Jenn

Lena, Sorry I replied to this earlier, but it didn't post. So sorry this is happening. Have you tried minoxidil, I think it's supposed to stop or slow hair loss and promote hair growth. Good luck to you.

Best of luck to you! KUP

I think a lot of it is - as we get closer to goal - our weight loss tends to slow down. When I was first banded I went from 289 to 175 but it took me 2 years and 4 months. The last 15 pounds took me about 6 months and I remember being so tight with my band that I would vomit daily - that was no way to live! I'd rather be able to eat good, healthy food and lose weight slowly than live like that again. It's also important to remember that you have lost 81% of your EWL in 1 year. That beats almost all the recorded data that I can find on plication patients! Remember WLS is considered successful if you lose 50% of EWL and you are doing way better than that. I never considered a "window of opportunity" for weight loss, I figured that I will always be able to lose weight even if it's only 1 pound a month. Hope things are going better for you. Take care and KUP

I've had a few people ask me for information regarding our plus size clothing company. So I wanted to let people know that the information is located on my blog. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to put my website info on here or not so I just wanted to direct folks to my blog if any one is interested. We sell plus size Rockabilly, Swing and Vintage inspired clothing. I also have a bathing suit line coming out in about 2-3 weeks. We start at size 14 and go up to size 22/24. We try to run true to size since I know how frustrating it can be trying to buy cute, plus-size clothing. Take care,

Blue cross ppo. It's because I had my lap band replaced and a hernia repaired.

20 dollar copay

Thanks everyone. I've been in a stall for about 2 weeks now but I have lost inches so something positive is happening with my body.

Chow, Yeah!! You are doing great! I know it can be very frustrating when you are in a stall. Just keep plugging away...Congrats!

Hope they find out what is wrong. I agree with TP, you should see if you can get a sleeve. Good luck to you and KUP.

When I was considering going to mexico my top choices were doctor ortiz or doctor corvala. I have experience with both of them when I was banded because I used them for fills several times. I believe that doctor c has more experience with the plication but I'm not sure at this point. Good luck with whomever you choose and KUP.

They are not aware of the plication, only the lapband which was covered by my insurance. My weightloss has slowed down to about 5 pounds per month but at least it is a loss.

I had the banded plication which means I have the plication along with a lapband. I was banded in 2001 and was recently rebanded in Feb. 2011 by Dr. Billy in Ventura, ca. I never plan on filling my band but I had it done for insurance purposes. I have lost 51 pounds in 5 months. You can check out my blog for more info. Take care and KUP

Good luck on your surgery. Sounds like you are doing great already. Please let us know how things go and if there is anything that you need that we can help with. KUP

I second everything Tijuana said. However I also had to do a 2 day pre op liquid diet but was not allowed soda, I recommend crystal light or no calorie vitamin water. Hope everything goes great. KUP

Hi brett, I was banded in 2001 and had a similar problem as you in 2009. I was recently rebanded with the plication. So far I have lost 51 pounds and it has been 5 months. Feel free to look through my blog for more information. Take care and KUP.

I was pretty tired for about the first 6 weeks. I walked about 30 minutes per day so if you are walking 1 hour per day I can see why you are getting tired! Maybe you can reduce the number of days you are walking? You may also need to increase your protein. Take care and KUP

Hi Diva, I think most docs want you to be at a stable weight for 4-6 months before plastic surgery. I had a consultation with a plastic surgeon when I got close to my lowest weight with the band and was told that I should wait at least 3 months at that weight before I had surgery. I gained back almost all of my weight so it was a good thing I didn't have surgery!! However, I've had 2 children since being banded and I can really see the difference in my body. I'd love to have a tummy tuck since my stomach is one of my major problem areas. I agree that this would be very motivating. Have you met with the doctor yet? He/she may have a set time they want you to wait before having plastics. Good luck and please let us know what you decide. Take care,

I set my final target weight based on my lowest weight as an adult. I like myself at that size and my husband doesn't like me any smaller than that. I think, according to the charts I'm supposed to be 165 but I prefer closer to 175. I know what you mean about the goal weight being so far off... I thought that too before I had my surgery and now I am halfway there! What really helped me was to set mini goals along the way. For example my goal right now is to get into the 220s within the next week or so. My next mini goal will be to get to the 210s, etc. Good luck to you and KUP.

