Calling all (TGVP) people!!! new procedure

[Cknorte 7]

Dr. Watkins,

I asked Dr. Corvala at the time of surgery about sutures cutting through the stomach tissue and he said that it was just people not knowing.

But as of late, I have heard that the stomach tissue is like butter or melon and that the sutures would cut like fishing line through the tissue. Is this really the case?

I don't think it is, and I think it is just people that don't know what they are talking about spouting. But could this be a result? I would just like your medical input.

I for me can tell you that this surgery has been what I was looking for. Had the surgery 2 weeks ago in Tijuana with Dr. Corvala and his team. I am down 18lbs, and am on mushy/soft food. I can tell when I am full (something I didn't have before) and am not hungry all the time. I get hungry every 3-4 hours and I have about 150-250 calories. I am eating between 600-900 cal per day.

Thank you for your wealth of information.

CK

Edited August 1, 2010 by Cknorte

[Pookie718 0]

Hi Everyone: I am thrilled I found something devoted to the gastric sleeve plication surgery. I just had this done on 07/23/10 with Dr. Lopez Corvala of Mexico. So far 8 days post op, and had a minor setback in that I came back only to be "attacked" by a large kidney stone! Just got out of a hospital last night here in Florida that in NO WAY compared to my treatment in Mexico! Just to aleve peoples concerns...the kidney stone has been growing for a long time, and just decided to make itself known, it had nothing to do with my surgery according to several physicians I spoke with. They were all intrigued with my new gastric prodecure. LOL So, now that that is behind me hopefully, I can concentrate on losing weight, and feeling healthy! I got on the scale this morning for the first time since surgery, and am down 8lbs 2 ozs! Yeah me!! I will figure out how to get a weight loss ticker, but for now I started at 231 lbs pre surgery. My goal is 145 lbs somewhere down the road. I have eaten a little solid food in the way of baked chicken chewed very well, but am mostly sticking to mushy, soft foods for now. I feel full with about 4 ozs, and don't have a problem yet feeling too much hunger. Hope that remains this way. Thanks for listening, and looking forward to sharing our journeys! Penny:thumbup1:

[Cknorte 7]

Welcome aboard Pookie!

Sorry to hear about your kidney stone, they are PAINFUL!!!

Wishing you great success on your journey!

CK

[Mw9955 2]

Hi Ck! I am loving your blog!

Are you back to work? Do you think 11 days away from work is sufficient? Is there WiFi and a phone in the room? I am going alone so I need to call family while in recovery....

I am so nervous - less than 48 hours away!

Mari

[JoanieW 13]

Hi Everyone: I am thrilled I found something devoted to the gastric sleeve plication surgery. I just had this done on 07/23/10 with Dr. Lopez Corvala of Mexico. So far 8 days post op, and had a minor setback in that I came back only to be "attacked" by a large kidney stone! Just got out of a hospital last night here in Florida that in NO WAY compared to my treatment in Mexico! Just to aleve peoples concerns...the kidney stone has been growing for a long time, and just decided to make itself known, it had nothing to do with my surgery according to several physicians I spoke with. They were all intrigued with my new gastric prodecure. LOL So, now that that is behind me hopefully, I can concentrate on losing weight, and feeling healthy! I got on the scale this morning for the first time since surgery, and am down 8lbs 2 ozs! Yeah me!! I will figure out how to get a weight loss ticker, but for now I started at 231 lbs pre surgery. My goal is 145 lbs somewhere down the road. I have eaten a little solid food in the way of baked chicken chewed very well, but am mostly sticking to mushy, soft foods for now. I feel full with about 4 ozs, and don't have a problem yet feeling too much hunger. Hope that remains this way. Thanks for listening, and looking forward to sharing our journeys! Penny:thumbup1:

Hi Penny. Welcome to the board! It's good to hear from the brave soldiers who have gone before us. :-) My surgery is scheduled for this Friday. Way to go on your weight loss. That's amazing. Joanie

[JoanieW 13]

Hi Ck! I am loving your blog!

Are you back to work? Do you think 11 days away from work is sufficient? Is there WiFi and a phone in the room? I am going alone :thumbup: so I need to call family while in recovery....

I am so nervous - less than 48 hours away!

Mari

Me too Mari. My surgery is Friday. How has your preop diet been going? Joanie

[Cknorte 7]

Mari,

There is WiFi in the room. If your computer has mic and speakers, I'd download SKYPE and you can call from your computer. It is free computer to computer and Verizon cell phones (the cell phone has to have SKYPE on it).

I went by myself. For me it was better I didn't have to "worry" about others and could just focus on me. The first night was painful for me. I downloaded skype put $10 on my account so I could call anyone I wanted from my computer and I have $7 left on account. They do have phone in the room but I think you have to give credit card or leave deposit for long distance. I had a camara so I was able to video call via skype my husband so he could see I was ok.

I also asked Esmeralda (coordinator in TJ) to call my husband when surgery was over. She called him the minute I got out of surgery while I was in recovery. She is great and is a great resource in TJ.

My cell phone worked too. There were places in the room and halls where I'd get US signal but it was iffy. Calls from cell phone run 1_2 $ a minute.

I hope both of your surgeries and recovery go like mine. I think 11 days are enough, I was at the gym day 5. The first week I would get pooped out by the afternoon. Body adjusting to lower calorie consumed. Energy comes back. By the end of week 2 i felt back to normal. Energy levels are back 100%.

