mednar

Yesterday was six months out from my surgery date. I've lost almost exactly half the weight I wanted (stupid .2lbs). With it getting colder and with more rain, I wasn't able to walk as much this last month. I also had a week off from work and wasn't feeling much like a lot of exercise. Had another couple of days I spent trying to fight off some sort of bug. I lost four less pounds than the previous month as a result. I can live with the results though. Over the week I was off, I cleaned out my closet and literally donated a trunk load of clothes to charity. I exercise most weeks 3 mornings a week at 6 am with a trainer in a class. I still hate having to do it, but mostly because of the hour. I know I shouldn't complain because I don't pay for it directly. It's part of the wellness program where I work. On the days after, I often struggle to roll out of bed because my hamstrings are so sore. There are days when the people I work with make light-hearted fun of me at the old-man way I take stairs. I've recently started interval running/walking with a goal of running a 5k at some point. Because I still carry a good bit of weight for my height, my knees and feet groan from the extra impact. The really odd thing about it all is that I actually enjoy the increased walking/running now when I can sustain it. Plication has definitely helped me reign in the quantity of food I once ate. That coupled with a totally changed diet from what I once ate and the change in activity have helped me so far. I still wonder if this is some temporary phase my body is going through. I want to think that I'm working on changing habits and habits of mind so that as I get further out from surgery that the results are somewhat permanent. I want to make sure that I've learned how to eat healthily. I worry that, like the band for some, it lasts a while, then weight loss creeps back up without my being able to control it. I feel like I am making those changes, but there are a lot of band revision stories I've read that leave me wondering. Mentally, I'm also surprised at how little satisfaction I've gained from my progress so far. Family, friends, and colleagues have all been supportive and encouraging, with only one exception. I can see the results. I love being able to buy clothes in the regular men's section. Even with those positive aspects of this, all I tend to focus are the areas where I still need to lose the most weight. I just feel like I should feel better than I do about my body and how I perceive it. Maybe I'm just crazy. (I'm starting to get email spam and hate reading the forum spam on this site even though I appreciate the community here. Not sure how long I'll continue to post if the moderator doesn't participate more actively.) Mednar

Today I ate part of two very thin slices of cake (,.5 in) of red velvet cake and a peppermint cheesecake layer cake with white chocolate icing. I know how bad that sounds, but they were tiny pieces, and I didn't each all of either of them. I never crave sweets or eat them much but they were both really good looking and tasting. I've done well up to now, so thought I could judge what I could handle. Kinda got the cold clammy sweats a bit before I threw both up. Had a similar experience back in the summer with sugary drinks. Is that dumping? Confused this far out, though I have to say my refined sugar intake is next to nothing now. Wondering if the sugar shock was part of it. Anyone with similar experiences? Mednar

I'm wondering if your doctors recommended that you take supplements, and if so, what they recommended. The nutritionist at my doctor's office didn't. I was diligent about taking Iron, a B supplement, and a multi-vitamin early on. I've not been as diligent lately. I started bruising really easily. The purple/green kind, where I can't even remember what I hit, then get a bruise. Over the last two weeks, I went back on them, but then today, I noticed another on my wrist. Have any of you experienced that you bruise more easily? Not sure if I should be worried or not.

How do you guys make sure you're getting enough fiber in your diet? As a male who never had issues related to fiber intake before surgery, almost nothing I eat in it now has any significant fiber. I went and purchased some of the Metamucil type orange fiber drink this morning. Fixed a glass of it today and thought it was ok until I got to the bottom quarter of the glass and found a pile of orange glue at the bottom. I'm thinking that was $15 bucks wasted at this point.

I'm no lady. I passed a year out on June 6. There was a small group of people on here orginally. As the procdure has gained numbers of participants, I could no longer keep track of who everyone was in my mind. I've no desire to be a spokesperson for this procedure. However, it was the only outlet there was for me a few short months ago. The community I found here was very hepful early on in investigating this procedure. The support during the first six months is also helpful. It's not that it isn't helpful afterwards. I just found that I needed much less support in the following months. I had my plication 13 months+ (June 6, 2011). I started at 295. I weighed in at 196 a few weeks ago. I also ran my first 5k on July 4, 2012. My time was crap, but I did finish. My weight loss has slowed down very much in the last half of the first year. It's a slow go, but it still goes. It also flucuates a lot. I can eat more than I could starting out. I do better when I eat Protein first, then veggies, which is what the nutritionist suggested. I've also been craving carbs for the second time since the procedure. I can go up several pounds or down when I occasionally weigh depending my Water and salt consumption. I've been at the same weight for a month or two. I've changed exercise routines the last three months. I just can't do 6:15 am (6 am during the school year) every morning three days a week. To be at my max BMI goal weight, I still need to lose another 40 lbs. If I could settle around 175 I'd be happy. I just need to find an exercise routine that works that schedule and watch my carbs a bit more. Hope everyone is well. Mednar

