Did anyone see The Shrinking Woman on TLC last night?

************************************************************* TLC -- The Shrinking Woman After spending eight years trapped in a 619-pound body, Connie Jackson suffers excruciating stomach pains and undergoes radical bariatric surgery to lose 64% of her bulk. ************************************************************* DAMN... this turned me off of plastic surgery.... (this week).... Pretty graphic stuff... Anyone care to comment? Kate Z

Kate, Yes, I've seen it and a few programs like it. The "total body lift" and even some of the tummy tucks are really major radical surgeries. I don't think people really think it is that hard. It looks much harder than the gastric bypass itself. Your incision is so gigantic. They remove so much then stretch it together....I have no illusions about how much it will be to go through. I am also a believer in waiting to do any plastic surgery at least a year (preferably 18 months) after you get to a weight you want to be at, because your body keeps changing that long. My neighbor had her breasts done, lost a bunch more weight and hates how they have turned out. My old therapist who had gastric bypass surgery has some very ugly big scars on her arms...this is quite an undertaking...not to mention how you pay for it! My 2 cents. Lori

I didn't see the show but I've seen folks go through all type of plastic surgeries. One gal at our support group had her upper arms done a couple of months ago and had a lower body lift (circumfral) done several weeks ago. She still looks like she is in alot of pain. WLS is nothing compared to having that type of work done on your body painwise. And if you have muscles cut and not just skin removed - owie! I've seen arms done, breasts, thighs and midsections. Unbelievable. (And at the one support groups folks pile into the handicapped stall in the women's room to compare scars. That part is funny.) The guy that invented the Total Body Lift (Hurwitz, I think) was at the OH event in Pittsburg. Interesting expensive procedure ($40-50K I believe depending on what has to be done) and I'm sure it is very painful to have all that work done at once. Having lost just short of 120 lbs... I consider myself lucky - no rashes, no irritation, no real issues other than aesthetics. While I'm not happy with my Shar-Pei butt. my empty deflated boobies and all the rest... I think I can accept it all as it is if I have to. If I had extra $$$, I would probably pay off some debt or put new windows in the house first. Kathy

Deflated boobs...argh! Reminds me of yesterday. I had my yearly scheduled with a new ob/gyn a friend recommended. She didn't say how CUTE the guy was. I'm already sad about how deflated my boobs look sitting and standing and here I am sitting in front of him with the pink, paper gown thingie on me. Then he asks me to lay down...my boobs virtually disappear at that point and of course he's feeling all around them forlumps and whatnot and the whole time I'm thinking, "I really need a boob job and soon!!!!" So if they are deflated sitting and standing, what's the word that describes them when I'm laying down? Puddly?? Seeking your expertise Kathy.

I remember seeing my CT scan results which are basically a cross section of your body. As I scrolled through the CD I was trying to figure out what something was on the outside of my ribs by my chest. You got it. My boobs. They were not far from being in my arms pits as I laid flat they were sliding off the side of my body. It tweren't pretty... The weirdness thing lately is to stand in the bathroom and dry my hair nekkid. As I move my arms up and I can ribs through the tops of what used to be my boobs. Puddly? I kind of think of them as the way pancake batter spreads when it hits the griddle... Ewwww. Kathy