Hi,

So we have our own Forum now. I guess that is cool, but it is a shame that people can not access all the old posts and info about GPS.

I had my GPS on March 9th by Dr. Watkins at Cincyweightloss in Ohio. He is a great Doctor. I hardly had any pain at all, and my incisions are not even noticable. I am still not sure if I made the right choice with plication. I wont know until about 1-2 years from now. I will not be confident with my choice until I have hit my goal of loosing 110 #'s (hopefully in just over a years time) and feel confident that I can maintain that weight loss. I have lost about 23 pounds since the day of my surgery. I do feel restriction, and I eat a lot less. Overall I am happy, but sometimes when I feel like I have been able to eat too much, I do question myself, and wonder if I should have got the Sleeve.

I will let you know in about 2 years if it was all worth it. by the time I paid for my plication, hotel, car rental, and airfare the cost was about $11,500. If I don't reach my goal weight in a reasonable time, and keep the weight off, I will be beside myself with disapointment, grief, and guilt.

Hi Lmom, I feel similar to you. I feel I can eat a lot more than I should. Although Hiip (a VSGer) on verticalsleevetalk is struggling (and another VSGer a while back was also saying she should could eat too much too, but I don't remember who). Anyway, this does happen to some sleevers too.

What people are seeming to say is that you really gotta work to get the weight off, but that the upside of this surgery is that it'll help you KEEP the weight. If that's all I get then I'll take it, but I'd expected more help with losing. I re-started WW one month post op and it felt no easier than before. I've now decided to kick the exercise into high gear as that helps curb my appetite, so I'm off to work out now.

Good luck!

Hi Lmom, I feel similar to you. I feel I can eat a lot more than I should. Although Hiip (a VSGer) on verticalsleevetalk is struggling (and another VSGer a while back was also saying she should could eat too much too, but I don't remember who). Anyway, this does happen to some sleevers too.

What people are seeming to say is that you really gotta work to get the weight off, but that the upside of this surgery is that it'll help you KEEP the weight. If that's all I get then I'll take it, but I'd expected more help with losing. I re-started WW one month post op and it felt no easier than before. I've now decided to kick the exercise into high gear as that helps curb my appetite, so I'm off to work out now.

Good luck!

How much have you lost now?

I didn't mean to sound so negative in my post. I am happy with my plication so far. I do feel restriction. Somedays I feel it more then others. Before If I ate around 1200 calories a day, I would feel so deprived. Now it feels normal to me. It is just my personality to be worried/skeptical about my choices. I do wish I could lose at a faster pace, but I don't have any regrets yet.

HELLO EVERYONE!

I am super excited that we have our own forum just for PLICATORS! Dang, they can really make you feel like a second class citizen for plication on the mother board. Anyway.. LMOM.. I FEEL YOU!

iTS BEEN 6 WEEKS and I wanted to be down 30 lbs by now and Im only down about 20lbs. I feel restriction when I eat solid food, but I also quickly learned that potatoe chips goes down pretty easy. I know this surgery was just a tool, and I know that having only 70lbs to lose, It may not go as fast. I think my scale is a piece of ish. I can make that thing say 5 different readings in 2 minutes!.. i suffer with constipation and I just dont understand why im not losing faster because I really dont each much at all. Its been 8 weeks since I have had bread or soda. I really eat a lot of fruit and drink about 40oz of Water a day. I know that I must get consistent with my exercise and increase my water. I have a big function on July 4th and I want to be close to my 1st goal weight of 180lbs, but thats 20lbs away! I wish I knew why some lose faster than others.

Well, I just wanted to say stay encouraged. Like you, im a self pay patient and I dont know what imma do if this weight doesnt come off and stay off. Kinda out of options. I will keep you and all plicators in my prayers..

Texas Diva

HELLO EVERYONE!

