mednar

I'm no lady. I passed a year out on June 6. There was a small group of people on here orginally. As the procdure has gained numbers of participants, I could no longer keep track of who everyone was in my mind. I've no desire to be a spokesperson for this procedure. However, it was the only outlet there was for me a few short months ago. The community I found here was very hepful early on in investigating this procedure. The support during the first six months is also helpful. It's not that it isn't helpful afterwards. I just found that I needed much less support in the following months. I had my plication 13 months+ (June 6, 2011). I started at 295. I weighed in at 196 a few weeks ago. I also ran my first 5k on July 4, 2012. My time was crap, but I did finish. My weight loss has slowed down very much in the last half of the first year. It's a slow go, but it still goes. It also flucuates a lot. I can eat more than I could starting out. I do better when I eat Protein first, then veggies, which is what the nutritionist suggested. I've also been craving carbs for the second time since the procedure. I can go up several pounds or down when I occasionally weigh depending my Water and salt consumption. I've been at the same weight for a month or two. I've changed exercise routines the last three months. I just can't do 6:15 am (6 am during the school year) every morning three days a week. To be at my max BMI goal weight, I still need to lose another 40 lbs. If I could settle around 175 I'd be happy. I just need to find an exercise routine that works that schedule and watch my carbs a bit more. Hope everyone is well. Mednar

I had this the first week or so after surgery. My physician put some type of patch behind my ear afterwards that was to be absorbed through the skin for up to three days after the surgery. I've long since lost that box, so I'm not sure what that was called. It didn't help that it fell off and refused to stick soon after I got home. He also gave me a prescription for ondansetron, an anti-nausea medicine that really seemed to help when I took it as prescribed. Another thing that he prescribed for me was a battery powered wrist bracelet that seemed to help me. I went home from the surgery center with that. I'm pretty sure i recently saw a similar device in the local CVS in the motion sickness department. My completely unqualified medical theory is that the slight shock that you get at the wrist every few seconds helps distract you from the feelings of nausea as your stomach readjusts to it's new shape. The first week for me was rough with the nausea. Hopefully your loved one has gotten through that by now or is getting better. Take care.

Quick update. Don't remember to get on here much anymore. Had surgery June 6, 2011. To date, I've lost 87 lbs. According to the BMI charts in the doctors office, I need to lose ~ 52 lbs to be "normal" BMI range. For me to be happy, I'd still like to lose ~25-30 more lbs. It's gotten harder to lose, but I also gave up on getting up 2.5 hours before work to exercise. Haven't replace that weight training/exercise, and it's slowed my weight loss down. I've got to find something to replace that with, or develop a routine at home. I'm back to walking again 5-6 days a week. Also still trying to train to run when I can. I'm up to 5 minutes running, 2.5 walk, 3 minutes running, 1.5 walk x2. Start a new week this week. The third run this week is 20 min running. Not sure how that will work out. Might have to repeat a week. My weight loss of late has been slow, but clothes sizes are slowly dropping. I've gone from wearing a 3XL mens shirt to a L, depending on the manufacturer. They all seem to have some different body size in mind when they make stuff. Hope all the "old" plication patients are well. Hope all you new ones do well. Take care.

I'm wondering if your doctors recommended that you take supplements, and if so, what they recommended. The nutritionist at my doctor's office didn't. I was diligent about taking Iron, a B supplement, and a multi-vitamin early on. I've not been as diligent lately. I started bruising really easily. The purple/green kind, where I can't even remember what I hit, then get a bruise. Over the last two weeks, I went back on them, but then today, I noticed another on my wrist. Have any of you experienced that you bruise more easily? Not sure if I should be worried or not.

it's diffucult to read this. I hope I'm not there in few months, . I think I just clocked 7 months out last Friday. Overall trend is to lose. My exercise committment has waned with bad weather (1 hour every other day walking and 3x circuit training each week, weather permitting). Both suffer during winter. I just need the sleep during the depths of winter. It's hindered my weight loss with rainy days and days where I just can't get outside. I can't speak for anyone else. I still have restriction. My overall trend is downward. The slope is less steep. Had my lowest weight last week, then had nearly a 9 lb flucuation upward a few days later. A lot of it is Water weight for me. Keep at it. Mednar

