Linda E

I agree fully with Canadian, I am on month three and have only lost 6 pounds this month but everyone notices my weight loss and I dropped another whole dress size. It's not just about the scale. My back side is noticeably slimming (and that is saying a lot!)

Hi 123andhappy- It sounds like you have it all together! With a name like HAPPY, you'll be at your first goal in no time! Thanks for the pick-me-up post. BTW, can grandma tell us how to make that soup? Linda

On my blog

Well, here I am in the Marriott in Tijuana. Easy trip from the East Coast on Christmas day. I have been lurking for some time and I just wanted to make an appearance before tomorrows surgery. I'm scheduled with Dr. Ortiz. This has been a long journey for me. I have had an amazing year with my career, unfortunately it involves a lot of travel and public speaking to doctors. I am having trouble with the plane seats (I got upgraded on the way here. Thanks Delta for the Christmas present!) and I'm having trouble with credibility. It is hard to be the FAT doctor. So, my amazing husband is here in Tijuana watching one of three English stations on TV while I contemplate if I will sit with him at dinner. I lost 19.5# in the last 7 weeks. The same weight I have lost over and over again. I think I have another 70 to go. I'm excited to see how is tool works for me and I'm happy to be part of this group. Thank you all for sharing and wish me luck!

I loved your post about your journey too! You are an excellent writer! Keep it up! Linda

I think I just found it.... Reply to the thread at the top??? Testing testing.. I'm a little slow. L

On my two month anniversary I wanted to give an update and share some of my experiences. Month 2 was very different than month one. The lesson I learned was that if I want this journey to result in weight loss, I'm going to have to DIET. I might have secretly hoped that this surgery was magical and that the gastric plication gods would bestow upon me a brand new body in a matter of weeks but I knew better. The first month was easy weight loss as i couldn't get over 700 calories a day while only drinking or eating soft food. After 6 weeks I could eat more regular food. The surgeon told me that I would only be able to eat 2-4 oz at a time and he was right. I do feel hungry every 2-3 hours and that requires more calories. I was stuck at 213 for about two weeks so I decided to track my calories with the myfitnesspal app. OMG, mystery solved, I was eating/drinking 1600+ calories a day and more (who knew alcohol was 70 cal an ounce and protein bars can be 300 cal each). When you eat small amounts, they can add up! I moved the scale down 5.5# within 5 days by making better choices and staying under 1200 calories. Do I feel restricted? YES. Do I feel deprived? NO. Do people I eat with know I'm different? NO. Do I feel normal? YES. Do I miss my old stuff-your-face lifestyle? NO. Do I exercise? NO. Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY! I can eat everything but to give you an example of restriction, I can only eat 1/2 to 3/4 of a lean cuisine entree, depending on the density but I can eat almost a whole can of clam chowder soup. I can only eat 3 pieces of a sushi roll and if I wait 20 minutes I can eat a fourth. I can drink as much as I want (just not with food) and a half bottle of water will take away my hunger for 30-45 minutes, sometimes more. When I feel really, really hungry, it usually means I need to burp. 5 hours without food is my limit, so I have to plan accordingly. Watching other people eat large quantities of food does not make me wish for my old stomach back, it makes me ill. So, grand total I've lost 42 pounds, 22 since the surgery two months ago. For me, the plication allows me to DIET comfortably. In the past 1200 calories would have been serious deprivation, today, 1200 calories is comfortable. They say you shouldn't diet, you should make a lifestyle change. I feel this surgery allowed me to make a lasting lifestyle change.

While everyone scars differently, I can tell you that I only have one incision that I think would leave a scar and that is only one inch long. I have scars that came from tree branches that look worse than this. The others are tiny!

