genepha

Olivia, Thanks! I had to do a 2 day pre-op liquid diet and thought I was gonna go crazy!!! I think sometimes the doctors just want to see if we have the willpower to make it thru the pre-op diet.... Supposedly it is to shrink your liver as your liver can get in the way while the dr. is performing the surgery and it can get nicked. This can be very bad and dangerous so they want your liver smaller if possible to decrease the chances of it getting cut during your procedure. I just kept thinking about how much weight I was gonna lose pre-surgery doing the liquid diet - that kept me on track!! Of course, I lost like 5 lbs. doing the pre-op liquids and then gained it all back plus a few extra from the stupid IV fluids...Grrr! Oh well, it'll come off eventually. As of right now I have absolutely NO hunger at all! I'm sure a lot of it is due to swelling but I am pretty amazed right now at how I feel. I'm rockin' a low grade fever so I have to keep my eye on that and I'm sore from the gas so I'm trying to walk around the house a bit to get things moving. So far my recovery has been pretty easy! When is your surgery?

I had my lapband replaced and the plication done yesterday around 11 am. I was very sore and my neck and back hurt A LOT from the gas. I was given morphine during the night which helped greatly. I was pretty nauseated throughout the night also but the nursing staff was pretty quick at giving me medication to take care of it. I've only eaten a few spoonfuls of broth and a couple of sips of juice. I will post more details later as I'm pretty tired and sore still and I'm getting ready to be discharged!

Getting ready for my surgery. I can't believe it's here already!! Excited and nervous! genepha Band removal, plication TODAY

Surgery is all done. Everything went great! Will give lots of details when I'm not on drugs! Very excited and happy to start my next chapter in my life!

Today is the first day of my 2 day liquid pre-op diet. I'm happy that I only have to do 2 days because I did have a bit of a freak out earlier. We are attending a super bowl party tomorrow and DH volunteered us to bring something. So we went to the market and I realized all the things I won't be able to eat!! Normally doing a liquid only diet doesn't bother me too much, but for some reason I started to get a little upset at the thought of attending this party, making food and not being able to eat. I calmed myself down by thinking of how healthy I'm going to be when I lose weight and how great I'm going to feel once I've lost some of this excess weight. I decided to plan for tomorrow by experimenting today with protein shakes and other liquids. This gave me an excuse to try expensive low-cal drinks that I normally wouldn't buy!! So now I have 1 1/2 days of liquids then nothing to eat or drink after midnight tomorrow and then off to surgery at 8 am Monday morning. Getting both anxious and excited!! genepha

Thanks! Dr. Billy is performing my surgery. Ventura, CA

I'm scheduled for band removal and plication on Feb. 7 with Dr. Helmuth Billy. He has just started offering plication but he has been doing bariatric surgery for quite awhile and is fairly well known in the community. Past patients have good things to say about him, so I feel pretty comfortable with my decision. Of course, I'm nervous as this is my 2nd major surgery in 5 months - I had my port replaced and a hernia repair in Aug, 2010. I will be doing a 2 day liquid diet prior to surgery and most likely about a week of clear liquids followed by 2-3 weeks of full liquids then mushies. I think since plication is fairly new that the aftercare protocol is similar to sleeve gastrectomy. I am hoping, because I am a band patient and I've lived with the band for almost 10 years, that this will help me adjust to the plication. I have started journaling on fitday.com and am keeping spreadsheets with my weight and goals. Hopefully this will keep me accountable and on-track. My goal is to lose about 100-110 pounds although according to BMI charts I should aim for a 130 pound loss. Right now I'd be happy to get to onederland and shop at regular stores and wear regular size clothing. genepha lapband removal with insurance, self-pay plication 2-7-11

Amw Thanks! I have some pre-op testing today and then I'm all set. Getting nervous but excited at the same time! I'm going to keep track of everything on spreadsheets. I was pretty good about taking my measurements and weight with the band so hopefully, I'll be as diligent with the plication. Good luck to you!

So sorry to hear about your troubles. I'm hoping you have a quick recovery. Thanks for posting this information. I'm scheduled for plication in a couple of weeks and have been reading everything that's available. It's very hard to find information about the procedure because it's fairly new. Please keep us posted on your progress and your healing. genepha lapband removal and plication scheduled Feb. 7, 2011

Scheduled for lapband removal and gastric plication on Feb. 7th with Dr. Billy, Ventura CA. Congrats to everyone on their surgery dates.

