BrantS1976

You can answer, "Either is fine with me.", when asked, "Would you like a table or a booth?"

Great list Ginger. I can tell you that it will happen. i have my six month appointment this Friday and have lost 97 pounds. In addition to the numbers on the scale its funny the changes you notice as you go through this process. I no longer worry where they will seat me when I walk into a restaurant (I no longer fear the booth), no more avoiding plane flights whenever possible, no more paying way more for the same clothes just because they are at a big and tall store. Can now go to a baseball game, sit comfortably in my seat and not feel like i am encroaching on the person next to me. Keep us posted on how it goes tomorrow. Love your song lyric choice, that lyric was in my head when I decided to do this as well. I felt like I was 37 going on 55, and now I feel the best I've felt in a decade.

Great list Ginger. I can tell you that it will happen. i have my six month appointment this Friday and have lost 97 pounds. In addition to the numbers on the scale its funny the changes you notice as you go through this process. I no longer worry where they will seat me when I walk into a restaurant (I no longer fear the booth), no more avoiding plane flights whenever possible, no more paying way more for the same clothes just because they are at a big and tall store. Can now go to a baseball game, sit comfortably in my seat and not feel like i am encroaching on the person next to me. Keep us posted on how it goes tomorrow. Love your song lyric choice, that lyric was in my head when I decided to do this as well. I felt like I was 37 going on 55, and now I feel the best I've felt in a decade.

Good luck tomorrow. I am sure it will all go well.

Didn't have a chance to post yesterday
Goal weight: 283 pounds (would put me at an even 100 lost)
Starting weight 292 pounds
Current weight 291 pounds... ugh just one measly pound

Finally got a chance to log in. Nothing exciting to report. Hit a plateau this week.
Goal weight: 283 pounds (would put me at an even 100 lost)
Starting weight 292 pounds
Current weight 292 pounds

I think I need to embrace that way of life. My 99.99/0.01 way of viewing things is probably not particularly healthy for me.
Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and support. A lot of good ideas in here. I appreciate it greatly.

Goal weight: 283 pounds (would put me at an even 100 lost)
Starting weigh 292 pounds
This should be fun!

Like others have said, my only regret is not having WLS sooner. Also as others have said, it is a lifestyle change. Be ready to commit fully an you will see results. Once you see the results any thought of regret goes away. You will need support, and it will be available to you (online here and through in person support groups - most surgeons put one on). Take part on them. Even if you think you don't need them, you will find you get something out of it.

First one was fun, so count me in for this one. My goal is 283 (12 pounds) which would put me at 100 pounds lost six months after surgery. Missed my goal by about two pounds on the last challenge, so I'm ready to go get this one!

First three pics are morning of surgery.
Last 3 are three days post- op

I think I need to embrace that way of life. My 99.99/0.01 way of viewing things is probably not particularly healthy for me.
Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and support. A lot of good ideas in here. I appreciate it greatly.

Mrsto you took the words right out of my mouth! I meant to add that to the article and I know I need to so I will. I have never ever approached anyone but have done the same thing with neighbors or people that brought up a subject where I could just mention that I was obese in the past. I was much different when I was obese (what's new, I'm just weird) about being approached but that didn't happen 13 years ago. When I saw Carnie Wilson on TV I jumped on it and made an appointment in 15 minutes.
I do want to tell one story that made me happy that I am so open about my surgery. I checked into a hotel for a WLS event and the bellman asked why I was in town and I told him. I showed him my before/after pictures and talked about how my life had changed, He suddenly hung his head in shame and said "Oh no....I have a lot of apologizing to do". I asked why and he told me that his wife had been begging him to let her have surgery for 3 years and he thought it was sheer quackery. He told me he was going home to give her some good news and tell her how sorry he was for not believing her. That story always makes me happy!

Your story has hit home for me because it reminded me of my grandfather. My grandfather will and always be my hero in my eyes. I come from a family who has always been bigger hardly any of us are "skinny" always had curves, and extra meat on our bones. My grandfather was always a big man, he was pushing 500 pounds. Growing up going to grandma and grandpas house was always the norm same with waiting to eat Breakfast with grandpa because he would make the best eggs known to man. Going over there was like the story book grandparents house. Grandma always had Breakfast on the table for you, we made Cookies together, drank the cold coffee that grandma didn't finish, made crafts, had grandma pre-school, and we always had big meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My grandpa would make us girls finish whats on our plate before leaving the table. When I was three we almost lost my grandfather from congestive heart failure. I remember the day going to see him in the hospital and not knowing my hero was going to return. I was only three but I understood what he was going through. The doctors gave him less than ten years to live.
​Well moving on to my sophomore year in high school, my grandpa became sick. I stepped up with my mom and helped take care of him. I watched my grandfather fall out of bed, and I had to pick this man up and put him back in bed. The strong man who I loved dearly was becoming weaker and weaker. He was the still the 500 pound man. Every morning he would tell me that I need to eat better, because he didn't want to see me be his weight or be like him. I would tell him I am trying, and promise him I wouldn't. Sadly on memorial day weekend 2006 he passed away in hospice from congestive heart failure from being overweight. My world ended.
Before having this surgery I thought a lot about those years with my grandpa and him telling me never be like him weight wise. I already failed one weight loss surgery and was thinking of a second. I told myself if my grandpa was offered weight loss surgery back when I was three I believe he would take it knowing he would be around for more of his grandchildren's lives. If he was given the choice for weight loss surgery back in 2006 before he passed, I know he wouldn't take it. Those thirteen years changed my grandpa and that last year you could tell he was giving up. I wrote my letter to the surgeon telling her this same story I am telling you and was approved. Had my revision surgery in November 2013.
It wakes a lot for somebody to really look at themselves in raw form to really make this life changing decision. This story hit home for me because my grandpa was a big man who I helped up many times and he had the bluest eyes and kindest soul around.