I didn't have any complications post op. However, many surgeons offer post op insurance (Bliss-care was what mine was called, or something like that). Since most health insurance companies don't cover WLS to begin with, and also don't cover complications from the surgery, it's probably a good idea to find a surgeon that offers that type of post-op coverage in my opinion.) You can opt into/out of the duration and extent of coverage, at least that was my experience. You would have to read the specific documents from your physician and discuss them and the insurance carrier to be reasonably sure you'd be covered during a specific event. Strongly suggest that you talk with the insurance provider to understand what you're buying with those policies. It was another step and another pain in the ass, but I felt better having it and knowing what they would/wouldn't cover. Traditional insurance plans don't cover anything regarding plication as best as I can tell. It's too early for them to make any money off the procedure.

Today I ate part of two very thin slices of cake (,.5 in) of red velvet cake and a peppermint cheesecake layer cake with white chocolate icing. I know how bad that sounds, but they were tiny pieces, and I didn't each all of either of them. I never crave sweets or eat them much but they were both really good looking and tasting. I've done well up to now, so thought I could judge what I could handle. Kinda got the cold clammy sweats a bit before I threw both up. Had a similar experience back in the summer with sugary drinks. Is that dumping? Confused this far out, though I have to say my refined sugar intake is next to nothing now. Wondering if the sugar shock was part of it. Anyone with similar experiences? Mednar

Hope you're doing well recovering!

You are losing 7 lbs per month on average. That's great. Don't be too hard on yourself, but keep pushing. There are apps tracking food intake and exercise. Maybe one of those could help? You can do it. Keep at it.

IB, I can't speak to the what others have done or the promises others have made. I'm losing weight because I've changed my eating patterns and I exercise a more, more than I ever imagined I could. WLS for me wasn't a magic bullet, but at six months out, it was a good slug to motivate me to be successful with my food choices and to continue to exercise. The personal link between I'm not a Pollyanna type personality, but this surgery has been the greatest single factor in my losing weight as an adult. I went into it with the idea that much of my lifestyle had to change. It did. I have. I hope you choose the best procedure for you. Take care and post often.

Yesterday was six months out from my surgery date. I've lost almost exactly half the weight I wanted (stupid .2lbs). With it getting colder and with more rain, I wasn't able to walk as much this last month. I also had a week off from work and wasn't feeling much like a lot of exercise. Had another couple of days I spent trying to fight off some sort of bug. I lost four less pounds than the previous month as a result. I can live with the results though. Over the week I was off, I cleaned out my closet and literally donated a trunk load of clothes to charity. I exercise most weeks 3 mornings a week at 6 am with a trainer in a class. I still hate having to do it, but mostly because of the hour. I know I shouldn't complain because I don't pay for it directly. It's part of the wellness program where I work. On the days after, I often struggle to roll out of bed because my hamstrings are so sore. There are days when the people I work with make light-hearted fun of me at the old-man way I take stairs. I've recently started interval running/walking with a goal of running a 5k at some point. Because I still carry a good bit of weight for my height, my knees and feet groan from the extra impact. The really odd thing about it all is that I actually enjoy the increased walking/running now when I can sustain it. Plication has definitely helped me reign in the quantity of food I once ate. That coupled with a totally changed diet from what I once ate and the change in activity have helped me so far. I still wonder if this is some temporary phase my body is going through. I want to think that I'm working on changing habits and habits of mind so that as I get further out from surgery that the results are somewhat permanent. I want to make sure that I've learned how to eat healthily. I worry that, like the band for some, it lasts a while, then weight loss creeps back up without my being able to control it. I feel like I am making those changes, but there are a lot of band revision stories I've read that leave me wondering. Mentally, I'm also surprised at how little satisfaction I've gained from my progress so far. Family, friends, and colleagues have all been supportive and encouraging, with only one exception. I can see the results. I love being able to buy clothes in the regular men's section. Even with those positive aspects of this, all I tend to focus are the areas where I still need to lose the most weight. I just feel like I should feel better than I do about my body and how I perceive it. Maybe I'm just crazy. (I'm starting to get email spam and hate reading the forum spam on this site even though I appreciate the community here. Not sure how long I'll continue to post if the moderator doesn't participate more actively.) Mednar

Glad you figured it out. Hope you're doing well. I feel like my experience with plication has been positive overall. Day to day, my satisfaction is variable, but that's mostly because I really want instant results. Patience with myself about this issue isn't a virtue I possess in great quantity. I've lost weight consistently, but the scale goes up and down in small increments. The overall pattern is downward however. Hope your return to work goes well.

