Pre Surgery jitters

[Livnlife 2]

My ESG is scheduled for tomorrow and I’m a bit nervous. I’ve looked into WLS for years but could never get past the surgery and recovery considerations because I never wanted anyone to know. Plus, I couldn’t come to grips with losing parts of my stomach with some of the surgeries. Then I heard about ESG. I worked up the courage to tell my husband, fully prepared to get the criticism and push back. Surprisingly, he was supportive. There is a man that works for him that had WLS and has lost 84 lbs so far. I’m sure that influenced him. He is tall and never gains weight, so he has never understood before. Just stop eating has always been his advice. Anyway, since he was on board, I found an ESG dr and since that time, the process has moved lightning quick. I think that is the hardest part because I’m not sure I have my head wrapped around this. But I’m moving forward anyway. I just joined this forum and haven’t had time to read much. Since my surgery is tomorrow, I thought I’d just go ahead and ask all of you about your ESG procedure. How did it go, did you have much pain, how long was the recovery, any issues with the surgery or the recovery, what has been your progress so far, and the biggest question of all is are you happy with your decision and would you make the same choice again?

Thanks in advance everyone.

[AJ Tylo 1,399]

Nobody here went into the hospital second guessing and not nervous! You are typical

The only regret i had was not doing it 15 years earlier = Best decision i ever did!

[GotItDoneInHarlem 302]

52 minutes ago, Livnlife said:

My ESG is scheduled for tomorrow and I’m a bit nervous. I’ve looked into WLS for years but could never get past the surgery and recovery considerations because I never wanted anyone to know. Plus, I couldn’t come to grips with losing parts of my stomach with some of the surgeries. Then I heard about ESG. I worked up the courage to tell my husband, fully prepared to get the criticism and push back. Surprisingly, he was supportive. There is a man that works for him that had WLS and has lost 84 lbs so far. I’m sure that influenced him. He is tall and never gains weight, so he has never understood before. Just stop eating has always been his advice. Anyway, since he was on board, I found an ESG dr and since that time, the process has moved lightning quick. I think that is the hardest part because I’m not sure I have my head wrapped around this. But I’m moving forward anyway. I just joined this forum and haven’t had time to read much. Since my surgery is tomorrow, I thought I’d just go ahead and ask all of you about your ESG procedure. How did it go, did you have much pain, how long was the recovery, any issues with the surgery or the recovery, what has been your progress so far, and the biggest question of all is are you happy with your decision and would you make the same choice again?

Thanks in advance everyone.

Both my sleeve and RNY went fantastic. Pain is easily controlled and you should be just fine. I'm still happy that I did it. Like AJ Tylo, my only regret is not doing it sooner.

[november11 970]

oh my you have such a thrilling ride ahead of you once you get through the first few weeks. everyone experience is different but one thing is universal which is follow your nutritonalist and surgeon's instructions to the absolute T.. no joke. you will have some good days and some bad days but hang in there and try not to complain to yourself instead encourage yourself and speak positive to yourself . Once your mind is thinking good and positive things your behavior will follow... remember not to judge your progress by anyone else's on this forum and for goodness sake do stay here on this forum it will lead you to the promised land. Good luck, God's speed in your recovery and keep us posted!!!! Don't forget your little pillow .

[Livnlife 2]

2 hours ago, AJ Tylo said:

Nobody here went into the hospital second guessing and not nervous! You are typical

The only regret i had was not doing it 15 years earlier = Best decision i ever did!

Thanks so much. It’s very comforting to know it was the best decision you ever did.

[Livnlife 2]

2 hours ago, GotItDoneInHarlem said:

Both my sleeve and RNY went fantastic. Pain is easily controlled and you should be just fine. I'm still happy that I did it. Like AJ Tylo, my only regret is not doing it sooner.

Thanks so much as well. I’m looking forward to the new me.

[Livnlife 2]

1 hour ago, november11 said:

oh my you have such a thrilling ride ahead of you once you get through the first few weeks. everyone experience is different but one thing is universal which is follow your nutritonalist and surgeon's instructions to the absolute T.. no joke. you will have some good days and some bad days but hang in there and try not to complain to yourself instead encourage yourself and speak positive to yourself . Once your mind is thinking good and positive things your behavior will follow... remember not to judge your progress by anyone else's on this forum and for goodness sake do stay here on this forum it will lead you to the promised land. Good luck, God's speed in your recovery and keep us posted!!!! Don't forget your little pillow .

Thanks so much for the encouraging words. Maybe it’s because I’m having a different surgery, but I’m not following what you mean by the little pillow?

