I was under the knife for twelve and one half hours. The doctor had to remove massive amounts of skin from my legs, not totally sure how it works, but something about how it grows, you can't just lop it off, you have to make directional cuts??? (does that even make sense, I don't know.....) Anyway, one hernia, one abdominoplasty, two thigh lifts and two chicken wings later, I am done. I go back down to L.A. on Monday for some of the drains to be removed. I currently have eight, one in each arm, two in each leg and two in the tummy. He expects to be able to remove all but two. To be brutally honest, the first two days I thought I was gonna die it hurt soooo bad. I have a very high tolerance too, but by the time we made the drive home from Los Angeles to my house (six hours with the traffic), I was feeling much better. Aside from the itching you always get when you can't take a bath, the pain is totally manageable with vicodin. I see myself going back to work on the 15th of August. I have nothing but praise for both Dr. Nazarian, Dr. Naim, and Dr. Jackson the anesthesiologist. They are totally the very best in my book!! The incisions are sooooooooo smooth! I want to thank Robyn for her "angelness" It was so thoughtful for her to continue to keep tabs on me, she went welll above and beyond in my opinion. My hubby is not always the freindliest guy, especially under these cir****tances, and she did wonderful with him! Thank you Robyn!!!!!! I also want to publicly thank Leonard. He is not around here very much anymore, but I count him as one of my best friends. If we all had a couple of friends like him, it would be a truly cool world!! I don't even think he will see this, but I wanted the rest of you to know just how much he means to my whole family (mom, dad, kids, hubby, dogs, cats, you get the picture!!) There is the whole ordeal. As to the amount of skin they removed, they would not give me a weight figure, but a I am guessing 20 - 25 lbs. They showed Mike and I the pictures of it. Disgusting!!!!! Another good outcome is that you have no appetitie whatsover! Thank you to all of you who kept me in their thoughts and prayers. You will never know how much it is appreciated! Jill UPDATE: MONDAY, AUGUST 8 - DOCTOR REMOVED SEVEN OF THE EIGHT DRAINS TODAY. NOT NEARLY AS PAINFUL AS I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE. JILL

Hi All! Hope everyone is having a great summer! It sure is hot here in Northern NY. I had two internal hernia's repaired on June 7th and then emergency surgery on June 10 (Dr. thought I had a hole in my bowel, I din not thank God!) I was off work for eight weeks (just came back on August 1st). I'm 18 months post-oopt and my BMI is now 22! Today I'm down to 123 lbs. I range any where from 121 - 125, just depends! Not bad, considering I started at 248 lbs. I'm wearing size 2/4. I was hoping that my doctor was going to do a tt when he did my surgery, but he did not! Kimberley 248/123

I am glad you butted in.........lol Great information! :thumsup: It will help others. Take Care Tammy

Hi Dawn! I will be going in on August 3rd to have my tummy, arms and legs done. The same doctor who did my WLS will be doing the plastics. I am actually below the goald he set for me weightwise and I am just about 18 months out. I can hardly wait! Good luck with your searce for plastics! You are looking good!!! Jill

RIGHT ON CATHERINE!!!!! Angie http://www.geocities.com/tiger_angie