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Plication - would you do it again?


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Hi there,

Just wanting to get some feedback from all of you plication folks. If you could go back would you still choose Plication or would you go with a Sleeve? I am set for Plication on July 1st but still have time to consider a sleeve.

All feedback appreciated. If you want to contact me off board - claras_attic@hotmail.com will work.

Thanks - can you tell I am gettng nervous?

DonnaC in Seattle

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This board seems dead because posts get deleted all the time. The OCC doesn't like patients to post anything negative. Makes sense. If you want honest opinions that usually don't get deleted go to sleeve plication talk.

To answer your question... I am only 3.5 months post surgery. I am happy with my plication so far. I do have days that I wish I had the regular sleeve. I have lost about 38 pounds in 3.5 months. People with the regular gastric sleeve seem to have lost more like 50 and 60 pounds at this point. Maybe slower loss is a good thing though??? I also have had to exersize very regularly to acheive this weight loss. So far I am happy, but only time will tell if I made the right choice. I am very glad I chose Dr. Watkins to do my surgery. He does the single stitch. Despite what the OCC will tell you, it is a better method. He also looked for and fixed my hiatal hernia before surgery. That is the reason I have been free of heart-burn and nausea. I am so glad I have not had to go through what poor Lena went through, and I owe that to Dr. Watkins taking the time to make sure my stomach was healthy before plicating it.

I wish I could tell you that I 100% love my plication, and it is the best decision I ever made, but I am just not to that point yet. I will not feel that way until I have hit my goal weight and proven that I can maintain it with the help of my plication.

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For me - this is a revision surgery. I only have 37 lbs more to lose (the pre-surgery diet worked great and I am down 13 lbs and probably lose 5 or more in the next two weeks). My goal is to get back to my lowest weight and stay there. The band was wonderful when it worked but with a stretched pouch - it isn't doing such a good job.

I spoke with Dr. So today and feel much more comfortable about the surgery.

As for deleting posts from this forum - i will talk to them while I am down there. We need to hear the good, the bad and the ugly - and there will be some of each - that's life. What we want to hear is that they learn from any mistakes, respond to any patient with issues and are up front about it...that's what makes a great forum.

Truthfully I have not seen alot of super negative stuff on plication with the exception of two folks - one by Dr. Ortiez and one by Dr. Watkins. Both were learning experiences - as this is a new procedure - and hopefully those of us following them will benefit from this...

Thanks everyone,

DonnaC in Seattle (who rode in the Fremont bike parade last Sat naked/but painted this year - yeah me)

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I might be crazy, but I could have sworn that Lori posted on here that plication is doing good as a first time WLS, but people going from lap band to plication are not doing as well and they are reccomending VSG for them? Did anyone else remember reading this? I will look and see if I can find it, but it probably got deleted :rolleyes:

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I found it! after reading this, and hearing about other revision patients, I would go with the VSG, even with only a small amount to lose.

"what's true for the plication is true for any of the weight loss surgeries, some people do very well, very quickly, and for others it takes longer. The other truth.... those that are doing really well with any of the surgeries, don't always come back to support and talk about how they are doing, they are on their way, no issues, great weight loss, and they don't always need our support, so we don't see them on the boards...

its true that some of the plication revision patients (band to plication) weren't seeing the kind of weight loss we'd like to see, so we take care of them and can do a little tightening of the plication. We are now recommending the sleeve revision over the plication revision as previous band patients seem to do a bit better with the sleeve over the plication. But our "virgin" plication patients seem to be doing very well... although sleeves do tend to lose a bit more weight than plication patients. In fact, sleeve is on par with bypass as far as weight loss goes.

as always, any questions you have feel free to contact me!

Lori"

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thanks Lori. It makes sense. But for me - I really don't want to lose part of my stomach unless I have no other choice. I am willing to take that chance. I know that for some folks, if the stomach swells alot during the plication surgery, there is a chance that you will have to come back to get it tightened...I can live with that...and it makes sense.

Lori - do you have the plication or band??

DonnaC

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I am Lmom1980. That is a quote from Lori. She works for Doctor Ortiz. That is one of her posts from another thread. Notice the quotation marks. I just thought you might want to be informed of it before you make your final decision. I had the plication done by Dr. Watkins on March 9 (see post #4 of this thread.) I know what you mean about not wanting to lose part of your stomach. Best of luck with your plication. KUP.

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thanks Lori. It makes sense. But for me - I really don't want to lose part of my stomach unless I have no other choice. I am willing to take that chance. I know that for some folks, if the stomach swells alot during the plication surgery, there is a chance that you will have to come back to get it tightened...I can live with that...and it makes sense.

Lori - do you have the plication or band??

