Traci, So glad you don't have MS. Sorry about the nutritional deficits. Those are hard. At first I thought it was just lactose, but I used one of the whey based powders I have and got diarrhea. Happens everytime I have whey. On a vegan website I found a couple of soy-based protein powders and bars, but they are very high in carbohydrates. I do all right with the carbs, but it kind of defeats the purpose of the pouch challenge if my protein drink has 30 and more grams of carbs in each serving. I will continue to search. I could start on day three or modify the first two days. Oh well, I will work on it. Seem to be doing okay--losing a couple of pounds every other week or so. Monna

As a matter of fact, I DO have a list! Here ya go, this is what I have drawn every 6 months: Comprehensive metabolic profile (sodium, potassium, chloride, glucose, BUN, creatinine, calcium, total protein, albumin, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase) (Nc,K,C1,CO2,Glu,BUN,Cr,Ca,TP,Alb,Tbili,AP,AST,ALT) LIPID PROFILE (cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, chol/HDL ratio) Tchol,Trig,HDL,Calc,LDL) GGT (* a liver function test not in a comp panel) LDH Prealbumin (tells you protein status recently) PHOSPHORUS - INORGANIC URIC ACID Copper CBC (HEMOGRAM/PLT/DIFF) B-12 & FOLATE, B-6 B1(Thiamine) IRON, TIBC, % SAT FERRITIN VITAMIN A Vitamin D (25-hydroxy), VITAMIN E VITAMIN K THYROID PANEL (T3, T4, TSH) ZINC MAGNESIUM SERUM INTACT PTH (PARATHYROID) Homocystine, MMA HGB A1C NOTE about having your labs drawn: you should go in FASTING, and you should stop taking any supplements about two days before you go in to have them drawn. Taking supplements within 2 days or so of having them done can skew the vitamin testing results (or so the lab tech informed me).

Thanks Traci - that makes me feel a little better. I used to have a prescription that my surgeon had written with all of the tests I should have done, but I lost it. Do you have a list?

When I first had my surgery, my surgeon was only about 30 minutes from me - since then I moved, and so did he and now he's 1.5 -2 hours from me. While probably doable I suppose, not my preference so I have chosen to have my labs drawn through my primary care family doc. I give him a list of the labs I need done and he does them. I'm basically educating him on WLS post-ops and since most of it involves nutrition and supplementing and well, IMHO, most bariatric surgeons seem to fall short in this area as well - I can do just as well with my PCP as with my surgeon. The more important thing is to get those labs done - all of them, so you know what's going on. Any doctor can orders those. Take your supplements to keep those levels where they need to be. Some folks travel out of state to have their surgeries and all of their follow-up care is done through their PCP, so it is very possible for you to do this too.

Good morning! Well, much to my surprise I made it through two days of liquids!! I had planned on starting soft protein early last night because we usually go to dinner after tap dance class, but we ended up not going, so I just had some of my Carb Countdown mushroom soup. I started off on Monday at 186.8, this morning I was 182.0 - not too shabby and very motivating to continue on. I've been exercising at least 30 - 40 minutes on the treadmill every morning, close to 3 miles. I start off at 2% incline and walk about 4 mph. Then every 4 minutes I raise the incline to 6% for two minutes. I also went to tap class for an hour last night - that's quite a workout!! The water is a problem right now. I feel like I've certainly increased my water, but I'm only getting in about 3 - 12 oz. bottles a day. Of course I was on a liquid diet so there were a couple of shakes and soup too. The problem is mostly having to run to the bathroom so much. The only 'small' thing the good Lord gave me is my bladder..... BUT, I'm working on getting in a little more every day. I start on soft protein today. Funny, I'm not really hungry. I am apprehensive about putting solid food in. I have found that I have some sort of mechanism in me that once I start eating solid foods, it's hard to stop. I'm hoping the two days on liquids has stopped that and that eliminating white carby foods will also help. Hugs, Nancy