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Sandra3

One year Post-op

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I met my lovely team on Saturday. I basically spent my entire Saturday morning at the hospital going from the surgeon's office to the lab for blood test, then the nut. I also had a nice chat with my "coordinator" nurse she said I looked amazing and was wondering why I didn't lose more hair !I told her about the Keratin powder to hide my thin spots...she didn't know about it and will share it with other patients! great!!

My surgeon was extremely happy about my results he said I was right on target, still on the high end (??? really???how??). Since his projection was to lose 50 kgs (110 pounds) and I was at 44 kgs (97 pounds) on Saturday I'm "only" 13 pounds away. I did tell him about the longest stalls and the fact that I would like to lose more (around 30/40 pounds) but not sure that could happen... he told me again that until July I had to just focus on exercising more because I was on track, and losing those 30 pounds and even more was completely doable (more! really?? ). I'm glad because I was not sure it would be a realistic expectation. So I told him that even if I've been doing better (tummy side) my knee was still a big issue since June. So he said not to wait any longer and booked me with the chef of the orthopedic department, who's a knee specialist. I will see him in February.
Hopefully there's other options than surgery.

I met my nut ten minutes after my blood test and was amazed that she already had most results! Everything was great except (of course) my iron, still too low even with the mega doses from last week. She told me to double my usual dose everyday until my next blood test. For some reason my absorption is still not good. So I'm going back to 80 mg again...it's just crazy!
What's interesting is that my cholesterol is now way below the minimum; at some point after surgery it was high from losing so much weight so quickly, then it was just a little tiny too high....now it's excellent! I think my artichoke supplement did help...liver an everything else was great.
I just have to wait a few more days to get my B12 and D results...
My scan did show that my muscle mass is still the same compare to my last scan, so I only lost two pounds of muscle in the last 9 months. My nut said it's excellent and showing that my nutrition is really good, but exercise too (hum..not so sure for exercise..could do much better with less injuries! but indeed I'm more mobile than I was one year ago anyway). She said that the majority of her patients lose much more muscle and I should try my best to keep it that way. I will!
Also she told me to send her three days of my food intake (photos or just tracking) so she could see why I was doing so good. I don't track every day so I did show her what I had with me: one day per month or so but I will try to send her more. There's many things that I eat she is not familiar with because many people in Asia are lactose intolerant, my diet is really different on many levels. Also I do eat nuts every day and take many supplements that are not even available here. So it's hard to know what's really working.

I cooked a special dinner for Saturday night. Mainly French food. Took me a while to find all the ingredients but it was so worth it! It was a special celebration for my dear friend and I, she also had a procedure done one year ago (not to lose weight) but because she had to be on liquid food for a while she decided to do it the same day that I had surgery so we would be sipping broth together. When I came back from the hospital she even came to see me with home made chicken broth! She also took one full day off from work when I had to stay two full days in hospital for all my pre-op exams right before surgery, she was with me for my anesthesia consult because we knew the doc was not really fluent in English. Anyway, she is a real sweetheart and I was happy to celebrate that special day with her and our families.

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  1. Shirl's Avatar
    ✨Congratulations on such great doctor's visit!✨

    You are doing fantastic! And I know you will do even better this year! I hope knee situation gets resolved, my partner was an athlete in high school and college, mostly track & field and jogged daily until ten years ago, now he just does elliptical, but point was that had to have a knee replacement 3 years ago and it was the best thing he ever did. Wish you were here in Austin his doctor worked magic! He was walking within hours and on the elliptical by a week out. He is still on arthritis medication, but dose is much smaller than before.

    I looked for artichoke supplements, but not sure which to buy. There were liquid, pill and tea form. What do you buy?

    Also, my pharmacist suggested I take an iron supplement with vitamin c for better absorption.

    Here is what I take https://www.numedica.com/literature/...rd09232013.pdf not sure if you can get same brand, but look for iron that comes with vitC.

    I have always have been low grade anemic, but last labs iron actually cane back in normal (lower) range, that was a new for me!!!

    I took a diuretic after my moon was over. I'm on a stall scale wise, but looking for NSV so not to feel discouraged, it's such mental work when that freaking number just doesn't move. It's worst when it creeps up a few pounds lol!

    Please do share your supplement brand.

