WLS Center E-Newsletter

A FREE publication from
http://www.WLScenter.com

Hosted by Barbara Thompson
Author of:
Weight Loss Surgery:
Finding the Thin Person Hiding Inside You.

Barbara Thompson
The Voice of Obesity

Hello Everyone,
My research article below highlights problems that have been identified with a vitamin B deficiency. This underscores the importance of having regular check ups with your surgeon. I have a PCP that I just love who doesn’t know anything about the needs of gastric bypass patients and who isn’t reading the latest research in the field and looking for things to watch out for in patients. Your PCP is probably the same.  One of the best ways to stay healthy is to keep in contact with your surgeon.  Weight loss surgery is not only a life-long commitment, but a life long relationship with your surgeon.

In This Issue

* Research Article: Getting in Your B’s
* Survey Results
* New Century Club Program
* Understanding the Obesity Stigma
* Blogging Along
* Recipe: Chilled Cantaloupe Soup
* Success Story: Diane Gentner
* Spreading the Word in Danville, PA

When we have gastric bypass or duodenal switch surgery, we have to make a commitment to taking vitamin supplements for the rest of our lives. The stomach and the first part of the small intestines is where a lot of vitamins and nutrients are absorbed from the food that we eat. Taking vitamins to offset this malabsorption is extremely important and something that we have to take very seriously.

A new study from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences finds that 5% of patients are deficient in B vitamins, some with very serious consequences. Dr Sami Harik, Chair of the Department of Neurology noticed that weight loss surgery patients were coming to see him with symptoms of tingling in their hands and feet. This led him to do a study of 150 weight loss surgery patients who came in for treatment. Of those, 26 had neurological symptoms directly related to their surgery and were deficient in B12 and iron. Most of the affected patients had not been taking their B vitamins.

Don’t wait for these symptoms to show up. Take B vitamins and have your B levels checked through blood tests. And for information about the vitamins that I take, click here http://www.wlscenter.com/Vitamins.htm

Check out my Blog and be sure to leave your comments. Since the beginning of this month, there are new articles there about:

If you especially like a specific post in my Blog, be sure to email it to a friend.

Visit my Blog at http://WeightLossSurgeryBlog.net and leave a comment.

I just love soup however, when the temperatures are this high, piping hot soup is a little less appealing.  Why not try a cold soup.  Here is a recipe for a cold soup made with cantaloupes which are delicious and reasonably priced right now.

Chilled Cantaloupe Soup

1 cantaloupe – peeled, seeded and cubed
2 cups orange juice
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place cubed cantaloupe and and half the orange juice in a blender or food processor. Cover and process until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the lime juice, cinnamon and the remaining orange juice. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Garnish with mint if desired.

Makes 6 servings

Nutritional information per serving:
70 calories; 16 carbs and 1.4 protein

If you have a recipe that you would like to share in future issues of this newsletter, please send it to me at Barbara@WLScenter.com

I want to offer Diane Gentner a special thanks.  Here is her story:

I have been overweight for as long as I can remember.  Both my parents were overweight and I have been successful on every diet plan I could afford.  And I always gained the weight back.  I began to research weight loss surgery in 2004.  I had heard so many horror stories and was hesitant to do something so permanent.  Conventional wisdom told me that I should be able to reduce calories and increase exercise and get myself to a healthy weight and size.

In November of 2005 I was diagnosed with Endometrial Carcinoma and scheduled for a total hysterectomy in December.  My research and my GYN Endocrinologist told me that the cancer was estrogen-driven and that body fat increased estrogen.  The only steps I could take for myself to reduce the recurrence of the cancer was to lose weight.  In addition to that, my pre-op blood work indicated “impaired glucose tolerance.”  I was headed toward Type-2 Diabetes.  My mother was diagnosed with diabetes at age 62 and died of a heart attack within 2 years.

Coming up in June 2006, I would be turning 60 and I had a strong desire to live longer than my mom.  I contacted my surgeon at Wright Patterson Air Force Medical Center and told him that I was ready for gastric bypass surgery.  Four months after my hysterectomy, I had laparoscopic Roux-en-Y. 

That was April 4, 2006.  Now almost 16 months later I have lost 110 pounds, my blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure are all within normal ranges.  I am taking only a small amount of blood pressure medication and hope to be off of that before long.  I take much less medication for joint pain and no longer have to sleep with a C-PAP machine.

The biggest part of my success is the change in my lifestyle.  I can do so much more – go for walks with my dog, sight-see with my family on vacation.  I also sing with a small professional chorus.  For the last few years I have had to sit on a stool to perform at the concerts.  This last May I stood for the whole concert.  That was a huge success for me.  And my breath control and singing have improved so that my voice sounds 10 years younger.  That has been an unexpected benefit.

I have more weight to lose to get to my ideal weight.  And I am struggling not to return to pre-surgery habits.  But the miracle that weight loss surgery has brought to my life and health is already a success story.

Diane Gentner
Dayton, Ohio
dgentner@aol.com

Congratulations Diane