What Lab work does your doctor require?

Very cool!  and you just take one a day?  Or two a day?  (around here like with the Bifera they say we need to take 2 to supplement, 1 *regular dose* to maintain).

Thank you!

I can get it at Vitamin Shoppe and its much cheaper than the bifera (espy if its one a day), so if it works, yaay!

I took it twice a day for the first six weeks and now I am taking it once a day. My levels went from 18 to 48 in two months. I would like it to be higher.  I'll check again in 6 weeks and we'll see if I need to go back to two a day or stay on one.

I also like it because it has all the extra b vitamins and some other goodies...kind of kills two birds with one stone.

mary

Thanks everyone! This is great information. I'm going to make an appointment with my pcp to talk about this before I get the blood drawn. Insurance is definetely a pain in the ass and I work for an insurance company! I was self-pay for my surgery, but I ended up with a blood clot and so far they have paid for everything I've needed post-op. I have a very high deductible, so next year I may need to look into other options.

I just had a TON of blood work done to try and find out why I ended up with a clot (It's in the portal vein, which is in the gut) I know they did a couple of these tests then.

Brandilynn, why do they check your INR? Are you on blood thinners? I "get" to be on these now for the rest of my life because I have a gene mutation that makes me more likely to clot.

Frisco or Dianne, would either of you be willing to send me your actual orders for the tests so I can talk it over with my dr?

Jen

Especially since anemia is an issue with many, not all gastrectomy folks - here is a blurb I found..

The PT may be ordered when a patient who is not taking anti-coagulant drugs has signs or symptoms of a bleeding disorder, which can range from nosebleeds, bleeding gums, bruising, heavy menstrual periods, blood in the stool and/or urine to arthritic-type symptoms (damage from bleeding into joints), loss of vision, and chronic anemia.

 

Jen, LapSF (where Frisco and Dianne and I went) has their lab form online to download. Here's the link:
http://www.lapsf.com/forms.php

It's a lot of vials of blood!

Thanks!!

My Doctor gives me a lab request form that I take to quest diagnostics. It asks for:

Iron
T4, TSH
CBC w/ differential
Lipid Profile
SMA-12 Metabolic Panel
Electrolytes
Liver Function Studies
B12
Folate
Thiamine
Vitamin D-25

Like someone else posted- my dr orders every damn lab they can test, lol.. I usually have about 14 tubes of blood and the results spread to over 6 pages. I would ask them to do a full blood and vitamin panel- at the very least once a year.