I am super excited that we have our own forum just for PLICATORS! Dang, they can really make you feel like a second class citizen for plication on the mother board. Anyway.. LMOM.. I FEEL YOU!

iTS BEEN 6 WEEKS and I wanted to be down 30 lbs by now and Im only down about 20lbs. I feel restriction when I eat solid food, but I also quickly learned that potatoe chips goes down pretty easy. I know this surgery was just a tool, and I know that having only 70lbs to lose, It may not go as fast. I think my scale is a piece of ish. I can make that thing say 5 different readings in 2 minutes!.. i suffer with constipation and I just dont understand why im not losing faster because I really dont each much at all. Its been 8 weeks since I have had bread or soda. I really eat a lot of fruit and drink about 40oz of Water a day. I know that I must get consistent with my exercise and increase my water. I have a big function on July 4th and I want to be close to my 1st goal weight of 180lbs, but thats 20lbs away! I wish I knew why some lose faster than others.

Well, I just wanted to say stay encouraged. Like you, im a self pay patient and I dont know what imma do if this weight doesnt come off and stay off. Kinda out of options. I will keep you and all plicators in my prayers..

Texas Diva

Hey Diva,

You are doing great!! I am actually surprised you are eating fruits though. Can you tell me what kinds you are eating? The reason I ask is because I was not allowed to eat most fruits until about 8 weeks out and then it was only bananas (at 3 weeks), blueberries and strawberries (6 weeks) and soft fruit (8 weeks) like peaches, nectarines, etc. I was released to eat apples and most vegetables at 12 weeks. What is your work out routine? And drink more water woman!!

Hey Diva,

You are doing great!! I am actually surprised you are eating fruits though. Can you tell me what kinds you are eating? The reason I ask is because I was not allowed to eat most fruits until about 8 weeks out and then it was only bananas (at 3 weeks), blueberries and strawberries (6 weeks) and soft fruit (8 weeks) like peaches, nectarines, etc. I was released to eat apples and most vegetables at 12 weeks. What is your work out routine? And drink more Water woman!!

HEY JENN!

I am eating tons of watermelon..thats my favorite.. bananas, cantelope and I have tried strawberries. I am now putting my 40 oz water bottle on my desk at work and sipping it all day.. it gets to be warm or room temperature but i still sip it.. most days i finish it.. i know i should be drinking at least 64 oz but i am working my way up..

Hi fellow Sleevers! I had surgery in September.. with Dr. Watkins- Cincinnati. I have lost 54 pounds so far (50 lbs lost by Jan)... but I've also been eating things that are certainly NOT diet... curse the local Starbucks... yes I have no will power against! Spring Break at an all inclusive resort did not help either (yes I had to try all the exotic drinks to get my money's worth) I have 25 lbs more to lose. I find that I can eat anything (though bubbly things like champagne- can only drink in small quantities). I'm sure I would be at a lower weight IF I actually followed the rules of no liquids as you eat etc.... I really feel like this was a great tool... I've been trying to lose weight for 13 years!- this is the ONLY thing that has worked for me. I am losing very slowly.... since Christmas... but it's always going down... I can definitely eat more than I did in the 1st 4 months.... but I get full faster and am happy NOT be be that different from everyone else... (PS... if I do drink Water... it keeps me from being hungry- Never had that before.).....

Wishing everyone happy weight loss!

Hi,

So we have our own Forum now. I guess that is cool, but it is a shame that people can not access all the old posts and info about GPS.

I had my GPS on March 9th by Dr. Watkins at Cincyweightloss in Ohio. He is a great Doctor. I hardly had any pain at all, and my incisions are not even noticable. I am still not sure if I made the right choice with plication. I wont know until about 1-2 years from now. I will not be confident with my choice until I have hit my goal of loosing 110 #'s (hopefully in just over a years time) and feel confident that I can maintain that weight loss. I have lost about 23 pounds since the day of my surgery. I do feel restriction, and I eat a lot less. Overall I am happy, but sometimes when I feel like I have been able to eat too much, I do question myself, and wonder if I should have got the Sleeve.

I will let you know in about 2 years if it was all worth it. by the time I paid for my plication, hotel, car rental, and airfare the cost was about $11,500. If I don't reach my goal weight in a reasonable time, and keep the weight off, I will be beside myself with disapointment, grief, and guilt.