    Sending you immense love, peace and light always!
  2. Greatest decision ever!!!'s Avatar
    Congratulations Sandra!! That's a huge accomplishment in one year!! And you're definitely not done so 30/40 more sounds totally possible!!
    Have you tried an elliptical machine? They're not as hard on your knees and it gives great results, especially the ones where you also use your arms because it works out your entire body.

    Cheers to 2017!!
  3. Theresa2's Avatar
    Yay! You're team sounds very supportive. Great work sleeve buddy.
  4. saramichelle's Avatar
    Awesome!! Way to go!
  5. Christie13's Avatar
    What a great one year appointment!! You have done wonderfully!! And I always love the knowledge you share with us. Happy anniversary!
  6. Sandra3's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Shirl
    ✨Congratulations on such great doctor's visit!✨
    Thanks a lot Shirl!!!

    Well, on the knee issue, I hope I will be able to avoid surgery. My mother in law just got her new knee in March and she is almost 70...
    I know that I do have many joint/muscle issues that are the consequences of being so big for so long, but also ballet intensive for several year until I was 16 years old certainly did take it's toll on my body. At that time I was slim but I think it was just too many hours of hard work out on a growing body that already had issues. My feet are "deformed" because of ballet. I don't regret it but it was obvious that I would never make a job if it so I should have been less involved...anyway..can't change the past. At least I didn't let my older daughter do the same mistake..

    Iron: I tried everything available on the market (my cousin is a pharmacist, I got lots of free samples) but so far my conclusion is that my absorption is better when it's iron from plants. In June my doc in France put me under a iron from the pharmacy and I couldn't stand it, got really sick with it. So I went back to what I took before.
    I currently take "Rainbow Light, Complete Iron, Mini-Tabs, 60 Mini Tablets" (and your pharmacist is right about vitamin C, those have some) and also "Rainbow Light, Certified Plant-Source Iron, 50 Plant Capsules " those are made with organic curry leaves.
    The complete iron is 30 mg, the curry one is 20, so I currently take one complete for breakfast and one complete for lunch and one curry for dinner, when I was out of the complete I just took four of the curry...

    But I couldn't open your link about your supplement...

    Artichoke: I take both liquid and capsule.
    The liquid I got in France: one dose is the equivalent of 1500mg of dry plant. It's mixed with other plants to give a better taste. I must say the taste is funky I won't buy it again. I didn't see the equivalent of that one in the US. That one is strong and I took it for only one week. One bottle is made to be used just for that time.

    The capsules are made from organics artichoke and one capsule is 600mg. Again it's a Vietnamese brand, I got it last year when I was visiting a museum about traditional medicine in Saigon, part of it is an organic factory that work with a French pharmacy. Price was amazing so I got several bottles.
    I looked online and I think the equivalent in the US could be "Oregon's Wild Harvest, Artichoke, 90 Non-GMO Veggie Caps". I also have used artichoke from other French brands and the dosage is the same.
    I usually take two capsules per day, one morning, one evening. But start with just one to see how you feel, because since you also have IBS is could be a trigger for some people.
    My IBS never reacted with artichoke and I give it to my older kids too a few times per year, especially after we come back from France or travels where we had dinner parties one after the other. Usually the kids would take it two or three days, I take it one or two weeks.
    This time because I want to take it longer I only take it every two days.
  7. Sandra3's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Greatest decision ever!!!
    Congratulations Sandra!! That's a huge accomplishment in one year!! And you're definitely not done so 30/40 more sounds totally possible!!
    Have you tried an elliptical machine? They're not as hard on your knees and it gives great results, especially the ones where you also use your arms because it works out your entire body.

    Cheers to 2017!!
    Thanks Liz! The Elliptical is not working for me. Besides walking which can be fine for a few miles then I get stuck...there's not many options left unfortuntly. Stairs are awful too...
    I'm trying a few new things this week, we'll see how it goes..
  8. Sandra3's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Theresa2
    Yay! You're team sounds very supportive. Great work sleeve buddy.
    Thanks Theresa! It took me for ever to decide where I was going to have the surgery but I know I made the right decision. I've been to many hospitals in different countries and this team is just amazing. I will really miss them!
  9. Sandra3's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Christie13
    What a great one year appointment!! You have done wonderfully!! And I always love the knowledge you share with us. Happy anniversary!
    Thanks Christie! I'm happy to share my experience, I'm always interested to read about other fellow sleevers too, I think sharing our results and tricks can save us some time looking for answers.