST MUST MUST, learn how to read your lab results and how to adjust your supplementation to make your nutritional status better. You CANNOT rely on any doctor to do this for you.

There is one source I recommend for post bariatric nutrition information: Michelle Curran, www.vitalady.com . Doctors around the country both love and despise her, because she's "just a salesman/vitamin hawker" to some, and "a fabulously devoted patient and health advocate" to others. She and her husband Don have been living with super distal RNYs for over 15 years and they know their stuff. If you want to be super meticulous about supplements, then get on her program and stay there. Not everyone needs everything she recommends, but IMNSHO it's money well spent.

2. You got gut surgery, not brain surgery. You need to work on your mind. You need to understand that this is NOT about getting skinny and Hollywood hawt. It's about making very obese people less obese and therefore saving lives. So you need to divorce yourself from the scale, from certain clothing sizes and from the images that surround you of skinny sexy hawtness. You need to learn to love yourself. Not just accept. Not just tolerate. LOVE, with great passion and power. The kind of passion and power that transcends appearance and every other sensory perception about yourself. Use any road that will give you that great, marvelous, passionate self love for the greatest percentage of your life. Because if you KNOW you are loved without reservation, you will be powerful and wonderful and generous to all of humanity a whole lot more than if you are trying to be a "good girl" while believing that you basically suck.  This is a much bigger battle than the battle with the scale.