On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:28:17 -0700 (PDT), Laureen
wrote:

On Apr 21, 1:01*pm, "
wrote:
There was an interesting story on 60 Minutes last night about gastric
bypass surgery. * Doctors noticed that patients that underwent the
procedure that had type 2 diabetes no longer had any symptoms of
diabetes following surgery. * *Most remarkable was that the effect
occured withing a few days, so it was not linked to weight loss. *They
had 8 people on the show, all of whom were type 2 and all said they
were now normal, no longer taking medication, etc.

Researchers looked into how this occurs and have concluded that the
effect seems to be caused by bypassing the duodenum, ie a short part
of the small intestine where it connects to the stomach, where some
hormone is produced by food passing through.

Some limited studies are underway abroad now to try the procedure on
people not overweight, but with type 2. * It's certainly very
interesting. * Doctors on the show were even using the term "cure".

My blood work 3 months post WLS showed diabetes as GONE! My A1c came
back 5.1 and 4.8. My insulin levels are normal as are my periods
( which I hardly ever had). My gastric bypass surgeon had told me if a
person did this drastic surgical measure and they didnt have at least
100 excess pounds it would kill them. Guess that stands to reason why
the FDA prohibits this procedure from being done on average weight
diabetics.

My hope is that someday soon they will have a breakthrough and a
cure. I have a close friend who is slowly succumbing to the ravages of
this horrible disease. She has chronic bowel trouble, neuropathy in
her extremities, her eyes are failing. Her heart has even been damaged
by neuropathy and she suffers incredible vertigo when standing up to
walk. She has almost lost her foot from slow healing infections. She
weighs less than 100lbs now. Her face is wrinkled and her hair looks
like straw from being malnourished as everything she eats rockets
through her without being absorbed.

I feel so fortunate to finally be healthy
Still doing good at 159.5 this am 3 years and almost 3 months since
WLS
Laureen

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22396623@N08


Hi Laureen, nice to see your post. I still think about you, Larry and
Alyvia and the great time we had when we went to the PNW to visit you.
Glad that you're still doing so well.

I've been back in "the groove" myself and am down to 216 pounds with a
goal of 180, so I'm getting there! (I had no choice after having
emergency angioplasty and 3 coronary artery stent insertions a few
months ago). I hope to reach my goal this October; when it happens
I'll post new pictures. In the meanwhile I'm feeling great.

I've been mostly lurking with an occasional post here in ASDLC.

---
Peter
270/216/180