GiGi

Hello there Errado3317. If you had read my profile you will see that I am part of a clinical trial being held right here in the USA. There are other trials in the Northwest and also at the Cleveland Clinic and all are going well. Plication is just a less evasive way to have the food restriction that I myself need to loose and keep the weight off. So far on my 7th week post op I am down 48 pounds and I am very happy with that! Did you have the surgery? Have you suffered some complications? I would love to hear your story. Sincerely, GiGi

Hi there Ana. I had trouble with Okra. I think because it is so fiberous. I am introducing foods slow and easy and eating very slow and controlled and not drinking during meals. I had a turkey meatball with red marinara and I think the sauce was too acidic for my tummy. Figure my new stomach is learning as we go so I am just really going to introduce new foods slowly and carefully. Congratulations on one month post plication! I think this past month was the hardest part!

Hi there WednesdaysSun! Thanks for adding me as a friend. I am happy to report no more tummy problems. I think I got a little ahead of myself on the food diversity. Now I try something new and see how it feels. I was getting protein via my shakes and cottage cheese. After a bit I put in a piece of fish (cooked in the oven) which is also high in protein. Food restriction has been better than it was two weeks ago. I can only eat about a cup or maybe a cup and a half of food at a time. Sometimes it is more restrictive than others like when I eat just fish....wow that fills me up ...just a 6 ounce filet. I am not drinking while I eat which I know also helps!

There are several Bariactric Groups in Atlanta but the only physician I know who is specifically doing plication surgery is my Doctor. Dr. Jaime Ponce who is in Chattanooga, TN. He is conducting a clinical trial that I am part of and he performed his surgery in Dalton, GA at Hamilton Medical Center. Even if that is too far away I feel sure he could recommend someone for you to use as a follow up physician.

Hi all. Sorry so long since I blogged...... I just wanted to report on how things have been going. This past week I had some issues with eating. My stomach was really hurting and I think I just introduced some new foods to quickly. My tummy was burning. It was bad. I talked to the Doctor and they said to slow down with my diet and go back to the full liquids. I did for the most part and I am getting very little calories but I have been loosing weight. I am down to 254 from 295 which is 41 pounds and tomorrow is my 4 week anniversary. I am just eating protein mostly and not eating much because I don't want to disturb my tummy. I have lost a lot of inches too and I really have not been working out too much since I have been a little lathargic. Things are now on the upswing and I am really only eating now just because I know I need to to live. I am trying to get in 800 calories a day but sometimes it is hard. Next week back to exercise and I mean full on work out so I can begin to tone up and loose more fat (not muscle). I have a Doctor follow up visit on Wednesday so I will post about that as well. They put me on Carafate which is a liquid you drink before you eat and it coats your tummy on the inside and it really helped. Sorry to sound rushed but my hungry family awaits

HI Butterfly... Here is my blog here on SPT : http://www.sleeveplicationtalk.com/blog/23-gigis-plication-surgery-blog/ I also have a VLOG on You Tube.. you can find it imbedded in my blog if you're interested Thanks

Well I made it through with no problem. I meet with a group of women every Wednesday and we either eat at a local Mexican restaurant for lunch or at a local Inn that has a country buffet. Today they chose the buffet. I called ahead to find out what they had and I happen to get the owner. I asked her about just buying one item off the buffet and explained my situation and she said I could just have the childs buffet price and that way I could try more than one item. My plate consisted of: 1/2 cup of Black Eyed Peas 1/4 cup of Tuna Salad 1/2 a boiled egg 1/4 cup of mashed potatoes I was pretty full but very satisfied. It was great. I did have to stand up after I ate. That seems to help the food move down for me. Success!

Well it was my first weekend of soft foods and I got a chance to see if my body was going to reject anything. I ate rather well. Friday night I had 3 ounces of Cod that I prepared. Saturday I had an egg with reduced fat cheese and it was wonderful. Sunday I tried Tuna and it did not sit so well with me. It had quit sitting well with me prior to this diet and it again gave me a tummy ache. I made tuna salad and it was good but I think I got over full because I was a bit uncomfortable. Not drinking while eating is very very hard. I would suggest practicing that before the surgery if you have time. It is so typical to drink a lot while eating. I am very thirsty after eating. I am tolerating grits with no problems at all. Actually everything I have tried has been ok. I just can't eat a lot at once which is what this procedure is supposed to do for you. I am very satisfied off one packet of instant grits. I used to eat 2 or 3 packets as a meal. I am very content after breakfast this morning. I really don't think there are going to be a lot of food issues which makes me very happy. I am keeping my caloric intake at about 800 and I am very pleased with how full I am. This week I am going to start exercising. 30 mins a day on the treadmill. My current weight is now 262.5. I am hoping to loose at a rate of about 3 -4 pounds a week and I will be thrilled. My protein intake is not so great so I do need to work on that. I have to get in 80 grams of protein a day! If anyone has any protein ideas I can use I will take them! Thanks and Happy Monday to everyone (:

Good Morning, I just wanted to follow up from where I had been when I last wrote which was not a very happy place. My recommendation to anyone having any kind of surgery is to stay on the medications they put you on. I was a fool and quit taking the Levsin Smooth Muscle Relaxers and I paid dealy for it. I probably delayed my recovery time and caused my body a lot of stress. I quit taking the pain meds and muscle relaxers on Saturday because I was tired of sleeping all the time. What I should have done was simply not take the pain meds and stayed on the muscle relaxer (Levsin). I am now taking it every 4 hours on the nose, even waking up at night to take it and I have not had a cramped stomach since. Apparently what is happening is normal. When your stomach is sutured down it naturally tries to open itself back open. It feels very much like contractions. This causes stress on the stomach and is painful. The stomach needs to remain in a relaxed state so that it will heal, the swelling will go down and the sutures will heal. It cannot do that if it is constantly cramping. The Doctor said he cannot tell me exactly when the stomach will give up the battle. It can happen in one week, two weeks and as far out as 4 weeks. I feel much better now and I am eating a lot better. I am having protein shakes daily, soupy grits and soupy mashed potatoes, applesauce, yogurt, pudding and nothing is giving me any problems. I think I am getting about 700 calories a day. I need to get back to logging all my intake so I can keep good track. My weight is 263 so I am down a total of 32 pounds. Right now my focus is on feeling good and getting plenty of rest and the weight loss will come along I am sure. Have a wonderful day!

