chowchows

Ok, so it's been a month and I am officially sitting at 15 lbs lost, and I'm down from an 18/20W to a missy 18, in some things I can wear a 16. Had a two week+ plateau there where I started regretting the surgery, but overall I am very happy with things. Went out to eat last night for the first time and no one said anything about my 'wierd eating', but someone did comment on how good I looked and how slim my face was looking...made me happy, lol! Hubby says that he can tell I am losing weight in my stomach, which is my problem area...I think that even during my stall I was losing inches there, as during that time I made the transition down in jean size. This has been the beginning of a long journey, but I can honestly say that if I had to make the decision again I would do the plication surgery all over again.

I have never seen a nutritionist. I came home with very limited food guidelines...limited as in they are not explained very well. I have been researching and then experimenting my way through my diet. I had bread last night at a social setting, because I didn't feel like I had a choice, even though I am only 5 weeks out. Regretted it big time..it hurt. I have never thrown up, and as long as I have not eaten anytime lately, can drink almost like I used to (water). Ok, so you had a Twix bar twice...I don't know about you, but the old me would have had a Twix everyday and never thought twice about it. I know some will disagree with me, but you have to live life...and sometimes that is going to mean eating a sweet once in a blue moon, or going out to eat at a fancy restaurant. The good thing is that it's not every day anymore, and you can only eat a small amount no matter what. Hang in there!

Was in a social situation last night where there wasn't really much I should be eating. I just picked at my food, and had a few bites of things I wasn't supposed to, because I felt like everyone would be asking me if ate nothing. Regretted it afterwards! I didn't tell any of my family before my surgery...knew they would freak out. Have only told my mother post surgery...the rest of them would just use it as gossip fodder and to put me down, so I said no way to telling them!

Some days I feel like this, some days I am really happy with my plication...today is not a good day, lol! I seem to go in cycles...lose for about two weeks, then stop for about a week. As long as I keep losing, I am ok...I am close to 20 lbs down and 1 week and 1 month postsurgery...however, I worry that I may see more stalls and less losing as things go on.

That is actually one of the many hopes I have with my surgery. I am always sweating, and I am tired of feeling like I am a freak. Hopefully I will get down to that point-good for you!

Not wanting to dissuade you, as I had mine done in Mexico and would do it again, but I would be prepared for them to speak less than perfect English. I went to the Gallenia in Cancun...it was beautiful, like a resort, upscale and clean. The contact person was Canadian, so of course she spoke perfect English (and Spanish). The doctors spoke pretty good English, but only 1 of the nurses, including the recovery room team where I had an issue and spent 3 hours post-surgery, spoke good English. I have had 4 years of Spanish in high school and College, but that was 20 years ago and I was in pain post surgery...it took everything I could muster to reach back in the cobwebs of my brain and find phrases and words to try to communicate what I was feeling. All night long it was the same thing. The nurses were absolutely wonderful in their demeanor and manner-sweet as could be-I really felt cared about! The communication barrier was just a surprise to me. We go to Mexico almost every year, and whether we are at the resorts or traveling through the central Yucatan region, most people speak some English, so I was certainly expecting the medical staff to speak passable English. Additionally, the websites of the doctors that do the surgery at Gallenia (there are several of them) all advertise the medical staff as speaking perfect English. Again, please do not think I am dissuading you...I LOVE Mexico, had an overall good experience with my surgery, couldn't be happier with the expertise of my doctor (he's one of the leaders in the field, and I felt more comfortable with him rather than going with most of the US doctors), was very happy with the medical skill of the nurses and hospital team, and would think about having another surgery there. Next time though I would brush up on my Spanish, make sure I knew key phrases (I'm having pain in my ......, I need.........., etc) and be a little more aware that the communication was going to have to come more than 50% from me once the doctor and contacts are gone in the evening. I was the last person of the day, and didn't get out of recovery until almost 9pm, so that made it a little worse in that all the day people (docs) were gone...if I had had it earlier I think that it might have gone smoother, as English speaking people would have been around during my recovery time and during the initial time of pain and my complications in recovery. Going to Mexico was really about the only option I felt I had. I would recommend it...just be prepared. Good luck, I don't think you will regret the plication!

The doctors all say this,but I for one had absolutely no nausea. I am just over a month out from surgery and have never had nausea once, so I think it depends on the person. I don't think the patch is a bad idea though, just in case. I heard that it really helped a lot of people post surgery. My doc just gave some medicine through the IV for the first 12 hours. Good luck!

Again, not that I am a big bread fan, but for comparison purposes, at what point did everyone start eating bread? What about raw veggies, like salads?

Congrats on the new plication! Hope you continue to be happy with the surgery,and that it gives you the success you had with the lapband, without the additional problems!

This is good to know as well! Six months seemed like an awfully long time!

Thanks you guys for the words of inspiration! Being on this board has helped a lot! The cute doggy picture is my bad girl Maggie, she's such a diva! LOL!

