Doctors And Food

I just got the bill from the dietician for nutritional counseling for my son. It is three hundred and forty dollars. She made him cry, and we had to leave before she actually DID anything.

It is not covered by insurance.

Insurance pays for every complication of obesity, except one: for the psychological counseling for the effects of bullying on my son about his weight.

The counselor is 'Out-Of-Network'. She is ordinarily one hundred fifty dollars an hour, but gives a discount for the school referral, so her fee is one hundred thirty dollars. That's two hours a week, one for me, and one for him, so she can get the information she needs to manage his care properly.

He is responding beautifully to her intervention for his mental health.

(the payments do not even apply to my deductible...)

There is an OB Gyn who has lost over one hundred pounds in three months. It is medically supervised, and in his words, 'was designed by someone really smart like an anesthesiologist -- <3 --who does critical care...I eat every three hours, and keep the insulin from triggering from the carbs.'

There are meal replacement shakes, and once a day, he gets 'real food'. For example, fatty fish, like salmon, is a smaller portion, but a leaner fish he gets a larger serving in ounces.

He and a RNFA (RN First Assist) were talking restaurants during a case. I had never heard of any of these places. Together they went on and on about amazing places, many of whom I can't recall the names. And Kaena wines are supposed to be amazing...

Here is one place:  http://www.innoftheseventhray.com

(just in case that 'Seventh Ray' sounds a little, well, um, metaphysical, it IS! It's the ray of St. Germain. More here: http://www.ascension-research.org/germain.html)

I couldn't help remembering when in my Family Practice rotation I had to attend an open AA meeting--listening to the conversation about restaurants really reminded me of this---except 'fine dining' was in the 'alcohol' role...

And yet the transformation of him is undeniable--as he sheds the weight, his energy body is throwing off SO much more Light. It is contagious, and totally amazing to witness the transformation with my Reiki Eyes.

I've sent a lot of Reiki to him while he operates. I send it to everyone in the room, including my patient...

<3

So at the Doctor's Dining Room, I sat eating my lunch.

I had meat.

My friend, the gastroenterologist who has been vegetarian for eight years, saw what was on my plate.

It felt awful.

I explained to him how I am eating meat now, because of my boy. We are on the insulin resistance diet--he needs it, and I am doing it with him for moral support. But I haven't lost any weight on it, and I hate meat. I never enjoy it.

He was kind.

He also shared that he doesn't trust his appetite.

So he takes the food he wants, and only eats half. The rest he throws away. That is how he says trim.

This set up a lively conversation as the cardiologist who is head of the Medical Staff, a man I really admire and enjoy, overheard us.

'Humans are the only mammal that drinks the milk of another species.' the cardiologist said with a smile, his education and intellect sparkling, as he jumped into the foray.

And the gastroenterologist, said that we drink milk as a society much longer than the animals would, who wean at the loss of their milk teeth.

He drinks almond milk, the gastroenterologist. 

(At the store today, I compared--there is like, NO protein in the soy, almond and coconut milks! )

Then the cardiologist, cutting his single piece of chicken breast on his otherwise empty plate, looked up and added, 'Who knows how our bodies were designed? To eat meat? To not?'

And the gastroenterologist, said, 'We have the enzymes for the digestion of meat. I love meat. I love the taste of it. I enjoy it. But I do not eat because I do not think we have the right to kill animals for pleasure. For survival perhaps, but that is not necessary at this time. There are plant based alternatives. Man is the only creature who kills for pleasure, for sport.'

He likes to think there is one less cow and twenty less chickens killed a year because of his vegan eating habits. He morally does not see a problems with eggs and dairy, but chooses not to eat them because of the poor living conditions for the animals, who are treated as commodities and not spiritual beings which they are.

I don't know.

Survival.

I am eating meat for the survival of my son, who interprets my eating different from him as a form of rejection.

In fact, he is now more open to trying new foods, and eating vegetables, now that I eat meat and take the pressure of 'converting him' off.

The gastroenterologist gave me his extra half of his sandwich. I ate it for dinner. I was still working late.

His kindness meant the most to me of all.

I think I will eat meat only in the presence of my son, and go back to my preference when I am alone.

I never liked meat.

My parents had to force me to eat it.

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Peace,

Reiki Doc

Advice From A Bariatric Surgeon On Weight Loss

Hi.

My son is nine. He has metabolic disease. One of my readers kindly suggested the Insulin Resistance Diet. I bought it and look forward to reading it.

We saw a dietician. The most important thing she had to offer was showing us how a can of orange juice has the same amount of carbohydrates as cola. And that both were not good for us. She also said that Nutrasweet is 'one atom away from formaldehyde--that's used to embalm--and we are not dead so don't use it.'...stevia and equal are good, according to her.

