To my Lupus friends:
My last post was regarding which procedure i wanted to have done.  After a lot of research, the vertical gastric sleeve seemed the best choice for me.  I am happy to say the operation went well and I'm feeling okay.  I had a bit of a Lupus flare after the surgery, but it went away the day I left the hospital... I felt so blessed.
I'm no expert in WLS, but I've had Lupus for what seems like forever and if there's any way I can help anyone or answer any questions, please let me know.

I have wegener's and if my insurance covered the sleeve I may have gotten that although my rheumy didn't like that idea.  I have the lapband.  I like it so far, but weight loss is slower.  If your insurance will cover the sleeve take a look into that.  I know with malabsorption it's not a good idea for us to get rny or ds.

hugs about pred.  I've been on pred and chemo over 5 years now.  Losing almost a 100 from my highest weight has helped, but I still have a long ways to go.  Come back and tell us how things are!

Hello Jennifer,

It is great that you are concerned about your Mom and are willing to seek advice from others.

About a year ago I started experiencing severe chest pain.  At first I thought it was acid reflux attack or severe heartburn so I went to GI specialist who instructed me to increase my GERD medication. But I still continued getting chest pain so severe at times I would describe it as "crushing pain".  You know that saying about having a monkey on your back, well I felt like I had a monkey on my chest.  I finally scheduled a visit with my primary care physician for next day however hours befor my appt. I woke up and chest pain was so bad I could barely breathe from the pain.  I was rushed to ER to find out that I had a blood clot in my lungs also known as a pulmonary embolism.  I later found out that due to my autoimmune disease along with decreased physical activity it can place someone at risk for blood clots.

I encourage you to try to encourage your Mom to go to her doctor and explain her symptoms so she can get proper treatment if needed.

Best wishes to you and your Mom.

Wish my doctor would give me a prescription for Valium for my hematology appoinment on Monday!!!

Since you posted this on the Lupus forum, I will assume you have lupus or some related autoimmune disease.

Shortly after my RNY last May, my white blood cell count fell below normal.  We watched it for 3 months and when it was still low, they sent me to a hematologist.  He did a bunch of tests and he (as well as my rheumatologist and nephrologist) decided it was just my autoimmune disease doing funny things after having surgery.  Now, my white blood cell count is normal.  Of course, 3 weeks ago, my platelet count is now low.  I had it rechecked last week and am awaiting the results.  If they are still low, I will head back to the hematologist for more tests.

I wouldn't worry about it yet.  Nothing to worry about.