BETSY

June 6, 2001

Betsy,

This is my second reply because the one from yesterday didn't go!

Thank you for your reply. Have you had surgery yet? If so when, and

if not, when do you plan on having the surgery?

My recovery was wonderful. I went in on the morning of Wednesday,

March 7th and came home on Monday, March 12th. My surgery was done

in 2 hours and 51 minutes. I was driving on Tuesday, March 13th, but

wasn't supposed to. I had to be able to get around and get things

done!

At 5 weeks, I started going to the gym and walking on the treadmill.

I started at 3 times a week and then went to 4 times a week. Since

I've been back at work, things have been so hectic and busy, that I

haven't been able to go as much as I would like. But when I spoke to

the nutritionist, she told me that I MUST MAKE the time to go work

out. It will help speed up my metabolism and give my body the

exercise it needs.

As far as food goes, I can pretty much eat anything. I can eat

steak, prime rib, shrimp, and pork (ham, bacon). Chicken is very

difficult for me to eat because of the texture. I guess it's too

dry, makes me nauseated. I used to love cottage cheese and yogurt

pre-op, now just thinking about it makes me sick. I can eat

salads,and veggies but have a difficult time with bread, potatoes,

pasta, and rice because it takes up too much room and hurts my

stomach.

I do not handle sugar very well, because even though I'm a DS

patient, I still dump. I can, however, eat a bite or two of a desert

(cheese cake, pie, etc.,) with out dumping, but if I drink orange

juice, it makes me dump....I guess everyone's different.

Drop me a few lines when you get a chance, and take care!

Hugs,

Debbie

June 6, 2001

> I do not handle sugar very well, because even though I'm a DS

> patient, I still dump. I can, however, eat a bite or two of a

desert

> (cheese cake, pie, etc.,) with out dumping, but if I drink orange

> juice, it makes me dump....I guess everyone's different.

I know that this was more of a personal post. I just wanted to reply

and say that I have experienced dumping too. I only had it really bad

once. I was trying to eat a praline. I only ate a half of one pecan

and had to run to the bathroom. I have been very careful since not to

eat anything that is pure sugar. I will still drink some juice but it

is highly diluted. I am hoping that this will pass when I am farther

out. I just wanted to put it out there that there are some DS

patients that can have dumping.

Machelle

Post op

5-8-01

June 6, 2001

Dear Machelle:

I am 29 months post-op and I really could not tolerate sugar until I was 18 months post-op and then it was a very slow process of a taste here and there. Now I can eat almost anything I want, candy, cookies, pies and cake and of course ice cream but it did take me awhile and I still only eat them in small amounts as my body will take a few bites and then demand something with protein.

It was nice to find out that even though I could eat some sugars again I could not eat them in the amounts I once did!

Life is better than great!

Huggles,

Tiger Lake

Female

160 lbs. BMI 21.7

224lbs gone

165 1/2 inches gone

6' -- 53yrs young

Dr. Anthone@USC So. Calif.

Open DS

Surgery 1/13/99 384lbs BMI 51.21

Last Visit 4/20/99 315.5 BMI 42.07

7/19/99 274.8 BMI 36.64

9/03/99 259.3 BMI 34.54

10/04/99 252.4 BMI 34.02

10/25/99 231 BMI 32

12/17/99 217.5 BMI 30.2

01/19/00 211 BMI 28

02/20/00 195 BMI 26

04/08/00 182.9 BMI 25

Hernia repair on 06/07/00 Dr. Anthone

Tummy Tuck & Breast Reduction Dr. Downey

06/07/00 160 BMI 21.7

01/08/01 164.3 BMI 21.7

Total Weight Loss! 224.1lbs GONE!

Total inches lost 154.5

June 7, 2001

Thanks for the hope. I knew that it was too soon to eat anything

rich. I was just having a denial moment. I have really learned how to

eat what I should now.

Machelle

June 7, 2001

Hi there - just curious what you mean by your body

demands protein. What happens? Pre-op here.

Betsy

--- IWriteOnTwo@... wrote:

> Dear Machelle:

>

> I am 29 months post-op and I really could not

> tolerate sugar until I was 18

> months post-op and then it was a very slow process

> of a taste here and there.

> Now I can eat almost anything I want, candy,

> cookies, pies and cake and of

> course ice cream but it did take me awhile and I

> still only eat them in small

> amounts as my body will take a few bites and then

> demand something with

> protein.

> It was nice to find out that even though I could

> eat some sugars again I

> could not eat them in the amounts I once did!

> Life is better than great!

>

> Huggles,

> Tiger Lake

> Female

> 160 lbs. BMI 21.7

> 224lbs gone

> 165 1/2 inches gone

> 6' -- 53yrs young

> Dr. Anthone@USC So. Calif.

> Open DS

> Surgery 1/13/99 384lbs BMI 51.21

> Last Visit 4/20/99 315.5 BMI 42.07

> 7/19/99 274.8 BMI 36.64

> 9/03/99 259.3 BMI 34.54

> 10/04/99 252.4 BMI 34.02

> 10/25/99 231 BMI 32

> 12/17/99 217.5 BMI 30.2

> 01/19/00 211 BMI 28

> 02/20/00 195 BMI 26

> 04/08/00 182.9 BMI 25

> Hernia repair on 06/07/00 Dr. Anthone

> Tummy Tuck & Breast Reduction Dr. Downey

> 06/07/00 160 BMI 21.7

> 01/08/01 164.3 BMI 21.7

> Total Weight Loss! 224.1lbs GONE!

