hope4momof4

Well, if that's your experience, @Danny Paul, more power to you and those like you.
My experience, while not all negative, is heavy with negatives.
I do agree that society and media find it much easier to accept and forgive fat/obese males. The nasty comments, body shaming, fat shaming and outright verbal abuse is definitely more targeted at women and teenage girls.

Hello all! I felt the need to chime in here. I can’t believe that FluffyChix hasn’t had surgery yet?!! I’ve read so many of your posts and they were so informative, wise, and understanding. I assumed you were a WLS vet. You have such a kind and compassionate nature and the care you put into your posts is really admirable. You are the epitome of this Thanksgiving holiday my dear. I’m also pre surgery or procedure and all my posts are about asking for help or advice. Here we are in the same boat but you take the time to listen to others and help with whatever information you can. You are really the reason this forum is such a great asset to us. Thank you for being here and for all the advice, kindness, and wisdom you have given. 💝💝💝

I'm one of the people who got angry when others found out. I'm not ashamed of having the procedure at all, but I feel it's a personal matter. I'm a very private person and like to keep things private. I don't announce that I'm having a pap smear or mammogram. I don't think it's anyone's business. Also I don't care to have anyone's opinion on what I do. I know myself. I would have hurt anyone's feelings for giving me advice on what I should have and could have done.

HW 330
SW 292
CW 189.2
GW below 200

First, it's a medical procedure and private. If I were having any other medical procedure, hysterectomy, my ingrown toe nails fixed, whatever, I wouldn't tell everyone. Second, I just don't want to be judged for 'taking the easy way out', 'why don't you just watch what you eat and exercise more', or anything else a doubter would say. And to be brutally honest, I'm afraid that I will fail again.
It's weird because I am actually an outgoing person and involved in many community activities. I generally like people and am open with just about everything else. I'm just embarrassed about my weight.
Maybe one day I'll 'come out', but for now just my immediate family as we live together and I have to.

Life experience counts for a lot.
Happy Turkey Day, Fluffer!
I'm thankful for all my bariatic pals on here .. and for Dr. Illan and his team for helping me get my new life.

I'm so happy to hear your recovery is going well. Your suggestion are so helpful, I will add them to the list I have compiled for Tuesday. It's reassuring to know that your hunger has subsided, hunger is my biggest challenge. When I'm hungry my will goes out the window. Great to hear from you. Rest up and look forward to your updates.

Great to hear that you’re doing well. Also great to hear about the revisions. I was concerned about this but you have reassured me. Keep up the good work and you are very determined to have had this done before the holidays. You are absolutely right about gaining more weight during this time of year. Great choice 👍🏻 Keep us all posted.

Nice to hear from you Tex. I hope you are still doing well so soon after your procedure. Is it true that at day 3 post op you start to feel much better than the first two days? How has this Thanksgiving been for you? Your posts are definitely encouraging and it seems like you are feeling well enough to update us and even answer some questions. One thing I am also asking Bubbles to do is ask the doctor if they have had to do any revisions yet. I think that is also an important question to ask during the consultation. Did you ask your doctor about this by any chance? All my best and I wish you continued success.

Hi AmyAlexis,
Congratulations on that impressive 14 pound weight loss in only two weeks! Those are outstanding results and you should be proud of your accomplishment. I had posted to Bubbles about asking Dr. Sharaiha how many esg procedures need revisions later on down the road. Like Bubbles, I am looking to have this procedure done but am concerned about the lack of long term data available since it is fairly new. So I was wondering if you happened to ask this question during consultation. She pioneered this procedure and I believe that even if data in the Us is not available, surely there must be some data available from other countries who have been performing this procedure. I think countries like Mexico and Brazil have been doing this for years although it was the laparoscopic version with incisions and may have been called gastric plication. Thanks for any info you can provide.
One other thing, did you post your starting weight at 159 lbs.? That seems like a low starting weight. What was your BMI if I’m not being too personal? I’m at a 32 BMI and if someone with a low weight like yours can lose 14 lbs. in two weeks then I definitely believe this is the right procedure for me. Thanks again and I wish you continued success.

