confused-not unusual for me, but still.....

I am one year and one month out and have lost between 125 and 130 lbs, I fluctuate. I have not lost any weight for 4 or 5 months now and have stabilized, I am wondering if this is where I am meant to be or if I am just messing up. My main question though is how much do you take all the extra skin into consideration? If the skin was removed how much more weight would that be and how many more sizes would I go down? So does that mean that I actually weigh much less than the scale reads? I wonder if I would be truly happy with my current weight if I could only have plastic surgery done. It is extremely frustrating to get to a size where you can wear cute clothes, but you still cant because of all the skin, I am a bit bummed about that, and I will never be able to afford surgery. Can you tell me how much you consider any extra skin in your weight loss goal.

When I asked about this, I was told I probably have about 8-10lbs of excess skin and I do not have alot of hanging skin that I'm dealing with. For someone that does have alot of hanging skin I would think their number might be quite a bit higher. I am not currently considering doing any plastics and have not had any work done b/c I don't have the $$ for that either and insurance won't cover anything. I do have to say that my skin in much more tone and filled in now at 3yrs post op than it was at 1-2yrs out so don't give up b/c things seem to improve with time. Also, adding some light weightlifting to my workout routine has helped some too~it can't change everything, but it did firm things up underneath the loose skin so it gives everything a better appearance. When I think about my lowest weight (150) and take into consideration 10lbs of excess skin that would put me at 140~that's amazing to me!!! I do feel that for some that's why our bodies want to settle in at a little higher weight than we might like b/c in all realilty we are lighter than we realize due to excess skin after such dramatic weightloss.

Due to true health issues, I explored PS when I was WlS post op at about 12 months. I saw my chosen PS and he asked me to return in 6 months and then he would consider PS. I had horrible rashes and ulcers under my breasts and under and in my huge hanging panni. I also had a large ventral upper hernia. So I returned to my PS in June of 06. He agreed that surgery was necessary and began the insurance approval process. He also agreed to coordinate my PS with my WLS surgeon to fix the hernia at the same time. I had my surgery in Sept 06. I had the rashes and ulcers, severe back, arm, neck, shoulder, and arm pain. On the day of surgery he removed 12 lbs of skin. I had a BR; Bl; ventral hernia repair, TT; and panni removal. During the last year I have managed to lose an additional 28 lbs for a total loss of 40. I hit 10 lbs below goal last week. My surgery was covered by my insurance. I am thrilled with my new body, small perky breasts, and flat flat flat tummy. My recovery was smooth and the pain I  presumed I would have was not as bad as expected, really. I wore my binders and forced msyself to get in the extra protein to help me heal.  I wish you good luck on your journey and continued success.

I am 2 years and 4 months out. I don't have much loose skin. I am underweight but if I had the money I would get ps from head to toe. I have always in my 43 years of life wanted to be pretty. I would look like a anorexic Barbie...............but that's ok with me............... Amy

Oh now Amy, You are a pretty woman. Plus you got a real cute boyfriend.

As for me I would have a face lift if I had anything. You can't see it in my pictures but I have very deep wrinkles. The plastic surgeon said he didn't know if he could even fix it. He said I had poor skin.

First of all, congratulations on your accomplishment!  You are still a relatively fresh graduate.. and I encourage you to go to the weight tracker they just put up as a beta on the site and put in your weigh in dates and weights to post on your profile.  WHY?  Because sometimes having a graphic representation of how very much you have accomplished can help put things into perspective for you. As for loose skin and how much is too much.. or normal.. or whatever.. Well.. I think everyone is not only different but I think your heritage can play a role. I learned a lot from a post-op support group meeting I went to that welcomed my own surgeon as a guest speaker -- only he wasn't talking about RNY or Banding.. he was talking about Plastics and excess skin. The one thing I took away with me is that there are so many factors that play into the excess skin issue and how well your body bounces back. 1st.. how big you were (and how your fat was distributed) when you started. 2nd.. how old you are 3rd.. your exercise regimen -- exercising as you lose helps the elasticity of your skin. 4th.. your family heritage (some nationalities naturally have more tannin in their skin and those tannins help your skin bounce back -- it adds flexibility.. so someone who is darker complected -- African, Italian, Greek, Indian -- will have skin that is more flexible to start with and will bounce back more readily) 5th.. how long you were morbidly obese.   Sometimes the skin just reaches the point where it's stretched to it's absolute limit and it just can't bounce back. So basically, there's more involved in what's "normal" than just saying "well if you lost 200#, you're going to have a lot of excess skin" -- Not everybody's skin is the same. Most of all, don't be bummed.  Try putting your accomplishment into the weight tracker and really take a good look at how far you've come!!  We all have struggles with skin (too much, funny shaped or just plain in the wrong spot).. you're not alone.