I have been trying to reach 50 pounds lost for about a month now, I've been bouncing between 235-238ish. As a reminder, I started at 283 and had surgery Feb. 7, 2011. I have a follow-up with Dr. Billy on July 6 and really wanted to be down 50 pounds especially since his scale always weighs me a few pounds more than my bathroom scale I got on the scale this morning and weighed in at 232! So it took me about 1 month to lose 5 pounds. I have been on summer break and reduced my exercise from 4 days a week to about 2. Since I've been home I have also been eating out more. Normally, at work, I only have 35 minutes for lunch so I bring left overs or my own homemade lunch. Eating out has definitely contributed to the fact that I haven't lost much. This past week or two I increased my exercise again and started doing my Zumba DVD at home. I also started walking at the beach about 3 times per week. During the summer it's a lot harder to walk at the beach because of the number of people there (and lack of parking) so I am planning on going back to the gym this week. I need to go to the gym anyway because I really want to have brachioplasty (arm reduction surgery) when I get closer to goal so I need to work on building up my arm strength and muscles. I really need to work on my core strength too since this is typically a weak area for me. I am hoping Dr. Billy's scale is friendly to me and shows a 50 pound loss as well. Tomorrow I'm going to start focusing again on increasing my protein, working out more frequently and drinking lots of water - the basics!! Here is an example of a typical meal for me at (almost) 5 months out: Breakfast - homemade breakfast sandwich: 1/2 bagel with 1 scrambled egg and 1 or 2 pieces of bacon with 1/2 slice of lf american cheese (I usually only eat about 1/2-3/4 of this) snack - the rest of my breakfast, water Lunch - 1 chicken soft taco with shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa. About 3 tsps. of beans, water snack - none or if I'm hungry I try to eat some fruit (2 or 3 strawberries or 4-5 grapes) Dinner - 1/4-1/2 of a BBQ chicken sandwich with only the bottom bread, 3-4 bites of broccoli Snack - 1 snack size snickers or 1,000 grand bar (this usually takes me 15 minutes to eat as I put them in the refrigerator) I haven't been tracking my calories lately but I'd say I'm around 1,200-1,400 on a typical day. I usually walk for about 1 hour and burn around 300-400 calories (when I exercise). I just reviewed some of the results from the past plication studies and have been using these to help me set my goals. My goal for 3 months out was to lose about 30% of the weight I needed to lose, which translates to 30 pounds as I want to lose about 100 pounds total. For 5 months out I wanted to lose about 40% or 40 pounds - so I'm doing better than that!! I've already lost 50% of the weight I need to lose. For 6 months I'd really like to be closer to 55 or 60 pounds lost. My goal weight is about 175-180ish which puts me at about a size 12/14. Overall, I'm very happy with my results and hope to continue to lose throughout this next 7 months. I will be ecstatic if I am close to or at goal by my 1 year anniversary. To put this in perspective, when I was originally banded in December, 2001 I weighed 289 and had lost down to 237 by November, 2002 (almost 1 year out). It took until March, 2003 (15 months out) to lose down to 230 (down 59 lbs) and until July, 2003 (19 months out) to lose down to 223 (down 69 lbs) . At my 2 year anniversary in Dec, 2003 I weighed 188, losing 101 pounds. Even though we might be losing slowly, at least we are losing and I really do believe it is much better for our bodies to lose slowly. Take care,

Yes. We sell on Ebay but also have our own webstore. We design and manufacture vintage inspired plus-size clothing from the 40s and 50s. Our website is: http://www.goodrockin-daddy.com/ We are getting ready to release our bathing suit line in a few weeks also!!

Wow! Woo hoo. My business is making plus size clothing and bathing suits. Since surgery I have decided to add smaller sizes too because I won't be able to wear my own designs pretty soon!! Congratz!

Anne Wow! I'm glad to hear that you made it through surgery and are recovering nicely. Start walking slowly to help ease the gas pain. Hope you feel better soon. Kup

Yeah! An important victory.

Hi. I am also a band 2 plication patient. I was banded in 2001. I had a new band placed and the plication done in february 2011. I do not ever plan to fill my band but it is there just in case. I have a follow up appointment with my doctor next week and I'm looking forward to officially being weighed in on his scale. I am also a teacher and had a hard time scheduling fills with the band. I am very pleased with my plication so far. Good luck to you and KUP!

Woo hoo! Congrats!