Deb21

Hi, Hope4momof4, I am a mom of 3 sons (17,19,21). I am 5'7" and pushed back up to 207lbs recently. I had given up hope of ever being able To keep this weight off, but then I read about this procedure. I have been considering some type of barIatic procedure for several years and finally decided on the ESG after tons of research. My sister and I have both been fighting our weight for the entirety of our adult lives so we finally decided to take this next step. We both went in for the procedure at Journeylite in Cincinnati on Nov. 15 . Other places that I researched were Johns Hopkins and Cornell Weill medical center. Journey lite was just closer and seemed more flexible for us. Neither of us was eligible for insurance coverage and we each had BMIs in the low 30's.(cost ~10K) The staff and surgeon there are terrific. We are out of towners, so we got all the preop stuff done ahead of time and then arranged to stay at nearby hotel until we had recovered enough ahead to travel home. So far, the toughest thing for me has been the clear liquid diet for the week of surgery, other than that, the the cramping, pain and nausea have been very well controlled with medications. (I would even say that it has been pretty easy for me) The staff there has a good Plano medications to get you through this tough time. My sister has had all the side effects of nausea, vomiting and gas pain, but I have not had any side effects at all. now, I am just trying to wrap my head around eating very little quantities and getting enough fluid. We both could have worked today if we had to do so. We arrived the night before our procedure and stayed two nights just to make sure that all of the anesthesia was out of our systems so that we'd could safely drive. I'll try to keep updating. I really like to see as much info about this procedure as possible, so I will try to do my part. As one of the other posters mentioned, my 17 year old son is so self absorbed, he has not noticed a thing.he never even questioned why I was out of town for 3 days...lol! I think my kids are so used to my dieting that this is just another day in the with moms crazy dieting.well, clear fluids for a few more days until I progress to Shakes. I'll let you know how it goes.

In all honesty, there was very little "pain". On a scale of 1-5, I would say, at worst, it was a 2. It was really just a feeling of strangeness. I could fee that something had been done to my stomach, but it didn't hurt. I was just a little weird.
That being said, the worst part was the nausea - at least for me. I had the procedure at 8am on Thursday and was out of the hospital by noon. Getting to the hotel room was tough - even though I was really out of it. I was originally planning on driving back on Friday - but once we had everything packed up, I realized I just couldn't make a 3 hour drive. By Saturday, however, I was doing fine and drove back home.
When planning on where to spend your recovery, I would avoid any place with strong smells and distractions. I dry heaved once or twice (and actually felt better afterwards) but, for the most part, I laid in bed and slept in 2 hour increments. I tried to walk outside every couple of hours, but didn't go too far because sooner or later, the nausea would return. They did prescribe all kinds of meds for pain and nausea.
I'm back at work today and feel great. I can still feel oddness in my stomach, but it's really nothing.
All in all, my wife was there and took great care of me. Believe it or not, in retrospect, it was actually somewhat enjoyable - as we got to spend lots of time together without anything else to worry about. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate.

Good Evening,
After several months of research on this and other forums, I just had the ESG procedure on Thursday morning at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. I thought this might be a good opportunity to provide some information for others who may be considering this option - as these forums were invaluable to me when deciding how to proceed.
To begin with, I am a 42 year old male with approximately 39 BMI. Like most of the rest of you, I have been back and forth on the scale for most of my life. I have no other medical issues and consider myself in generally good overall health, otherwise (good range of motion, no real restrictions in life). In the end, I decided that I really wanted it to stay that way - and found that I have really been having difficulty getting into any sort of exercise or healthy eating routine.
I emailed a request to the Mayo clinic in early June for more information. They had me come in (about a 3 hour drive for me) for a day long set of procedures and consultations to discuss a range of weight loss options (from medication to balloon - as well as others). I was aware that they were one of the only facilities to offer the ESG (at least at the time) and felt very lucky to be so close to the facility.
The called me about 1 week after the consult and offered to setup a time for the procedure. I picked the first open date, September 21st. In addition, the Mayo Clinic is now requiring all ESG patients to attend a healthy living class that consists of baseline testing, nutrition coaching, healthy food prep, and exercise guidance. I promptly scheduled this for the two days prior to the procedure. At that point, I was required to pay the $15,000 for the entire program prior to final booking (you can pay in any form you wish).
Fast forward to last Tuesday - and I showed up at 7:00 am to being the Healthy Living Class. It consisted of complete body scanning, VO2 Max baselines, complete bloodwork as well as a lot of one on one coaching with doctors, Physical Therapists and Nutritional coaches. Over the course of two days, I had about 10-15 sessions that I can describe as extremely motivational, very informative and unbelievably professional and refreshing. Because the entire program is relatively new (myself and one other person were attending this week - and we are only the 14th and 15th to go through it) I felt like I received a ton of personal care and guidance - from some extremely compassionate and highly qualified individuals. Almost everyone I spoke to had contributed to books, medical papers, and professional publications. They were amazing.
My procedure was performed on Thursday (Sep 21) after I arrived at 6:45. I was out of the hospital by noon. I choose to stay at a local hotel with my wife until I felt good enough to drive (because of work, we decided to drive separately - meaning I had to drive myself home, eventually).
No real issues with the procedure, however, I was quite nauseous for two days afterwards - which I didn't really expect. The nurses and doctors all told me that everyone they have seen go through there (about 100 people thus far) all had nausea - every single one. Beyond that, a little stomach pain (no throat pain for me) but it's all manageable. They did provide me with an ample supply of medications (nausea, oxy for pain, antibiotics and sleeping meds) all included with the procedure.
Next week I begin my weekly phone in coaching (1/2hr a week for one year) and I will return in 6 months for a complete scan and more blood work - and again in one year to compare everything against my baselines.
I don't want to bog anyone down with too many details, but if you'd like to know more or have specific questions I would be happy to answer. I can't say enough great things about Mayo. I think I received incredible value for my money. If you are considering it - give Mayo a call. I can't imagine it going any better than it did and, because the program is relatively new (and you have to pay out of pocket for now) they don't have a long list of people waiting to go through it - and you have a whole team of people working with you to help achieve your goals. The focus is really on long term quality of life - and using the ESG as a tool to help retrain you for success.
Thanks to everyone on this forum who contributes. I wouldn't have even considered this if it wasn't for you.