Hi,

I just found this support group and have been reading many of your comments and I must say, many are pretty discouraging. I had the gastric sleeve plication surgery performed 4 days ago in Tijuana, Mexico at OCC by Dr. Ortiz. The reason it wasn't done in the US is because my insurance company wouldn't authorize it...even with a BMI >40. They would authorize the lap band and bypass surgery but only after I demonstrated 3 YEARS of dieting programs! Unbelievable how they'll pay for the complications resulting in obesity but not willing to fork up the money to help you stop that cycle!

I turned 50 a couple months ago and decided I don't want to die at a young age just because I'm obese. So I did some research, took the plunge and am now 4 days post-op. Surgery went very well, the staff and doctors there are knowledgeable and very supportive.

Yesterday's flight home was the worst part yet. I felt as though I had something stuck in my esophagus all day and by the time I arrived at our home airport, I was vomiting a lot of white froth. I felt much better after that and getting a good night's sleep in my own bed. Today I woke up feeling human again and even got to start having a tiny little bit of drinkable Kefir. My, how things can taste so good when you haven't had real food in days. LOL

Well, I'm going to give this my best shot and hoping that those weird pains in my esophagus (or whatever it is) don't continue. Not sure if that's gas related or what but it was not fun at all. I'm looking forward to exercising on day 21 and learning some tricks and tips to make this weight come off and stay off. I don't want to have a lot of "flab" so hope it comes off steady and slow. As long as I move down the scale and not up, I'll be happy.

I start back to work in 2 days and am hoping that won't be a problem since I mostly have a desk job. I look forward to hearing from more of you and would love to hear some positive stories and things to look forward to and tips on how to achieve my weight loss goals. We are all on this journey together so let's make the best of it.

One thing I can use help with now is how do I attach the weight loss diet ticker I created so it looks nice? I've tried everything I can think of and what is below is not what I had in mind.

Take care.

Donna

1. Go to somewhere like www.TickerFactory.com
2. Once your ticker is configured back on sleeveplicationtalk click on My Settings on the drop down under Signed in as (at the top left of your screen)
3. Then click the Profile tab (3rd one in after the Settings and Forms tabs)
4. Click Change Signature (3rd one down on the left)
5. Paste in your tickerfactory link there
6. Click Save Changes at the bottom of screen.

I hope you're better for when you return to work.

This link may help too http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/13516-ticker-tutorial-for-vst-lbt-with-pictures/

You have to be logged in to verticalsleevetalk in order to be able to see the pictures.

Thank you. I followed those instructions but it's not showing correctly. I tried to look at the .jpg's on the Ticker Tutorial that you also sent and it says I don't have access to them. Can you tell me which of the codes I should paste? I've tried them all without success and am logged in. Thank you again.

1. Go to somewhere like www.TickerFactory.com
2. Once your ticker is configured back on sleeveplicationtalk click on My Settings on the drop down under Signed in as (at the top left of your screen)
3. Then click the Profile tab (3rd one in after the Settings and Forms tabs)
4. Click Change Signature (3rd one down on the left)
5. Paste in your tickerfactory link there
6. Click Save Changes at the bottom of screen.

I hope you're better for when you return to work.

You should just paste in http://tickers.tickerfactory.com/ezt/t/wM7IZhM/weight.png ie the link from your browser's address bar.

You'll be able to see your ticker yourself when it's working.

BTW congrats on the 10lbs so far.

Thank you. I followed those instructions but it's not showing correctly. I tried to look at the .jpg's on the Ticker Tutorial that you also sent and it says I don't have access to them. Can you tell me which of the codes I should paste? I've tried them all without success and am logged in. Thank you again.

BTW for anyone else reading this, they've slightly tweaked the site since I first wrote my ticker instructions so please see below for updated ones - although Donna already pretty much figured it out anyway!

1. Go to somewhere like www.TickerFactory.com
2. Once your ticker is configured back on sleeveplicationtalk click on My Settings on the drop down under Signed in as (at the top left of your screen)
3. Then click the Profile tab (2nd one in after the Settings tab)
4. Click Change Signature (2nd one down on the left)
5. Paste in your tickerfactory link there
6. Click Save Changes at the bottom of screen.

Thank you but it was very strange that I could not use Ticker Factory's codes. They were refused as well as one other site; however, I found one that worked. Yippee!

BTW for anyone else reading this, they've slightly tweaked the site since I first wrote my ticker instructions so please see below for updated ones - although Donna already pretty much figured it out anyway!

1. Go to somewhere like www.TickerFactory.com
2. Once your ticker is configured back on sleeveplicationtalk click on My Settings on the drop down under Signed in as (at the top left of your screen)
3. Then click the Profile tab (2nd one in after the Settings tab)
4. Click Change Signature (2nd one down on the left)
5. Paste in your tickerfactory link there
6. Click Save Changes at the bottom of screen.

Glad you figured it out. Hope you're doing well. I feel like my experience with plication has been positive overall. Day to day, my satisfaction is variable, but that's mostly because I really want instant results. Patience with myself about this issue isn't a virtue I possess in great quantity. I've lost weight consistently, but the scale goes up and down in small increments. The overall pattern is downward however. Hope your return to work goes well.

How are u doing DM2?

That is great to hear. Thanks for sharing and please keep us updated