my turn to vent

[Guest guest]

Talk about frustrating! I waited 3 weeks (supposed to be 2) for the results of

my yearly blood work. The " specialist " sent me a letter...all is good...see you

next year. HUH??!! As yall may remember from my introduction, I live in Denmark.

WLS has not been done here in over 20 years. When I showed the specialist my

folder with all my information and diagrams, he wouldn't even look at it. He

insisted they were all the same.

Anyway, I want to tell you my progress since I moved here Jan 2000. When I

arrived, I felt great. We have a family doctor here who is great. He takes the

time and gets into great detail with all of his patients. I explained my surgery

and brought my trusty folder. He asked to keep it to make copies and to read it

through over a week. He told me where I could purchase what I needed in vitamins

and prescribed what he could. My yearly blood work came in April. Up to this

point I had only been a little low in sodium of all things. I never used salt

before that. Now I do. Well in my first test my liver counts were a little

elevated. He decided he wanted to keep an eye on it. Any time I was in for a

B-12 or with one of my kids, he would run a test. The numbers bounced around but

continued to go up. When they were around 250 he decided I needed a specialist.

This was approx. a year after my 1st test here. By now, my calcium and vitamin D

levels had fallen.

Well I got to the specialist. He said not to worry. This was totally normal in

WLS patients to have high liver counts and to remain high. I did call my surgeon

and he said it was not NORMAL. Okay? This doc said he'd run a series of blood

tests to make me feel better. I'd never had so much blood taken at once...14

tubes. A month later I was to have an appointment. He told me again, high liver

counts are normal, I was low in vitamin D, my blood glucose was down to 60. Take

your calcium w/ D vitamin, and keep taking your iron. He said I really didn't

need to take the potassium my surgeon said to take forever. He was surprised

that I always received B-12 shots that my surgeon also said to have forever. He

asked if I wanted a Dexascan. I really didn't need one but I could. He said he'd

see me when those results came back or a year later.

It took 6 months for my appointment for the Dexascan and the day I was to go

they called. A technician was sick and they'd reschedule. Three months later I

had the scan. My results got back on time for my annual blood work appt.

The specialist says I have Osteopenia. He said he could give me vitamin D

injections if my blood work showed I need it. (I thought the Dexascan was more

accurate!) I told him about these horrible attacks I have when my blood sugar

drops. I told him, I feel like in the past year, I have really gone DOWNHILL. My

energy is gone. B-12 doesn't even help now. Okay...this is where I started the

e-mail. See ya next year was his response. Oh come on!

Vitalady has been very helpful in all areas. I had always just trusted the

doctors. She is very knowledgeable in this area. Now, I went down to the

hospital and requested copies of my entire record...blood work, Dexascan...I

want the numbers myself! After I get them, I'm going to my family doctor with

what I am now armed with. INFORMATION. I now know, I think, more than this so

called specialist. I know my family doc will help me all he can and help me find

another specialist. Above all though....don't anyone just go with the flow. Know

everything concerned with your WLS. I think if I'd known more I could have kept

my levels up. Their diet is very different from our RDA. The milk, I can drink

but has no vitamin D. The main protein here is pork. Chicken is expensive, beef

more so and turkey is rare. Fish can be bought but everything is fried. I've had

to work extremely hard to maintain my diet and supplements.

Sorry this has gotten so long. Thanks for listening.

Dawn

RNY 5/17/93

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