Thanks TjP. I need to proofread more carefully before I click the post button. Didn't realize I made that mistake I'll see if I can go back and edit it now. I think my surgery was 9600 dollars. I posted somewhere the exact cost, but I can't remember where. There were a couple of tests I had to do before that pushed the costs over 10K (a barium swallow/endoscopy and some blood tests). My insurance covered the barium swallow, but the NP at my employer didn't code the blood tests to my benefit. Not sure how much the barium swallow was, but the blood tests were about 400 dollars. Hope that helps..

Jamie Ponce at Gastric Band Institute in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Researched my options a few years ago. Wasn't happy with many parts (filling of the band, slipping, excision of stomach with VSG, etc). Returned to him when he began offering this procedure as part of clinical trial to collect data about how effective this procedure is. I've lost ~65 lbs since June 6. I have had to work consistently regarding exercise (walking 5-6 hours a week). I've even recently tried to begin running. Not sure my knees are up to it yet, but I'm doing it on my schedule. I've changed how and what I eat. I also get way more activity than I did before. I'd love to think that surgery did all that for me, but even with surgery, at least from my experience, it's still a considerable lifestyle change. My surgery has helped with food restriction. I feel full (though in a different way) sooner. I still fight daily with making the right decisions regarding food. It's possible to indulge and "cheat" with high calorie density foods. It's hard to say how much of my weight loss is attributable to the surgery or to the change in lifestyle. My experience has been that they are linked in ways that are hard to distinguish. Hope you find what works for you.

I had a long draft that I somehow lost track of. Regardless of the procedure that was approved, you need to weigh the benefits of that procedure against what your ideal is. If they don't match to your satisfaction, you have to seriously consider if someone else paying is enough to overcome the short and long term disadvantages. TijPlication has talked about her struggles and regrets, including what she would consider revising to. Please read those. I had all sorts of issues standing in my way regarding different procedures starting 3+ years ago. This has worked for me, but for many others they have had mixed results. For me, when I first investigated this path, nothing matched. I knew up front always that I would be self-pay. I made sure to review my options. When the sleeve plication became available, it met all my criteria. Even if my insurance had offered to cover another procedure, I wouldn't have been able to commit. At this point, making the self-pay sacrifice has been worth it. Gah. I was much more clear before. Be honest with yourself about what you want, research whether or not that's possible with what your ins. co. is offering. Above all, investigate your physician, their patients, and how happy they have been. Ask to speak to some of their patients, either during seminars or individually. Don't make a fast decision because you feel pressured. There's enough of a market for this surgery now that you can research the best procedures for your situation and your insurance/financial situation. I'd say above all, don't go for what the best option your ins. co. is willing to pay for at that moment. Reflect, Research. Reflect, then Reflect some more. Success and all my best, Mednar

One week might be enough. Hard for me to say. I had the summer off. I had nausea (a lot) the first few days, but tat faded quickly.

FTP is right. Moving in that direction is all that matters. I get so pissed some days when I know I've made the right choices and I see no results. For days. Or even weeks. I try to keep in mind that my doctor's nutritionist says that 4 lbs per month is what to expect in general. You're losing almost double that on average. I struggle with that number. Seems like it should be more. Don't beat yourself up for what you consider Halloween mistakes. Keep at it.

I spent nearly a year receiving "treatment" for a compressed disc in my back. My primary care physician at the time diagnosed me with a compressed disc in my lower spine. The machine he had in his office was basically a fancy version of the inversion machines that reduce pressure on the lower spine. He conveniently had the new machine in his office. I stepped up for those treatments because I was in pain and not willing to seek further surgical treatment. After nearly a year of those treatments with little benefit, the primary care physician at the time referred me to have a series of steroid shots in my lower back.. During the second or third trip (I think you can only have 3 of these shots per year), the doctor giving these shots asked a series of questions because the first shots had not relived my pain significantly. He had me do a series of test questions that required me to do things like touch my toes, bend over with my legs crossed, etc. It's been a couple of years ago, so it's hard to recall the specifics. The "steroid" physician then elected to put a shot into my sacroiliac joint rather than my lower back. It was the most painful thing I have ever been awake for, but it also helped. I weighed about 315 at the time. I gave up sugared soda then and dropped to around 295, my pre-plication weight. Losing that 20 lbs and doing the stretches the doctor told me about have helped me avoid a recurrence of that pain. Anytime I have felt my right hip bother me, I try those stretching exercises and they help.

