Considering ESG

[BlueCow2021 2]

I have a consultation schedule with Dr. Blosser on Monday. I have done a lot of research and watched reviews on YouTube. Has anyone had this procedure done with Dr. Blosser in Reston, Virginia? Anyone that has had ESG, do you regret it? Are you happy with your current results? What questions should I ask during my consultation?

[Hop_Scotch 1,627]

I had an ESG in Oct 2018, I had a VSG revision in March 2020. I do regret having an ESG, in Australia its not covered by medicare thus not covered by health insurance, I self funded. It was a waste of my money and. The sutures did not anchor properly and/or loosened.

Looks like Dr Blosser has been around for awhile and hopefully well experienced with ESG. Questions I would ask are how many ESG procedures has he done? Success / failure rate after a year? Complication rate? What can you expect for recovery? What medication prior to and post procedure? What was the heaviest an ESG patient has weighed (his patient that is) and how much did they lose? How many of his ESG patients that he knows of have had a surgical revision? What is the average excess weight loss (EWL) % (it used to be about 20% it may have changed) vs EWL % for his patients. What is the post op program? How much on top of the procedure expenses will this cost? if you have to attend dietician and/or behavioural coach appointments)?

One of the selling points of ESG is less complications and quicker recovery, however, this is generally offset by lower weight loss.

If you have a lot of weight to lose (BMI 40 and over) you may be better off going with a surgical option. Typically a ESG leaves a stomach with more volume than the surgical option, hence, weight loss will not be as significant as for surgery.

LIke the surgical options, many people have had success with ESG and many people haven't.

[Guest]

I had ESG in June 2020 by Dr. Christopher McGowan in Cary, NC. I'm thrilled with my results. I started with a low BMI (30.4) and have lost 54 pounds (27% of total body weight) so far which is more than the expected average of 15 to 20%. I have 4 pounds to reach goal. Surgeon experience (number of procedure performed) is key to ESG suture success or failure.

[LVGirl74 1]

On 1/15/2021 at 9:48 AM, BlueCow2021 said:

I have a consultation schedule with Dr. Blosser on Monday. I have done a lot of research and watched reviews on YouTube. Has anyone had this procedure done with Dr. Blosser in Reston, Virginia? Anyone that has had ESG, do you regret it? Are you happy with your current results? What questions should I ask during my consultation?

Hi there. I saw in a later post that you had the ESG procedure recently. Did you go with Dr. Blosser in Reston? I live in the area and my doctor gave me his name so I’m considering a consult. I’m curious to hear your experience and who you ended up using.

Hope you are feeling better and well on your way to crushing goals!

[BlueCow2021 2]

Hello!!! I did not go with Dr. Blosser. During and after my consultation I was never able to get an answer on how many ESG procedures he has done. He kept giving me a lump number that combined the balloon and ESG. I decide to have it done with Dr. McGowan at True You Weight Loss in Cary, NC. He is amazing and has done over 600 of these procedures. He is extremely responsive. I would highly recommend him and his team (Tesha is absolutely the best).

My husband and I drove down the night before. Had the procedure on Thursday and drove home Friday.

I hope this helps.

[LVGirl74 1]

Thanks so much for the quick reply and information. That's very helpful. You confirmed my initial gut feeling based on what I've read about Dr. Blosser. He's ten minutes from my house, but not sure if it's even worth my time to do the consult.

I've read many amazing things about Dr. McGowan and seen some of his videos so he is at the top of my list. If you don't mind, I'm going to try to figure out how to send you a private message with a couple questions. I'm very new to this whole idea - had not even heard of ESG until just this last week, but immediately thought it sounded right for me.

Thanks again for the info! Hope you are healing well and happy with your decision.

[gn3476 4]

Hi,

Some time has passed. How has things gone thus far with your ESG procedure? Do you feel much restriction? Would you recommend this procedure over VSG?

[LVGirl74 1]

Hello -

I’m only 25 days out and just started soft foods in the last few days. I haven’t eaten much at one time so haven’t “tested” the restriction. I was fortunate to have an easy recovery (mostly just exhausted the first few days) and have had no issues at all. I’ve lost 20.5 lbs so I’m very happy so far.

I was not a good candidate for VSG so this was a perfect option for me.

Best wishes for whichever path you choose.

[BlueCow2021 2]

I am 10 weeks post op. Down 36 pounds and couldn't be happier. I can not compare this to VSG other than the down time is considerably shorter and there are less risk with ESG. There is an ESG Facebook group that has great information and people that can give you advice (Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty Support Group USA). Fierce.esg.diva has a great IG and YouTube page that give you her perspective on ESG. She is almost 1 year post op.

Hope this helps.

[gn3476 4]

@BlueCow2021 thanks so much for your feedback. And congrats on the weight loss so far! Will definitely check out the Facebook group and that IG account.