Prior to surgery, I hadn't tried to track my food intake or anything else since I gave a half-hearted effort on Weight Watchers a few years ago. I recently received an iPad and found an app that works well for me for tracking my daily calorie intake, Water consumption, exercise (estimated calories burned), and weight loss. It's really helped me keep up with my daily calorie consumption, Protein intake, and see how I'm doing through the day. I've found it easy to use. It has a database of a lot of foods and allows you to enter your own with nutrition information. They only drawback on the iPad is that I've found is that in order to enter data you need to be connected to the internet. It's called MyNetDiary and costs $10 from the app store. I'm not affiliated with the company in any way. I think you can use the website version of the tracker on a computer for free. Just thought I'd share. www.mynetdiary.com if you're interested.

I had this the first week or so after surgery. My physician put some type of patch behind my ear afterwards that was to be absorbed through the skin for up to three days after the surgery. I've long since lost that box, so I'm not sure what that was called. It didn't help that it fell off and refused to stick soon after I got home. He also gave me a prescription for ondansetron, an anti-nausea medicine that really seemed to help when I took it as prescribed. Another thing that he prescribed for me was a battery powered wrist bracelet that seemed to help me. I went home from the surgery center with that. I'm pretty sure i recently saw a similar device in the local CVS in the motion sickness department. My completely unqualified medical theory is that the slight shock that you get at the wrist every few seconds helps distract you from the feelings of nausea as your stomach readjusts to it's new shape. The first week for me was rough with the nausea. Hopefully your loved one has gotten through that by now or is getting better. Take care.

Quick update. Don't remember to get on here much anymore. Had surgery June 6, 2011. To date, I've lost 87 lbs. According to the BMI charts in the doctors office, I need to lose ~ 52 lbs to be "normal" BMI range. For me to be happy, I'd still like to lose ~25-30 more lbs. It's gotten harder to lose, but I also gave up on getting up 2.5 hours before work to exercise. Haven't replace that weight training/exercise, and it's slowed my weight loss down. I've got to find something to replace that with, or develop a routine at home. I'm back to walking again 5-6 days a week. Also still trying to train to run when I can. I'm up to 5 minutes running, 2.5 walk, 3 minutes running, 1.5 walk x2. Start a new week this week. The third run this week is 20 min running. Not sure how that will work out. Might have to repeat a week. My weight loss of late has been slow, but clothes sizes are slowly dropping. I've gone from wearing a 3XL mens shirt to a L, depending on the manufacturer. They all seem to have some different body size in mind when they make stuff. Hope all the "old" plication patients are well. Hope all you new ones do well. Take care.

I had my plication done last Monday, June 6. Other that significant discomfort coming out of anesthesia and a bit of nausea the first couple of days, I've been pretty amazed at how little recovery time I've seemed to need. Based on my experiences so far, I'd like to hear what you others with the surgery have experienced in regards to my question below. 1. I slept in a recliner for the first two nights in a reclined seated position. I've since slept in my bed, but I definitely find that my stomach seems to dislike me sleeping on my side, and I can't lie on my stomach (not that I expected to be able to at this point). I've always been a side/stomach sleeper, so this change has made sleeping less easy. When I lie on my side, it feels like my stomach must be contracting or trying to move in some way. It's not painful, but it's definitely a strange sensation when I try to fall asleep. I really can't tolerate sleeping on my stomach at this point. I have a good supply of hyoscyamine (supposed to reduce contraction of the smooth muscles in the digestive tract) that the doctor prescribed for after the surgery, but I don't find that it seems to do all that much. Did anyone experience this? How long did it last? Was there anything you found helpful in preventing this? Thanks in advance.

it's diffucult to read this. I hope I'm not there in few months, . I think I just clocked 7 months out last Friday. Overall trend is to lose. My exercise committment has waned with bad weather (1 hour every other day walking and 3x circuit training each week, weather permitting). Both suffer during winter. I just need the sleep during the depths of winter. It's hindered my weight loss with rainy days and days where I just can't get outside. I can't speak for anyone else. I still have restriction. My overall trend is downward. The slope is less steep. Had my lowest weight last week, then had nearly a 9 lb flucuation upward a few days later. A lot of it is Water weight for me. Keep at it. Mednar

