Vanity, thy name is Dixie

I am so excited. Yesterday I had my pre-surgical visit with my plastic surgeon. We are going to do the second (& last) phase of the belt lipectomy on August 22. The Tummy Tuck was actually the first phase. The second phase will extend the repair to the backside, lifting the buttocks and reducing the thighs. It will improve the appearance of my thighs but will not address the sagging of the inner thighs. That's a whole different procedure, one I will not be having as it is quite painful & there are many complications. I asked him to show me where the incision will be located & it will extend from the end of the tummy tuck incision on around to the other end of the TT incision. That's why it's called a belt. Then he showed me what would be removed & I was blown away. He'll be removing more skin back there than he did in the tummy. I decided to not ask him to estimate what it would weigh. I want to be surprised but I suspect it will be less than the 6lb 2oz he removed in March. He will be doing some liposuction on the outer thighs. I suggested that he let the tube just wander all over my thighs, sucking away & he just smiled that cute little grin he has. (Did I mention that he is very easy to look at? That must be a requirement for plastic surgeons.) My recovery will be interesting, to say the least. For the first several days I will be will either be laying in bed on my stomach or standing up. No sitting, even in the recliner as it will pull on the wound. I plan to get caught up on my reading & I'm trying to figure out if I can somehow set up my laptop & use it while laying on my tummy. I have an idea I will have a real stiff neck by the end of the 10-14 days on my tummy. While there we talked a bit about how my tummy turned out. The scars are fading rapidly & it is staying nice & flat & tight. He referred to me as the tummy tuck poster child. I am so happy with the results of that procedure & marvel in the changes I have experienced about my appearance. I will never be beautiful but this change makes me feel attractive. I am hoping this next one will improve my outlook even more. There is one downside. I am becoming vain. Before losing weight, I really didn't care how I looked as it didn't matter what I did, I felt & looked ugly. Now, I care. I wear makeup again; I want my clothes to look good & want to feel good in them. I have become a clothes horse (kind of like Mom was) & my closet is full. Fortunately I am satisfied with shopping at second hand stores & have found some really nice name brand bargains. I have become vain about my sizes too. My closet contains clothing in sizes as large as XL tee-shirts to size 4-6 (smalls!!!!!). My pants range from 10-12 to 18. I am now weeding out the XLs & 18's, even though they still fit just because I don't like those bigger sizes & don't want to know I am wearing them. I have threatened to wear my shirts inside out so that the size tag shows! I think I may need a psychiatrist before too long if this continues. I see so much of Mom in me now. Her weight & size was so important to her, probably too much. I am hoping that as time goes by my feelings diminish & I just accept me as I am. The scales tell me I am still overweight and I probably always will be as my body doesn't want me to get much lower but I have decided to not dwell on those numbers. I physically feel good. I am looking so much better and mentally I can't imagine being any happier than I am now. I have even been told at work that my self-confidence has increased. Thanks so much for your support for me though all this & for your patience with my silliness, such as this. I can't express enough how your support has helped. Dixie

Good Luck with the plastics its just right around the corner! you have come such a long ways. I wouldnt call what you are feeling vanity. But I would say that it is pride. you feel good...so now you want to look good....You must be so proud of yourself. I know I would be....to succeed after diet failure after diet failure....that is quite an accomplishment! And....you are an inspiration to us pre-ops...... billie jo

You'll get there one of these days, Billie Jo. And thank you for the good wishes. Dixie

Dear Dixie: You've come a long way baby!!! Don't feel bad for taking pride in your appearance !!!! Most of us MO people have went throught our lives feeling ashamed of how we look, and wanting desperately not to be noticed!! When we get to a normal weight, and finally like what we see in the mirror, we want to look our best!! I, too, find myself much more absorbed with my looks, clothes, make up ect. I'm trying to get approval for a TT, but initially it was denied. I went to my pcp with a possible hernia. He sent me for a CT scan today, so I will find out next Wed. if I have a hernia. My Dr says if I do, he will really push for approval of the TT along with the hernia repair !!! I have my fingers and toes crossed!!!!! Isn't it crazy to want to have something wrong with you!!! I got the CT because I have so much extra skin on my belly, my Dr had a hard time feeling for a hernia! Hello insurance company !! I als am hoping for a inner thigh lift, as they are bad too! Did your surgeon tell you what kind of complications occur with inner thighs? If I could win the lottery, I'd go for a breast lift and implants, the old girls are pretty sad looking!!! I am a clothes nut now too, thank God for second hand stores!!! Best of luck, and keep us posted!!! DeeAnn R ( another member of the vanity club!!)