A couple of weeks ago I was driving to an appointment and I saw a really large man walking down the street. Because of his size and the near 100 degree temperature, I knew he had to be extremely uncomfortable. As I pulled into my parking place I glanced in my rear view mirror and watched this man trip with a force that propelled him like a rocket to the concrete. I bolted from my car and ran to him...his arm was already bloody.


"Let me help you up". He had salt and pepper hair and perhaps the kindest sky blue eyes I have ever seen.
With a perfect Texas drawl he said "Little lady you're gonna have to pack a little more lead in the rear to help me up!" My heart was breaking for him. I grabbed him by his good arm and we rocked....1, 2, 3, and I pulled with everything I had. No matter how much I wanted to help this man, I couldn't get him off the ground. He explained he was walking to work and I at first got the impression he was trying to get some exercise. I asked him to stay put and I'd get some help and as I ran into the building, there were just a few tiny women and elderly people that could be of no help. By the time I got back out, a man had stopped to help him up. He was hurt....I told him there was a doctor inside, would he please come in? I know he was both surprised and ashamed that I would help him. He chuckled and said he was alright (he wasn't). As he walked out of my sight he said "It's time to go on that diet".
Of course I knew he'd been on hundreds of diets, just like I had. It was the perfect time to have shared my story but yet it wasn't. I wish I had at least gotten his contact information so that maybe my signature on my email would perhaps spark a conversation.
Maybe he didn't have a car and had to go into work anyway for fear of losing his job because of his size. Maybe he couldn't afford to call for an ambulance. So many "maybes". Every day since then I have considered waiting at that parking space to see if I could locate him again. He felt so much embarrassment and I wanted to tell him that I knew there was a perfectly loving man inside trying to get out. I wanted to tell him so many things but most of all that I didn't see him as just a morbidly obese man....that he was just as valid and worthy as anybody and the shell he lived in did not make him "less than".
I fell a few weeks before that and was in extreme pain so I could only imagine what he was dealing with. Tears ran down my face for the rest of the day. Call me silly for wanting to do this but I'm going back to try to find him. I want him to know why I didn't judge him that day.
And why I cried.
p.s. I just added this because I do want everyone to know that I would NEVER give anyone unsolicited advice because I have seen it happen and someone got the response "I've already had WLS". Much like asking a woman if she's pregnant....not until I see the crowning of the baby's head would I ever ask when someone's baby is due. I just wanted to make sure everyone understood that.
*Note- I wrote this in 2011 and reread it the other day. I decided to share it here because the comments left on this blog post were so memorable and heartfelt. If you'd like to read them you can see them here.
I've been back to that same parking spot every month basically at the same time of the day ever since that day. I have unfortunately never found him again. If I ever do, I hope he'll let me take a picture with him so you can see his beautiful blue eyes and the kindest face you could ever imagine.

lila921, I want to assure you that if you are having complications you will definitely know! I did and there was a lot of very intense pain, so much so that I knew I had to get to the emergency room ASAP. I also want say that the statistics for complications with Plication are low, something like less than 1%. I am 6 months and 1 week out from the first surgery and have lost a little over 70 lbs with about 30 to go. Hang in there, you'll do great!

Iam 4 weeks post op 188 pounds. 12 pound lost post op weight , 19 pre op weight. I happy with my weight loss. I could have lost more, my exercise level is low twice a week, and i havent been counting calories or cutting the fat. my food intake is less than 1000 caloriea for sure. My goal now is to loose 2 pounds a week, i can manage that. And be arround 160-150 by the beginning of summer. Ive been experiencing small pain when i eat, maybe im eating tok fast. Im gettin also kinda paranoid everytime i feel something in my stomach, i immediately think of a possible complication! Hopefully ill stop worrying and enjoy my plicated life!

So I've lost about 48 lbs now, almost to 50 lbs in about 5 months. I'm thrilled with the plication surgery, no complications. I have tons of restriction, can't eat very much at mealtimes but it's all worth it seeing my clothes size decrease. I highly recommend this surgery! I had it done in WA state with Dr. Chock at Northwest Weight Loss Surgery in Everett. Great clinic and the prices are not bad at all for plication, about $13k. I paid self-pay since it's a research study and I have free visits for 3 years I think.
Started at 241, now I'm at 193! It's amazing to almost be out of the "obese" category, according to my BMI!