I didn't have any complications post op. However, many surgeons offer post op insurance (Bliss-care was what mine was called, or something like that). Since most health insurance companies don't cover WLS to begin with, and also don't cover complications from the surgery, it's probably a good idea to find a surgeon that offers that type of post-op coverage in my opinion.) You can opt into/out of the duration and extent of coverage, at least that was my experience. You would have to read the specific documents from your physician and discuss them and the insurance carrier to be reasonably sure you'd be covered during a specific event. Strongly suggest that you talk with the insurance provider to understand what you're buying with those policies. It was another step and another pain in the ass, but I felt better having it and knowing what they would/wouldn't cover. Traditional insurance plans don't cover anything regarding plication as best as I can tell. It's too early for them to make any money off the procedure.

Hope you're doing well recovering!

You are losing 7 lbs per month on average. That's great. Don't be too hard on yourself, but keep pushing. There are apps tracking food intake and exercise. Maybe one of those could help? You can do it. Keep at it.

IB, I can't speak to the what others have done or the promises others have made. I'm losing weight because I've changed my eating patterns and I exercise a more, more than I ever imagined I could. WLS for me wasn't a magic bullet, but at six months out, it was a good slug to motivate me to be successful with my food choices and to continue to exercise. The personal link between I'm not a Pollyanna type personality, but this surgery has been the greatest single factor in my losing weight as an adult. I went into it with the idea that much of my lifestyle had to change. It did. I have. I hope you choose the best procedure for you. Take care and post often.

Glad you figured it out. Hope you're doing well. I feel like my experience with plication has been positive overall. Day to day, my satisfaction is variable, but that's mostly because I really want instant results. Patience with myself about this issue isn't a virtue I possess in great quantity. I've lost weight consistently, but the scale goes up and down in small increments. The overall pattern is downward however. Hope your return to work goes well.

Thanks TjP. I need to proofread more carefully before I click the post button. Didn't realize I made that mistake I'll see if I can go back and edit it now. I think my surgery was 9600 dollars. I posted somewhere the exact cost, but I can't remember where. There were a couple of tests I had to do before that pushed the costs over 10K (a barium swallow/endoscopy and some blood tests). My insurance covered the barium swallow, but the NP at my employer didn't code the blood tests to my benefit. Not sure how much the barium swallow was, but the blood tests were about 400 dollars. Hope that helps..

Jamie Ponce at Gastric Band Institute in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Researched my options a few years ago. Wasn't happy with many parts (filling of the band, slipping, excision of stomach with VSG, etc). Returned to him when he began offering this procedure as part of clinical trial to collect data about how effective this procedure is. I've lost ~65 lbs since June 6. I have had to work consistently regarding exercise (walking 5-6 hours a week). I've even recently tried to begin running. Not sure my knees are up to it yet, but I'm doing it on my schedule. I've changed how and what I eat. I also get way more activity than I did before. I'd love to think that surgery did all that for me, but even with surgery, at least from my experience, it's still a considerable lifestyle change. My surgery has helped with food restriction. I feel full (though in a different way) sooner. I still fight daily with making the right decisions regarding food. It's possible to indulge and "cheat" with high calorie density foods. It's hard to say how much of my weight loss is attributable to the surgery or to the change in lifestyle. My experience has been that they are linked in ways that are hard to distinguish. Hope you find what works for you.

I had a long draft that I somehow lost track of. Regardless of the procedure that was approved, you need to weigh the benefits of that procedure against what your ideal is. If they don't match to your satisfaction, you have to seriously consider if someone else paying is enough to overcome the short and long term disadvantages. TijPlication has talked about her struggles and regrets, including what she would consider revising to. Please read those. I had all sorts of issues standing in my way regarding different procedures starting 3+ years ago. This has worked for me, but for many others they have had mixed results. For me, when I first investigated this path, nothing matched. I knew up front always that I would be self-pay. I made sure to review my options. When the sleeve plication became available, it met all my criteria. Even if my insurance had offered to cover another procedure, I wouldn't have been able to commit. At this point, making the self-pay sacrifice has been worth it. Gah. I was much more clear before. Be honest with yourself about what you want, research whether or not that's possible with what your ins. co. is offering. Above all, investigate your physician, their patients, and how happy they have been. Ask to speak to some of their patients, either during seminars or individually. Don't make a fast decision because you feel pressured. There's enough of a market for this surgery now that you can research the best procedures for your situation and your insurance/financial situation. I'd say above all, don't go for what the best option your ins. co. is willing to pay for at that moment. Reflect, Research. Reflect, then Reflect some more. Success and all my best, Mednar

One week might be enough. Hard for me to say. I had the summer off. I had nausea (a lot) the first few days, but tat faded quickly.

