I'm losing weight unintentionally and am worried

[Anonymous]

op- updates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:op- updates?

No. Results still not in portal - Labcorp or PCP portal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In case helpful, I was told by the coordinator at the JH pancreatic cyst clinic that the scans at the JH Radiology center at Bethesda or JH at Sibley were the same equipment and review as Baltimore and it was fine to use those facilities. You might try to see if an earlier appointment is possible. The Bethesda center has weekend appointments to fit in more tests. Both Saturday and Sunday.

Op here. Did you mean the one at Rockledge drive in Bethesda (outpatient) or at the Suburban hospital (Old Georgetown Rd)?

Sibley has an opening earlier than mine - is it considered outpatient at Sibley or they tack on facility charges?

[Anonymous]

I can't remember but Sibley is in network for my Care First and the charges were not weird in term of my copay/coinsurance.

[Anonymous]

I meant Rockledge outpatient or the Sibley radiology department. I used Rockledge, but the Cyst clinic said either were fine to use and if Sibley has availability sooner that would be great for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I meant Rockledge outpatient or the Sibley radiology department. I used Rockledge, but the Cyst clinic said either were fine to use and if Sibley has availability sooner that would be great for you.

Thank you! I booked an appointment at Sibley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't remember but Sibley is in network for my Care First and the charges were not weird in term of my copay/coinsurance.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Hoping for good news OP

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t make sense that your lab results are not up.

[Anonymous]

NP. Agree. And cannot believe they didn't just do a glucose finger stick in the office...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any blood sugar update, OP? Thinking about you.

I went and gave my blood test today. The PCP and my GI doctor have ordered extra tests as well - I got them all done - Vit D, B12, TSH/T4, Iron/Ferritin, CBS, BMP, A1C.

My GI doctor also said I could have the MRI now instead of waiting until Jan and I have the order in portal.

There was another person here with IPMN who goes to the cyst clinic. If you are reading this, I would appreciate if you let me know where you had your scan - at Bayview or at the outpatient center in main campus. I'm trying to decide where to get this done.

I had also called the cyst clinic to inform of the new weight loss which they had mentioned I should do if there were new changes, and I asked for another doctor in the practice for future follow up, but was told that since I saw the other 2 doctors before I cannot see another one according to their protocol - even after I said I felt dismissed by both of them. The nurse said I am welcome to go to another center but if it is with this hospital I cannot see anyone else besides these two doctors who dismissed my concerns and the one whom I saw in August already reviewed my message. I cannot imagine that a pancreatic cyst clinic does not care if a patient has suddenly lost 8 lbs in 10 days. I think I will have to go to a different hospital if it ends up being something serious or maybe their surgery team is better than the cyst clinic, who knows.

Yesterday at my PCP office, my weight was 142.7 on their scale. Today my weight on their scale was 141.3

On my scale, today my weight was 137 mid morning (fasting for the blood work) and after lunch it was 139. I'm not even sure what is going on - does eating a plate of food add 2 lbs?

Anyways, I am so glad my GI doctor cares and took my case seriously and ordered all these tests and I feel grateful to be heard. Same with the PCP. She also listened to my concerns and ordered some tests related to Vitamin deficiencies.

I'm crossing my fingers that it is not diabetes and maybe thyroid related but with the neuropathy I don't know.

OP- the overall weight loss trend is concerning, but no, the difference in a pound from one day to another is completely normal. And going up 2lb from when you wake up to mid day is also completely normal.

[Anonymous]

OP with an update - I got the prelim report and A1C does not show diabetic. Liver enzymes normal range. Vit D is lowest end of normal, magnesium is also lowest end of normal. CBC normal. CMP normal. LDL High. Waiting on Celiac Panel. B12 normal.

LabCorp screwed up and forgot to put in the order for fasting glucose, TSH, T4 and T3 and CA19-9

I guess its another waiting game after I go back tomorrow.

I asked chatgpt if I need the fasting glucose too and it said yes because a1c monitors 3 month trend but fasting glucose shows current.

My doctor has also ordered an MRI Enterography.

It sucks that all the MRI dates available are in January for the JH network. I'm not sure whether to just go to another center since my records are at JH. And since I have appointments at Sibley I cannot get on any wait list for the other JH locations since the other 5 centers are independent of Sibley

I called and my follow up MRCP earlier this year was with a 1.5T scanner while my first MRI was a 3T. Not sure if that made a difference in the measurements of my IPMN.

[Anonymous]

Well that’s all good news, OP! Everything in the normal range. But it’s your Doctor who puts in the order, not LabCorp. I take it to mean your A1c is prediabetic. Note that some countries have different cut offs for diabetes. But truly your fasting glucose is less important if you’re A1c is in the normal range. Wonky blood sugar could cause a number of the issues you have. I’m glad you have some cams coming up but ultimately you may not get solid answers. Some bodies are just very finicky and you may not find a smoking gun as to what is causing your symptoms. there’s a lot we don’t know about gut health in particular. Have you ever tried going gluten-free? I’m not recommending it, I’m just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP with an update - I got the prelim report and A1C does not show diabetic. Liver enzymes normal range. Vit D is lowest end of normal, magnesium is also lowest end of normal. CBC normal. CMP normal. LDL High. Waiting on Celiac Panel. B12 normal.

LabCorp screwed up and forgot to put in the order for fasting glucose, TSH, T4 and T3 and CA19-9

I guess its another waiting game after I go back tomorrow.

I asked chatgpt if I need the fasting glucose too and it said yes because a1c monitors 3 month trend but fasting glucose shows current.

My doctor has also ordered an MRI Enterography.

It sucks that all the MRI dates available are in January for the JH network. I'm not sure whether to just go to another center since my records are at JH. And since I have appointments at Sibley I cannot get on any wait list for the other JH locations since the other 5 centers are independent of Sibley

I called and my follow up MRCP earlier this year was with a 1.5T scanner while my first MRI was a 3T. Not sure if that made a difference in the measurements of my IPMN.

If Johns Hopkins uses MyChart, can you go to another MRI center that also uses MyChart?

For example, I go to Fairfax Radiology and the results there pop up on MyChart which my Inova doctors can see.

[Anonymous]

Did you want to go buy an OTC diabetes test?