Question:
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN IT IS TIME FOR MY TT? STILL HAVE 20 LBS TO GO BEFORE GOAL.
I HAVE GONE FROM 210 TO 135 I AM 5'. MY GOAL IS 110-115 SO I STILL HAVE A GOOD 20-25 LBS LEFT TO GO. I AM PLANNING ON LOOKING INTO A TT AT THE END OF THE YEAR AND I AM HOPING I WILL BE AT MY GOAL BY THEN. THERE IS NO REASON WHY I SHOULDNT BE, RIGHT? WELL, ANYWAY MY QUESTION IS IF I GET TO 110 THEN HAVE THE TT HOW MUCH WEIGHT WILL I LOOSE WITH THE TT ON AVERAGE? WILL THAT MAKE ME UNDERWEIGHT? SHOULD I GO IN BEFORE I HIT MY GOAL WEIGHT OR WAIT TILL I AM AT GOAL SO THE DR. CAN SEE WHAT HE HAS TO WORK WITH? ANY TIPS OR SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREAT. JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS I ENDED UP LOOSING 84 POUNDS REALLY FAST (7 MONTHS NO SURGERY) I HAVE HAD A STOMACH PROBLEM EVER SINCE MY C-SECTION 15 YEARS AGO SO I KNOW I WILL NEVER HAVE THAT FLAT STOMACH NO MATTER WHAT WEIGHT I AM. IT IS THE SAME NOW AS IT WAS AT 210 LBS ONLY A SMALLER VERSION. ANY IMPUT WOULD BE GREAT. THANKS GUYS. — DBXX (posted on April 25, 2004)
April 25, 2004
It doesn't matter how close to goal you are. What DOES matter is that your
weight is stabilized. You don't want to get to, say, 120 pounds, have your
tummy tuck, and then lose a lot more weight because I assume that will
semi-negate why you had the tummy tuck to begin with. Once your weight has
been steady, THEN you look into a tummy tuck. That way, you don't have to
redeal with loose skin. You just never know how your weight loss will go.
You may be someone that loses and loses and loses some more until they are
90 pounds-anyway, I wouldn't risk putting thousands of dollars and my
health into a procedure that losing more weight after the fact will affect.
You've done fantastic thus far and I wish you the best with whatever you
decide to do. I'm sure that a competent plastic surgeon will be able to
answer this question much better than what I can! :0)
— jenn_jenn
April 25, 2004
you sound just like me- i have gone from 236 (5'5") to my goal of
125, and am 6 weeks post tt and brachioplasty- i also had a c section 15
years ago and i knew my stomach would never go back to normal-
when i had my tt i weighed 132 and i lost 6 lbs of skin and fat- i am
really pleased with my results and am glad i followed my surgeon's advice
to get as close to goal as possible-
good luck- the tt is totally worth it-
janey
— Jannie N.
April 25, 2004
Yes, I have heard that several times for me to stay the same weight for
like 6 months or so before I go to see the Dr. would be a good idea. I
find my problem is I tend to gain the same 10 pounds back and then loose
then I slack off on the watching the way I am eating then gain back that 10
pounds and so forth. So by me fluxuating back and forth with that 10
pounds I certainly need to work on that since I dont want to do that after
I have put myself and my pocket book through all of that. Only to keep
streatching my stomach back and forth. I am still learning to deal with my
eatting problems that I will always have. I tend to get comfortable then
slack off and gain a few. I know I need to work on that before I do
anything. Which is why I am waiting until at least the end of the year.
In hopes I can get ahold of that issue I am having. And I am hoping to be
finished with my 20 pounds within the next few months. Lets say July. So
if I can maintain from July to Dec that is 6 months so that would be a good
time to maybe go see the Dr. then. Thanks for your advise. I appreciate
it.
— DBXX
April 25, 2004
Hi and congratulations. 10-30 lbs away from goal are fine. Even a 20 lbs
weight loss won't significantly loosen skin but I agree with the
"stable" weight comment. Here are some reasons to start looking
into PS earlier than later: the approval process may take many weeks (even
months!), you may need to get supporting documentation together, you should
shop around, and you should be given time to correct any anemia or protein
deficiency before your TT or whatever you are having done. Hope this helps.
— DrL
April 25, 2004
I agree to wait. I also heard once before that most insurance will not pay
for the procedure more than once. So if you get it done make sure you are
stabile. Best wishes!
— Transplant N.
April 25, 2004
How much weight you lose with the tt will depend on how much skin there
removing. I ended up having 5 pounds of skin removed in mine. I was 10
pounds from goal when I had it done. However, I lowered my goal by another
5 pounds afterwords. I think you should start interviewing PS's right now.
Trust me, that will take some time.
— Patty H.
April 26, 2004
I recently had a breast reduction and brachioplasty (bat-wing removal) and
the whole process took about 7 months (insurance kept denying my breast
reduction) Thank goodness for a great surgeon, he wouldn't take no for an
answer. At the time of my surgery, by wieght had been stable for almost
one full year. Which is what they recommend for plastic surgery after
large amounts of weight loss. I understand that it is very tempting to
want it all off right away, but I have lost one complete jean size in the
last year, without any further weight loss, your body size does shift alot,
and for the best results, it would be better in the long run to be stable.
In the mean-time be creative, I wear board shorts with my swim-suit and it
hides my lower tummy pouch and my sharpei legs. And I have noticed men
glancing my way, so it must camo alot, cause that is a first for me. I
just came from the MN Spring Thaw and at the plastic surgery round table,
the one thing all would agree on is to be stable or you will regret it.