DonnaC

I believe the gut would swell AFTER surgery. Not during.

It's an after effect.

And it's not to the degree you're imagining.

You will have 'swelling' from the gas they use to expand the stomach cavity during surgery. But that has nothing to with the folding of the stomach, which is what plication is. If they're reducing your stomach size by 70%, the odds that you'll have to go back for tightening would be extremely slim, to none.

Like with any of these procedures, diet and exercise is the key to your success. Not the actual procedure. Please keep this in mind.

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Hi there,

Just wanting to get some feedback from all of you plication folks. If you could go back would you still choose Plication or would you go with a Sleeve? I am set for Plication on July 1st but still have time to consider a sleeve.

All feedback appreciated. If you want to contact me off board - claras_attic@hotmail.com will work.

Thanks - can you tell I am gettng nervous?

DonnaC in Seattle

I would do the plication again in a second and I would reccomend it to anyone. I had mine done on the 15th of March and am down 52.5 lbs. I've had no complications or side effects. It has been so easy, just get past the fluid/ creamed/soft diet bit, then on to eating as tolerated. I was back to work 7 days after surgery and I'm a nurse on a very busy unit. Love it, no regrets!

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thank you so much. I know it's in it's early days but it seems like such a logical way to go - especially for me with a lap band revision. I am getting nervous...but so ready (for anything to get off this liquid diet lol)...

Donna

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Hi there,

Just wanting to get some feedback from all of you plication folks. If you could go back would you still choose Plication or would you go with a Sleeve? I am set for Plication on July 1st but still have time to consider a sleeve.

All feedback appreciated. If you want to contact me off board - claras_attic@hotmail.com will work.

Thanks - can you tell I am gettng nervous?

DonnaC in Seattle

I love my plication, would do it again in a heartbeat!! Good luck today. I know you'll do great. Blessings, Sandi

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  • 4 months later...

I would have the plication done again in a heartbeat. I had mine 7/5/11 and although it's been 4 months and all I've lost is 31 lbs. It is till more than I would have lost on my own. My only concern is that I've read somewhere on here that you only lose for 6 months. I think it was Dr. Ortiz that said it. I'm wondering what do I do in 2 months?

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  • 2 months later...

I would not do it again. I had my plication done Nov/2010. In March/2011 I had a revision as stomach was stilll too big. At that time I could only eat 1/3 of what I had been eating prior to Nov. I was very happy and optomistic. To this date I have lost ZERO pounds. I do not drink calories or eat sugar. If I had it to do all over again I would just do the gastric bypass. I have had quite a few friends go with that proceedure and all of them have been successful. Plus, now my doctor says I have type 2 diabetes. I'm very discouraged.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Plicators-I am a Dec 1 patient; weighed in at 193 and 13 weeks later am at 168 with no complications or complaints. I did not come to the procedure with "numbers" as my goal--only the return of physical comfort and mobility and perhaps freedom from fear of continuing weight gain despite declining food intake. If I do not lose one more pound, I am still a Happy Camper as my goals have been met. And, the weight loss continues s l o w l y. Despite small food volume, I may be eating near my maintenance calorie baseline.

My yardstick to compare plication: a miserable, lifelong failed history of repetitive dieting and compulsive exercising--a near miss for an eating disorder. So, I guess I would have to compare plication with the only alternative based on current experience--continued age-related weight gain pounding on my hip replacement, altering my mobility and making it impossible to continue aerobic exercise. I have a very small bone structure and at my highest weight of 200, I was in pain, miserable and could no longer walk all the aisles at Walmart in one trip.

YES, I would do the plication over again!

I am disturbed to hear that OCC would remove negative posts; it is one thing to not like a negative post but that is what Forum moderators are for--to identify and clarify problems expressed as negative outcomes and appropriately probe the post or, in some circumstances, remove it. But, it is quite another level of intervention to delete all negative posts. Negative posts have the greatest potential to help people understand the process and accurately identify and solve problems. And, I am instinctly suspicious when all I hear or read is Rah Rah. No one is naive enough to think that there is no one out there with a failed or troublesome plication. One would hope that the patient would go first to OCC before making a negative post. I hope that this report is MIS-information and that OCC is appropriately moderating members' posts.

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Having the plication was the best decision I could of ever made. Pre-surgery I was 203 pounds and miserable. 14 weeks later I'm down to 161 pounds and feeling great. I have more energy and a new outlook on life. It is definitely a personal decision as to which procedure a person chooses. I did not want to remove any part of my stomach, therefore I chose the plication. I have had very few problems, the main one being "gas." Gas-X and walking usually resolves this issue. I highly recommend the OCC and the gastric plication procedure.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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