23 lbs since your surgery as of the date you wrote this is 2.9 lbs per week. That's awesome! At that rate you will have lost 110 lbs in 38 weeks or 9 1/2 months! Okay, okay, I realize the weight loss will probably slow down some more, but, hey, didn't that sound pretty good?!

And, for $500 more, you could have stayed in Utah and had the surgery with Dr. Cottam! Actually, you probably would have paid a little bit more than that with labs and the initial consult fee of $250, etc. But it sounds like you had a great experience with Dr. Watkins, anyway.

I wonder if he is still holding off on doing any more Plications?

Hi Lmom, I feel similar to you. I feel I can eat a lot more than I should. Although Hiip (a VSGer) on verticalsleevetalk is struggling (and another VSGer a while back was also saying she should could eat too much too, but I don't remember who). Anyway, this does happen to some sleevers too.

What people are seeming to say is that you really gotta work to get the weight off, but that the upside of this surgery is that it'll help you KEEP the weight. If that's all I get then I'll take it, but I'd expected more help with losing. I re-started WW one month post op and it felt no easier than before. I've now decided to kick the exercise into high gear as that helps curb my appetite, so I'm off to work out now.

Good luck!

Yeah, even though the weight loss is slower, it seems like it doesn't want to come back on as quickly when I slack off for a few days. I'll take it!

HELLO EVERYONE!

I am super excited that we have our own forum just for PLICATORS! Dang, they can really make you feel like a second class citizen for plication on the mother board. Anyway.. LMOM.. I FEEL YOU!

iTS BEEN 6 WEEKS and I wanted to be down 30 lbs by now and Im only down about 20lbs. I feel restriction when I eat solid food, but I also quickly learned that potatoe chips goes down pretty easy. I know this surgery was just a tool, and I know that having only 70lbs to lose, It may not go as fast. I think my scale is a piece of ish. I can make that thing say 5 different readings in 2 minutes!.. i suffer with constipation and I just dont understand why im not losing faster because I really dont each much at all. Its been 8 weeks since I have had bread or soda. I really eat a lot of fruit and drink about 40oz of Water a day. I know that I must get consistent with my exercise and increase my water. I have a big function on July 4th and I want to be close to my 1st goal weight of 180lbs, but thats 20lbs away! I wish I knew why some lose faster than others.

Well, I just wanted to say stay encouraged. Like you, im a self pay patient and I dont know what imma do if this weight doesnt come off and stay off. Kinda out of options. I will keep you and all plicators in my prayers..

Texas Diva

Yeah, I, also, kind of felt like we were a little "looked down" upon on the OTHER site!

O.K., so 20 lbs in 6 weeks is 3.3 lbs a week! As you can tell, I try to look at it that way instead of the overall picture. Since July 4th is more than 6 weeks away, you'ld definitely reach your goal at that rate!

Is the constipation getting any better? It sounds like you're doing well trying to get the Fiber in with the fruits, but I wonder if it's too many carbs. It's kind of a Catch-22.

I'm also a little (lot) nervous about whether this is going to work or not. After paying all that money, it's GOT to work. If not, then what???

Best of luck to all of us!

Hi fellow Sleevers! I had surgery in September.. with Dr. Watkins- Cincinnati. I have lost 54 pounds so far (50 lbs lost by Jan)... but I've also been eating things that are certainly NOT diet... curse the local Starbucks... yes I have no will power against! Spring Break at an all inclusive resort did not help either (yes I had to try all the exotic drinks to get my money's worth) I have 25 lbs more to lose. I find that I can eat anything (though bubbly things like champagne- can only drink in small quantities). I'm sure I would be at a lower weight IF I actually followed the rules of no liquids as you eat etc.... I really feel like this was a great tool... I've been trying to lose weight for 13 years!- this is the ONLY thing that has worked for me. I am losing very slowly.... since Christmas... but it's always going down... I can definitely eat more than I did in the 1st 4 months.... but I get full faster and am happy NOT be be that different from everyone else... (PS... if I do drink Water... it keeps me from being hungry- Never had that before.).....

Wishing everyone happy weight loss!

