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WLS Center.com E-Newsletter
A FREE publication by
http://www.wlscenter.com
Issue # 17
Circulation: 6,719
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From the Desk of Barbara ThompsonAuthor of "Weight Loss Surgery, Finding the Thin Person
Hiding Inside You"
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** In this issue **
* An Extra Special Announcement about Vitamins
* On The Radio: KGAB 650 AM
* New Research Article: Lap Band
* Recipe: Pea Bean Salad
* Request for Hospital Stories
* Success Story: Lisa Fandal Hart
* Spreading the Word in New Jersey, Virginia and Orlando
* Poem: Thoughts
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Dear Subscriber,
On Sept. 5th I spoke in New Brunswick, NJ, for the practice of
Dr. Andrei. I was so scared!!! Not because of the 400 people who
came to hear me speak. They were wonderful and I enjoyed each and
every one of them! But my 15-year-old daughter, Erin, was there,
hearing me speak for the first time. I wanted to do such a
wonderful job for her.
There she sat at the autograph table. She was the banker for
the evening. So what would she think when she realized that one of
my motivations for surgery was to be able to fit into Victoria's
Secret lingerie? Would she object to my telling people that she is
adopted? Would she find my jokes funny or have the teenage opinion
that they are lame?
Our family - they have such a profound effect on our lives.
They bring us our greatest joys and our deepest hurts. Throughout
our surgery they can be our biggest supporters or make our journey
harder than it should be. They can be there to remind us of the
wonderfully positive reasons that we did this to our selves or
make us feel stupid for trying. They can cheer our successes or
mock our plateaus. They can look at us with wonderful appreciation
or be resentful when others look at us with that same
appreciation.
When all is said and done, we do what we can to make those we
love happy, and do what we can to gain their approval, but in the
end, we ultimately have to do what is in our own best interest.
By the way, Erin loved hearing me speak. She was so proud of me
- almost as proud as I was of her. And she laughed at all my
jokes! It was a great night!
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** An Extra Special Announcement about Vitamins **
Vitamins have always been so important to me. They are such a
vital key to maintaining the health that we have gone through so
much to attain.
I have never been comfortable taking chewable children's
vitamins. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that
something designed for a child will not supply us with what we
need as adults. If we take a multivitamin pill, are we certain
that it will completely dissolve in our pouch with no gastric
juice present? There is no question that bariatric patients have
very special nutritional needs
Then there is calcium. I just brought my mother home from the
hospital. I watched her suffer for 5 weeks because she broke a leg
as a result of osteoporosis. What an awful disease. Because there
are no warning signs, we can have osteoporosis and not even know
it until we break a bone. We, as gastric bypass patients, are so
much at risk because to be properly absorbed, calcium requires an
acidic environment that is normally provided by gastric juice.
Since we do not have gastric juice in our small pouches anymore,
we have to compensate by taking the correct kind of calcium in the
correct form. Osteoporosis is a very preventable disease, if we
just bother to take the right kind if calcium!
Then there is B12, which is mostly absorbed in the portion of
the small intestines that has been bypassed by our surgery. It is
necessary for gastric bypass patients to take B12 supplements. If
you are lacking in B12, you will feel very tired.
I am so excited to share with you that I have finally
discovered a quality line of vitamins that will solve these
problems perfectly for us. It is a line of vitamins called
Isotonix. Here is why they are so perfect for the bariatric
patient:
* Do you hate to take pills? Are you afraid they will get
stuck? Well, Isotonix comes in a powdered form that dissolves
instantly in water.
* Have you tried liquid vitamins that taste so nasty that you
can't take them? Isotonix taste great. They have a slightly
effervescent citrus taste.
* With very little digestion going on in our new stomach pouch,
pills have the potential to just sit there without dissolving.
Isotonix supplements are dissolved even before we drink them, so
they are instantly ready to be absorbed.
* The multivitamin is a quality vitamin designed for adults.
* The Isotonix calcium contains 5 different kinds of calcium
compounds
(carbonate, citrate, malate, etc) and 3 different organic
acids. When you mix the Isotonix Calcium with water, the organic acids
cause a fizzing that releases the calcium from the compounds. The calcium
becomes ionized and can then be instantly absorbed by the body.
