[Martee]

Today, I stopped by my surgeon's office. I asked his nurse if by chance my labs had come back yet. She printed them and gave me a copy. I was very excited to see the following results:

• Cholesterol (normal 140-200) From 151 down to 106 (below normal?!)
• LDL (normal: 65-130) From 73 down to 60 (below normal?!?!)
• HDL (normal: 40-60) From 25 up to 32 (improved, at least!)
• Triglycerides (normal: 30-150) From 267 down to 72 (unbelievable!)
• HDL ratio (normal: 0-5.0) From 6.0 down to 3.3
• vitamin D (normal: 32-100) From 27.5 up to 59.8
  uric acid (normal: 2.6-6.0) From 7.0 down to 4.0

On the worrisome side, though...

MPV (normal: 7.4-10.4) From 10.4 up to 12.2
magnesium (normal: 1.8-2.4) Holding steady at 1.7

I started to read on the internet about low cholesterol and elevated MVP, and I started to freak out...so I stopped. Apparently, low cholesterol can cause cancer, anxiety, and depression (could explain my mood and behavior recently, but so could a number of other things). Elevated MPV could mean a higher risk of heart attack and stroke (could be the effect of my body going after my own muscle to function since it doesn't seem to be getting enough from my dietary intake, as suggested by my surgeon recently). I still need to wait for my surgeon's office to call me with an explanation of the results. I just can't believe how improved my cholesterol values are at this time. I feel hopeful today...and that's not something I have felt in a long time.

I will profess...I am still not happy about drinking liquid protein at this stage, but after seeing these lab results, I realize the importance of focusing my attention on doing what I need (something I never paid much attention to preoperatively) and less on what I want. So, even though I continue to struggle, I know it has a purpose...to get me to my ultimate goal of being healthy. And I will definitely find everlasting happiness with that!

Me...doing the Happy dance!

[DocSanae]

Congrats on the good report.
Your body is in the process of adjusting its functions and levels due to the rapid weight loss.
Don't worry about the numbers going either way yet, they will change some yet and level out as you reach your goal weight, and everything settles down. Until then, just like your weight, everything else is fluid.

[gail1011]

Good for you--it is important to celebrate the moments!!

[Cyndie]

I think those are excellent results!!!! I have always had low cholesterol even at my heaviest. I looked it up one time and it scared the bejesus out of me. When I talked to my doctor about it they just looked at me and said don't worry, you're fine. So I went with that. My Vitamin D went up post surgery to with actually decreasing the amount I take. I was on 100,000 a week for months to get a 24 lab result. Now I take maybe 5000 a week and its up to 41! Did you have your protein levels and iron levels drawn?
Cyndie

[Martee]

Originally Posted by Cyndie

Did you have your protein levels and iron levels drawn?
Cyndie

Cyndie,

Total protein 6.6 (normal 6.4-8.2; preop, it was 7.1))
Albumin 4.0 (normal 3.4-5.0; preop, it was 4.1)
Iron 109 (normal 50-175; preop, it was 73)
Vitamin D 59.8 (normal 32-100; preop, it was 27.5)
Vitamin B12 531 (normal 211-946; preop, it was 306)

I'm fairly surprised that my vitamin D level was as good as it was. Preop, I was advised to take vitamin D 2000 IU daily. I purchased this at a local pharmacy but in a softgel (didn't know about the recommendation to take the dry form at that time). I just switched over to the dry form since I ran out of the softgels.

As far as iron goes, my surgeon's office recommended I take 60 mg of iron daily (I take two Celebrate Iron + C 30 mg tablets a day). I always thought that seemed to be overkill, but my iron level is higher than preop, so I think that is good news.

I'm still waiting on a call from my surgeon's office, reporting their assessment of my labs. Hopefully they say everything is okay, as your doctor said, and can provide me with enough knowledge to allow me to believe it. It makes me feel a bit relieved to know, though, that I get labs checked in another two months. Hopefully most things will have stabilized a bit more by that point.

[Cyndie]

Well those look great. Can't wait to see what he says about the protein and see if you can stop drinking all those shakes! Let me know as soon as you hear anything.
Cyndie