had panni consult today---need advice!!!

I am 13 months out from my RNY and am down 137 pounds. I started at 326 and now weigh 189. I called the office of a plastics doc in the area expecting to schedule a consult in December or so. He had an opening today so I took it and went in to see what he had to say.

I have always been obese and have never NOT had a hanging panni----so he does his poking and kneading and declares me about ready! He said he would get great results from the fluer de les procedure and the "rolls" I have are actually skin with very little fat left. He could feel my rib and hip bones easily and kept referring to the pinch distance and said it was 1 to 1 1/2 cemimeters.

So if I achieve the average weight loss of a RNY of 75% of the excess body fat I will land around 180. I pulled a goal weight out of the sky of 160 and wondered if I should be thinking of plastics this early. The reason I want the skin removed is to increase my chances of keeping the weight off---research shows that the skin removal increases these chances dramatically.

Please advise----

The doc thought I had 8-12 pounds of skin in the stomach area that needed removal. He also said I would probably see a size reducion of approx 4 pants sizes.

thanks in advance,
Shelly

well I weigh 172-177 and I am 5ft 3 inches.  I am ready to have my panni/tt because I feel happy at this weight and if i didn't have all these extra rolls giving me rashes i would be happy.  I also spoke to several people who have had the TT and they have lost additional weight through diet and excercise and neither is saggy.  I feel at most I would lose another 20-25 pounds.  At my thinnest I weighed 135 and all I ate was 2 yogurts a day so I can be happy where I am and eating.  For me its more about how I feel and less about what the scale says.

Thanks so much for your insight!

Where do you carry most of your weight? If you carry a lot of it in your abdomen, then you might want to wait until you're within 15lb of your goal weight. BUT, if you're like me, and you carry most of it in your butt/thighs, then you'll probably be ok getting the tummy tuck. Especially if the doc says it's mostly extra skin. I'm having the fleur de lis TT in 3 weeks and I'm so excited! I have rolls of skin above and below my bellybotton, so getting those removed will be such a relief! It's like living with a deformity, you feel awful every time you look in the mirror. It will give you renewed confidence and you'll feel great! Whats the worst that will happen, you'll have your TT, lose another 20lb, then maybe have a little bit of a pooch again. They can revise that. just decide what you can live with and afford. Even normal people who've never been obese hav a bit of tummy pooch. Remember that. But I do understand wanting that flat stomach. That's what *I* want ;)

Thanks Lizzy! I, too, carry most of my weight in my butt and thighs. I feel somewhat conflicted and excited at the same time. I have never NOT had these rolls in front---so the removal is foreign to me.

Good luck with your tt and please keep us posted!

Shelly