What's on your menu today (Photo Friday) RNYers?

You look great! Glad you and Lilly had a nice walk. I miss having a dog to walk, although it's been too cold lately for me to go out (and still breathe). It was -25 C this morning, which I believe is -13 F for my USA friends. My asthma doesn't like that extreme cold.

Mornin'!

I got a message from my new PCP last night that she wants me to go on Reclast for my osteoporosis. I have heard enough horror stories about this drug that I'm really not wanting to go on this (although she certainly can't force me to...). I told her at our appt a couple of weeks ago that my bariatric surgeon said that Fosamax isn't as bad as they originally thought for WLS patients, and he doesn't have a problem with his patients going on it, but this new PCP evidently isn't buying it. Not sure what is going to happen with this...

accountability - went slightly over on calories yesterday, but my weight is up 3 lbs this morning. That was not unexpected, though, since I had cottage cheese for lunch and a teriyaki stir fry for dinner. I was up to 3000 mg of sodium without even factoring in the soy sauce in the teriyaki sauce (I don't usually add soy sauce to my tracker because it has so few calories) (it was homemade teriyaki sauce, so I knew what was in it). Hopefully the extra pounds will be gone tomorrow as it's my 2 years 8 months anniversary, so I have to record my weight on my monthly weight chart. Ugh.

2 years 7 months out:

B: homemade Greek yogurt, homemade blackberry/blueberry sauce (berries cooked down with SF Torani syrup)

MS: coffee with half & half, protein/Miralax shake

L: 1 C cottage cheese if I'm at work - probably 1 C chili if I'm at home

AS: raw veggies with Greek yogurt dip

D: turkey taco meat plus the fixings (tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream)

ex: yoga

My PCP recently put me on weekly medication for my osteoporosis. The medication is called Alendronate Sodium....I think that is the generic name. I take it once a week. My PCP said my osteoporosis is pretty significant in my back, hips and upper legs. Basically, she warned me to be careful about falling and also said I didn't even necessarily have to do anything to have damage done. I wonder if it is the same medication?

not the same, but i"ll ask my PCP about this one. Reclast is given intervenously, and you get it once a year. The problem is, I've read about some awful side effects (e.g., horrible bone pain, people's jaws disintegrating, teeth falling out). I know that people who have problems are more likely to broadcast them than those who have no - or very minor - problems (as we know from people who've had WLS), so I need to research this and find out just how common these side effects are. The problem with this drug, as opposed to one you take one a week or whatever, is that if you have awful side effects from a once-a-week drug, you can just stop taking it. But an IV drug that lasts for a year in your system? You're stuck with it. That is what scares me.

I hope your new PCP will come around.

I hear you on the sodium problem; I had some vegetable chop suey with soy sauce last week and my weight went up by almost 5 Lbs almost overnight. I hate that, lol. It's almost gone again but geez, it's frustrating.

I know there are mixed feelings on the patches. I seem to be doing really well on the calcium patch. My last 2 bone density scans my T-score actually went up. Not that it's s replacement if you need meds, but it has helped me.

I might try that.... My bariatric surgeon had me increase my calcium to 2000 mg/day last summer. I haven't had a scan since then, so I don't know if it helped or not.

I emailed a retired doctor friend this morning, and she said she actually saw fewer problems with Reclast than she did with Fosamax, so she would recommend it over Fosamax, too. Hmmmm. Maybe those awful side effects *are* pretty rare...

My bones are rdiculously strong atthis point from carrying all the extra weight. Talk about a weight bearing exercise 24/7.

I was very surprised after carrying all that weight for so long that I had osteoporosis! I thought that was something that happened mostly to thin, bird-boned women. Nope. My mom has it - I'm wondering if part of it is genetic?

I am sure that is true. Just like cholesterol. I never had a problem no matter how SMO I was. it's not like thin people don't have high cholesterol or diabetes...