Question about Labs....

Good Morning! 
I am 7 1/2 months out now and I have never had bloodwork done. I have never had any labs since surgery. Is this normal? Should my surgeon be doing labs? I do not get on here much because I am in school and I still have my little one at home to run after, so I am not up to par on some things, so please forgive me. I really do not understand.  In the first few months I had a ton of trouble keeping food down and being able to eat anything at all, I also had several "attacks' where my heart would race, I would get weak, and I would almost faint. The ER on post took blood and said everything looked good except potassium, but they didn't know enough about this surgery to better guide me and told me to see my surgeon. I did and she said eat more carbs with protein. Done deal.....still getting these episodes every once in a while, usually the week after my period is really bad or if I have coffee. You would think that they would want to do some sort of testing to find out how I am doing, right? 
Just asking.......
thanks!
Michele

You could always ask your pcp to run labs for you.  HERE is a good blog post about labwork from a fellow RNYer.

Laura

Thank you Laura! I will check it out!!

The "heart racing, feeling like I'm gonna faint" is probably dumping.  Dumping is brought on by eating either too many carbs (ie sugar) or too much fat (fried, greasy foods).  When this happens again, look at what you've eaten in the last hour or two and I bet you'll find your answer.

As far as labs go, YES you need to have labs drawn every 6 months for the first couple of years.  I have a CBC, CMP, Ferritin, Serum Iron, B-12 and PTH as a minimum and then my doc adds other things as needed.  Yearly he also adds a lipid panel (cholesterol) and thyroid panel.  I have my PCP do all my labs and he sends me the results.  I keep all my results on a spreadsheet on my computer so I can watch for trends and adjust my vitamins accordingly. 

Wow. I don't know that I would understand my labs if they showed them to me, but that is awesome. I am shocked that people get them done so frequently. I didn't think it was dumping because there is no trend, that I see, when these "attacks" happen. Twice they happened from grilled chicken salad- lettuce, tomato, FF vinagarette or ranch dressing, etc. Once it was from low sodium chicken noodle soup, another it was after not eating anything for breakfast it just happened. The ONLY thing I found that gets me past them is eating carbs. My Nut told me to try carbs and my surgeon said protein, but I found carbs work better. I snack on some baked lays chips or saltine crackers (plain) and that helps me. Otherwise, I have not found anything else to work. My surgeon said keep peanuts with me and protein bars- they didnt do anything anytime I have had an "attack".  My surgeon thinks I could be hypoglycemic, but I am not sure. They never tested me.

Usually if it's hypoglycemia it's either after not eating anything for a while or a high carb meal a few hours before where your sugar spikes then drops.  It's usually accompanied by sweating and disorientation or feeling "foggy".  If it is hypoglycemia then carbs will bring it up.  I usually have peanut butter crackers on hand cuz it works fast and stabilizes me.

Your lab results should have the 'normal" range listed on them so it's easy to see if they're out of range or not.  Plus my doc goes over them with me.  But if I notice a trend of say my B-12 going down slowly, then I will increase the amt I take everyday until I see it's back to normal.

Did they give you potassium?  Michelle, low or high potassium is life threatening if not taken care of.  I suggest you call your surgeon and ask about labs.  Most surgeons recommend labs at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months and then annually thereafter unless you are having deficiencies.

They gave me a bag of fluids and claimed I was dehydrated. I think there was potassium in the fluid, right?? Can't remember. Since I moved here to Alabama, we are in such a small town that I cannot find anyone. The closest surgeon I found was 2 hours away and the few that are local do not accept new patients or they do not accept other surgeons patients. Strange. I cannot go on post becuase they do not do the surgery on post so nobody will touch me- they don't know how to handle it. I am in a bind. I have been calling tricare and trying to find someone in the area accepting patients or closer than 2 hours. I have not been to the doctor in 3 months now (2 months due to moving and getting settled in the new house). I have looked online to find someone too, but where I live, Fort Mitchell, AL, is so small I have to drive 22 miles to the nearest walmart! LOL

 Michele,

If I understand correctly, you are now in Alabama but had your surgery in Austin with Marquez?

She should be able to fax a list of lab work needed to your PCP and then you can request that your PCP fax them to Marquez and maybe she could consult with your PCP on where you should be for your ranges.  Most PCPs do not have any idea where a RNY patient should be - mine is learning as we go so to speak.  

Dillawn (same practice with Marquez)  does that for me with my PCP and it has worked well.  I fax him my labs each time and I have them done at least every 6 months - my insurance covers it that often.

Please feel free to contact me and take care of yourself - you deserve it!

Rhonda

Most PCPs do not have any idea where a RNY patient should be - mine is learning as we go so to speak.     EXACTLY !!   MINE TOO 


My take on the heart racing...etc...........for me - that means I'm DEHYDRATED.........I've been drinking too much coffee for the past 2-3 weeks and not enough of my usual green tea.......heart is driving me crazy this morning.........so  - I know what that means for me !!    

Definately some things to watch are  your "B's"   iron,  potassium, protein and ................calcium.......etc.................My surgeon just did a bariatric workup on me in October I think......13 vials of blood...........3 pges of a report...............of course - it was all in the "normal" range.........except protein ...............

DEFINE NORMAL FOR US...............WE AREN'T NORMAL ANYMORE !!  GRRRR

Good luck and try to really monitor what you are drinking too..............drink lots of fluids.