Why the negativity around Gastric Plication?

[farmgal 26]

Someone on this website had a problem his sutures came undone and he almost died. I am definitely not an expert and do not have any knowledge except that its less invasive and it involves folding your stomach in half and then sewing it together. I want 75% of my stomach gone out of my body.

I am that someone, but I'm not a "He". I had my surgery in Mexico as self pay, because that is all I could afford. That was almost 6 months ago in August, and back in Nov. I had stitches blow and the contents of my stomach were emptying into my abdominal cavity. And yes, I did almost die, your organs go septic quickly. My insurance would only cover parts of the bill, it depended on how things were coded. Total bill was over $100,000 (2 hospitals, ambulance and then a week stay after surgery. I am about $30,000 in debt now. But here's the deal, even my surgeon said he has never seen that happen before, and the fact is plication surgery related problems are less than 1%, so hey! I am that 1%, so now you all are going to be the 99% with no problems!

Even after everything that happened, I love my plication. I lost 68 lbs in the past 5 1/2 months and have just about 35 to go. I feel better in so many ways. I have to think back 6 months ago, and then I realize, hey! my feet don't hurt anymore! My knees don't either! I'm off high blood pressure medicine, I have tons of energy and I could go on and on. I researched the crap out of different WLS options and am comfortable with my decision. I'll be paying it off for the next 10 years, but I may not have lived 10 years without having this done.

My best to each of you in your journey.

[chelan 7]

Oh wow I am so sorry you are so brave

[SandyM 1,956]

I'm sorry to hear about your complications. As pointed out, complications can and do happen with every type of surgery. The person I mentioned above in my post had a gastric bypass and now has telescoping bowel. I read up on it and find that it's more common than they originally thought. I took care of a lady on hospice that had so much scar tissue that it was strangulating her bowel and the more they cut on her to fix it, the worse it got. I knew the risks going in and I still am happy with my decision. My surgeon says the risk of bowel spillage with the sleeve are much greater due to the cutting.

Edited February 2, 2014 by SandyM