I asked my bariatric surgeon I was working with the other day, as a mother, what I could do? This is the conversation we had by the scrub sink in the O.R. hallway:

• He recommends the slow carb diet. He did it and lost ten pounds, but his brother-in -aw lost fifty on it.
• He is also extremely active and does vigorous physical exercise often.
• For six days a week, he reduces carbs to as low as possible.
• Avoid the White Carbohydrates--bread, pasta, rice
• Reasonable carbohydrate limit is twenty to thirty grams a day--and one can of that orange juice has thirty, although lower is better.
• On the seventh day, you eat whatever you want. This is because lo-carb will slow your metabolism. That seventh day revs it up, and you begin again.
• Protein intake should be about one gram per kilogram body weight a day--so if you are around one hundred fifty pounds, you are approximately seventy kilograms, so you would aim for seventy grams of protein.
• He recommends vegetables vegetables vegetables--be careful with the starchy ones like potatoes and corn.
• Now he is on maintenance because he lost his weight, but his brother-in-law is very strict about it to keep his weight off.

He also has a funny story...as you know, the medical term for weight loss is 'bariatric'. He is the one that does the gastric bypass operation.

His mother also owns an ice cream store about one hour drive away from here.

One day a gentleman came into the store and asked for ice cream milkshake. She overheard him explaining to his friends about how he couldn't eat much because of his surgery. He was fresh off his bypass.

She asked him, 'Where did you get your surgery?'

He said, 'At the hospital.'

She asked further, 'WHAT hospital?'

He said the name, and she recognized it.

'What was the name of your surgeon, do you recall?' she asked.

He said it.

She smiled and shared that his surgeon was her son!

The customer thanked her in a hurry, and left the store--I bet he hoped that she wouldn't tell on him!

I have lost one pound already. So has my son. <3 <3 <3

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Peace,

Reiki Doc

An RN Patient Who Fired THREE Doctors!

My friend is a successful gastric bypass patient. She is also an RN.

Her story amazes me, and because of this, I am going to share it with you:

• Doctor 1:  Her internist for fifteen years. She asked him for a recommendation and referral for gastric bypass. He said, "You just need to learn to keep your mouth shut!" She told him she was never coming back. He said, "You'll come back! You won't be able to find someone to put up with you!" She left and never regretted it. At the time she had six pills to take daily for blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol. She weighed two hundred sixty pounds. Clearly this is an HMO. Her primary care is her 'gatekeeper'. He will experience less money or some other disincentive if he refers her to a specialist.
• Doctor 2:   She saw him and just didn't like him.
• Doctor 3:   The leading Doc everyone sees, the one that takes care of the sickest patients. My friend asked about a referral to a Bariatric program. The expert said, "I think you are depressed. We will balance out your moods so you won't need to eat, and then you will lose the weight." My friend was hesitant to add any more medications. She didn't feel depressed. She said to herself, "I am just addicted to food. I eat when I am happy. I eat when I am sad. I eat to have something to do." But the doctor was insistent. "Since you are a nurse, I want you to take this list of five antidepressants, research them, and pick one for you and let me know which one in the morning." After hearing that, my friend went to her favorite restaurant and downed a large size order of chili-cheese fries. 'My, that was PRODUCTIVE on my part, wasn't it?' she wryly says about her reaction to the 'expert' doctor's diagnosis. My friend then went home, and asked her husband, "am I depressed?" He looked at her, puzzled. She explained how this doctor had diagnosed her with depression and she wasn't sure if she needed the meds or not. "How long did this doctor talk to you before they decided you are depressed?" She thought about it and said, "About ten minutes" "Well, I have known you my whole life, and you are NOT depressed!" She got serious and said, 'I want to know. You don't have to spare me the truth. I really need to know this to decide whether or not to take the meds. Just, tell me if you think I am depressed." he said, NO. Their kids overheard and agreed with Dad. So that night, my friend sent a courtesy email to the highly recommended doctor. The long and short of it was: you are a great doctor but you are not the one for me. Guess what? The doctor called her and was upset! Accused her of all kinds of things! But my friend the nurse patient 'got free' from a toxic doctor-patient relationship.
• Doctor 4:  the primary care doctor of her friend from high school that had gastric bypass surgery. When she met him, she said, "I was referred by my friend, who is now half the woman she used to be. I want to be that woman. I want a referral to gastric bypass." He didn't bat and eye and said, "I can do that". Together they did the work up and met all of the insurance requirements for the referral. She exercised and was her healthiest she had ever been at the time of surgery. She had the procedure, recovered, lost the weight, and has reduced from six pills a day to Her nice doctor said, 'you're not going to lose this inherited high blood pressure by losing ten pounds'--but she did get a reduced dose on medication for it.) She also had a tummy tuck and pannus resection on her one-year anniversary of the surgery. (A pannus is the name for a fold of skin--either with fat or not--that drapes across the abdomen or the back.)

This was her one chance to save her life. She smiles and says she would do it again without hesitation.

What I admire about her is how she found her personal power and was able to do what she wanted for her health.

Bypass is not for everybody. Supplements are required, as well as long term monitoring of blood chemistry labs. But the Double Whammy achieved by the bypass is rapid weight loss due to decreased intake and malabsorption. The gastric sleeve surgery is different, because it just 'cuts the stomach down to a banana'. Apparently there are Facebook support groups for the sleeves (GSB?). And probably for the bypass too.

It is your health. Why don't you look inside your heart, and go for what you really desire? Don't listen to anyone that does not support you. It took not one but four to help my friend.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc