2 year Labs, feedback please

I'm just one week short of my 2 year surgiversary and I'm feeling relieved about conquering the Hyper-PTH devil so I'm posting my labs for some "atta girl" reactions and/or advice.

On the down side, I probably have among the highest Lipid Panel numbers I've seen here, but I'm genetically pre-disposed and they are lower than pre-op when I was on meds. I also still have some neuropathy in my feet from my decade with Type 2 Diabetes, and at nearly 63 years old I'm not out kicking up my heels non-stop but life ain't too bad.

My all-time high weight was 359 (55 pound gain thanks to Avandia) and my surgery weight was 275. Now my weight fluctuates between 145 and 150, and I'm solidly in size 10's at 5'8" tall with big bones. My ring size went from 11 to 6.5 - 7. If only my shoe size (also 11) was not unchanged!

Here are links to my labs and vitamin regimen in Google Docs, and my profile is open if you want to see some before, during and after shots.
labs:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiRN1WhHMjD6dDZvTVh6ejZaSWdKRFlvU3VULUludnc&hl=en_US#gid=0

vites:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiRN1WhHMjD6dDROeHV4SHNTVmFZcmpOTFJaTmQxclE&hl=en_US

I'm grateful to all the vets who pay it forward with their knowledge and encouragement on this board, and of course to Dr. Rabkin for his excellent surgical skills and manner.

I see that you're taking K2 only 3 times a week and no K1. Are you on blood thinners? Your K1 lab is sort of low.

You aren't taking much iron either and your hemoglobin and hematocrit are good. How do you do that? 

You might be at the point you don't need to take vitamin A at all. You might try easing off over the next year and see how your level is next year.

You might also want to check on your potassium and ask your doc about a script or supplementing.

--gina


 

 Gina,
Thanks for your input.

Good catch on the K!. Actually, the current lab is the only one missing from my 2 year results, and the "low" result is from last year before I started taking any K at all. Also, I overlooked my K1 on my vites doc, and have adjusted that now to show 3x weekly. If my 2 year labs are low after 10 months of 3x weekly, I'll adjust up.

Regarding the Iron, I cut back last year after adding the 4th daily calcium dose for the PTH problem. I hate being constipated and decided to try that route, since I am post-menopausal and at lower risk for deficiency.  Don't know how I luck out on HGB and hematocrit. Maybe I'll add a second Iron on alternate days and see if it causes no harm.

On the A, I had cut back 10 months ago from 2x weekly to once plus a 5th pill on the 1st day of each month. As a result of my continuing high result, I eliminated that 5th pill. I am paranoid of night-blindness since my eyesight is annoyingly worse now as a result of my advancing age.
Could the potassium be another side effect (like my elevated BUN) from being a bit dehydrated on the day my labs were pulled? I will ask my PCP as well....

How dehydrated were you?

If you are dehydrated on lab draw day, please reschedule!  Almost all lab values are concentrations...so when you lower the volume, you artificially make almost all of your values look higher than they really are.

Kayla,
Thanks for posting.
I was very thirsty since it was the hottest day of the year (so far), and my PCP said the elevated BUN could be from mild dehydration or high protein. My Potassium results post-op have all been at the bottom range of normal, but stable. (3.8    3.5    3.6). PCP showed no concern. I could supplement OT****il my next labs if the PCP thinks low-normal is not a problem.

Gina,
My PCP just sent me an unsolicited comment (coincidentally), relating to Potassium:
Magnesium level is mildly elevated, just above normal range of 2.3. While asymptomatic, if you are taking potassium supplement, you may want to reduce the dose. Rest of results normal. We may repeat the panel of blood tests in 6 months. 

I guess I won't change the supplementation unless 6 month retest warrants it.

lol Interesting. My doc said he prefers the magnesium to be higher than the range. Who knows what we should follow and believe. They have me taking 800mg of OTC potassium to bring my level up a little since I'm not low enough to worry too much about. I guess we're on our own because we don't get the same story twice.

--g
 

Judy-
I was wondering if you could share the lab slips you used to get Kaiser to pay for the Quest lab testing. I've got my 6 month appointment with Pac Lab on Monday and have had the labs Maria ordered, but noticed that my Vitamin A,E,K are missing as are some of the others. If I can get Kaiser to pay for these labs, I want to get them ASAP so I can start tracking my values.

Kim

Kim,
I had Maria add in the E and K labs to Paclap's sheet on 1 year labs and then I just had my PCP re-order all the labs again a year later (it took 3 attempts and my persistence to get them all ). Hope that helps.
Here is the Paclap annual lab form as revised in 2010, it includes A.
www.paclap.com/downloads/annualdslaborders.pdf