Follow Appt

I am nearly 4 years post op and I honestly think that one of my keys to success is that I go in to see my surgeon/RNP for my follow up appointments no matter how I'm doing. What I mean, is that it's easy to go back in and see them when you are losing weight and want to celebrate your achievements, but it can be more challenging to go back when you feel like there isn't anything to celebrate, are worried that you might get bad news because you either weren't taking care of yourself by not taking your supplements, not exercising or may have experienced some regain. To be honest, I have all of those scenario's occur during the past couple of years, but I keep going and as I said, I think it's a key to my success. Not only my success in keeping the weight off, but also my success in taking care of myself because when I go in and I'm having a problem they are able to help me get back on track.

When I went in this time my weight was stable and while my pulse and BP where in 'normal' ranges they were somewhat high for me... I have fractured vertebrae in my back that are causing some significant pain and it's likely the reason for the escalated BP/pulse. We discussed pain management issues; I let her know that I was having issues with my oral pain meds not working well for me and that I'm certainly not drug seeking, but needed a better solution and that transdermal pain patches seem to help with pain medication delivery, bypassing the gut when managing the delivery of pain meds. We discussed treatment plans to manage my osteoporosis considering that I'm a RNY bariatric patient. I was focused on the serum ferritin number and she helpedme see the bigger picture. I have a somewhat unusual condition called Hemochromatosis and my serum ferritin was lower than most and I was concerned that it was becoming a problem, but she showed me that I have the iron stores and platelet counts that let them know that my body is doing just what it needs to do to produce plenty of iron to take care of my needs. I also have had some low D readings and she was able to talk to me about the course of action my PCP has recommended and she concurs with the direction we are taking. We also looked at things like my B12 readings and other details that are important to a bariatric patient. She sees my labs through a slightly different, more specialized view than my PCP does and I really appreciate her perspective and advice on what we are doing to keep me healthy.

So, I hope that weather you are celebrating your weight loss or working to maintain, that you are making sure that you go see your Bariatric specialist to help you maximize your health in the long term.