[november11 970]

2 minutes ago, Livnlife said:

Thanks so much for the encouraging words. Maybe it’s because I’m having a different surgery, but I’m not following what you mean by the little pillow?

if you are having the sleeve surgery there will be little incisions on your stomach which makes it painful to cough,sneeze lay etc..

if you have your little pillow you could put it under your incision and lay more comfortably on your side if you are a side sleeper also it cushions your stomach when you sneeze, cough, etc....

[Livnlife 2]

53 minutes ago, november11 said:

if you are having the sleeve surgery there will be little incisions on your stomach which makes it painful to cough,sneeze lay etc..

if you have your little pillow you could put it under your incision and lay more comfortably on your side if you are a side sleeper also it cushions your stomach when you sneeze, cough, etc....

I understand now, thanks. I’m actually having ESG, so there are no incisions. They put an endoscope down your throat and make the sleeve from the inside. It was one of the reasons I was attracted to this option, minimally invasive. It’s the same type of thing they do for an upper GI test. That’s the only reason my husband got on board too. But thank you so much for the reply. I am assuming my midsection will still be sore because they are stitching the stomach together, even though it’s in the inside. I’ll take my pillow with me just in case.

[november11 970]

30 minutes ago, Livnlife said:

I understand now, thanks. I’m actually having ESG, so there are no incisions. They put an endoscope down your throat and make the sleeve from the inside. It was one of the reasons I was attracted to this option, minimally invasive. It’s the same type of thing they do for an upper GI test. That’s the only reason my husband got on board too. But thank you so much for the reply. I am assuming my midsection will still be sore because they are stitching the stomach together, even though it’s in the inside. I’ll take my pillow with me just in case. 

ohhhh I see well .you wont need it then I don't think , This is cool... much much success . keep us posted,,, and don't leave the forum,its packed with lots of good information with all kinds of situations .

[Hop_Scotch 1,632]

On 3/7/2020 at 12:50 AM, Livnlife said:

Since my surgery is tomorrow, I thought I’d just go ahead and ask all of you about your ESG procedure. How did it go, did you have much pain, how long was the recovery, any issues with the surgery or the recovery, what has been your progress so far, and the biggest question of all is are you happy with your decision and would you make the same choice again?

Thanks in advance everyone.

Lots of people have had really good success with ESG, particularly in USA and other countries where it has been carried out for a while (as its a fairly new procedure). In Australia there seems to be a higher failure rate due to many reasons: some doctor technique is lacking, overeating, etc...some others lost restriction for no apparent reason. I think in time Australia success rate will improve as the doctors gain more experience in the technique and ongoing the technique is being improved.

I am member of a few ESG fb groups where the posting is a little bit more frequent than this subforum. Message me if you would like the links. There is one good site with a lot of people from USA...it a fairly positive site.

I had my ESG in Australia over a year ago. No real pain other than stomach cramps for the first few days and I did recover well. At first restriction felt good, and I had good weight loss (lost about half of what I wanted), over time the restriction lessened and I have none now. I have gained some weight back though I haven't reached my pre-procedure weight.

An endoscopy showed I have about one suture intact. There is no one reason why my ESG failed and it is possible I contributed with a couple of bouts of overeating. I will be converting to a sleeve fairly soon. The surgeon has done a few conversions and he feels I should be able to convert to a sleeve, if not, he will do a mini bypass. The anchors can prevent conversion to a sleeve.

I have been working hard (which help) on what causes me to overeat, it is an ongoing battle but I have made some great progress and feel quite confident going forward.

I do regret my decision but only for the fact I wish I had waited until the Australian doctors had more experience with the procedure and ongoing the procedure is being refined to ensure better outcomes.

My tips to get the best of your procedure would be to follow all post op guidelines particularly around volumes of food, exercise once you are able to, don't be tempted to test your restriction just because you can eat more than the guideline volumes...once you get past soft food stage, try and get as much Protein from food as opposed to shakes (satisfaction and restriction will kick in quicker than with fluids), avoid slider foods and if your doctor/clinic as a post op management program make sure you commit to it and make all your appointments. Don't abandon the program with embarrassment if you have stalls or weight gains along the way...this will the time when you most need to reach out to the experts.

One important thing is to work on what causes you to overeat, this won't change with the ESG, those battles will still be there, if you work on them now you will have better outcomes for your ESG.

My outcome is but one of many of successes and failures, on the main ESG group on fb there have been some great successes particularly in USA.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Hop_Scotch