chowchows

I started out about a 40 bmi. I've lost about 55 lbs and am 11 months out. I do feel some small amount of restriction and that is all that is keeping me where I am these days. My cravings are through the roof. I'm trying to get back on some kind of plan, but I feel rather lost right now.

Struggling myself these days guys...haven't lost any in over a month. I'm trying to stay positive though and you guys are a help. I haven't been on this board in awhile, but I realize maybe I need to to inspire me. :-)

Congrats to you both!!!

I was just coming on this forum to ask you what they planned to do LMom. I'm glad you were able to get surgery so soon. Hang in there! My plication was easy, but my GB surgery hit me like a ton of bricks. I have heard that it takes a year to recover from a surgery...so when we have two in a year or so, I'm sure it adds up. Take care of yourself and try to keep a positive attitude! (I know, it's hard)

Hope all goes well..keep us posted!

Enjoy this time of not having hunger and try to maximize it by doing exactly what your doc said about getting in protein and fluids. Your weight loss is fastest right at the beginning, so the less hunger you have now the better in my opinion.

amen!

Very well said MauiJax...it's a journey, not a destination!

Do you mean keeping it secret from your doc also? That might be hard, but from everyone else it is definitely possible! Everyone I have told has been surprised. They expect someone with wls to lose like 30 lbs a month and with plication it is more gradual and you will be able to eat like a pretty normal person. I didn't tell my doc for several months, but after I developed gall bladder issues I had to come clean because they could see it on the ultrasound.

I for one value what TijuanaPlication has to say. I wish I had seen more of the truth (good and bad) before I had surgery. When I had surgery there was such a scarce amount of information out there. I would have probably still had plication, but it would have been nice to have more info. I think most people are going to take all the posts, both positive and negative, and weigh them against their own situation and personality and then make their own decision. TP isn't bullying anyone, and she isn't saying she is giving medical advice (far from it, her signature implies just the opposite). On the other hand, when you say you are a medical professional, that lends some weight...however, unless you are a gastric doctor, and have specifically treated a patient in particular, I don't think your advice is any more weighted in my mind than that of TP. I don't mean to be mean...just to say that we are all in a similar boat here. We are all either post plication or are thinking about having it, and ALL information is valuable. I wouldn't want to censor anyone, just because they critique something that I like or something that worked for me. I want to hear what everyone has to say...it's all been very helpful, and I don't want to see ANYONE bullied on these boards for their opinion. I'm not looking for drama..in fact just the opposite..let's all be supportive of the active exchange of information and encouragement. Despite the fact that TP's plication didn't work for her, she has been a big cheerleader of each and every one of our successes along the way-that takes some character, I think it would be hard for me to be happy for other's weight loss if I had stalled out!

I actually had a bad night this week..lots of pain in gallbladder/liver area and lots of acid. Overall though (95%) of the time I feel fabulous and my acid is much less and I have no issues with GB or anything I eat. I thought I had an ulcer too, but they said no. Hang in there and please let us know what the GI says! Have you had an endocscopy?

The pains on the right side were pretty intense the first month or so. If I eat a lot of fat nowadays, I get pains over there sometimes, but not always. That's really the only side effect I still have these days. Glad you're feeling better!

Sorry for the delay in writing, I don't come on this board much anymore. I felt kind of bad for a month, then just ok for another month, then I felt normal again after that. How did the actual surgery go? I would definitely give yourself time to heal. I felt immensely better post surgery, but compared to where I was that wasn't saying much. I look back now and realize that it is still a healing journey for a couple of months after surgery. Did they tell you how your plication looked while they were in there? Hope you get to feeling better fast!

Glad everything went well!

That is awesome news on the weight loss! Good luck on the surgery!

Was just looking back over my posts, and realized these might be helpful also so I wanted to put links all in the same posts. When the pain first started I thought it might be a leak but my doc thought it was acid reflux. After a few days that seemed to make sense as it would come and go, and I decided that I had developed horrible acid reflux that I would have to live with. This went on for almost two months and then I passed my first gallstone, but I thought it was dumping syndrome. My experiences were somewhat different from the stories I read on the vertical sleeve board, and it would make sense that our bodies are slightly different and therefore might react differently (and each individual person might react even more differently), so I thought linking to these might help Mermaid, or anyone else having these kinds of issues. Of course, pain might be something totally unrelated to acid or gallbladder, so talk to your doctor.

Oh my, can I tell you about what I thought was acid reflux, and instead turned into a horrible gallbladder mess! Here are the threads concerning my saga: My trip to the ER questions about surgery back in ER and had surgery Feel free to ask any questions. This is just my opinion, but I have never heard of gallbladder issues getting better. I am 1000% better since I had it out. I am two months out from surgery and the few issues I had with digestive problems shortly afterwards are gone. I eat what I want and do just fine. If I had it all to do over again I would have insisted they take it out the first time I was in the hospital! Hope you find the answers you need to get to feeling better. Gallbladder issues are no fun! I have heard from more than one person that a gallbladder attack is worse that labor with no pain meds...and when you are having one a week it gets old quickly! Oh, and turns out that what I thought was acid was pain extending out from pancreas and gallbladder...I have no more 'acid issues' now that my gallbladder is gone!

Don't know if it's the same thing, but the pains I get are not acid. Everyone thought they were for a long time, until they did so many tests on me with the gallbladder issues. They are a combination of gas or overfullness and the scar tissue I have developed around the plication. I no longer get the full stop feeling I got early on, I just start hurting now as I eat more.

I'm so sorry to hear about all of these things you have been through. I wish you a continued success in healing/getting better! Take care!

Thank you for all the info. I really appreciate it!

I second that!

How did you come to your diagnosis on this? What kind of doctor was able to help you? Thanks!

And I apologize if you felt like I was slamming your choice. I actually was very impressed with the fact that he was on the message board answering questions. Back in the original days of me considering wls, I was thinking about the band and wondering how I would get it filled back here in the US. I was researching prices and that was where I came across posts of people listing docs that would/wouldn't fill bands if you had it done in the US and how much it cost. Several people mentioned being quoted a large amount for a fill with Dr. Watkins, and others said 'no, he doesn't charge that much'. The discussion ensued and it turned out that the ones being quoted a larger amount all said that they had told him that they had it done in Mexico. I'm sure if you searched you could find several threads about the issue, it wasn't something I made up, just something I read and thought was odd. I personally can't say if it's true or not, as I got scared away from the band due to other posts I was reading and therefore had no need to pursue the issue. I had not even thought of it again until I saw the discussion about him on here. I was really curious as to whether it was truth or fiction to be honest. I saw so much garbage on some of the doctor owned message boards, and I had narrowed my surgery choices down, that I stopped going to any board except this one and VST. I'm glad you like him and his staff. We all have different needs and opinions and I hope everyone can find the doctor that fits them!

Am I wrong, or wasn't Michelle trying to drum up business for one certain doctor? I didn't read all of the posts, but I remember something of that nature being said.

That's awesome! It took me three months to do that! Congrats!