That is SO awesome that this surgery is working for you!! It's nice to hear that someone is having success with this surgery. It CAN happen!

23 lbs since your surgery as of the date you wrote this is 2.9 lbs per week. That's awesome! At that rate you will have lost 110 lbs in 38 weeks or 9 1/2 months! Okay, okay, I realize the weight loss will probably slow down some more, but, hey, didn't that sound pretty good?!

And, for $500 more, you could have stayed in Utah and had the surgery with Dr. Cottam! Actually, you probably would have paid a little bit more than that with labs and the initial consult fee of $250, etc. But it sounds like you had a great experience with Dr. Watkins, anyway.

I wonder if he is still holding off on doing any more Plications?

Hey R,

Yes, It would not have cost much more to stay here and have my surgery with Cottam. I don't regret going to Watkins though. It was a good experience. If Dr. Cottam would have been faster to respond, I probably would have went with him. I found it very aggrivating that it took 3 weeks just to get a phone call. It also seemed like they were going to make me jump through hoops even though I was a self pay patient. I didn't travel all the way to Ohio just to save $600-$700, I am just an impatient person, and I appriciated Dr. Watkins and his staff being so prompt. I do think Cottam is a great Doctor, and I hope he will see me if I have any needs in the future.

I did get an email from Dr. Watkins wife. He has continued researching and meeting with other Dr.'s about GPS. He is going to continue doing GPS, but making the upper part of the stomach plication a bit loser to help prevent any blood flow issues. (at least that is what I understood from the email.)

Thanks for your posative words! We are moving in the right direction, and it feels good!

Hello Everyone!

This isn't really in response to anything but I didn't know how to add a post without responding to a post. Anyhoo.....Today is my first day of the pre-op diet. I am scheduled for sugery on June 8th and I will be having the surgery at OBCC in Tijuana. I am both excited and a little shaken. Not about the surgery, not about going to Mexico, and not even about recovery. My only concern is whether or not this will work! I'm even a little shaken about how well I'll do on this pre-op diet. Its only for two weeks, but I'm afraid I may cheat here or there or not lose enough weight (my bmi is 38 and they require you to lose 5% before surgery). But if I cheat now, won't that be a very bad indicator of how well I'll do with the plication surgery? My mother actually had the same surgery in April. So far she has lost close to 40 lbs. including the pre-op diet. She says that the first couple of months after surgery its hard to "mess up" b/c eating over what your body can handle will make you very uncomfortable. After that period, she warns that you will have to be careful not to graze. She also said that the "full" feeling isn't the same type of feeling that we're used to and it can be easy to overeat. You only know that you overate afterward when you start to feel sick. All of this information has me a little worried. I agree with the sentiment, if this doesn't work WHAT WILL?? *sigh*

Hello Everyone!

This isn't really in response to anything but I didn't know how to add a post without responding to a post. Anyhoo.....Today is my first day of the pre-op diet. I am scheduled for sugery on June 8th and I will be having the surgery at OBCC in Tijuana. I am both excited and a little shaken. Not about the surgery, not about going to Mexico, and not even about recovery. My only concern is whether or not this will work! I'm even a little shaken about how well I'll do on this pre-op diet. Its only for two weeks, but I'm afraid I may cheat here or there or not lose enough weight (my bmi is 38 and they require you to lose 5% before surgery). But if I cheat now, won't that be a very bad indicator of how well I'll do with the plication surgery? My mother actually had the same surgery in April. So far she has lost close to 40 lbs. including the pre-op diet. She says that the first couple of months after surgery its hard to "mess up" b/c eating over what your body can handle will make you very uncomfortable. After that period, she warns that you will have to be careful not to graze. She also said that the "full" feeling isn't the same type of feeling that we're used to and it can be easy to overeat. You only know that you overate afterward when you start to feel sick. All of this information has me a little worried. I agree with the sentiment, if this doesn't work WHAT WILL?? *sigh*

I think it's normal for everybody to "slip up" every once in a while, so don't beat yourself up. Just do the best you can but try to stay motivated and keep your goal in front of you every minute of every day. You'll do fine.