6 month follow-up went well (long, but I wanted to give the full report!)
I had my 6 month follow-up with my surgeon today! It went pretty well, and I’m excited! So, first off we talked about my goal. Her goal for me was 150. Mine was 135. My goal has always been just a number I picked out of the sky, and I’ve never really been married to it or anything. I always thought I’d get to 150 and then re-assess. So, Dr. Olsen said she thinks 135 will be too small for me. She said 150…maybe 145. Especially since my goals are: 1 – goal weight. 2 – pregnancy. 3 – lose baby weight. 4 – plastic surgery. Once I’m done with all of that I could be at 135 (maybe), but for now she’s really recommending 150. Wow! That means I’m 9 pounds from goal! That’s crazy!!! It totally feels within reach now, and I’m re-focused on getting there.
She agreed that I didn’t have to wait the full 18 months before trying to get pregnant. Once I maintain my goal weight and goal nutritional #s for a few months she’ll give me the go-ahead. J Yippee!!!
So...here’s the lab results. I’ll give you the low-down on what my concerns were based on my 3 month labs:
Iron – last time my iron was right at 40 (borderline anemic.) One point lower and they would have made me start taking iron supplements. L Yuk. This time my iron has gone up, so I’m out of the woods! J I’ve been borderline for years, so this was most definitely positive news! Dr. Olsen said I still need to focus on getting this higher to build up my iron stores for pregnancy. She prescribed a pre-natal vitamin for me.
B Vitamins – All of my B’s were OK last time, but they still recommended that I add in some B vitamins to my routine. I’ve been taking B12 sublingual and B100 every day. Now my B12 is high. The NUT said that’s fine.
Cholesterol – Last time my cholesterol was high. Bad cholesterol high, and good cholesterol low. Triglycerides (sp?) were high. Now the bad cholesterol and triglycerides are normal! That makes me very happy! It shows that I’m getting healthier. I feel like I am, but it’s nice to see it in the numbers too. My good cholesterol is still a little low, but my NUT said that could be due to the weight loss. It’ll even itself out as I start maintaining. She also mentioned that aerobic exercise helps with that, so the running should help that too.
Protein – Last time my protein was at 16. It should be 20 or higher. So, the NUT bumped me up from 70 to 80 grams of protein a day. This time it was at 18. So, the number has gone up, but not enough. L That’s a real bummer, because I’ve been getting my 80 grams in every day. She said not to get discouraged, it just means that my body’s not absorbing the protein as well. So she bumped it up again…to 90 grams of protein a day! L Yuk. That’s going to be a real struggle, but it’ll be worth it in the end.
Thyroid – My thyroid seems to have righted itself. I haven’t taken synthroid since month 2, and my thyroid numbers were normal. Not quite sure why or how that happened, but I’m not complaining!
All things not mentioned above were normal at both check-ups. So, overall, the news was good. Still some work to do on my protein, but at least it’s going in the right direction. I feel pretty good about it all. I passed the food & exercise review with flying colors too. All in all, I feel good and am so glad I had this surgery!
Hi Deb,
Wow! What wonderful news!!! I'm sooooo proud of you. Not 'just' losing the weight ... which of course is not a 'just' anyway, but in making so many positive strides in making sure that you are healthy and ready to begin the 'Mom' phase of your life. I look forward to sharing that with you too.
We need to see about getting together. I miss you. Maybe I can drive down, you can drive up or we can meet somewhere in between.
Congratulations again on such a great 6 month check up and being so close to your goal weight.
Your friend,
Barb
Barbara
ObesityHelp Coach and Support Group Leader
http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/bcumbo_group/
High-264, Current-148, Goal-145