> Total inches lost 154.5

>

__________________________________________________

June 8, 2001

Hi Betsey:

It's just that my tummy and mouth say nope! No more sugar or sweets give me

protein and nothing else will satisfy me except something with protein which

just happend to be almost always non sweet.

Huggles,

Tiger

August 7, 2003

Besty -

Sounds like both you and your daughter need to get more info than what the

doctors are telling you. If they gave her a pill and she had to return for a

scan, it sounds like they did a radioactive iodine uptake scan (RAIU).

Usually you return 4, 6, or 24 hours after ingesting a smaller amount of

radioactive iodine to see how much is taken up by the thyroid. This test can

be used to help in making a diagnosis of Graves' and/or can also determine

the dosage of radioactive iodine if a patient choses RAI.

But here's what worries me - if your daughter's uptake was 6%, that is NOT

Graves'! Find out how long after she took the pill when she had the scan and

if 6% was in fact the uptake. If her uptake is 6%, that is LOW. The uptake

would be much higher for hyperthyroidism and Grave's. The uptake is low in

primary or secondary hypOthyroidism, and subacute thyroiditis. Also, the

uptake scan results can be skewed if she was taking a vitamin with iodine

beforehand (I was told I would have to wait 3 weeks before having the uptake

scan if I was taking a vitamin with iodine). From Elaine 's book,

uptake results can also be supressed by certain drugs, such as thionamides,

sulfonamides, perchlorate, thiocyanate, amiodarone, glucocorticoids, and

salicylates.

Please, please, I can't stress the importance of you both finding out what

is really going on before having RAI. She would certainly not want to have

RAI if her uptake scan was low - she would be destroying the thyroid for

nothing! Some of the conditions I listed above which would cause a low

uptake scan also cause hyperthyroidism. For example, subacute thyroiditis

(there are different forms) causes elevated thyroid levels, like in Graves',

but usually resolves itself, sometimes not requiring any treatment.

I can't recall...has your daughter had any antibody testing to diagnose

Graves'? Like a test for TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins)? This

would be a more conclusive test for Graves'. But based on her uptake scan, I

wouldn't accept a diagnosis of Graves' until there was more evidence.

Good luck and let us know what more you find out. I'm sure your daughter

just wants to feel better (who doesn't?) but she doesn't want to do

something which may not be necessary and which will affect her health for

the rest of her life.

Re:

> I am confused too. All I know is that she went in yesterday and they gave

her a pill and told her to come back today for a scan. It showed that her

thyroid is only working at 6% so they DID NOT give her the RAI today. I'm

really new at this so forgive me for being ignorant with the correct terms,

lol. I'm just concerned now because she doesn't know what is going on and

they didn't really tell her anything other than they couldn't proceed and

her endo would call to set up another appointment. What does this sound

like to you? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Betsy

>

> Hello

> Well, I am confused. You said she had the pill yesterday and the

> scan today. It does not sound like RAI but rather the uptake test.

> Which one was it?

> Aileen

>

> Hello all. It's me again, the new member with the daughter just

> diagnosed with graves. Well she decided to go ahead and have the RAI

> done. She had the pill yesterday and the scan today. It showed that

> her thyroid was only operating at 6%. So they didn't do anything and

> she now has to see her endo again. Her symptoms are: raspy voice,

> anxiety, sweating, loss of concentration, nervousness, weight loss,

> sore

> throat, fatigue, tremors, cough, frequent bowel movements, irregular

> periods, aching joints, chest and back pain, head aches, ear and eye

> pain. Can anyone give me an idea of what is going on with her. When

> she had her last TSH, it had bottomed out they said, but she doesn't

> know the figure. Oh, I forgot to mention the swollen thyroid, which

> he

> said was thyrotoxicosis. I know this is a lot of info and really no

> actual figures to give you but I'm sure someone on here knows a lot

> more

> about this than I do. Any help would be appreciated. Betsy

>

> Each morning I wake up,

> I choose to take a step forward,

> A step back, or remain the same.

>

August 8, 2003

Hi Betsy,

I hope you are able to get your daughter to read and consider the e-mails

you have been sent. It is good advice. My (unqualified) impression is that

your daughter may have subacute thyroiditis or de quervain's thyroiditis,

which would result in a LOW uptake scan. This may be a transient condition,

and not Graves'. Destroying the thyroid gland would not only result in

life-long medication and monitoring (and possibly a host of other

problems), but also prevent you from knowing if the condition would have

resolved itself in time. The typical treatment for subacute thyroiditis is

medication (a beta blocker, or ATD, or anti-inflamatory like aspirin) to

make the person more comfortable. If she hasn't had a TSI test, then

Graves' is not confirmed no matter what your doctor said. You simply don't

have a diagnosis on her.

Please read:

http://www.rxmed.com/b.main/b1.illness/b1.1.illnesses/Thyroiditis.htm

P.S. Even if it is Graves', why not try the medication (ATD)? This should

ALWAYS be tried first.

August 8, 2003