JoanieW

Lena, thanks for sharing your story. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. Did they redo the plication or leave your stomach as it was before the surgery?

Thanks for the info, Dr. Watkins.

I chose Dr. Watkins and am glad I did. He does the surgery in a surgical center on the hospital campus, so I was very comfortable with that. The first thing he does when you are under, is uses an endoscope to look at your stomach. He looks for hiatal hernias and fixes those, so no more reflux. If there are any problems in your stomach, he won't do the surgery. It has been six months, and his office is still checking in on me. I think he's very thorough and really wants you to be successful. I had a lot of scar tissue from previous surgeries that he took out also. He spent a lot more time on me than the time he allotted for the surgery. I'm very happy with my decision.

Hi Tracy, I am down 42 pounds since August with 18 more to go. I have never thrown up. Joanie

Hi Olivia. I have no regrets. See my post from today to KarenKaren under the topic Hungry Too Soon. I think we've all been where you are and most of us are very happy with our decision. Joanie

Hi Karen, I had my surgery in August and still get hungry every three hours as well. That's the only part about the plication I don't like. Other than that, I'm very happy I did this. The hunger is nothing like before. I'm down 42 pounds with 18 to go. It's been slow going for me because of the hunger, but it's a lot easier than without this tool. I can have something small, like a cheese stick, and it helps in between meals. I never had any vomiting, pain, or slimes and have been able to eat whatever I want. I'm happy to say that this was the answer for me. Dr. Watkins' office still checks in on me to see how I'm doing. They really want us to be successful. Joanie

You're very welcome. Do keep me posted on your progress and good luck on Monday.

Hey Sheila. Glad you are on the mend. I didn't know that the vomiting and dry heaves was caused by the anesthesia. It will get better. You're right, Dr. Watkins and his staff are top notch.

Hi Karen. My understanding is that you do recover faster with the plication, but I'm not sure about going back to work that soon. I probably could have, because I had a fairly easy time. I was just tired for a week or so. However, my sister-in-law has had a rough time from the anesthesia and swelling in her stomach, and I don't think she could have gone back to work in five days. I chose the plication because I was afraid of leaks with the sleeve.

Hi Sarah. Have you spoken with your doctor? A medium pizza seems like an awful lot to put in that size stomach. I know I can put a lot more high calorie foods in my stomach than regular food, but I couldn't do a whole pizza.

Hi Sue. I've been doing very well. Thanks for asking. I'm down 37 pounds. It's been slow going these last two months, but it's my fault. I have pretty much been eating what I want, just less of it. I don't eat red meat, fish, or pork, so my protein sources are limited. I'm still doing the Protein drinks along with my regular meals, and that adds a lot of calories. Plus, I haven't been exercising. With all that said, I'm happy with my weight loss. I bought two new pairs of jeans the other day, size 12, and I'm off my blood pressure meds and CPAP. I have 23 more pounds to lose, if that, and I'm happy with 1-2 pounds a week. It's funny how I can sit down for a meal and only eat a little bit, but if I wanted to eat high-calorie food like ice cream, chips, nuts, Peanut Butter and crackers, etc., I can eat a lot of that, so I have to be very careful still.