[Mountaingal 322]

CKnorte glad to read your post and know the energy does comes back. I was wondering about that since whenever I go extra low cal I have NO energy despite extra Vitamins and supplements. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Pookie718 0]

Good Luck to both Joanie, and Mari! Are you both going to Tijuana, Mexico with Dr. Corvala? I had my husband with me, and am grateful he was there in a strange country with me. I really admire those of you who chose to do it alone! I can honestly say I didn't have very much pain at all post surgery, but I am finding out I think I have a high threshold for pain. take the pain meds they offer, and you will be comfortable. I highly recommend that you stay in the hospital the entire time, and not opt to go to the hotel if that is what you planned to do after discharge. They gave me the option to stay one more night, and I made the wrong choice. The hotel didn't have me in their system, and they don't really cater to the kind of diet you will be eating after surgery. Esmerelda was also my coordinator in Tijuana, and she was very helpful. CKNorte, I'm glad to hear the energy comes back......Granted I had a sickness upon return, but thankfully I am off 1 more week to recover. I just feel so sluggish, so am really making the effort to get all my Protein in. Let me know if you have any tips! Thanks all......Penny

[Cknorte 7]

Penny,

I get most of my Protein in with my morning shake. I use the AMP 60 from GNC, has 60gr protein/serving. I like it, you mix with Water, I know that sounds gross, but they are really tasty. I have the chocolate plain, or with some powdered Peanut Butter and also the vanilla in blender with frozen berries. Yesterday I ventured out and bought a small pack of Cookies and cream and strawberry just for a taste test. They have a sale now going on buy 1 get 50% a 2nd pack....so it's a good deal. And if you hate it, even if it's open they'll exchage.

The rest I get from my soups/purees (lentils, Beans, or any of my favorite Soups -italian wedding, etc)

Also, Fage fat free plain yogurt has high Protein. You can mix with sugar free cheescake pudding mix to make a crustless faux cheesecake.....

[Pookie718 0]

CK:

Ok, I feel better about the one I am using. Mine is by Body Fortress, and it has 52 grams whey Protein, 4 carbs, and 3 sugar per serving. I will probably use this up until it is gone. I have been cutting the serving in half as I read your body can only utilize about 10 grams of Protein at a time no matter how much you take in. I had it for Breakfast this morning. I also have been using up product I got from Quick Weight Loss centers here that are high protein, low cal. It's funny cause I just did a cheescake pudding mix that I had. It has 12 gms protein, and under 100 cals. Tasted pretty good, but I will try it your way as well. Made a quick, filling snack until hubby gets home, and I do dinner. I am trying things other than Soup right now. Kinda souped out! So far, no problems with what I've tried, but it falls into soft food categories. Just wanted some mac & cheese, and 4 ozs filled me up, and tasted wonderful! I have had no sweet cravings....that is a really good thing. I find somethings to be overly sweet to me now. Has that happened to you? I find I have cravings for protein like chicken, or fish......who would have guessed? Can't wait til I can have salads again. I miss the crunch a bit. Thanks for your help. Penny

[Cknorte 7]

Yup I'm with you....I had about 5 bites of lasagna on Saturday night, it was great....but my tummy didn't like the marinara sauce too much.....I'll try again in a few weeks....

Last night I had 3 oz Tilapia, 3 shrimp, and 2 penne noodles.....I loved my fish, I didn't even go for the Pasta....that is so weird for me, since a few weeks ago, you could have poisoned me with pasta! LOL!!!!

I have a question.....out of 2 of my incisions I have a tiny but of what looks like fishing wire...I'm assuming these are the internal dissolvable sutures, that just didn't dissolve. They are just barely sticking out...I don't know if you guy have had this, if I should clip them back or pull them out with tweezers....I guess I'll call the Dr. tomorrow and ask....but just wondering if anyone else has had this? I'll post on the main VSG site...and ask....

But seriously during the puree/soft stage...I have become best friends with my blender....and I blend everything.......lentils are my new favorite food.....weird weird weird.....

[fitB450 0]

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.

[NotSoLittleMermaid 14]

Hey Joanie, how are you? Did surgery go well on Friday? Rest up & feel better, and then please tell us all about it! Hope you are well and congratulations on the road to better health! I would think it all gets better from here!

[DrWatkins 13]

Regarding "fishing line" sticking out of incisions, those are the "tails" of the knots tied in dissolving stitches that are commonly used in surgery. The best advice is to show your surgeon. The options are to leave them alone - they will eventually dissolve. Also, your surgeons office can trim them level with the skin which will reduce the annoyance of them getting caught on clothes, etc.

Brad Watkins, MD

Yup I'm with you....I had about 5 bites of lasagna on Saturday night, it was great....but my tummy didn't like the marinara sauce too much.....I'll try again in a few weeks....

Last night I had 3 oz Tilapia, 3 shrimp, and 2 penne noodles.....I loved my fish, I didn't even go for the Pasta....that is so weird for me, since a few weeks ago, you could have poisoned me with pasta! LOL!!!!

I have a question.....out of 2 of my incisions I have a tiny but of what looks like fishing wire...I'm assuming these are the internal dissolvable sutures, that just didn't dissolve. They are just barely sticking out...I don't know if you guy have had this, if I should clip them back or pull them out with tweezers....I guess I'll call the Dr. tomorrow and ask....but just wondering if anyone else has had this? I'll post on the main VSG site...and ask....

But seriously during the puree/soft stage...I have become best friends with my blender....and I blend everything.......lentils are my new favorite food.....weird weird weird.....