FTP, I'm sorry to hear you're not well. I had a couple of years with right side hip pain that wasn't properly diagnosed. I was finally diagnosed with SI joint issues that required proper stretching techniques. Those exercises have helped me greatly. Doesn't sound like the same issue, but that pain is debilitating. I think we all struggle with making the right choices. At least I do. While reading your post, I was thinking about a big bag of Kit-Kat bars and snarfing them down. I think we might all cave occasionally. It's part of being human. I'm not sure it's fair to yourself to discredit what you've done so far. Stress from health issues is hard regardless. Hoping for your best. Mednar

Hi Doodle. I also had to do the 2 week protein shake diet before surgery. I could have up to four protein shakes a day. My physician indicated that it helped reduce the size of your liver which made the surgery easier to do. It was tough, but keep at it. All the best.

Lmom, How did your 5k go? I contemplated this for a bit, then actually had my first day yesterday. I'd read about it on here and on other websites. I found an app for my iPod that paces you while you listen to your music. I think out of 30 minutes yesterday, I ran about 8. Was kinda surprised, but I actually could do it. I have been walking an hour at day at least five days a week since a month out. I also do an exercise class three mornings a week. I'm going to have to rotate out the walking though. My feet were killing me last night, and I only did the 30 minute interval of walking/running. They were already uncomfortable from the walking, but not sure they can stand this at this point. Any advice you guys have on how to deal with the aching feet, or just in generalwould be great. It took me 15 minutes to walk normally this morning.

Mary - A lot of it depends on the type of food for me. If I eat something like a chicken breast, I can't eat as much as something like Soup. I made homemade soup this weekend (lots of veggies with ground turkey and beef for protein). I can eat more of that than I can just straight Protein. For me it seems to be a food consistency issue. My doctor advised to eat protein first, or mostly first, then veggies, etc. If I follow that advice I do seem to feel full faster. I also have days when I feel full on a smaller amount of protein than I do on others. That I can't explain. I'm almost five months out and on days when I don't have a treat, I usually average around 900-1200 calories, more toward the higher end. That hasn't changed all that much since one month out for me. I think I could probably push myself to eat more if I tried, but I also got sick several times from eating more than I should early on. I try to stop when I first feel like I'm full. Take care.

Not experienced a site specific pain before Mary. I had significant issues sleeping on my stomach in the first month or two after surgery, but that went away with time. Doubt it's the same thing. Mine was just a general sort of discomfort and feeling nauseous whenever I was on my stomach before falling asleep. Don't remember waking up with discomfort. Hope you're well.

Hi Maddy. I wonder what you consider junk food? If by junk you mean fast food type food, having surgery in June of this year and changing my eating habits afterwards, I don't crave that any longer. I used to survive on that stuff several nights a week. Munchies to me usually means I crave salty, crunchy things. I had to retrain my brain away from wanting chips and that type of junk food (or at least try to retrain it). Instead of buying chips, I buy things like good pickles that satisfy that taste and texture sensation I want without setting myself up for failure. I don't often crave sweets, but I keep low calorie popsicles in the freezer so that I can have one and not stress if I want one. I still want chips and that type of stuff, but I'm also really more aware of how much longer I'm pushing back my success. All that said, I have to avoid the chip aisle at the grocery store or I still sometimes cave. I am a stress eater to some degree. A few weeks back, I was really tired and stressed with work. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home one night, and in a moment of psychosis bought a large bag of chips. I managed to eat a good portion of that bag over the next several hours. I also used to get the munchies out of boredom, usually at night. It was when I made a lot of bad choices. It's better now, but there are still nights when I get that urge to eat even though I'm not hungry. I can usually tell myself that I spent a boatload of money on surgery and have worked pretty hard since then to be successful through exercise and diet changes. I can usually change whatever I'm doing then and avoid a snack disaster. There have still been times when I've made the "wrong" decision, but I look at the percentage of "right" to "wrong" decisions I make now and just move on. Take care.

I'm glad you posted. I checked on here earlier today and was worried that you hadn't posted in a while. I hope you continue to feel better as you recover.