Lmom1980

sorry I have not been on the forum at all this month, I hope you are all doing well. I only lost 4 pounds, Booo. why did I keep sneaking that halloween candy? I learned I can eat a lot of candy without feeling full. I think that puts me at 60 pounds in 8 months. To me this is not very good weight loss for someone who had WLS. I enjoy exercise, I am addicted to jogging, and I am still not dropping weight very fast. I wish I had the VSG, but I am still greatful for the progress I have made thus far. I have a way to go yet (41 pounds), but I feel really good. Sexy even.

Update....only 3 pounds for the month. I am 9 months post op, and only down about 63 pounds now. I have 38 pounds until I reach my goal.

I just wanted to let my plication friends know that I am training for a 5-k that I will do in September. I want to be able the jog the entire thing. NO WALKING! I don't care about my time as much as just being able to jog it. I have been able to jog on the treadmill 1.5 miles, then walk the rest, but it is so much harder outside! I just wanted to post this to give myself some accountability. I can't give up now since I am posted my goals for all to see. I also think it is good for my mental health to have health and fitness goals that are not related to my weight/scale. KWIM? What are some of your non-scale goals?

I voted "somewhat unhappy." If I could do it all over I would have done the regular sleeve. I do not have enough restriction. I don't think my plication is a failure, it has helped me to lose weight. I hope it will play a big role in helping me maintain my weight once I hit goal. I owe a lot to my plication, but If I am really honest with myself, I am somewhat unhappy.

Hey Mednar The 5 k was fun. I did just what I thought I would do, I jogged the first 2 miles and walked the last mile, I started jogging for the last two blocks. I am hooked on Jogging. I am just jogging on the treadmill now. Yesterday I jogged 3 miles in 32 minutes. I love it! For some reason I can jog a 5k on the treadmill, but I can't outside. I wish i had some good advice for your feet. That must be so frustrating to have that pain. My suggestion to everyone is to just try it. I told myself to just try jogging at a 6 on the treadmill for only 30 seconds, three minutes later I was still going. Your body can do more then your mind thinks it can. It is cold weather here now, so I won't be doing any official 5 k's until spring, but I am going to keep training on my treadmill all winter. I also tried Zumba at my local gym last night. I still prefer jogging, but it was a really fun change.

Today (sept 9th) is my 6 months post plication. I am a 31 year old Mother of 3. I lost about 11 pounds pre-op. Month 1 -16#'s Month 2 - 7#'s Month 3 - 9#'s Month 4 - 7#'s Month 5 - 7#'s Month 6 - 5#'s 51 pounds in 6 months. 62 if you count my pre-op weight loss. I lost that much when I did weight watchers. I never could keep it off though. The weight is coming off slower then I hoped. My restriction is not what I want it to be. I felt a lot more restriction in the first 2 months post op. First two months post op, I could only eat about 1/3 or maybe 1/2 of a 6 inch subway sandwich. A few days ago I ate the entire 6 inch sub. I guess that is still better then before WLS when I could have the sub, chips and a cookie! I do eat a lot less then I used to though. My cravings are not as bad as they were before. I have 50 more pounds to go. I am confident that I will reach my goal. it just wont be as soon as I had hoped. My feeling on plication are mixed right now. I will update you on October 9th with my 7 month report. I sure hope I can lose more then 5 pounds.

mednar, 3 months ago I could not eat a 6 inch sub either, not even close. Now I am 6 months post op and I can. I am not trying to scare anyone, it is just the truth. It is my opionion that the suture method used doesn't affect the restriction. I feel like it is more of a healthy/safety of the stomach issue. After researching, it is my opinion that the single stitch method is safer, and there is less of a chance of hernia and other problems like Lena had. Just my opinion though. I know that I eat too many sweets and carbs and that I could drop weight faster if I would cut them out of my diet. This is hard for me, and that is how I ended up fat to begin with. I think WLS was a good choice for me. Yes I wish I had done the VSG instead, but plication is working for me. I am trying hard to use the tool that I have. I hoped that having this WLS would help me to be more "normal" and not have to feel like I am on a diet for the rest of my life. That is just not my fate. Even with the wonderful tool of plication, I still have to have a "diet" mentality. I still have to count calories, and fight the urge to eat junk food.

Hey Mary, I do exercise a lot. I am training for a 5k. I guess that is why I am frustrated. With all this running I do, I should be losing more! I know that in the first month or so, my stomach was a little swollen from the surgery, so there was more restriction. As my stomached healed, I was able to eat more. I can not explain my recent ability to eat more. My stomach must have stretched some, but it is not like I am over eating all the time, or ever, so I can't explain it.

Good job, keep up the good work!

Good job!

