So Glad to Get This Done

Such great staff here at Athenix. I'm not in Fresno, but Bellevue WA. The nurses were professional and very caring. The doctor is very experienced ...I imagine he could probably do this in his sleep..
I had never been overweight until I had thyroid cancer and had to have it removed. Suddenly, my weight ballooned. I was used to weighing in the 130's-140's and a few days ago, I weighed 170 lbs before the balloon was placed. I really hated the way I looked and would even go so far as to cut myself out of family photos. I needed help.
I started exercising more, and eating food that's healthy. But still the lbs refused to budge. Well, last year I lost 12 lbs so that's not totally true...yep, 1 lb/month. I had hoped to get a tummy tuck so went into a few of the local Dr's and they all said I would be better off losing the weight first. Easier said than done. The last appointment I had was at Athenix, and even though they are basically a "chain" spa, I couldn't be happier. They suggested the Orbera balloon. It was expensive, but I was ready to feel better about myself. So on Oct. 26, 2019 I had it placed. I was nervous because almost everyone said they had been sick but I was pleasantly surprised that I only had 1-2 days of queasiness. They make it easy by giving you tons of anti-nausea medication and Protonix (basically Previcid). I think the hardest part was dizziness but I am hoping that will pass. Since the 26th I have lost 6 lbs.
I promise to keep you updated on my progress

I am now on my 3rd month with the Orbrera balloon. It's a mixed bag of ups and downs for me. Around Thanksgiving I wasn't losing a lot of weight and feeling a little low but then as I approached Christmas I began to lose weight again; I almost forgot I even had the balloon I was so comfortable. All was good until after Christmas when I started getting pressure under my ribs and a huge amount of painful heartburn. Athenix doubled my acid reducers but it didn't make a difference. I sleep sitting up and still wake up regurgitating or downright vomiting, in the middle of the night. The doc ordered an abdominal X-Ray but I haven't heard back from him about the results yet. I am miserable with this constant pressure on my diaphram ... it feels like when I was pregnant and the baby was up high pressing on my ribs. I have lost 17 lbs, which I am happy with, now to address this problem. I won't have it removed because of this problem but it would be nice to be able to sleep well again. There's a lot of gas build up so I'm not going to post photos until it comes down a bit

Well, at Christmas I began to have a lot of epigastric pain and reflux throwing up at night. After enduring this for almost 3 months, I decided to have an early removal. I lost a total of 20 lbs. Would I recommend Orbera? If you are trying to knock down your weight or BMI to qualify for bariatric surgery, this might be a winner for you. But if you're like me and don't qualify for bariatric surgery or need to lose 20-40 lbs...no, I wouldn't recommend it. Here are the pros and cons:
Pros
If you follow the program, you will half your normal intake of food or more
You will definitely want to eat less
You should lose weight and inches
You will need to continue to follow the plan in order to maintain your loss

Cons:
You could be sick and have nausea the first week or longer (I only had it for a couple of days)
You probably will have reflux so sleep sitting up
Once your stomach shrinks, you may have acute reflux and vomiting as the balloon tends to block your esophagus.
COST! Very expensive. I paid $9000...that's $450/lb
After removal, it is difficult to continue to follow the plan, but not impossible

My measurements:
Before (inches) After
42 bust 39 bust
38 waist 35 waist
44 hip 41 hip
Starting weight was 170 lbs and ending was 150 lbs. I haven't seen this number in over 20 years and I am grateful for that. The staff at Athenix was excellent. They were always there for me to answer any questions. Their concern for my health was paramount and I cannot say enough good things about them in this comment section. My experience is with the Bellevue, WA team and they work together like a well oiled machine. I'm having difficulty uploading photos, but will continue trying