Hi I think Dr. Jaime Ponce is doing it as a clinical trial in Dalton, Georgia. I believe there is a dr. In Louisiana also performing the plication but don't know his name. You can probably google it. genepha Lapband removal with plication scheduled for Feb 7

Thank you, thank you for all the wonderful recipes and ideas. My surgery is in 3 weeks so I will definitely use these tips. genepha Lapband removal Self-pay plication 2-7-11

Wow! You look fabulous. You give those of us with bands something to look forward to! Thanks genepha

Hi Alex, Are you on a PPI? I know that stomach acid can sometimes cause problems that you are describing especially fairly soon after surgery. Your new tummy has been through a lot so it's probably gonna me noisy until it gets used to its new life! I haven't had plication yet so hopefully, some experienced plicationers can help you out. Hope you feel better genepha Lapband removal, plication scheduled 2-7-11

Hi! I'm scheduled to have my lapband removed and a plication done. I'm having my surgery here in California. Getting excited but also nervous as this is my 3 surgery in like a year. Hopefully my last! genepha

Congrats Melanie! It'll be my turn in a little over 3 weeks!!

seniorsleever, That is a great idea! I just searched for a variety of VSG failures or revision and could only find 1 person who wasn't very successful with the VSG. The doctor suggested putting a band around the "banana" stomach? Everything I found dealt with people having bands or RNY converting to VSG. Thanks for the tip! genepha

Hi, I currently have a band and am having it removed in February. The main problems for me with the band, like others have stated are: 1. Fills and Unfills - for me they were expensive, and took a lot of time for me personally to get to the hospital to have one done I've had probably 50 fills and unfills over the 9 years I've had my band. 2. Weight loss was slow which I actually liked because very few people knew about the band, however, I did experience A LOT of reflux 3. Hernia surgery (which I might have had to have without the band anyway) and port replacement surgery 4. Long term I have not maintained my weight loss The reason about a foreign object in your body is not true as people with sleeves DO have foreign objects in their bodies - they have a line of staples. As far as I know every type of WLS includes some kind of foreign object in your body. Good luck to you in whichever surgery you decide to have. genepha Insurance approved band removal Self pay plication Feb. 7, 2011

Sorry about the financing. I wonder if u go thru Dr. Ortiz's, Corvala's or Abril's office if it's easier to get approved with financing. It might be something to look at. If u have a car that u own then u can get a pretty low interest rate loan against the car. Even if u do have to wait that'll give u time to prepare urself for ur new lifestyle - start chewing food really well,setting ur fork down between bites, don't drink when eating, etc. I hope it works out for u soon! genepha Approved for band removal with insurance with self pay plication.

J Sorry about the stall. I was a very slow loser with the band but I eventually lost 110 lbs. I'm hoping to recreate that with GPS. I agree that your body is adjusting to the surgery and ur new way of eating. Make sure u r taking measurements because it's a great way to see ur progress even if the scale isn't showing it. Please remind me of this when I hit my stall around the end of February! ))

Yeah! Glad u r feeling good and on the road to recovery. I'm scheduled for Feb 7 so I'm very anxious to know how everyone does right after surgery. Olivia - who is doing ur surgery? Our dates r close so we can help each other!!

Anna Wow that is good to know. I'm having my band removed so I think my prices might be a bit higher. Thanks for the info!

I think if ur gonna go to Tijuana the top docs are Dr Corvala (about $7500), Dr Jose Rodriguez (about $6500) and Dr Ariel Ortiz (about 8K). My dr is here in California but he has just started doing plication although he is a very experienced bariatric surgeon. Good luck to u in whomever u choose. genepha

Janie, You may want to post on the lapband board as well. I, like Tiffykins have a band. I had a lot of success with my band for the first 7 years but have had many, many problems with it in the last 2 years. A negative for sure with the band is the amount of aftercare required. I've had probably 20 fills and unfills in just the past 2 years alone. For each 1 I have to see my dr., pay a co-pay and I've even had to take a few days off of work. I am looking to revise to a gastric plication or sleeve gastrectomy. I haven't quite decided which surgery is best for me. You need to find a surgery that u feel most comfortable with and one that will help you be successful. Good luck! These boards are great at offering support and advice. Unfortunately not all of them are!

Great news! So glad everything worked out well. Wow! That's crazy about your stomach being so large! Congrats now please keep us updated on your progress!