Hi reenie,

I agree that we must take care of ourselves. we need to not only educate ourselves but our doctors.
But I can not totally blame the surgery on me having this issue. I had low blood sugar before. Now I have it worse. The worse is not totally due to the surgery. The worse was brought on by me not eating and using laxatives daily.
Could I, would I, have had the problem brought on as strongly? *****ally knows. If it was already there and triggered by what I had done then my thoughts are hey i brought this on to myself.
Its kind of like when they started to do heart transplants. No one knew what could really happen but the choice to have it or not was made. The early ones were the ones who paved the way.
While I'm amazed at how long they have been doing some type of stomach reduction surgery they are always making changes to it to improve it. each improvement is going to have its own set of new issues.
No I do not want to lose my liver or pancreas. Yes I am doing what I am suppose to do to make things better and right.
I think what we will see in the future is a new set of doctors who specialize if patients who have had stomach reduction surgerys. they will be the ones that we will need to visit to get the information we need. Dr A is a great surgeon. He is not an edonocronologist, dietician, or shrink. Lets face it we need all of those and maybe some more!
We didn't get to be our previous sizes by not having some kind of issues mentally. I think that all goes along with before and after surgery just like eating right and excersizing.
The surgery is a done deal for me. Now its the moving positivly forward.
Would I still do the surgery? yes. I would. I would also still have Dr A for my surgeon. and if I needed more types of surgery I would go to him too. He's good as a surgeon.
I'm not keeping my head in the sand. No ostrich here but I can not dwell on the negative that could happen. That would jsut mean I would need even more mental health visits! LOL
Thank you for caring so much for all of us. we all appreciate the reseach that you do. It is a help. I try to read those but it is to technical for me the language I can not understand but I do go and google alittle bit more after trying to dispher them. I bet cha the doctors even have a hard time with them.
take care,

i agree with the thought of having had the surgery and feeling like well i'm done with you type of thing.
i do keep asking questions and asked him if the diet didin' tmake a difference what woudl be next. he told me he'd give me the name of a endocronologist. Please excuse my spellinjg of that one!
i've already decided that in january when I go back to him I will ask him to refer me to one. if not then my insurance lets me go to a specialist without a referal and I will use that. I plan on being proactive with my health.
I thought the dietician was very nice but i didn;'t think she understood that the issue i was having is not eating enough. yes i want to lose weight but if you need to eat to not have crazy episodes then give me the food man!
when i questioned that 4 oz of cottage cheese and .5 oz of rasins for a snack i wans tsure woudl cut it seeing as how I was eating twice that and having episodes of low blood sugar she said to me don't you want to lose weight? duh why do you think I had the surgery hon?
i did get a good list of the good carbs that i need to eat.
i did what she gave me to do for a week. felt totally out of sorts couldlt' think clearly was shakey all the time felt light headed oh it was fun! then in the next week i added more amounts of food than what she had given me to eat of the same thihgs she listed. that did help me to get regular when i do less i have problems.
so for now until i'm regular again or january which ever comes first i will continue with what is working for me to be better.
the odd thing is i'm not gaining. which is good. i'm holding to what i was.
all in good time right? the important thing is geting better.
thank you again reenie.
we'll hear from connie and marilyn and mike again. dog too! maybe they are all doing so very good that they do not need us right now. i do find that we all seem to circle round the wagons when we'renot feeling well.

Thank you Reenie for your thoughtfulness and trying to find the info that we need. I tried very hard to understand the articules you sent but it is so far over my head that I can not make sense of it at all.
My problem with low blood sugar was somethinjg that I had before surgery but it wasn't as bad. I ate all the time so if I went without eating I'd have a minor issue. The bad issues that I get now have alot to do with me being stupid in august and abusing myself by not eating. what a dum bunny i am. it is also combined with my menopause and yes the gastric bypass put all three together and i upset my apple cart big time.
i'm feeling much much better but not totally myself. if i skip or am late with a meal i know it.
the things that happen are scarey to me. i keep food with me at all times.
truthfully i'm to the point where i find that i am afraid to leave the house for long periods of time. i go to work and do a good job. i have always carried my lunch box so i always have things with me. what scares me is after work at home alone,. i worry that somethinjg will happen to me and no one will find me.
silly isn' tit? this stuff never bothered me before and i've been alone for many years now.
as i feel better those feelings of terror aren't as strong. its right after an issue that i get anxious. ive got an appointment with kim daniels in january. ive never looked forward to an appoointment so much!
so for me it is getting markedly better. will it go away tottally? i do not think so it is here to stay. i need to be very viligent in how i care for myself.
why did i have my head in the sand thinking that i could do what i wanted that i woudln't be the one who would have problems? HA!
guess I got taught a good lesson huh?
happy holidays.
i've got decorations done, presents bought. have to do the wrapping but my heart is not in th eholidays im just not into it this year. maybe next year.

Hi Judy, do you know what? I went to your profile page and read it - for the first time! Imagine that after all these years? You are one tough cookie - one hell of a survivor. As for feeling ashamed to go back to your surgeon, don't be - he'll be happy to take your money, ashamed or not...listen, this is all up to us. He's a tool; any weight loss program is a tool; and reading your profile page, you've tried all sorts of "tools" and you've never given up, so I don't expect you will now. I think the thing for us to do RIGHT NOW is for us to band together and find a way to SUPPORT EACH OTHER to help each other GET BACK ON TRACK. Speaking of which, it looks like you tried Barbara Thompson's program, "Back o Track" - how did that work for you? Can you share what that program is about - what do you eat on that program? What are the specifics? Maybe we can try that together with you leading us? All I know is I feel the same way you do: desperate, alone, scared, out of control: let's see, today I've had 2 pieces of birthday cake (for a person who works here) and of course my many handfuls of M&M's... no exercise, I just sit through my lunch hours now instead of going to the gym. I'm certifiably depressed. Sad. Defeated. And gaining. So don't feel ashamed, do what you have to do to take care of yourself - and I'll try to follow your lead and never give up... be well, Judy. Maureen

Hi Pam, I miss everyone too - I just have this sick feeling that our Board is unraveling - please, people - prove me wrong! Pam, I've posted some links about hypoglycemic complications that are occurring for longer term post-ops (like us) - pointing to serious health issues that affect that pancreas and liver. Please read those articles and make sure you share them with your doctor. Dr. Aranow is way too casual about this - I have not appreciated his post-surgery care at all - it's as if he washes his hands of his post-op patients, like God or something: "I've worked the Miracle for you, now go forth and Lose Weight!" and that's the end of that story.  I think the industry is only just beginning to understand that very serious health ramifications of post-gastric bypass (re-routing/malabsorbing) surgeries. This is why Connie is so quiet, I'm betting. She's really suffering from some serious health issues because of this surgery. BE PRO-ACTIVE. I hope you're well, Pam. Happy Holidays. M.