DeAnn, If you want to get the inner thighs fixed, go to the best. The two in Coralville, Dr Cran & Dr Aly are among the best in the nation doing lower body lifts. If I were to do it over again, I would have gone to them right away and had them do the TT & all. That's not to say I'm unhappy with my surgeon. He's great but he can't do the inner thighs. The complications I have read about mainly concern wound healing. If they lift & also remove skin from the inner area, there is a lot of pulling on the incision line & because some part of the incision is in the fold of the groin it tends to be damp. It's not unusual for the incision to open up & then it has to heal from the inside out, with you packing gauze in it for several weeks, if not months. I have also been told that it is painful, much worse than the tummy tuck. Swelling is also a problem & it continues for several months. I know of one gal who had hers done & basically was bedridden for many weeks. I can't afford to have that happen to me. I'd lose my job. I can't take the chance. I have been very fortunate as far as the breasts go. They shrunk down & do sag but they are small. I love small breasts! I know lots of gals who weigh a lot less than I do & they still wear larger sizes on top due only to the size of the "girls." I think I look about the same as many women my age. I don't think I'd look right with "perky" ones. My arms are saggy also. Worse than I'd like but not enough for me to want to go through another procedure nor want to spend that kind of money. I't does sound strange to want a hernia, but there is not one of us here who doesn't understand. Insurance companies will usually pay for at least a panniectomy if you have a hernia. Many plastic surgeons will code it as that & go ahead & fix the fascia also, making it a true tummy tuck. Good luck (or maybe should I say, "bad luck"?) Let us know what the CT scan tells. Dixie

Dear Vain -- am I hearing a bit of a crush on a certain dr???? You are beautiful and you deserve to feel it also. Besides isn't that a compliment to yourself. You are who matters and what you feel is what matters most!!! Show the world who you are!!! I find myself doing the same thing with clothes. I can't stand those high-waisted jeans anymore. Show a little bootie!!! Or in your case it will be really tight bootie!!! I'll let your dear hubby to widen the doorways for your big head -- and you deserve every inch of it. Janie 272/153/145

You know better than that, Janie! No crush from me but I bet he does have patients who do get crushes. Thank you for the nice words. Beautiful, no, but I'm OK. Hey, I tried on a pair of lowriding dress pants today. I knew I was in trouble when I unzipped the 3" zipper. They looked good in front (thanks to Dr Bastug) but half my bottem hung out the back. I am just not supposed to wear clothes meant for teenagers I guess. I'll take the high waist as long as it doesn't have a waist band. I reminded Al today how much he would enjoy the new me. You know, this saves him money. No more "little blue pills"!!!! Dixie (throroughly shocked that I said that!

Dixie you are not being vain!! It is all in the excitement of feeling good and looking good! You most definately deserve to feel this way, you have worked hard to get there! I am so glad your TT has worked out so nice and looks good! Wishing you the same with the back side!! Hugs Shelli

Dixie I must say honestly that you are my inspiration.....now I just wish I had the guts to have plastic surgery. With having wls at the end of 2003 and four surgerys in 2004 not related to the wls I just can't seem to even get motivated nor excited about having a tummy tuck. I totally understand the vanity part of this!!! I too am a clothes fanatic and yes....my name is Janet Schmidt and Iam addicted to my scale lol. I weigh between 145-150 and still consider myself obese. Iam in a size 6 and there are days its just not good enough cus I was wearing a size 4 not too long ago. I wonder actually hope that someday my head will catch up to my body....I can remember how I wanted to slap thin ppl for complaining that they were too fat UGH...now I wish someone would slap me lol. Anyways I so admire you for how far you have come and how far you are going, also for all your support for all of us here....thank you! Hugs, Janet

Vanity, thy name is Lyn! I also am a clothes addict. I won't go out of the house without makeup and jewelry that matches whatever I'm wearing. I buy clothes to match my jewelry. I never wore makeup before surgery. I love to shop. I am also addicted to the scale but am getting better. I've decided that my body has to stay at 152 and not a pound less. I'm letting it be for a time as I was making myself nuttier than normal. I'm going to try to do the TT thing after the first of the year. My hubby wants to know where the money is coming from. I told him I didn't care if I have to finance it, I'm doing it! Or I'll cash in one of my retirement annuities. Where there's a will, there's a way. I'll go get a second job.