fitB450

Hi ,

I had surgery with Dr. C. in T.J. on July 12. If you haven't already had your surgery, give me a shout....I will be happy to answer any questions. K.B.

Hi ,

I had the same surgery on the same day, but with Dr. Corvala in T.J. I have lost 16 lbs. Will you pls. tell me what you are doing as far as foods, recording what you eat or not, amount of Protein? are you totally excluding any foods? You are losing at a great pace and I would love to know any tips you might offer. K. B.

Hi

I had the same procedure with Dr. C on July 12. No problems and excellent facility. If there is a negative, it is that follow-up care is non-existent. They don't return e-mails or phone calls. I went to my family Dr. this week about an incision that still wasn't healed. I had a hiatal hernia repaired at the same time. (Dr. C. didn't charge any extra to repair)....so I really can't be too negative about them....I would do it again, just do my own research on follow-up care.

With the h. hernia, Dr. C. said I would probably have some reflux....NONE !!!!! As long as I took my prescribed nexium twice a day for the 1st month.

I felt "normal" on day 10....but if your work isn't terrible physical, I think you will be okay on day 7. Just be sure to prepare your liquid "foods" for work.

My other tip is to stay all 3 nights. Don't try to cut your stay to 2 nights. You will have to pay the plane-change fee and you will be amazed what a difference another 24 hours of rest and healing does for your body.

Another tip, buy your meds at the hospital as opposed to a town pharmacy...no difference in price and easier and safer.

Take immodium and gas X tongue strips with you. Diahrea is very common after surgery.

Pack extremely light. Take a lap-top, you can skype if you want. I went by myself and did fine. Dr. C's staff and driver are excellent. You don't need pesos. The only cash I used was to tip Mr. C's driver. The rest is with credit card.

Expect gas pains....they are by far worse than incision pain. However, time passes quickly and you will be thru that difficult phase before you know it.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions. K.B.

Hi I had surgery with Dr. C. on July 12. I too have had no response from the nutritionsist I sent e-mails. The hospital experience was excellent, but you are right, absolutely no follow-up care whatsoever!!! I was experiencing the same problem with incision by navel. I am at 5 wks. and was concerned about the incision not healing. I went to my family Dr. He said the inner incisions (the fishing-line sort of threads) were trying to come to the surface and were preventing the healing of incision. He suggested over the counter steri-strips. Use neosporin ointment and cover with a bandage. Remove bandage before showering, wash and massage the incision gently with antibacterial soap. (be sure not to remove the steri-strips)

He said the scar might not be "pretty" since it had popped open, but it would heal with proper care. Hope this helps.

I had no problems with Dr. C in T.J. I have lost 14 lbs at 4wks. I went alone and was so glad I did. Dr. C and his staff were wonderful. I too considered the lap band but was disgusted at all the negative side-effects. I have had no negatives so far and am already on all normal food. I was a "power-eater" never feeling full or satisfied. Now I feel full after a very small meal. I only have 50 lbs to lose, but am so glad I made this choice. I think I will have no trouble reaching my goal.....ck out the website "the world according to eggface".....she is so inspirational, helpful, informative and encouraging....she is a gastric bypass patient, but the tips for WLS patients are all the same.....Let me know if I can answer any Quest. about the plication procedure or Dr. C.

Mari: Hang in there, and best of luck! You will be SOOOO happy you had it done! I too just recently had surgery with Dr. Corvala in Tijuana Mexico on 07/23/10. I also had the gastric sleeve plication. I have nothing but good things to say about the hospital there, and the treatment I received.

My weight was 231 lbs with a BMI if 39 pre surgery. I have only weighed in once so far, and lost 8 lbs 2 ozs. Next weigh in will be this Friday! So far the recovery has gone well. I did have a kidney stone complication after returning home, but according to the doctors I saw it in no way had ANYTHING to do with my surgery. I feel a little set back because of that as I was admitted as an inpatient here for 2 days so they could blast the stone. Very Painful....the surgery was way easier, and I have to say I would take that hospital in Mexico over the one I was in here in Florida any day of the week! I am eating soft, mushy food currently with no problems.

I think we should all keep in touch as we are all pioneers in this new procedure! Having others to talk with really helps....Penny

Hi Penny,

Did you have a dr. lined-up for follow-up care before you left for Mex.?

I don't have a follow-up physician, but have an excellent family dr. if necess. I have had no problems whatsoever. SO SORRY ABOUT YOUR KIDNEY STONES!!! Have you ever had them before? I haven't but heard they are a killer.... I hope you do great!!!!!

Gastric plication and gastric imbrication are describing the same operation. The ROSE procedure is an endoscopic stitching for gastric bypass patients that have regained weight due to stretching or dilation of the connection between the gastric pouch and the small intestine.

As opposed to the sleeve gastrectomy whereby the stomach is made into a tube using staples (and the stomach is removed), the plication (or imbrication) creates a sleeve by folding the stomach in on itself and then stitching to keep it folded in on itself. Your entire stomach is still there, it's just folded in on itself with stitches to keep it there. No staples. No cutting. No stomach removal.