Today is Monday July 23rd.. I am doing worse that I was doing a few days ago. My stomach is very very much in pain. It is cramping constantly and it just hurts and feels like it is burning. I called the Doctor today and he is calling in some liquid that coats the stomach and you take it before meals and before bedtime. Problem being it also makes you sleepy like the Levsin. I have basically no appetite for anything at all. I am loosing weight I have lost 31 pounds so far but i know I am not getting the nutrients I need or the protein I am supposed to be getting. I am getting worried. Tomorrow morning I have a follow up visit with the Doctor at 9:15am. I will have to drive myself in since my husband is out of town. I just plan on going to bed really early so I can sleep my usual 10-12 hours then get up and get moving around. I did have an applesauce today and a V-8 and a yogurt. I am going to have instant mashed potatoes for supper. Maybe that will stimulate my appetite. I started a video blog on you tube called Jeanne's Journey. I recorded my first episode yesterday and I wasn't feeling so hot as you will be able to see. Well heading back to bed for a while. With sleep there is no pain. I will let you know if the new meds work for me.

Just to report in... I had a horrible night last night. I had a lot of burning in my stomach and it was very painful. I used a heating pad and it helped a bit but the burning was pretty bad. It was a new pain for me. I can identify the cramping now and it wasn't that. I can identify gas and it wasn't that. It must have been from something I ate yesterday. I did have a yogurt late in the evening so maybe that did not settle with me. Maybe it was the light grape juice I drank. IDK but I am going to avoid both of those today so I don't have to go through that again. I am at the end of the first week so going to full liquids should now be okay but I need to be very cautious on adding new things to my diet. Cravings have been pretty much none. I would love a cracker or a piece of toast but I know it is much much too early for that. My incisions look good so no worries there. Today I am sticking strictly with clear liquids and see if the pain occurs again tonight. If it doesn't I know it was something I added to my diet yesterday. I am really trying to get in my protein but it is hard. The Isopure is good but it is getting a little old. I just need to force myself to drink it. I thought by now I would be more "back to normal" but I don't feel real normal. Maybe I should get out of the house a bit. That might help keep my mind off things. I am still sleeping a lot too. Not sure if that is normal or not. Any one who can comment and help me with these questions I would appreciate it. I know everyone is different .... Have a lovely Weekend

Happy Friday Everyone! Well had surgery Monday and today is Friday. I felt better waking up this morning than I have all week.I actually have a bit of energy. The scales show 268 (from 295 when starting the pre-op diet). That is 28 pounds and I am very happy with that so far. Might be a bit too fast. I really have no urge to eat. The pain I am having is difficult to identify. I am not sure if I am cramping, hungry or full. I am still sleeping a lot but I figure that will help me heal. Tomorrow I can going to take some photos and redo my measurements since I want to track my progress on a weekly basis. I have my food figured out for next week. Pretty basic on full liquids. Soup, Yogurt, Pudding.... My primary concentration is on protein. Going back to GNC and getting more Isopure until I can start back my protein shakes. I am keeping my food journal to track all calories from food and will begin walking 4 days a week next week on treadmill at work. I hope I stay pain free today. That would be a marked improvement for me. Hope everyone is doing well!

HI everyone! I see quite a few folks reading my blog so I want to continue with my updates as regular as I can. If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them. This has been the longest week of my life. I am a very active person and doing nothing is getting to be very hard for me. I am going to recap of where I am and what has been going on and I apologize if any of this is a repeat. I am on my first week diet which is clear liquids only so I have been doing a broth, Popsicles, water, Isopure and getting about 300-400 calories a day. My energy is pretty good when I am awake. I have been sleeping a lot. I talked to a friend of mine who had the gastric sleeve and she said I need more protein. I did a little research and found a helpful tool. To figure out how much protein you need you take your weight and divide that by 2.2 which gives you your weight in Kg. Take that number and multiply it by 0.8 (min) up to 1.8(max) to get your protein requirements by gram. Let me back up a second to my numbers. I started at 295 pounds. I went to 277 after two weeks on the pre op diet and this morning I weighed in at 271. Total down is 24 pounds. So using the formula above and figuring my min protein I need 98 grams of protein. So I need to drink more Isopure. They have 40 grams per drink so if I can do 2.5 bottles a day that will be great..I plan on starting that today. Yesterday was a bad day ... as far as pain. My insides just hurt and it would come in small waves of pain nothing constant. I am taking a double dose of the muscle relaxer since it does feel like my stomach is cramping. I also have the gas left in me from surgery and it moves around and hurts but walking does make that much better. I cannot wait to be off clear liquids. I am not really hungry at all but I just want to be able to get something in me that is giving me more calories. I am going to attempt to make a VLOG on You Tube today. I will give ya'll the link if I can figure it out. Off to another day!