labs??

 Hi everyone. I will be seeing my doc later this month and he hasn't had a patient who had weight loss surgery before. I want to make sure that he knows which things to look for in regards to follow up labs. I am self pay, and don't know what tests are required and when yet. Just want to make sure I get the proper follow up care, and what to ask for. Any insight on this is appreciated?

Per my bariatric surgeon, my minimum lab requirements are:
  complete metabolic profile (includes potassium, calcium, glucose, more)
  CBC with differential
  iron
  iron binding capacity
  iron saturation
  Vitamin B12
  Vitamin D (25 OHD)

My PCP does a few more than these.

 Thanks for the info. May I ask how often these are required? I'm sure I will get this information from the surgeon when I see him, but I want to be as informed as possible, when I see my doctor soon, and share this information with him.

My labs are required pre-surgery, then at 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, then yearly forever.  

My PCP also ran the same labs at about 2-3 months. 

 Thanks!!  That helped a lot.

Here's the list of what they drew from me yesterday (7 tubes of blood!!).  I'm not sure how many are required, and I don't know what about 1/3 of these are.  The ANA is the only one that I know for sure ISN'T required for everyone.

-- CBC, EDIF, platelet
-- Folate (serum and red cell)
-- Iron/iron binding/transferrin
-- B1
-- B12
-- D
-- Hemoglobin A1c
-- TSH
-- PTH intact
-- Chem 6 (lytes, bun crea)
-- lipid panel
-- ANA multiplex

Good luck!  I'm self-pay as well, and they told me I will at least have the fewest hoops to jump through of anyone.  =)

Wow, that is a lot. No wonder it took 7 tubes of blood! Now I just have to worry about not fainting through these tests. After the 4th tube, they begin to loose me quickly, and even faster if they don't get it in on the first try. Not something I'll be looking forward to.

Thanks for the info.