I had surgery over 10 years ago......(reconstructive surgery)

I've lost over 185 lbs. About 3-4 years later I had the panneculectomy surgery and it was very necessary because the excess skin made it hard to exercise and a do a lot of things plus medically it caused a lot of bad things (trust me) . But I have yet to have any other reconstruction surgery. I toned up a bit but I have arms that look bigger than my grandma no matter how much I tone. I want to get my breast lift, reduced the skin. I Went from 60DDD to a 38DDD. I want my thighs done and I want to be able to see my belly button without lifting up my skin. (tummy tuck).

I saw a plastic surgeon years ago and he told me. The MORE I loose weight......the better I will look when I have reconstruction. But he didn't tell me HOW MUCH more to loose weight. But when I saw him he said he can remove about 25 lbs at least or more.

I see a lot of "reconstructive" web sites before and after pictures. I see people that weight LESS than me, same age, same height, and their weight after surgery (even after weeks of recovery). They weight MORE than what I weight currently. Not to be mean.....my body looks better than some of theirs "after surgery results even a year later".

I would like to know what where peoples highest weight........what kind of plastic surgery (reconstructive) they had, their weight after wards. Was it worth it? Did it make a difference or do you wish you waited till you lost more weight?

I am still loosing little by little. But I really want to do the reconstruction. But if i loose more......then I will have more loose skin?

I am 5'4''. 36 years old. Single. No kids (doubt I will have any....wish).....I was over way over 350 lbs before they would do the surgery. I had my surgery through Kaiser. Since I was one of the new patients. My doctor recommended me. I had an appointment i a week and in One MONTH I was on the surgery table. I had the R-N-Y. Yes I have had many bad complications. But it was the best decision. I done.

Also any old timers out there....meaning had surgery as long as me......and how are you guys doing?

I had a tummy tuck 4-mos ago. I let myself go beforehand and ballooned up to a weight that made my size 14 pants tight. Now I am wearing a size 8 jeans and my body looks great. I am going for addict all surgery this Fall and my surgeon will revise my tummy tuck because I did loose more weight after the tummy tuck.

PS I had my gastric bypass 10 years ago. As for my body, I have never been happier in my life since getting the tummy tuck. I never knew thwt I could have a body like this.

I had LBL 5 weeks ago. Had gastric bypass 8 years ago. Lost 130 pounds. Had baby, fluctuated a bit with weight. I am 5'5" and weighed in at about 175 when I had surgery. I wore a size 12. Dr removed about 9 lbs of skin. I've lost a totalnof about 13 pounds so far and currently wear a 10 but I'm still losing and slightly swollen so my hope is to end at an 8. To me, the timing of surgery and the weight I was at was what was right for me. Everyone is different. I'm really so glad I did this and feel so much better about myself right now. Good luck to you! Kacey

What was your starting weight when you had the gastric by pass 8 years ago? You said you weight 175 is that now? Because I know they wouldn't do the gastric by pass unless you are over 100 lbs (that was my case). My total weight was over 350 lb. actually over 360 lb. But I had to loose weight as much as I could before they did it.

I gained a bit through out the years. (10 lbs and lost it) But last year I gained the most I went up to a size 16 (the biggest size of pants I still had left in my closet that I didn't get rid of.....wish I kept the MUCH bigger ones. I think I still do at my parents house). 

I refuse to start buying bigger clothes when I have a closet of size 10 (that I wore at the beginning of last year). So I started working out the beginning of this year again and eating right and went from 16 down to 14 and then 12 and now wearing size 10 shorts again.

Remember I haven't had a tummy tuck. The only thing I had was about 3 years after my gastric by pass (which was 10 years ago) was a panneculectomy that HELPED a lot. No more granny panties and now I wear victoria secret boy shorts and they DON'T roll down. Wow! I did a lot of toning up but mostly cardio at first to loose the most weight.

A lot of people tell me that I look good but you can tell I lost a lot of weight. (If I show you my body(lift shirt) or lift my arms up and you can see the loose skin).  My skin hangs over my belly button......if I hold my breath in.....you can see all the loose skin like a deformity. You can grab it and pinch it to make it disappear and I would look like a "regular" person on the beach. Like I never was fat in the first place. Many are shocked when I show them my pictures of me when I use to be super big. I will add more to my profile......so you can see my face better and you can tell. It looks like I was fitted for a movie to be made fat.

But I am fat. Yes I use that term because its been in my vocabulary since small. I am Hispanic (Cuban) and my nickname has all ways been tanquesito (little tank). Because I am like a little a small bulldozer. (The nickname stuck)  In all the family videos I am huge. I always been big. In my mind I am big. In my dreams I am big. I look in the mirror and I still see BIG. When I walk into the store.....I go to the "woman's world" size. I pass by torrid and lane Bryant in the mall and want to go inside. But I know nothing is going to fit.

I feel good and happy now and am happy with myself. But its still hard when someone says you look good when most of your life you been rejected, turned down, called names, laughed at and bullied. Yes I have seen a therapist and talked about this. I am happy with my self and healthier. But am still conscious about my body being naked in front of other people (except doctors), I just want to know how are others dealing with the weight loss (mentally), plus did the plastic surgery help.

I will never be a size 2...nor do I want to. I do NOT want to be anorexic looking. I just wish more people would post that had surgery years ago and how they are doing mentally, physically, and how much they lost and if they had plastic surgery (and when).

I am 36. Still single. Would love to have kids. So that is a debate about having plastic surgery. Should I wait (I am still loosing weight). But I KNOW my skin will NEVER fully go back in without plastic surgery. Or can it?

 

I had rny in 2005 at 283.5, in 2006 I had an extended tummy tuck with muscle tightening, I weighed around 155 when I had it done.  They took off approx 6 lbs of skin, which never really showed up on the scale.  By 2007 I hit my goal weight of 138 @5`5.  Now in 2013 I weigh 127lbs and wear size 4.  I can wear some 2's as my waist is smaller compared to my butt.  I didn't try to lose these ten lbs, stress made it happen, so I didn't run out and buy all smaller clothes.  I have an entire wardrobe of size six, which is my max size.  Pics on my profile if you wish to see.