It's my one month anniversary! I am so excited that I am finally doing something about my health that is working! I have lost 16 pounds since the surgery but don't judge that lightly. I have a diagnosis of hypothyroidism and PCOS ( poly cystic ovaries). Both diagnoses made it impossible for me to lose weight in the past because my diet had to be extremely restricted to lose even small amounts of weight. I resigned myself to be happy with losing 5 pounds a month with this surgery (and maybe that will still happen) but #16 in the first month!! I did minimal exercise so that will be phase 2 for me. I have good energy and have resumed my 12 hour a day schedule which is very physical. Right now I still drink a Protein shake daily (over many hours) which has all my Vitamins in it (called Alive from Whole Foods). I eat a hard boiled egg in the morning which fills me way up for a few hours. For dinner I can eat 2-3 oz of fish or chicken (cut up and chewed very well). Then an hour or so later I have some steamed squash or even a small russet potatoe. I eat a cup of yogurt or 1/2 cup of keifer in the afternoon too. I stay pretty full and haven't had any trouble with hunger (unless I go more than 3-4 hours with nothing.) When I'm hungry, just a few spoonfuls is enough. So I'm currently feeling VERY restricted. I have learned one thing. If I drink within a half hour of eating, I can get hungry again. So, I actually look at the clock to determine when I can drink again. I wait a whole hour. The one thing I did that I'm tremendously happy about is that I took a few months before the surgery and genuinely dieted. I lost 19 pounds, so when I hit a two week plateau, which usually makes me give up the diet, it was time for surgery. I think I gave myself a big head start both physically and mentally. So, sitting here one month later I'm down half a shoe size, two dress sizes and of course two cup sizes and I still can't believe I did it!

I'm almost one month out and I rarely feel hungry but rather I feel light headed and get a headache which is more a blood sugar reaction. I have to get something in pretty quick when I have that feeling.

I met two patients that were at OCC for tummy tucks. One was down 100 pounds in a year and the other had lost 120 in 16 months. My neighbor also had plication done a year ago last August and he has lost 165#. He says he still can't eat much. I also have patients who had gastric bypass who lost and gained. One of them lost 250# and has gained back almost 300#. You would think that a bypass would be hard to stretch but it happens all the time. For me, if I can use this plication to go from morbid obesity to mild obesity, I would have won the health battle I couldn't win before. For me it is not about that ideal number, nothing about me has ever been ideal, it is about moving the needle closer to healthier.

The. Chicken broth at the Marroitt is obscenely salty. I brought small packets of miso soup and bought juices to drink. Best of luck to you both! Linda

Tijuana Plication: WLS is a tool and it is important that the tool matches the problem. VSG is a very invasive surgery which does away with 80-85% of the stomach. It was designed as a first surgery for these who were too sick to tolerate a full gastric bypass. It was not designed as a stand alone surgery. Everyone should consult a professional to explore all possibilities and decide what procedure is right for them. What makes this kind of forum important is that the literature doesn't tell you the whole story and individual experiences are valuable. It might be valuable for those contemplating surgery to hear your story. Did you have VSG after plication?

I'm wondering if you did a 2-3 week liquid diet to shrink the stomach again if that could put you back on track with the feelings of restriction. I know it sounds like you are starting over, but I know a little about the physiology of the stomach and I would be very curious if this has helped anyone in this situation.

Yesterday I started eating real food that I puréed. I was so happy to make egg salad, chicken salad and mushy squash! It took me 1.5 hours to eat 1/2 cup of chicken salad. I was SO FULL! But I was happy to eat slow while watching football and a few hours later had a vodka and cranberry juice which also took me three hours to drink 6 oz. But I felt completely satisfied and thrilled with how physically satisfied I felt. I found that my food and drink intake is self regulating. I know when I'm hungry and I absolutely feel the need to slow down my spoonfuls of food as I get fuller. At this point, if I wanted to over eat, there is no way I could. After 2 oz or so, I am so full I feel like I couldn't swallow it if I wanted to. I hope this pleasantly full feeling continues! it is very gratifying, even on an emotional level. I feel relieved to know that I made a good choice for me.

