chowchows

Weight loss has been slow lately, but I stepped on the scale this morning and I am down 1.4 lbs from yesterday...which means that I am now over 1/4 of the way to my weight loss goal of 110 lbs lost (with a goal weight of 150)! I'm excited...I needed that benchmark to help motivate me...I felt like I was never going to get there. On top of that, I put on a dress that I bought on clearance (one of those fancy cocktail dresses...now where am I going to wear that? lol) and I can almost get it zipped. I started out from surgery in a very tight fitting size 20, and the dress is a 14. Guess I will have to celebrate and find a place to wear it once I can actually get it zipped!

Maybe it would be worth also making a post where we all list our docs...then if someone is considering that particular doc, they have a potential wealth of information (good and bad experiences) just by PM'ing the people who posted. Just a thought.

At two weeks out I was losing 1.5 lbs a day...then it stopped abruptly. It took awhile to come back, but now I'm losing about 7-8 lbs a month (almost 3 months out). The early days are nice, when the weight falls off at such a quick pace it's incredible. Just try not to get too discouraged when it stops or slows. It most likely will come back, although slower. A couple of people on here have had the weight loss end at that point (and are very unhappy with the surgery because of that), but most of us just slow down and settle into a slow, but steady, weight loss. I will take it over not losing, or gaining. I was very scared that I was going to be a failure when I first stopped (because it had been going so well up to that point and I stalled so early into the game). Good luck in the journey!

That is inspiring! Congrats!

That's too cool! I am in the transition process of trying to run my own business and leave corporate America. Do you sell online?

Do you feel that the amount you can eat now is drastically different from what you could eat a couple of months out? At two months I already feel a big difference in the amount I can eat, and I was never one of those who could only eat two tablespoons. I am still losing, although slowly, but I worry about this. I saw your post on another board, would you think about revising to the sleeve? I think about it, and might think more seriously about it if I stopped losing totally, but I don't really want to go through another surgery. Do you feel that your food intake (calories) is low enough that if you didn't have the plication you would still be losing? My contention is that the plication slows our metabolism. While I do like the fact that it helps me limit my food intake, without the plication my weight loss is at a much faster pace at the same caloric intake (but of course keeping that low amount of calories is SO hard without the plication...catch-22). That being said, I think you've done really well! I wish I was a size 12! Congrats on all the hard work and the journey thus far.

I was online this morning, thinking about upgrading a couple of bathing suits (since we're in Florida I have almost as many bathing suits as I do shorts, lol). I went to my usual website for plus size bathing suits, and realized that I am too small to fit in all of the underwire swimsuits I was shopping for. There wasn't a single one on the site that was small enough to fit me. While I realize that I am not "small" by any stretch of the imagination, this made me feel kind of good!

I was told that any beverage with less than 10 calories per serving counted.

While signed in, click on "signed in as 'Lmom1980" in the top left hand corner. A drop down list should appear, then choose "my profile". Once you do this, an edit profile button (orange) will appear on the right hand side of the page about 3 inches from the top. Click on that, and then you can adjust your profile and add a signature (which is where you will put the link in from the ticker.) Hope this helps!

That is awesome in so many ways! Congrats!

That's very close to me...maybe I should have pushed this avenue. Oh well, it's good to know there's someone near me that knows what I have going on inside me!

LOL, I like the way you are thinking now Diva!

Congrats, Anne! Would you mind telling us who your doc is? I didn't have a band previously, but had a hiatal hernia and I wondered, before I scheduled in Mexico, if any doctor would do WLS while they were in there fixing the hernia and just bill me for the 'above and beyond' part of the WLS (my insurance covers nothing for WLS).

That would be very beneficial, IMO. Thank you!

I wish that someone would gather statistics and info from all the patients who have gone to Mexico and had it done. There are enough of us that, while the FDA and ASMBS probably wouldn't find it reliable, other people might be interested in following the path of our journey and seeing the weight loss as we all become "long term" patients.