My doc just said wait 6 months on the rice because it can swell in the stomach and cause lots of pain (or early on could pop a stitch). That is good to know if you are not having any problems with it. I don't eat bread, but I do like brown rice occasionally!

That's awesome...I couldn't even do that much in my skinny days!

I was on liquids for 2 weeks post surgery, and surprisingly was just fine with it. I didn't miss real food during that time...guess the healing kept me from wanting to eat anything more than that. I just used the ensure high Protein shakes, along with make my own smoothies with when Protein powder. I was also able to have yogurt during that time. Now I am having soft food (for the last two weeks)...but a lot of things qualify as soft according to what my doc gave me on the food list...as long as you chew them about thirty times before swallowing. I've had tuna, chicken, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese,heavily cooked veggies, Soups, etc...just mostly protein foods and not a lot of carbs. Occasionally I will still have a Protein shake, but I find I am usually able to get my protein in the 50-70 grams stage without it each day. White breads and salads are ok at about the 4 months stage, rice is not allowed until 6 months.

If you are learning, you are not ignorant! We all had to start at the beginning and research this all at one time or another. RNY is Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.

Cool. Yeah, having more posters would make things more interesting and informative.

Hi Donna, Welcome to the group! I am somewhat of a newbie, only 1 month out, but I will give you my perspective. I get hungry about every 2-3 hours, but my doc said that was normal and expected. It doesn't take much though to fill me up...a few bites of cottage cheese or one of the small cups of yogurt. In addition, I no longer CRAVE junk food and sweets. I had a horrible sweet tooth before, and now I really don't care that much about them. Additionally, some of the foods I liked before no longer taste that great to me...and that's a good thing because it was junk food. I am still learning the restriction of my stomach. I never had any nausea after surgery, and have never thrown up, but when I eat too much I hurt. It usually goes away in about 15-30 minutes, and then I just feel full.

That's the impression I got about the stomach getting smaller...I'm sure that doesn't apply if one was to continually overeat, but to me it's saying that it will get smaller if you abide by the eating rules.

deleted...sorry posted twice.

The story on the OS webpage states that some people's diabetes was gone immediately after WLS. They also implied that the results after WLS were much more than if you just lost the weight yourself. I don't have diabetes, so I don't know, but I thought it was interesting.

Jenn, About how many calories do you take in on any given day?

The Orlando Sentinel Sunday paper had a story on the front page about diabetes and WLS. I thought it was an interesting read, here is the link. The story intimates that about 78% of people with diabetes who have WLS 'overcome' their diabetes. I then read a story from the Clevelland Clinic that stated that: "Diabetes, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea and abnormal cholesterol levels are improved in more than 75% of patients undergoing a bariatric procedure". They are talking about plication being included in these weight loss surgeries. Here is the link from that story. To me, and I am not a doctor so please do your own research to follow up, this seems to show that plication rates about as well as other weight loss surgeries in helping with diabetes. Also, the Orlando Sentinel story talked about insurances covering WLS if BMI is under 40, with additional co-morbidities. I would think diabetes would definitely qualify. Is there any way you could fight their verdict?

I would agree with that for the most part. I had laparoscopic surgery back in 1995 and the incision, just below my belly button, was about 1/2 inch thick. (yeah, I wasn't too thrilled about that) Anyway, at about a year it was for the most part healed to where it stayed for almost a decade. In the last few years though, it has suddenly started to thin and fade even more...not sure what is up with that, and not like you really want to wait a decade, but I do think the skin heals even more over time. I was very lucky with the plication...my doc made tiny incisions and they are as thin as a hair. They already just look like small scratches, and that is less than a month out. Of course, I still have a big catepillar under my belly button from the first surgery years ago, so it's not like I am going to be parading my fat belly around anyway, lol! I am trying to take good care of my skin right now anyway, to help with the elasticity and hopefully help my skin shrink as much as possible. I put really high end collagen lotion on my stomach, arms and legs everyday, and this included my scars, so maybe that is helping them to heal quickly too. Someone on another board mentioned that they apply Maderma. All the Water we are drinking is also supposed to help with skin healing. I'm holding on to that hope at least!

I feel like many people on the other boards are snarky towards people who have plication, if not downright jerkish towards us! I didn't feel very welcome on most of them, and hence did not post on most of them. I kind of like that our surgery is new, and we're kind of trend setters...but having said that, each surgery was new at some point. I think most of us put a lot of though and research into our surgery, and had very good reason(s) for picking it over others. For me it was the only one that made sense. Before I had any knowledge of WLS, I thought I wanted the Band, however it did not take me long to realize that wasn't for me. Each of the other surgeries also didn't 'fit' me, and the only one that I was ok with was plication. Some days I get frustrated with issues about it, but I wouldn't have any of the other surgeries.

I'm going to a Mexican restaurant. Kind of a business dinner. Any suggestions appreciated!