I teach an independent school where the employee pool is small enough that if someone sneezes, our insurance premiums double 50% plus a dollar the next year (only slightly a stretch). Part of my employer's effort to reduce healthcare costs has been to hire a trainer who runs us through routines M-W-F mornings at 6am. I tried this last year about this time without much success. I lost about 10 lbs, but couldn't control my eating. Without being able to do that, I gave up around the first of October. Once the doctor cleared me a month after surgery, I gave it a week (mid-July), then started again. It was easy to get up during the remainder of the summer and go. Not bad during the first weeks of school. I now despise that I require two alarm clocks with multiple settings on both (in different rooms) to haul my butt out of bed to get there on time. That's in addition to walking 4-6 days a week for an hour. I feel like I should be losing faster! Doing a plank for a minute last year wasn't an option. Never-mind doing alternate side planks. Today I did a set of two planks with alternating side planks. It took every ounce of effort I had, but I held it. Tonight, I actually looked at my arms. I've still got a lot of pudge there, but it's so much better than it used to be. Either there's more muscle there, or less fat. Not sure which, but either will do. My weight loss has slowed from the first two months, but my clothes keep fitting better. I had to buy new pants a few weeks ago. The really bad expand-a-pant waist that I've always wore (however in flat front, which I've never felt comfortable doing). I do have one pair that are not the expandable waist of that same size. I realized today that I can wear the expand-a-pants without needing the extra elastic. I'm on the last notch in one of my belts. The scale isn't budging much or very rapidly. I'm trying to take stock where I can. Hope you all are doing well. ChowChows - hope your GB surgery goes/did well. I'm lost as far as posting timelines go now.

FTP is right. Moving in that direction is all that matters. I get so pissed some days when I know I've made the right choices and I see no results. For days. Or even weeks. I try to keep in mind that my doctor's nutritionist says that 4 lbs per month is what to expect in general. You're losing almost double that on average. I struggle with that number. Seems like it should be more. Don't beat yourself up for what you consider Halloween mistakes. Keep at it.

I spent nearly a year receiving "treatment" for a compressed disc in my back. My primary care physician at the time diagnosed me with a compressed disc in my lower spine. The machine he had in his office was basically a fancy version of the inversion machines that reduce pressure on the lower spine. He conveniently had the new machine in his office. I stepped up for those treatments because I was in pain and not willing to seek further surgical treatment. After nearly a year of those treatments with little benefit, the primary care physician at the time referred me to have a series of steroid shots in my lower back.. During the second or third trip (I think you can only have 3 of these shots per year), the doctor giving these shots asked a series of questions because the first shots had not relived my pain significantly. He had me do a series of test questions that required me to do things like touch my toes, bend over with my legs crossed, etc. It's been a couple of years ago, so it's hard to recall the specifics. The "steroid" physician then elected to put a shot into my sacroiliac joint rather than my lower back. It was the most painful thing I have ever been awake for, but it also helped. I weighed about 315 at the time. I gave up sugared soda then and dropped to around 295, my pre-plication weight. Losing that 20 lbs and doing the stretches the doctor told me about have helped me avoid a recurrence of that pain. Anytime I have felt my right hip bother me, I try those stretching exercises and they help.

FTP, I'm sorry to hear you're not well. I had a couple of years with right side hip pain that wasn't properly diagnosed. I was finally diagnosed with SI joint issues that required proper stretching techniques. Those exercises have helped me greatly. Doesn't sound like the same issue, but that pain is debilitating. I think we all struggle with making the right choices. At least I do. While reading your post, I was thinking about a big bag of Kit-Kat bars and snarfing them down. I think we might all cave occasionally. It's part of being human. I'm not sure it's fair to yourself to discredit what you've done so far. Stress from health issues is hard regardless. Hoping for your best. Mednar

Hi Doodle. I also had to do the 2 week protein shake diet before surgery. I could have up to four protein shakes a day. My physician indicated that it helped reduce the size of your liver which made the surgery easier to do. It was tough, but keep at it. All the best.