The calcium is delivered in an acidic form to provide for powerful
absorption that is so important for bypass patients who are
lacking in gastric juice. It is exactly what we need!
I recommend that you try these supplements. After you drink
your vitamins and calcium, you will NEVER go back to pills.
For more information, go to
http://www.wlscenter.com/Vitamins.htm
Call our office toll free (877) 440-1518 today for this special
price. Individual items can also be purchased at regular prices.
Remember, you may pay a little more for these vitamins and
calcium, but you are buying a supplement that has a far greater
chance of being absorbed than regular pills. Besides, you, and
you're health, are worth it!
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** On the Radio**
For those of you in the Southern and Central Wyoming area as
well as Western Nebraska and northern Colorado including the metro
Denver area, I will be interviewed on KGAB radio, 650 AM on
Wednesday September 25th at 7:00 AM MDT on the Morning Zone with
Dave Chaffin and Amy Richards. If you are in that area, I hope you
tune in.
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** New Research Article: Lap Band **
It seems that more and more I am being asked questions about
the lap band surgery. Before now, the only US study I could site
was an done by Dr. Eric DeMaria of the Virginia
Commonwealth University.
Another study has just been published in the journal,
"Obesity Surgery," June 2002 issue. In this study, Dr.
Richard Rubenstein of the State University of New York at Stony
Brook, reports more favorable results.
His study involved 63 patients who underwent banding between
March 1999 and June 2001. Of the 63 patients, 18 had
complications, which were relatively minor (1 gastric perforation
which was resolved, 5 port problems, 9 band slippage, and 3
infections).
What was especially interesting was the way people lost weight.
With RNY gastric bypass surgery, patients lose their greatest
amount of weight during the first 12 to 18 months, stop losing and
then tend to regain 10 or 15 pounds over the next 3 years until
they stabilize.
With the lap band, the weight loss was gradual over the 3-year
study. Patients averaged 27.2% loss of their excess weight at 6
months, 38.3% at 1 year, 46.4% at 2 years and 53.6% at 3 years.
This is nearly comparable to the gastric bypass results in the
long term.
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** Recipe: Pea Bean Salad **
Pea Bean Salad by Sulinn Mathews
Barbara, I took this to the WLS Picnic today and everyone raved
over it. It's very good and low calorie.
1 can baby peas (16 0z.)
1 can white shoepeg corn (12 oz.)
1 can French style green beans (16 oz.)
1 med. onion chopped
3/4 cup celery chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 small jar pimentos chopped
chopped garlic, if desired
Drain all veggies well while preparing dressing.
DRESSING
1/2 cup salad oil
1/2 cup tarragon vinegar
3/4 cup sugar (I use the equivalent in artificial sugar
instead)
1 tsp. salt, if desired
Combine all dressing ingredients; heat to boiling. Cool. Pour
over mixed veggies. Refrigerate 24 hours or longer to allow
flavors to blend.
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
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** Request for Hospital Stories **
I am looking for stories regarding your stay in the hospital
for your weight loss surgery or for any other surgery you might
have had. I am looking for anecdotes about how you were treated as
a morbidly obese person by the staff or in terms of hospital
equipment not being size friendly. The stories can be funny or
disasters. Don't worry about the quality of writing. I would just
like to have the stories. Thanks so much!!!
Just email them to me at Barbara@wlscenter.com
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** Spreading the Word in New Jersey, Virginia and Orlando
**
On Thursday September 5th, I spoke for the practice of Dr.
Valeru Andrei of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New
Brunswick, NJ. There were 400 people there. Amazing!!!
For pictures of Dr. Andrei and the staff,
Everyone told me how handsome Dr. Andrei is. They were right!
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** Poem Corner **
Thoughts by Cali
The days march inexorably forward
Closer, closer the day looms
Sometimes, I can't wait.
Hurry, hurry, oh day of my new beginning
Then, my fears well up
And too, my anger...
Why, why must I do this?
Why must I suffer more pain?
There is a difference, I say
This pain, I choose.
This pain will lead me to health,
To the potential of new happiness
So, march on, days,
I am waiting with eyes open.
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