Hello, I was plicated on July 11, 2013. The good news is, from pre-op liquid diet to the 4 week mark which is tomorrow, or a total of 5 weeks, I have lost 30 lbs! I have gone from 241 to 212. I never thought it was possible to lose 30 lbs, let alone the other 40 I need to go! The bad news is recovery was really tough. I can say the first month was hard. The first week I was not really coherent, just really dehydrated and unable to eat and barely drink, I had to get fluids twice. I have 2 small children so I had to send them to relatives houses for a few days, and when the baby came back (he's 11 months) I still wasn't ready for him so my husband cared for him mostly - my husband had to take a week and a half off work, and my mother in law babysat me and the kids the following week. I felt my stomach was too tight, but it was just really swollen. The swelling has gone down and now I can eat about half of a salad plate of food (mushies) and soft meat. I'm so relieved, since the beginning was so tough. The other bad news is I've had some issues - I have thrown up multiple times, at the beginning and when I eat too much, and I have had dumping syndrome 3 times which was awful. However I'm turning around, feeling normal, and lots of restriction which freaked me out at first but not I'm enjoying as when I'm full I don't want to eat more, and I don't feel deprived! I'm supposedly on a regular diet starting tomorrow but I don't think i'm ready for salads or tough meat at all since I've had so many gastrointestinal issues, I'm going to go super slow. The 30 lbs is great!!!!! For anyone considering this surgery it's not a walk in the park, and it's not an easy fix. yes you lose weight at the beginning easily but now the weight loss is slowing down and I have to work at it (eating Protein and veggies and fruit and exercising). So don't do it unless you're willing to make big changes! xoxo

No inches lost in the last month. Yes I'm feeling great!! The weight loss is amazing! Im curious to see if I will make it to goal weight though it doesn't seem in the realm of possibility. Since it's going so slow now.
I exercised yesterday first time in awhile due to illness. I feel good today but sore
I love my plication I have great restriction.

A little fear is a good thing. It will keep you vigilant. Over confidence is much more dangerous. Just don't let your fear get out of control. Missing the gym for a day or 3 will not make you gain 88 pounds overnight. You just go back on day 4. For myself I do not want to get over obsessed with the gym or my diet choices. I did that before and when I fell off I would get so distraught that my foundation would collapse. This time I go to the gym to be healthy not to punish myself or work off the chips. It is something I need t do to maintain my success. I also allow myself food diversions such as on holidays but then the next day I start a new slate and refuse to feel guilt. I track every good and bad morsel in MFP. I need a plan for life and living and do not want to think of this as an all or nothing. It is much harder to give up chocolate chip Cookies or a cheeseburger if I think I will never have one again. I just won't have it "right now". My goal is too be "good" 90% of the time, take advantage of the times my willpower is strong and make superior choices. That will overcome the 10% when I am weak or indulgent. I make that 90% really count. It would be easy to let one bad decision lead to another but like the other poster said live in the moment and make the best choice now. The past is the past.

During these times I found that thinking of your brain as a 2 year old really helps.
A 2 year old wants what it wants and wants it right now. During this process you have been disciplined, determined, and strong. Your brain naturally wants to go back to feeling good. It wants the junk food as it made it happy. So when the going got rough in the past your brain would put up road blocks and you would crumble.
Think back to your first stall - didn't you doubt yourself and your success? In the past that is when most of us gave up. I am starving myself for nothing I am not even losing weight now. I might as well have that cheeseburger. That was all your brain and you have in to him every time.
Now his trick is getting you to doubt your success at this.
The trick is to learn his tricks. Trust me this is not an easy task to master. At 1.5 years post op I still struggle with my two year old. You can be stronger than the 2 year old!

Don't just avoid your failure triggers, find your success triggers!

twenty years ago I lost 80 lbs. and swore I'd never be fat again. FF to a little more than a year ago and found myself facing severly limited mobility and now needing to lose more than 100 lbs. So yes, I surely understand your worries as obviously, many of us have the same feelings you do.
I'm actually seeing a professional to hopefully understand my triggers so I can cope better. What I've come to understand is that you can sabotage your success just as easily with WLS as anything else. I may not be able to eat to excess as I once did, but over the course of a day, one can graze and still manage to put the weight back on.
This is a process and now that I'm transitioning to maintenance, I really think the work is just beginning. Hope to see you here on this forum a year from now and still going strong!

Brant, you are doing beautifully -- congratulations! With such a big change, not only on the scale but in the brain -- your whole way of thinking, your priorities, your commitment to your healthy future -- there is that pinch me feeling, pinch me to see if I'm dreaming, am I really 88 pounds down? Have I turned this ship around? Yes! Will you screw it up? No way. You have that beautiful boy there to remind you every day why you want to be healthy -- and you want him to be healthy, too. Try to love and believe in yourself the way you do your boy. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to take each new day and live it. We don't live for food and addiction now, we don't live to escape -- we live to be present in our lives and that is a very happy thing.