Monday, May 12, 2008

6 Month Lab Results


I just got a copy of my labwork results that I'll go over with my PCP and surgeon/nutritionist later this week at my doctor appointments. But, of course, I keep track of my own lab results in a spreadsheet so I can see for myself how things are trending. It's good to see all my results together in one place so I can compare the current labwork with past results and see if there are any trends I need to pay attention to.


So here are the highlights:


Vitamin D --- at 3 months I was deficient so my PCP put me on a mega-dose of Vitamin D (50,000IU) once per week. It seems to have done the trick because now I'm back into the normal range. It's still on the low side of normal so we'll see if he wants me to continue the mega-dose for a little while longer of if it's high enough to be able to keep it regulated at this point .


Vitamin B12 --- I have a reading of 894. It's at the high end of the normal range, but I am a bit worried about this. Here's why:


6 week B12 -- over 2000 (taking 1 pill per day)

3 month B12 -- 1098 (taking 1 pill per day except for the 3 weeks before these labs were drawn)

6 month B12 -- 894 (taking 1 pill 3 times per week only)


So looking at this 6 month report only, it might seem that my B12 levels are fine. But when you see the major downward trend in the readings over the past few months it's cause for alarm. I will most likely be increasing my current 3x/week dose to either every day or maybe 5x/week. I'll consult my doctor to get his opinion before I do anything though.


Cholesterol -- My total cholesterol is 135. That's down from 170 before surgery. WooHoo! Good job Pam! My HDL needs to be bumped up a bit though. It's at 40 and that's the low end of the scale -- this is the good cholesterol that increases with good diet and exercise.


Iron -- It just keeps going up and up. Last lab report was at 85, now I'm at 91. I'm not taking any additional iron supplements, just what's in my multi-vitamin. So I'm glad this is staying steady and I don't need to add extra pills. So many people have iron issues after WLS, glad I don't seem to be one of them.


So far so good, huh? I feel like I'm track with everything and I'm glad my Vitamin D is back up again. I'm sure it'll just continue to get better since I'll be out in the sunshine more often as the Crim Training intensifies.


More about my 6-month milestone later. Still gathering my thoughts on my progress.


~Pam

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