Calling all (TGVP) people!!! new procedure

nikki6055 · July 27, 2010

hi everyone ! this is nicole and i am going to mexico to have the sleeve done. hope all goes well! has anyone heard of dr almanza in Tijuana mexico?

ellenmarie60 · July 27, 2010

Im week one I feel great no regrets here. Have a great surgery.

JoanieW · July 27, 2010

Thank you, momrn and welcome. I'm glad you posted. I trust what you had to say and feel much better about having this procedure which is going to be on 8/6. Joanie

ellenmarie60 · July 28, 2010

have a great surgery.

JoanieW · July 28, 2010

have a great surgery.

Thank you, Ellen. How was your surgery and where did you have it done? Joanie

ellenmarie60 · July 28, 2010

Hello Joanie,Today is one week post Op Dr Rodriquez at INT nothing bad to say it was an awesome experience , day 2 I thought why did i do this to myself not a regret since , I feel better than i have in so long, my family and friends are shocked that I had major surgerie 1 week ago they have been saying that since day 3 because we went to the coast 3 day post op, to go to costco and visit friends and its been that way since. My brain doesnt work quite as well because of diet loose energy just a bit at times......Full liqueds tommorow. the Hospital nurses DRS were unbelievable.

are you sleeved or sleeving ? there is a blog that I went into detail about DRS

NotSoLittleMermaid · July 28, 2010

That is awsome!

NotSoLittleMermaid · July 28, 2010

Questions for GS Plication post ops..

1) Can you drink, let's say, a full cup of coffee within 15 min? Or maybe a glass of Water? I know stomach is smaller, limiting solid food, but I was wondering if liquids are limited. Or does it depend on how far out you are from your surgery post op?

2) Do you feel the food/drink hitting the plete or folded in part of the stomach?

3) After being healed up from surgery and returning to solid food, will the stomach stretch out a little bit like a regular sleeve?

Thanks!

JoanieW · July 28, 2010

Hello Joanie,Today is one week post Op Dr Rodriquez at INT nothing bad to say it was an awesome experience , day 2 I thought why did i do this to myself not a regret since , I feel better than i have in so long, my family and friends are shocked that I had major surgerie 1 week ago they have been saying that since day 3 because we went to the coast 3 day post op, to go to costco and visit friends and its been that way since. My brain doesnt work quite as well because of diet loose energy just a bit at times......Full liqueds tommorow. the Hospital nurses DRS were unbelievable.
are you sleeved or sleeving ? there is a blog that I went into detail about DRS

Hi Ellen. I will be getting gastric plication from Dr. Watkins in Cincinnati on Aug 6. I live about six hours away from him, so I am leaving today for consultation with him tomorrow. I am so happy this went so well for you and that you are happy. Can I call you a loser? :-)

ellenmarie60 · July 28, 2010

I am 1 week post op , at this time I sip little bits all day , if I do more it is very uncomfortable for a few sec.

JoanieW · July 28, 2010

Good to have you with us.

Cknorte · July 28, 2010

Ok guys, I've fallen in love with my blender...on liquids and have discovered I can blend just about any Soup I like.

If I miss Thai, I get some red thai curry with chicken from the local randall's/vonn's and blend it, with additional Water or ff milk....in the mood for italian wedding, well zippy up and blend that up....

I mean some of these are higher calorie, but when watered down I don't get the full 1 cup serving of calories....if you need the Protein (my shake has 60gr so I don't need to add unflavored often) add unflavored.....

blend, blend blend and enjoy! So many Soups and so little time!

DrWatkins · July 28, 2010

Regarding questions about the history of plication, it seems to have started in India as a low cost alternative to band and stapling procedures. It has also been done in Greece, Brazile and Mexico with everyone reporting essentially the same results - about 60% EWL (excess weight loss) at one year with no evidence of regain so far although the data is young (not a lot of long-term data).

There was a clinical trial with 45 patients from Brazil, Cleveland Clinic and OSU. The trial is closed but ongoing data is being collected.

We have now completed 7 cases in Cincinnati with several more scheduled. I'm going to spend time with Dr. Cottam in Utah next week to watch him do cases and compare our experiences with the new procedure.

I haven't seen nausea be a big problem post-operatively but I read about this a lot from the small number of published papers.

The biggest thing I see early after surgery is that some patients have difficulty drinking liquids for a short time until the swelling goes down. I've had one patient that required intravenous fluids for one day since he wasn't able to drink enough with the swelling. This patient is already down 40 pounds in about 6 weeks.

I think it is important to eradicate the "stomach bacteria" (Helicobacter pylori) prior to surgery and continue PPI's (Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid, etc) for 2 months post-op. I have patients do 2 weeks of liquid Protein to shrink the liver pre-op and do one week of liquidy food (think applesauce consistency) post-op and then 2 weeks of soft mushies and then on to regular food.

Originally, I thought that plication patients could drink with meals but I am already finding out that it's best to drink before meals and once you eat solid food, wait for at least an hour prior to drinking again. This allows you to be full on much smaller quantities of food.

Always keep in mind that all weight loss surgeries are tools for weight loss and work best in combination with the patient's good efforts. Also, all weight loss surgery tools work best when combined with calorie burning. Calorie burning doesn't have to be sophisticated - even walking is an excellent way to burn calories. All weight loss comes from calorie deficit - burning more calories than you eat. Therefore, adding calorie burning to the help of calorie reduction with surgery is the best way to lose weight.

I've put a bunch of medical weight loss lectures on YouTube if you search "Watkins Weight Loss Class" it will pull them up and hopefully help in the pursuit of weight loss success.

Brad Watkins MD

bird · July 29, 2010

I had my GPS done on 7/23, by Dr Watkins. I am now 5 days post op. The pocedure was recommended to me because I had the band for 3 years and never had great success. I was commited to the process and diet, but I could never get the "sweet spot".

So far I have had less pain then with the band. However, I don't remember it being so hard to get liquids in with the band recovery. Yesterday was a great day and I was able to get down almost 2 slim fast and about 2 bottles of Water. Today was bad, about 1 bottle of water. I sip all the time. The pain in my chest is so tight because of the swelling it hurts to drink. I am hoping everyday will get better and I will not get dehydrated.

I did lose 12 pounds since the week prior to surgery. I am happy about that!