Hey hope4momof4, yes I definitely feel stronger and better today at day 3 than yesterday. My headaches are gone and I'm not at all groggy like on Day 1 and 2. I have completed taking most of the anti-nausea meds that were prescribed today. Dr. and lead nurse said to just take these meds and not wait until I was feeling nauseous. If you wait in taking these meds it takes a long time to recover. Really good advice form my Dr. and nurse, I followed it and it worked!
I feel really good about Thanksgiving today I stuck to my clear liquid diet, no cheat and frankly not interested in cheating at this point. There's so much of an opportunity for me to get back into a healthier life that I'm not going to miss this chance.
The holiday season may seem like a strange time to have an ESG, however for me it was important to start in this season and prove to myself I can do it. Thanksgiving to New year's eve has always been one of the worst times of the year for my weight. In the past couple of years I have gained up to 30 pounds in each of these 6-8 weeks only to work the rest of the year to lose some of it. It's not going to happen that way again!
Great question about revisions, agree this is one to cover in consultations, I did have a good discussion with my Dr. about revision. In our first session I asked about revisions, since I had read this was possible online. Dr. Wilson was clear that the basis for the ESG procedure is permanent. One of the main focuses of the initial weeks of liquid and then Protein diet is to allow the new sleeve to get settled and for tissue to build around the internal sutures. Doing this right in the first several weeks is key to maintaining that smaller area of our stomach following the procedure which provides the feeling of satiety. In speaking with a couple of other Dr's who also performed the ESG procedure I heard a similar rationale that ESG was not intended as a reversible procedure.
My Dr. has not had an ESG patient where a revision was necessary.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Bubbles, you are asking all the right questions, here are some further thoughts I hop can be helpful in your decision making. In my initial consultations I did the same thing and received a lot of information from my Dr, this encouraged me to go forward with my procedure. Be prepared, it's always good to start with asking your Dr. how many ESG's they have done. My Dr. had done ~50 procedures when I first consulted with him this summer.
Hope4momof4 has a great follow-up to this question around what complications (frequency and severity) does your Dr experience with ESG operations? Building on this I would also ask your Dr. to compare ESG complications to Vertical Sleeve Gastronomy (VSG) their patients have experienced? In my experience with the 3 Dr' I spoke to their answers were the same or less number of complications (lack of an incision being the primary factor of ESG having fewer complications than VSG. None of the 3 had experienced more severe complications with ESG.
Since the ESG procedure is fairly new, I looked for other questions to learn more about the Dr's experiences:
How frequently do they use endoscopes 2 days per week in OR completing multiple procedures was my Dr's response Do they also do Vertical Sleeve Gastronomy My Dr. has done VSG for years, many hundreds of procedures In this discussion with my Dr. I learned the internal stitching technique (OverStictch) done on the stomach walls was the same for ESG and VSG. This made me more comfortable about their experience level.
Ask your doctor about

That sounds like a plan my dear. We’re all in the same boat and navigating the waters takes a lot of help and support. My procedure/ surgery is also tentatively planned for February (I’m interested in getting an esg done—- no incisions, less recovery time). So we can support each other until, during, and after our procedure time. Feels great knowing you have support when I don’t want to tell anyone I know about my procedure! Thanks Fluffy!😍😍

Hello all! I felt the need to chime in here. I can’t believe that FluffyChix hasn’t had surgery yet?!! I’ve read so many of your posts and they were so informative, wise, and understanding. I assumed you were a WLS vet. You have such a kind and compassionate nature and the care you put into your posts is really admirable. You are the epitome of this Thanksgiving holiday my dear. I’m also pre surgery or procedure and all my posts are about asking for help or advice. Here we are in the same boat but you take the time to listen to others and help with whatever information you can. You are really the reason this forum is such a great asset to us. Thank you for being here and for all the advice, kindness, and wisdom you have given. 💝💝💝

Happy Thanksgiving to you, @FluffyChix, as well!
Also, thank you for your sage contributions and commonsense posts. Although you haven't even had weight loss surgery yet, many of your posts carry the voice of reason.

Good luck! I know we'll be here for each other!

That sounds like a plan my dear. We’re all in the same boat and navigating the waters takes a lot of help and support. My procedure/ surgery is also tentatively planned for February (I’m interested in getting an esg done—- no incisions, less recovery time). So we can support each other until, during, and after our procedure time. Feels great knowing you have support when I don’t want to tell anyone I know about my procedure! Thanks Fluffy!😍😍

@hope4momof4 Holy crap! Now I'm really cryin'. And embarrassed!
I'm just a schmoe on the internet who assimilates information very quickly and is obsessed with factoids about everything. (And I'm absolutely certain that quite a lot of it is wrong or almost wrong! Remember the whole internet schmoe part...)
It's so weird about the surgery. In the "My Surgery" area under our profile area, you can put which surgery you're going to have along with the prospective date of surgery. I reset mine to February 2018 (I think)? But instead of showing pre-surgery, it just shows the surgery type without a surgery date. I think, if you look at post-surg peeps, you will see a surgery date immediately following their surgery type and that will let you know if someone is pre or post surgery.
Let's just muddle through this pre-surg stuff together ok?