Insurance may cover it now, but if you are not stable and in 1-2 years you
have craters and bulges do to weight shifting, mentally it seemed to be
more tramatic for some and it has now become "cosmetic" to fix.
Find a surgeon who deals with people who have lost large amounts of weight,
that also makes a difference.
— Dana B.
April 26, 2004
I started my PS consults 80 lbs from goal, which was 200 lbs. This was mid
Sept 2003. At that point I was 7-1/2 months PO and had lost approx. 170
lbs by then. I wasn't sure if I was going to have to cram surgery in
before the end of the year because our insurance might be changing for
2004. I got my approval for full extended abdominoplasty in early Nov,
which gave me 6 months to get the work completed. In my case they approved
doing the procedure in 2 stages because of some strange anatomy issues. So
I needed to get in two surgeries before May 10th. but yet I wanted to put
it off as long as possible so I could be as close to goal as possible. I
had the first surgery on Feb 23rd. I went into surgery 17 lbs from goal
and came out of surgery 2 lbs under goal. 19 lbs of skin was removed. I
actually had a lower body lift and I paid for the lateral thigh lift
portion of the procedure. Insurance covered the rest. I have had a ton of
fluid/drain issues and a hole in my butt so we went back to BCBS and asked
for an extension as neither the surgeon nor I felt I would be ready for
surgery by May 10th. I am 9 weeks PO and still having fluid build-up and
the hole is still not totally healed shut, so delaying was the right
choice. BCBS balked at first giving an extension that far in advance but I
just kept pushing the issue and they came around and gave me a 2 month
extension. I will be having the 2nd procedure on June 7th.
<p>I don't think it will be out of line to seek a consult in late
summer or early fall. The surgery dates fill up pretty fast towards the
end of the year as people want to get it done, so better to be way ahead of
the game than out of luck if you have a deadline in mind. It's impossible
to guess how much will be removed but probably at least 5 lbs is a pretty
safe bet. I knew I had a lot but I was shocked when it turned out to be
just under 19 lbs. I was joking with the doc on the day of surgery that he
had to remove 16.7 lbs so that I would come out of surgery at goal. I
truly never thought it would happen though.
— zoedogcbr
April 26, 2004
I understand everyone's comment about weight being stable but let me give
you the other side. My weight was not bottomed out when I had PS. I lost
9 lbs the 10 days before PS, but that was after a one month plateau. My PS
took me to goal and below. The skin I had removed will not be there to
bother me and sweat and get sore this summer, which is worth the risk to me
of a possible future revision. Also I would need to lose a significant
amount for the skin to be an issue. My surgeon said at least 25 lbs before
it would be a problem. The skin will adjust to accommodate a sizeable
loss. Well I have no plan of getting to 175. On me it would likely look
anorexic. I will lose more weight but it will be through PS, not through
weight loss. I am 192 as of now and have probably 10-15 lbs of skin to
remove in the remaining PS's. As tight as my skin is in the abdomen, I'm
sure it will be fine. If in 5 years I need a "revision" I will
deal with it, but I sincerely doubt I will have a problem. I have dropped
in sizes since PS but that's because the swelling has subsided and the skin
is now sucked down tight. My physical bone structure is not likely going
to let me get below a size 12. The hip bones are already sticking out and
there sure isn't any fat on the gut. So there is no excess to lose.
Because all of the excess skin was completely removed there isn't anything
to adjust or reshape. Even if I ever did need something tightened up it
would be so minor that he could likely do it in the office or a quick in
and out at the surgery center. It would be nothing like the initial LBL I
had.
<p>My legs are really starting to bother me as they are now so out of
proportion to my hips/abdomen area. I used to joke at first about the
thunderthighs I now have, but since the swelling is gone and the skin so
tight on he gut, they are so huge and look like I have two different bodies
sewn together at the upper thighs. They really are a bowl full of jelly.
There is no question the skin is not going to shrink any more nor are they
going to get smaller in size on their own. Yes I could stand to lose
weight from the thighs down but there is no way to control that other than
through PS. I physically cannot afford to lose any more weight on the
upper half of my body, other than what PS will remove.
<p>I am totally comfortable with the choice I made to lose the skin
now. I cannot imagine waiting another 6-12 months to have the 19 lbs of
skin removed off my gut. I think it truly comes down to where your weight
started, as the more you lose the worse the situation is. My LBL was about
$33,000 and insurance covered the full extended abdominoplasty portion
($25,000). I had to pay $7600 for surgeon fee and surgery time/anesthesia
for the lateral thigh portion. I haven't actually seen what the final
payment will be from insurance as the providers do have a contract with
BCBS, but my experience is that the hospital portion is usually very
minorly discounted, so the majority of the $20,000 bill will be paid. My
surgery was very extensive and over 10 hours of surgery. I ended up being
in the hospital for 3 days, getting 3 units of blood etc. All of this
factored into the unbelieveable cost of this procedure. Thankgoodness I
had insurance coverage. Waiting till next year might not have meant I had
coverage as each year things can change. Sorry I digressed.
<p>The bottom line is each person has to decide for themselves when
it is the right time. I do not believe waiting would have changed my end
result, even long term. If I had a lot less to remove it would have
probably made a difference in my decision. Many SMO have their skin
removal at earlier stages than the rest of the WL world. Many times it is
impeding their progress and mobility. In my case it was not to that degree
but it was a significant amount of skin to remove and anything to help my
low back problems was a plus.
— zoedogcbr
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