Loose Skin and hair loss....advice?

Hey there....14 more days!!! I can't believe it! I had my pre-op appointment today. OOOOOOOH Ugh! I have to have a catheder...that's the only part I'm dreading - icky icky ha ha ha... Any Post-op advice for me? Doc says I'm looking GOOOOOOOD - lost more than the 5% he required and I still have 2 more weeks. Yay. Now...here's my burning question...does EVERYONE have loose skin? Is it permanant unless surgically removed? Is there anything that can be done to prevent it/make it better if it happens? What are your stories? What about hair loss? Is it major or just minor. Doc says it's usually minor and so did the nutritionist - but my one redeeming feature my whole life has been my hair and...well...ok, I'm vain maybe (of course) but - I don't want to loose chunks of it. Anyway - anything you can tell me about skin/hair would be FABULOUS people... I can't belive it's almost here!!! Take care!! Hannah P.S. Has anyone here had any complications? Strictures? Leaks? I'm having laproscopic gastric bypass...

Hi Hannah! Congrats on your progress toward surgery! Yipppeee! I hope your preop goes very well! I don't remember a catheter... why do you have to do that? I started losing hair around 4-6 months out. I'm 20 months out now. I am still losing hair. I've probably lost 1/3 of it. Oddly, what is left grew in very curly! I have ringlets now when before I didn't even have waves! My hair stopped growing for a loooong time, too. I haven't had a hairsut in well over a year. It finally started growing in length again back in January. It used to grow about 1/2 a month. Now it's 1/2 inch every 5-6 weeks. Almost normal rate. Still no new hair tho! Skin. Mine is saggy and not attractive. I am prone to stretchmarks. I think everyone's skin elasticitiy is different. Mine's not so good. Still, no one would guess lthat I have excess skin looking at me in clothes. I do not have enough skin issues for insurance to cover PS. Oh well. I'd rather have skin than the fat. Really, that's the honest to goodness truth. When my skin does bother me, I look at it like scars... it reminds me of the past, what I did to myself. I NEVER want to fill out that skin! My scars tell a story, remind me of where I came from. I can deal. You can too. One other tidbit on the skin. I ran 4-5 miles the other day in non-spandex pants - I wore a pair of loose capris. After the run I walked three miles. During the three miles I could not even jog. I was sore - not just my muscles, but the skin on my legs. It felt bruised and tender. I wondered if it wasn't because my skin didn't have the support of the spandex... Don't let fear of skin or hairloss get to you. You would be hard pressed to find someone who would say they'd reverse the surgery or not do it all over so they could have their filled-out skin and thicker hair. It's more than a fair trade off! Blessings, Nancy 09/16/04 Medial RNY 276/137/138 Below goal!

Hi Hannah! Congrats on your surgery! I had quite a bit of hairloss. I probably lost about 30%. It still hasn't completely grown back but my hair was really thick so I actually like it better now! I never had it where you could see my scalp or anything like that. But I lost handfuls daily from about 3 months to 6 months. I still lose a bit but nothing like before. My skin is pretty hangy on my belly and my thighs. I am going to look into getting either a tummy tuck or a belt lipectomy some day. My insurance probably won't pay for it since it's not a huge amount skin to take off. It just bugs ME. I can hide it well in clothes but I still know it's there! But like Nancy says, I wouldn't trade the lose skin for the fat! I would rather have saggy bags than have it all filled in again! I have not had any complications so far at almost 11 months postop. Lori 281/170/140

Hannah - I am Pre-op also, but with the same doctor, so I thought I would say hello! I am getting a lap band from Dr. Chebli! I'm scheduled for July 21, but I don't know I'll loose my 5% by then, so, I'm trying to prepare myself that my surgery may be post-poned. I wish I could have gone in and gotten weighed when I first made my appointment for my consult. I was so busy, I had to wait 3 weeks- but I figured, I knew I had to loose weight, so I might as well start early. So I've lost about 16 pounds--- but only about 6 on Dr. Chebli's scales, since I'd lost 10 before I went to see him. I have my Pre-op appointment with him Monday afternoon, so I am going to explain that-- but I don't think it will matter. But, in any case-- I really like him as a Doctor! Michelle

Hi, Hannah and congrats on your upcoming surgery!! I'm about 14 months out and I started losing my hair at about 5-6 weeks out. I continued to lose hair until about 5 months and I lost 1/2 of my hair. Now, granted (check my profile) I had TONS of hair. It would take two COMPLETE full bottles of hair color to do my hair pre-op. I mean every last drop. At about 6 months out I colored my hair and I didn't even finish one whole bottle and I'd not had a haircut. Like I said, I had a LOT of hair and it didn't look bad. It looked thin to ME because I'd never been able to see my scalp before, but I still have plenty of hair. At about 9 -11 months out my hair started growing back which is why I cut my hair about 3 weeks ago - I had these little short strands everywhere and it looked bad! I couldn't pull my hair back because I'd have little shoots everywhere, LOL! So, I cut it to where it was even with my regrowth and am in the process of letting it grow back again. Dr. Weber (and others that I have spoken to) seem to think there's really no rhyme or reason as to who does and does not lose their hair. A friend and I had our surgeries about 2 months apart and we both (from day one) got 60-80 grams/protein everyday. Somedays at the beginning I did nothing but drink protein drinks to make sure I got my protein in and she lost no hair and I did. Who knows?! As far as the loose skin goes, it depends on (from my understanding) age, how overweight you were, and how long you were overweight. I gained my extra 100+ pounds at age 19 and was over 300 pounds from age 19 to 36 when I had my surgery. I'm 5'8" and my goal weight is around 175-180 and my doc is totally okay with that. I do, honestly, have big bones! I have TONS of loose skin. I got a TT approved and am having that done 8/8 and my plastic surgeon thinks I've got 10-15 pounds of skin on my abdomen. I've also got major bat wings and my thighs are starting to look like shar-peis. My thighs are the only place where I've still got fat on me. My breasts are still full (always had big breasts - C-cup in 4th grade) having gone from a 44F to 36DD (yep, after 140 pounds I'm still in a DD and very little of that is extra skin), but my butt is pretty saggy, etc. Again, this is because I was 100+ pounds overweight for nearly 20 years. Someone who's only been 100 pounds overweight for 2-3 years and is still pretty young may not have as much skin as those who have been longer. I had absolutely ZERO complications, strictures, or leaks but know others who have. I had open RNY. Just follow your doctor's orders and that way if (God forbid) anything does go wrong, you know that YOU have done everything you're supposed to. Michelle Open RNY 5/5/05 370/340/202 highest/pre-op/current