Help!

(((((Reenie))))),

Boy, do I remember what that felt like! I thought "Oh no! I'm the person it's not going to work for ... suffice it to say, it's worked. Dr DeMaria said that we most of us lose in a drop and stop pattern. It's soooo scary when the "stops" happen. I still have to say I sort of hold my breath, but I now know that in time my body will have to give up few more pounds.

Here are a few things I did that helped me:

I still get on the scale daily, but I only track once a week. Things tend to settle out a little better ... normal people go up and down within a week depending on salt intake, foods they've eaten, bm patterns etc. When I started this oddessy, I honestly wasn't used to weighing myself regularly, so the little blips on the radar would really upset me apple cart ... so to speak. I now only "track" my weight on Tuesdays ... it's my surgery day. Just pick any day though. Using a weekly weigh in allows me to see more defined patterns. It's really normal to stall for a week, maybe even two or three. Go back and look at my profile and you'll see what I mean ... or you can check my weight tracker.

I use a site created by someone else who is computer savvy and had rny a few years ago. He has all kinds of great info, but he also has charts and graphs that calculate how you are doing compared with the statistical averages ... he tells you where he gets all the data ... Before I kept comparing myself to others ... whatelse are we supposed to do? But that was making me nuts, now that I use his site, even when it seems like the loss is slow, I can see that I'm "normal" and losing weight at an appropriate rate considering my age, sex, length of time since surgery, etc ... If I continue, I'm projected to lose 100% of my excess weight. I'd be freaking out, because it's going soooo slowly now, but the charts show me that I'm actually a bit ahead of the curve ...

I hope that this helps,

Hugs,

Barb

P.S. the site is www.thinnerself.com

Barb, Thanks for all the info, You do put everything in perspective. We would all be lost without you! Reenie

The "stall" does not surprise me.  I will go several days with no loss, then all of a sudden "WHOOSH"... I will drop 2 or 3 pounds. I am concerned about the gastroenterologist though..  Who called?  Connie?

Hey Jenn, Sheri called around 12:00 today. Dr Russo's office will be calling to set an appt. He's on S. King's Dr.  Dr.K never told you about your results from the liver biopsy?

He just told me they looked fine.  Nothing more was said about my biopsy results.  :)  Keep me posted!!!

I did e-mail Dr. K and he said it is a normal procedure  to send his patients to Dr. Russo for follow-up to make sure that the tests they ran are OK and they didn't miss anything. I will have more blood work done when I go see him. I feel a little better since he told me that, but I have never heard of any of  Dr.K's other patients  that was sent to Dr. Russo for follow-up. That's what had me concerned. I'll keep you informed.

First, are you kidding...??? 28 lbs. in 3-4 weeks is AWESOME.  And the stall is completely normal. When else have you e.v.e.r. lost an average of 7-10 pounds a WEEK!??! I posted a post almost just like yours about the same time.  My FIRST stall lasted 13 days.  I thought for sure I was going to be one of those few who had the surgery and lost 20-30 lbs. and that would be all. My surgery was 10/18 and I've just passed through my THIRD stall, so just relax and don't worry.  Just imagine the shock such a rapid loss has caused your body.  It has stopped to "regroup" and figure out what the heck is going on, and then it will get going again. I spent hours and hours going back through posts in the main forum to find others about stalls, and there are MANY.  In the main forum, it's a frequent question.  For all you other newbies reading this and for those of you with upcoming surgery, pay attention to this, because you too, will probably have a stall (or two or more) and think the world has come to an end like I did.  LOL We get spoiled right after surgery when we see 1-5 lbs. go in one day and then worry when that first stall happens.  But you will also have others.   As for the scales, we all have to do what works for us.   My name is Wendy. I am admitted "Scale-a-holic."   I cannot stay off my scale each morning.  It's what works for me.  And as I progress, that daily weigh****ching will keep me in line if I start venturing off course and can nip it in the bud quicker. There are lots of folks who suggest weekly weighing, and that's fine for those who chose to do that.  When I posted ?? about my first stall, many folks in this and main forum told me I should stay off the scales and only weight once a week or less.  But that's just not for me. Perhaps a year or more down the road when the "new" has worn off I won't feel the need to weight daily, but for now, I do and will. Also, take your measurements.  When you stall, you might no see pounds going, but you WILL notice in inches.  I surely did/do.   Also, be sure you are exercising.  THAT keeps your body on its toes and the lbs. falling off.  Keep up the good work.  I can't help with the liver enzyme issue, but am also curious as to what your doc thinks a gastro can do for that...

Thanks for your wisdom Aunt Dee Dee, I have taken it all in.

Its very normal to have elevated liver enzymes for quite some time post-op... typically in overweight people one or both are elevated (usually the liver is fatty and enlarged as well). Post-op because of the MWL (massive weight loss) it is hard on the liver and can take time for one or both enzymes to go down. For at least 5+ years both my liver enzymes were elevated. Pre-op I had a liver ultrasound done and suprizingly it was normal sized... PCP still chalked it up to being overweight. After surgery my 3 month b/w still showed both high... 6 month showed 1 dropping a lot and the other still high... at 1 year 1 was back to normal the other still high but lower than it was before. Surgeon said my body could still be adjusting and apparently it can take the liver some time to 'recover'. I would maybe check exactly how high your liver enzymes and talk to the nurse more to see if its *really* necessary to see a Dr about it? As for the weightloss - its been my experience that the scale will NOT move daily... 3 days is not really a stall... your body will take many breaks along the way - typically when the scale stops the tape measure will move... so dont be worried about it, hide the scale a few days if need be and just trust that it will move again!

Jennifer, You always have such good and informative information. I will e-mail Dr. Kuwada tonight  and see what he has to say.  What's the saying, "Get it straight  from the horses mouth."