TP, Is it possible for your doctor to just go in there and tighten you up? I have read somewhere that a couple of people have had that done. Would you consider it, or are you just 'done' with plication?

I am still relatively new to the game: will be two months out in a few more days. I had a looong stall early on (two weeks in) and then stalled again two weeks later. I have been frustrated at the stalls, but that may just be me, and I might be that way with any WLS, who knows. I have also had some pain lately, but am working on diagnosing and getting past that. Some days I wish I had the sleeve, due to the stalls and slow weight loss. That being said, I wanted somewhat slow weight loss in order to give my body time to recover (less loose skin, more health in my opinion) and I didn't want to lose part of my stomach, so.... I think part of my unhappiness sometimes stems from seeing others on here who have not had successful results, and feeling scared that I might end up like that. It really just depends on the day, and that is just part of who I am. That being said, I am losing weight, I have always felt restriction, and have never had any nausea. I am almost 1/4 of the way to my 110 lb weight goal, so I try to focus on that. I guess time will tell.

US trials will NOT make me change my opinion on plication, for the better or worse. Look at US "safety" and Phen-Fen. What a joke. It's all about the right person getting their palms greased. On the other hand, having lived all over the world, just because other countries do not have FDA type standards does not make them less safe. Sometimes the FDA's feet dragging has led to many deaths because someone needed a medicine that the FDA wouldn't approve because they were not finished with their tests. The FDA says that the person may die without their tests, but if the person is going to die anyway, where is the safety in that if the drug is their last chance?! Most days I am happy with my plication, some days though not so much. I was feeling pretty bad last week, but turns out it's something that has nothing really to do with the plication. I know that it hasn't been "everything to everyone", but I think it's something that everyone needs to make their mind up about. It IS good to have the negative info out there, to help us make up our minds, but if someone decides to do it and is happy, then that's pretty good evidence too. All weight loss surgeries (and all surgeries period) were experimental at one point. Part of me thinks it is interesting to be a lab rat. Part of me doesn't like it. Time will tell, but even with "tried and true" weight loss surgeries some people have failures-hence all the revision surgeries out there if you look at other boards. I am sorry you had an appalling experience, and hope you can figure out something (surgery or non-surgery) that helps you in the future!

I now have about 85 to go...how are you doing Jenn?

Don't think I have a bezoar...after some research I really think it may be an ulcer, it fits all the descriptions for type of pain/location/duration/when it happens. That being said, I had never heard of a bezoar, and my doc sure as heck never told me to avoid coconut, celery, etc. So for anyone else as clueless as I was, here is a discussion on bezoar's on the VST board. Hope no one ever needs this info! I am now off to mourn the fact that I can never have coconut again-that is one of my all time favorite foods.

OMG-I had some coconut on Saturday before it started. I love coconut, and was never told anything about it being a problem. It wasn't raw, was cooked, and I thought it would be be ok. Thank you Jenn and FattoPhat for the info. I too had wondered about an ulcer. I don't think stepping back on the eating plan is a horribly bad idea, even though I am put out with my doc's lack of concern. I think I might have been pushing things lately. I haven't had any problems with foods up till now, so maybe I got ahead of myself. I just noticed that I spelled "do" as "doe" in my subject line...man, I must have really been in pain yesterday, lol!

Ok, my doc was useless. He thinks it's acid...wants me to go back on liquids at 6 weeks post op and continue prilosec and add Maloxx or Mylanta. Sigh. Maybe one of you (Donna, perhaps) that are getting ready to go get surgery can ask a more compliant doc for what we should be looking for? In the meantime, I'm hoping that my pain subsides and it's not anything worse than acid. Still thinking about going to get a barium swallow at the least.

edit, replied to wrong post.

Would love to know what you found out. Thanks!

I was doing some searches on the VST board, and I thought this conversation was interesting. Not only does it address the issue of pain and constipation (which I'm still not sure was my problem, but feeling 75% better now), but it also addresses my personal fears of some hospitals not knowing/understanding our surgery, and it has a little advise from a doctor in the middle of it (concerning gastric bleeding). This might be useful for others in the future.