I have not seen ghrelin studies on gastric plication but plication patients do describe profound appetite reduction and they get full on small amounts of food so it appears to be a very good weight loss tool. Ghrelin reduction comes mainly from pressure, stretching the wall of the stomach, which occurs when the stomach volume is smaller. Ghrelin appears to be a small part of a very complex appetite mechanism of which we only have the most superficial understanding.

In my mind the only downside to the plication is that we just don't have that long-term data with hundreds of thousands of patients over ten to twenty years like we have with the bypass or the band. There is two year data out of Brazil that shows plication weight loss in the 60% excess weight loss at 2 years which compares favorably to other successful weight loss operations.

We performed our 5th plication this morning. Three were band patients that converted to plication and two were primary plication patients (plication done as the original operation). To date, I have been very pleased with the satiety the plication causes and the associated weight loss. We call it the GPS (Gastric Plication Surgery).

GPS is very different from the VBG (vertical banded gastroplasty) from years ago. VBG was simply stapling a small pouch in the upper part of the stomach. GPS (plication) creates a small tube out of the entire length of the stomach.

Hope that helps

Brad Watkins MD

Gastric Plication Surgeon

Cincinnati, OH

You are describing exactly my results from plication. I am a 49 yr old female. I had plication procedure on july 12. I lost 14 lbs. on day 13. I have had no complications and am feeling exceptionally well. I felt "back to normal" on day 10. Each day I am able to increase my walking time. I sarted with a BMI of 31.5, so am very pleased with my results.

Congratulations Sarah! I am scheduled for this surgery on Aug 3rd, and I am pretty worried. I totally appreciate feedback, good or bad - as I have time to back out lol, rbut I will be out some money.. Thanks!

I had the procedure on July 12. I felt like "myself" on day 10...On day 13 I had lost 14 lbs. I started with a BMI of 31.5 so was surprised at the rapid weight loss. I really liked Dr. Corvalas, but have been a little dissapointed at the after care. However, I have no complaints, the facilities in Tijuana were excellent and I loved Dr. C's team. I have gotten lots of info on-line and really appreciate all the feed-back from participants. I love the website "the world according to eggface" she had gastric bypass, but the recipes and humor are priceless. Let me hear about your progress. Follow your surgeons advice and you will do fine. You can reach me directly at jandkbrady@comcast.net if you want to contact me directly.

Hey, I had my surgery done with Dr. Corvala also. Mine was on July 16th. I had a terrific experience and look forward to more weight loss. I've lost a total of 17 lbs so far. 7 of them are pre-op. So I guess only 10 since surgery. How about you? Yes, I know there isn't that much info on the plication. I think he's done less than 75 so far. Only a couple other Drs. are doing them in the states.:sad0:

So glad to hear you are doing well. What was your BMI starting out? Did you have to do a pre-op diet? I thought Dr. C. was exceptional....such horror stories about T.J. but I could not have been more please with the facility and the staff. I had a 31.5 BMI to start so I didn't have to do pre-op. I lost 14 lbs. in the first 13 days. I am on day 21, but only lost 2 this wk. for a total of 16. I have 50 total to lose. Someone on this site sent me a great link to plication procedure that has been really helpful. Have you checked out the site " the world according to eggface" ???? She had gastric bypass, but the recipes, encouragement and humor on her site is priceless!!!!!!!!! Let me know how you progress....and good luck to you!!!

k.b.

There is some additional support for your specific surgery:

www.SleevePlicationTalk.com

Congrats and hang on, you'll start feeling just like you (only better.)

Thanks for your helpful info. I love this thread....so informative. I am very low-tech so your help was really appreciated.

Congrats! I remember you posting somewhere that you had a lower bmi... I am here now waiting in my room and scared to death!!!! My bmi is 30 and has been for years so I hope this is my answer... The doubts are in my mind, but I will do it... Keep us updated!

Mari

Hi Mari,

Don't let fear take hold of your good judgement. I didn't tell anyone but my husband about my surgery because I didn't want a lot of negative comments that created fear. I will be thinking of you and wishing the best for your journey. I have 50 lbs. to lose and keep hearing "you don't need surgery to lose JUST 50 LBS!! I have carried this extra weight for 20 years and am tired of struggling. You can reach me directly at jandkbrady@comcast.net I will be glad to correspond with you and encourage you. Be patient. I didn't feel like myself until day 10 post op.

At day 13, I had lost 14 lbs. I couln't walk a full 30 minutes until day 21, but I walked 10 minutes the first week and built up my time. Do what feels right to you, take your time healing and follow your surgeons guidelines..... Let me hear from you. K.B.

I would love copies of these articles. My e-mail is jandkbrady@comcast.net Thanks. FitB450

Hi,

I am a patient of Dr. Corvalas in Mexico. I am 21 days post op. I had the GASTRIC SLEEVE PLICATION. This is a new procedure and difficult to find other patients to share information. I am interested in corresponding with potential "plication" patients or comparing notes with post op patients.

I just had the new procedure called "gastric sleeve plication" I am 21 days post op. It was quite difficult to find much information on this since it is so new. I am very pleased with my results, surgeon, and overall experience. I would be happy to share information with anyone considering "plication" My surgeon was Dr. Corvalas in T.J. Mexico. I am down 14 pounds at this point. No problems whatsoever.