I feel like this is an honest report on plication. I would not say I regret my plication, because I have lost weight and I have felt great and been totally healthy since my surgery 6 months ago. I do think if I could do it over again I would do the sleeve! I am not trying to be negative about plication. I just feel like this is an hosnest report on the surgery, and I just hope and pray that I am in the % of high BMI people that have success. I had a little more then 100 pounds to lose. I am a little over half way there. I am not going to let this get me down. I made a choice, and I am going to make the best of what I have. "LAPAROSCOPIC TOTAL GASTRIC PLICATION. 2- YEAR RESULTS AND COMPARISON TO SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY. George Skrekas MD, ISS, EAES, General surgeon, Specialist in advanced laparoscopy & bariatric surgery Other key words: gastric greater curvature invagination, gastric imbrication. PURPOSE: The presentation of our results with total gastric plication (imbrication) in a 135 patients series and comparison to a randomized series of 80 patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy in the same period. METHODS: The study was designed as prospective - double. The GROUP I is consisted from 135 patients (104 women and 31 men) who voluntarily underwent gastric plication in a 2-year period (2008-2010). The GROUP II includes 80 randomly selected patients (50 women and 30 men) who underwent sleeve gastrectomy in the same period. The two groups were comparable as to age (36 vs 35.4 years) but differed as to the initial BMI (BMIGroupI = 39.5 vs BMIGroupII= 46.5Kg/m2). RESULTS: 12 patients of GROUP I (8.8%) presented post operative complications of which 4 cases were treated surgically ( 1 case of gastric prolapse, 1 case of Portal vein thrombosis with partial jejunum necrosis and 2 cases of late gastric occlusion due to the formation of intragastric seroma). In the last 2 cases we did reversion of the plication 3 months after the primary operation. The mean follow-up was 20.4 months (13-32). In the group of gastric plication (GROUP I) the mean (%) excess weight loss (EWL) was 65.3%. Weight loss was significantly greater in patients with initial BMI < 45 (69.9% vs 55.5%, p = 0.006). 29 patients of GROUP I (21.4%) had poor weight loss (EWL <50%), while in 8 of them (5.9%) the surgery was deemed as failure (EWL <30%). Patients with an initial BMI> 45 were twice as likely to fail loosing adequate weight than those who had BMI <45 (36% vs 18.1%). The patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (GROUP II) achieved significantly greater weight loss (EWL = 81.7% vs 65.3%, p <0.001) while they had 9 times less probability of insufficient weight loss (2.5 vs 21.4%). The overall weight loss was considered satisfactory in 78.6% of the patients who underwent gastric plication and in 97.5% of those who underwent sleeve. CONCLUSION: The total gastric plication surgery presents some good features: adequate gastric restriction without implants or gastrectomy, simplicity, reversibility and acceptable risk of complications. In the short-term, the total gastric plication is able to provide an acceptable weight loss in about 80% of patients, but is considerably less effective when compared to sleeve gastrectomy. According to our experience, the total gastric plication might be offered as an option for the treatment of "less heavy" bariatric cases with BMI <45 because beyond this limit, the probability of insufficient weight loss or failure is high (36%)." Side note. I googled this doctors name and plication. I read as much of it that was in English. He implied that only did the running stitch in the early stages of plication. I found that interesting. My Doctor and Dr. Cottam do an interupted suture now too. Dr. Ortiz tells his patients that the running stitch is the new and better way, when in fact most plication surgeons have adapted to the interupted stitch. NEWS FLASH ORTIZ...your method is out-dated and the only reason you still do it is to save time and $. ." Three patients failed loosing weight due to gastric sewing disruption (one of them had a successfull reoperation 3 months later). This happend in our early experience. At the time we used a single running suture (prolene) for the plication. These 3 patients were excluded from statistic analysis"

I am 31. I have had a few aunts recently get lap band in their early and mid 40's. I thought to myself..."I know this is a big financial burden for my young family, but I don't want to wait until I am 40, and then wish I had done something sooner." My Husband and I decided that we could drive older cars, and put some yard/landscaping projects and new shed on hold for my health and well-being. No regrets! I had my 3rd and final baby in August 2010. then had plication March 9th 2011.

Update! I am doing my first official 5k on September 17th. I know I will not yet be able to jog the entire thing, but it is a walk/run 5k, so I figure if I jog the first two miles, then speed walk the last mile, I will have pretty good time. I want to do it in under 40 minutes. Wish me Luck

Sorry this happened to you, and I hope your Husband continues to recover well. Staying in the states for plication is only about 2 or 3 thousand more then going to the OCC. It is worth the extra $. I am not rich, it was a big sacrafice to come up with the extra 3 thousand it cost to go to Ohio instead of Mexico, but it was well worth it. I almost went to OCC, and I am so glad that I did not. When dealing with your health and aftercare, 3 thousand extra is worth it! I

Thanks for the explanation. I was a little worried when you said they were taking down part of your plication. Glad you found a good GI doctor. It sounds like you are in good hands.

please tell more about this nissen wrap? why are they taking down the top of your plication?

Glad you went to the ER and got some medical treatment. I hope you are feeling better soon! Thanks for sharing.

I am not a success story...yet. I have lost about 50 pounds in 5.5 months. Sometimes I still think I can eat too much, and I wish I had the VSG. Other times I have great restriction and few cravings and love my plicated stomach. I still think it is the safest WLS there is if you stay in the states. I can eat anything I want. I just eat less. I feel great, and don't have any pain or problems at all. I want to lose about 50 more pounds. When I reach that 100 pound loss, and maintain that, then I will consider myself a success.

I live in Utah. I am one hour away from Cottam. I talked to him on the phone a few times. I ended up flying to Ohio for plication because of the disorganized and slow responses from Cottam's office staff. He is one of the best, but I have no regrets going to Watkins in Ohio. Great staff who check on me at least once a month. The lady who had her plication just a couple hours before I did had a really bad necrosis complication. She almost died! Watkins now does the Plication loser, but from what I last heard he is really pushing the banded plication.

That is Awesome! good job.

That bruising is not normal. I didn't have any bruises.

$9900. plication. $1300. for airfare, rental car, hotel. $20. Meds. worth every penny! (still paying $350. a month to pay it off) I had $6000.00 saved, had to borrow the rest.

from my research, I wouldn't go to the OCC.

I can't see where I go to make a signature/attach my new ticker? help?

It sounds like you are right on track! Good job! we have similar stats. I am approaching my 4 month mark, and am right around 40 pounds. over 50 if you count the pre-op diet. My goal is 165, with the hopes of staying between 165-175 for life. I am also looking into the arm surgery, and probably also need a little work on my lower abdomen. I want to hit the 100 pounds in one year goal, then the surgery will be my reward. I got a little off track over the past few days will all the July 4th celebrations, but now I am motivated to get back on track. Thanks for sharing your journey!