Keep Rob in your thoughts please...

Just got back from the Doctor. He was very thorough and addressed a lot of Rob's needs. He was VERY concerned about Rob's health and is sending him to 2 specialists and having a Sleep Apnea test done on him next Monday night. This all would be a lot less scary if he had been aware of some of the issues all along...apparantly his health hasn't been 'maintained' like we trusted our previous Dr too.

Here's the jyst of what's going on:

1- Asthma Pulx/Ox levels were at 89-91% which is very Low, they should be at 97%, he said Rob is on the verge of needing oxygen all the time. (This is the FIRST time Rob has had a Pulse/Ox done since he was in 3rd grade...which is NOT normal for people who have chronic asthma).
2- Sleep, he's having a Sleep Apnea test ran on Rob, said he probably may need Oxygen at night, this is scheduled for next Monday night
3- Asthma he is sending Rob to a Pulmonologist to get a better idea of the oxygen saturation levels in his blood and for better controlled Asthma, right now Rob is on Symbicort (steroid), hit's his rescue inhaler at least 4-5 times a day, and sometimes his nebulizer every day.
4- Hypertension/High Blood Pressure, his blood pressure is in normal ranges, however he was very concerned with the amount of edema in his legs, and said there was some Hemo (can't remember the rest) condition that was causing a breakdown and deposits of something in his legs (purplish color) so he is sending him to a Cardiologist for that as well.
5- Weight, of course he was VERY concerned about this and suggested 2 different Weight Loss Programs
1- HGH (I think that's what he said, anyways it's a Human hormone that women get when they are pregnant, anyways he said it can cause rapid weight loss of about 40# a month Drawback $600-$800 a month, we are thinking we might do this in May when Rob's normal hours return.
2- Firstline Therapy, which addresses the health issues of 'weight' problems instead of just the weight issues, so they will help with the risks for Cardiovascular Events (Heart Attacks) which he said Rob was at HIGH HIGH risk for, and it is usually covered by insurance. They said you are 'fully' evaluation by body composition, your level of metabolism, then put on the diet, which is basically shakes, bars and then a healthy dinner. You go meet with a counselor once a week. It's about $200-$300 per month for the shakes/food which isn't covered by insurance but the visits are. http://www.metagenics.com/tlc_programs/firstline_therapy.asp, this is a meal plan I found: http://www.drfeely.com/Documents/Ctrl_Hyperlink/Menu_Plan_Worksheet_uid8292008357392.pdf and more info: http://www.ecopolitan.com/healtheduc...e-therapy-diet they said it is a slower process of about 15-20# a month, maybe more.

Rob is planning on signing up for the Firstline Therapy weight loss program. I am so proud of him. He is probably going to adjust his schedule so he has Mondays off so he can go to the Dr each week, without having to lose sleep. He is also having about 10 different blood tests/panels ran on him, but they couldn't find a vein at the Dr's so he has to go to the Hospital to get that done. He HATES having blood drawn. He hasn't had a good blood panel ran on him for quite some time. It was nice to have a 'real' Doctor treat Rob with respect and concern instead of just skimming over his problems.