Hello all! I felt the need to chime in here. I can’t believe that FluffyChix hasn’t had surgery yet?!! I’ve read so many of your posts and they were so informative, wise, and understanding. I assumed you were a WLS vet. You have such a kind and compassionate nature and the care you put into your posts is really admirable. You are the epitome of this Thanksgiving holiday my dear. I’m also pre surgery or procedure and all my posts are about asking for help or advice. Here we are in the same boat but you take the time to listen to others and help with whatever information you can. You are really the reason this forum is such a great asset to us. Thank you for being here and for all the advice, kindness, and wisdom you have given. 💝💝💝

Thanks guys!
@Introversion I struggle with this, you know? Cuz don't we all want to help each other and contribute? It's way more fun to give than receive. And conversely, I learn SO much here every single day! But I also know I'm not a vet. So I can't offer much about the procedures themselves or what it's like to actually go through it...but I've read just about every book on low carb nutrition and lived that life for over 17 years--so I do think I can be of service about diets, habits, behaviors and things that just flat help with our relationships with food. LOL. Cuz I'm helping me, by offering communion. Thanks for not being offended by my offerings, even if I haven't had my surgery yet!!! ((hugs))

Happy Thanksgiving FluffyChix and everybody on here!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm grateful and blessed to be part of this community and want to thank each of you for alternately inspiring, supporting, and making me laugh or at least think deeply! I've learned so much from each of you and look forward to learning even more in the coming years!!!
Hope you all have a wonderful day filled with good times!!!! ((hugs)) Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hey Bubbles, thanks for your note and expression of care! I continue to feel stronger this morning, not feeling "hungry" even though the last solid food for me was Saturday dinner. Small sips of Clear Liquids is definitely making a difference in the amount and intensity of gas pains going down. They are very minor now, less than 30 seconds and more of an ache than a sharp pain. Thanks to ESG forum members, I knew this would come and just treat it as normal and walk it out.
I still am taking a couple of anti-nausea meds and they are working, plan to take those pills until they run out in the next day or so. I cooked the bacon for our family Thanksgiving breakfast, it smelled wonderful, didn't have a bite or any desire to nibble.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Also thanks to Amy for your support!

I'm 3 months post VSG, and can eat just about everything BUT I don't. The amount I can eat has increased. A month ago I could only eat 2oz,and now I can eat a whole 3.5oz [emoji23]. For me surgery was an extreme step,and I considered it the last. So, I will not go back to old habits. I eat Protein first then if I have room veggies. If I need something sweet I have some halo top, but I make sure I stick to one serving. I do get hungry every 3 hours or so, and try to eat 5-6 small meals a day.

Before surgery I loved food, and always craved different foods all day. I'd see fast food commercials and want that food. Now I just don't care, and when I see those commercial they almost make me sick. I eat when I'm hungry, and for the nutrients. It was a difficult adjustment, but it's great now! Food is no longer the center piece of my life, and I feel free!

what were you expecting?? 35 lbs was more than I'd lost at eight weeks out. The #1 rule with this is, do NOT compare yourself to others. We all lose at different rates because of a whole host of factors (age, gender, starting BMI, metabolism rate, etc). If you stick to your plan, the weight will come off. You are doing just fine.

You're feeling hopeless after a loss of 35 pounds in 8 weeks?
Okay...you're actually losing at a much faster rate than I ever did. It took me a whopping 3 months to lose 33.5 pounds.
With the exception of the first 2 months, all of my losses had been single digit (1 to 7 pounds per month), yet I eventually hit goal and lost 100 pounds in a little more than 17 months.
Realistic expectations are crucial. You didn't become obese overnight, so it stands to reason that you won't lose the weight overnight. Also, since you weren't super morbidly obese, you'll never be one of the folks who loses 30+ pounds monthly. Ever.
Once you accept the aforementioned realities, your weight loss journey should progress more smoothly. No one gives a rat's ass how rapidly you lose. It's your ability to maintain the weight loss for life that matters the most.
Good luck to you.