Please get your labs drawn yearly and track your trends. PSA

I tend to mention my serum protein is problematic and I need 3 to 4 shakes a day to keep it normal - I say this way too many times (to me, it seems) because this is now how it is "supposed" to be, if you go by what we are told or see in the glossy brochure.

Also, I am amused that lately people are showing up feeling like total **** with their ferritin way low (like at 6 and 7).  I am not amused that their labs are so low, I am amused that my ferritin was 5 at my 1 year and 10 at my 2 year labs and that I lift weights, hike the dogs miles with extra weight in a pack, Zumba and function on crapper level ferritin.

Sure, I take a 30 minute nap once a day if I can, but I also go to bed at 9 and wake up between 2 and 3 in the morning for work, so who in their right might WOULDNT need a nap?

Anyway, all of that to say, please get copies of your labs and track your trends yourself. 

Yes your labs might be "stellar" at 3 months, but like so many things with this surgery, how it is 2, 3, 4 months out is not how it is at 1 year, 2 years, the rest of your life.

You may NEVER have an issue with anything and that will ROCK!

But if you DO have problems - if you can see them by watching your labs trend, you can facilitate getting things under control before something totally tanks - and who knows what happens!

Healthy, happy, whole!!  I wi**** in heaps and heaps for us all!

Brandi,
Could you do us a favor and list the tests we should be getting and what they're for?

I've had my labs done at 6 months and I'll probably have them done again at 9 mos. I think they're probably doing the bare minimum and I'm concerned I'm not being tested for the things bariatric patients should watch for. I know they're testing for my thyroid since I have thyroid disease and testing ferriton and cholesterol and a few other things...but have no clue what else should be looked at. I'd really appreciate your input, Fairy Sleeve Mother!! Love ya bunches and bunches, thanks for keeping us on the right track Girlie!!

Heidi

Here is what I have handy from the printout I just give to the doctor when I ask for my annual labs.  I just finished my nappage and need to get some STATs out, so I will come fill in some questions about particulars if there are some!

Edit to add the list of labs that I get drawn - open invitation for smart lab people to add more if I am missing something - There are notes in here so I remember what gets covered with foil (I bring my own) and why I need some things (the PTH for the calcium)

Hold vitamin supplements for 3 days prior to lab draw – have them drawn fasting  **THIS VARIES DEPENDING ON YOUR DOC PREFERENCE!!  Some docs say to hold some dont, I dont care to argue about this - my doc says hold and I have since my baseline labs, so I contine!  
ICD-9 Diagnosis code 783.12   CBC PTT, PT/INR Iron, TIBC, ferritin, transferrin
Copper, Zinc,
Albumin, prealbumin (some places, like Kaiser use pre albumin and albumin anymore instead of serum protein because they are more sensitive - My baseline labs were done with serum protein, so I will continue to have serum protein drawn unless they get crazily low and I need to see the "nuances")
Comprehensive metabolic panel,
Folate, Vitamin A (DO NOT EXPOSE TO LIGHT), vitamin B 1, vitamin B6 (B1 and B6 also should not be exposed to light,
vitamin B12,
vitamin D (Dhydroxy 25, 0,25 – NOT 1,25)
PTH (for use with calcium and vitamin D levels, where is calcium coming from)
Lipid panel, triglycerides, LDL, VLDL, HDL, cholesterol total

***

I wonder if my ferritin and protein were good would I feel so good I could heal the blind, lame, sick and Deeef!? 

Stupid original post wont let me put this in there!

Be sweet people! see ya in a bit!

Just to add to your list, I specifically request a Vitamin D3, and the multiple Thyroid panels to be ran as well.

I think the metabolic panel pulls a bare minimum of a T3, T4, but I request a floating T4, TSH and parathyroid in addition to the normal thyroid panel.

Thyroid issues run in my family history so I'm probably a lot more overzealous than some in that department.

You're not overly senstive :) Thyroid panels, full ones, are important for everyone - not just WLS patients. Autoimmune thyroid disorders (Hashimoto's, Grave's)  are pretty common in women, in particular, and often go grossly under-diagnosed. I'm a long-time Graves' patient, and I work closely with my doctors to 'fine-tune' my meds based on detailed labs.

TSH alone (what many PCP's and even my surgeon run if  I didn't insist otherwise) are of liimited value. Weightloss, time of day, etc., all make a difference in TSH levels.  If my doctors went on my TSH level, alone, they would reduce my thyroid meds; however, my T3, fT4, etc, are all perfect, and I have no clinical symptoms of being hyperthyroid. In fact, my resting pulse is in the 50's.  A person with a higher, more 'normal' TSH may well be clinically hypothyroid and have other values that are way off. 

One NSV from my VSG has been a significant lessening of my symptoms from  Thyroid Eye Disease. My eyes have gone back 4mm into the sockets on either side, and my eye measurements are back down to where they were after I had Oribital Decompression surgery in 2004 (and I weighed 135lbs).  I can literally close my eyes again, and I have far less 'dry-eye' symptomes.  My opthomologist thinks it's a combination of a less 'inflammatory' diet and losing fat. Along with making the eye sockets bigger, my OD surgery had removed fat behind the eyes. He says, when I gained weight, I likely gained back a lot of that fat (whcih pushed my eyes outward, again) and have now lost it again through VSG.

Good call, but here is a wonder - does it say D3 on your labs alone?  I took a picture, mine says the D 25 OH assay includes the D3.  Or I wonder if that depends on who is processing the labs? (Like Quest versus LabCorps?_

Good point about all the thyroid stuff.  My new PA is a stickler about thyroid stuff.

I'll add my PSA free and clear to the list too...  You gals don't need to worry about that one

can you heal the dumb too? cuz...that would be really helpful. ;)

thanks for the list. Of course, I'm still waiting on the not so bright NP to let me know if she put in the Rx for this. Might could haul off and nag some more if she doesn't get back to me by...well, I guess I'll give her til tomorrow.

Man, If I could, sometimes I would be first in line for a healing!  :}

Excellent advice...I just went in to have my labs drawn yesterday and I realized that I have no idea what my past labs said because I didn't get my own copies. I watched my surgeon and my NUT look at them and say, "looks good!" but....now I have no idea of any specifics.

So...this time I will request the copies so I can be in the know too! Woo Hoo!

Lindsey