I'm having trouble posting to my blog so I wanted to put up an update for those of you who are contemplating this kind of intervention. I am moving from liquid to mushy today. I am currently trying to eat a puréed hard boiled egg with a little mayo in them. I have been drinking kefir (a drinkable yogurt) and can only get 2-3 oz of it down at a time. I feel very restricted. I got 2/3rds of the hard boiled egg down and had to take a break. My number one problem is getting calories in. I am averaging about 600 calories a day, which isn't enough so I get fatigued with longer, more physically taxing days. My weight this morning is 218, down from 230 just 20 days ago. I am VERY happy with my progress as I would never have gotten to this point on my own. For me, this is just a way to sustain a lower quantity of food. It is still up to me to do all the work including eating right, drinking all my water and exercising with intention! I'm so grateful today for taking part in this journey. I know it is up to me to take advantage of this tool.

Make sure you bring chewable gas-x. It can be a lifesaver for the first few days! It will take about 8-10 days and you will feel normal again! My surgery was ONE simple needle stick for sample blood work and IV. Easy breezy! Just go to your happy place and you'll do great! Let us know how you are doing.

I've started a blog on this site for all those people lurking on his board like I did for months. I'll chart my journey there. I want to say thank you to all my new friends here on the board.

I was allowed any protein shake under 250 calories. I drank a soy protein from whole foods called Alive. I drank it in juice. I am still using it post op.

Happy New Year Everyone! ???‰I'm doing this blog to help others who are trying to find support and information for their weight issues. Today is the end of week one of my gastric plication journey. I had surgery on Dec. 26 in Tijuana Mexico with Dr. Ortiz. The whole experience was great and it has been much easier than expected. This first week is all about creative ways to get quality calories into my body that come in the form of clear liquids. I have always had trouble with milk products but after plication my intestines REALLY, REALLY don't like milk. I made a drink from the "Bariatric Advantage" 27g of protein powder mix. The reaction was extreme gas. The noises were impressive but I was not happy! The base of the protein is whey, which is milk protein. BAD IDEA? This was the only real discomfort I have had so I heeded to lesson #1: Nix the Milk. I am not hungry at all but I am recognizing a specific tightness that is relieved by some yummy clear liquids. On new years eve I decided that wine was a liquid and gave myself permission to drink a bit but when it came down to it, I couldn't drink it. Even thinking about it right now turns me off. The other unexpected turn offs are chocolate almond milk, which I mixed the protein powder. YUCK! I LOVE chocolate almond milk and I drank this with the protein for two months preparing for plication but I could not get it down. So far I have had no cravings, just the opposite. I have also had no pain, except from lesson #1. I am off of work but if I had to, I could probably have worked today. I took down all the Christmas lights with my amazing husband ( my personal cabana boy). No problem with light lifting, stretching and bending with my knees. I left weight till last. There has been a lot of discussion about weight loss On this forum, but the fact is, no one has control of their weight loss, only of their actions that contribute to weight loss or gain. I started drinking two meals a day and eating one 7 weeks before surgery and lost 19.5 pounds. Since I returned home I have lost 4 pounds. BUT in the 5 days I was away for surgery, which involved less than 400 calories a day I gained 6.5 pounds. I toss this into the WTF file and rest well knowing I did everything right. Bottom line, I'm thrilled with my decision and excited to see what 2012 has to teach me. ???™

The journey back to Atlanta on day 4 was fairly easy. I drank 32 oz on the plane which seemed to help my gurgles. I don't recommend any lifting or too much walking at this stage. The plane seat could be difficult as it tends to slump you forward and put pressure on the top of the abdomen. Fortunately for me the Gods are looking out for me as my husband and I both got to sit in first class with seats that could fully recline and raise the legs too. It was nothing short of heaven! On the way home we stopped at Publix and stocked up on broth and juice, so now I have a serious selection of liquids to choose from. Tonight I find my emotions are excited, happy and grateful for the OCC. I was definitely treated like a rock star! Thanks for the replies here and the private messages. Please feel free to write me if you have any questions about this first phase of the journey. Remember to take care of you!

We are back in San Diego. I'm still feeling good, my best description of how my stomach feels is that odd feeling the day after you had food poisoning. You don't feel bad but you are definitely not up to eating. Getting better by the hour! ???? Thanks for good wishes, they are working!