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Hi, I see it has been awhile since posting on this thread..

I am still pre op.. 33yrs old. mother to 6 , firemans wife and retired navy wife.. 

Ongoing journey to loose weight and be healthy since high school.. yup long time.

I am at my heaviest and waiting on surgery date.. looking at surgery for fall..

Have a great support  system from my husband and who I have told.. which is a quest of mine.. not telling everyone..

Currently I am walking with a cane and can not manage laundry and cleaning as I used to.. I have to sit when I clean most things..
Even shaving my leggs is a struggle.

I have goals and tell myself I will not fail.

thank you i look forward  to interacting and getting some feback on those who have been able to keep strong

Liposuction 101 You hear about it on television and read about it in magazines and newspapers, but what is liposuction really all about? Liposuction was developed in France less then three decades ago, but it is now a world wide phenomenon. It is based on a simple idea that a small hollow tube could be used to remove fat tissue.   A vacuum suction pulls small parcels of fat into openings at the end of the tube as it is passed under the skin. Importantly, this could be done through very small incisions that are approximately one quarter of an inch in length. Liposuction can be used almost anywhere in the body, including arms, legs, abdomen, back, and even the neck. A skilled surgeon can use this technique very effectively to make positive changes in appearance and the way your clothes fit. Every technique has its risks and benefits, and the most common downside with liposuction is uneven or irregular removal of fat tissue. This can result in an uneven appearance in the treated areas. Another important thing to understand about liposuction is that it will not correct cellulite. In fact, liposuction may even make cellulite appear worse. While patients with excess loose skin will benefit most from an operation that removes the skin, such as a tummy tuck, liposuction can be a very effective technique to use along with these other skin tightening operations. For example, a patient can have a tummy tuck and also have liposuction in the “love handle" region to remove that fat at the same time. The skin tightening effect of the tummy tuck will make up for the fact that liposuction alone will not tighten skin. There has been an evolution in the technology associated with liposuction procedures over time. One of the most important advances was the use of tumescent anesthesia. This is the simple act of putting fluid (saline mixed with epinephrine and local anesthetic) into the tissues before using the liposuction device to remove the fat. This makes the procedure more comfortable for the patient, and reduces blood loss. Tumescent liposuction is now considered the standard of care, and nearly every surgeon uses some version of tumescent anesthesia. Another advance has been the use of ultrasonic energy to help break up the fat tissue. Ultrasonic liposuction machines have gone through several generations, and the technology is becoming well refined. Ultrasonic liposuction is especially helpful in breaking up the tougher fat tissue on the male chest and in the love handle region of both men and women. This is a technique that we commonly use in the Life After Weight Loss Center. We use the advanced VASER Lipo-selection equipment. An even newer technology, laser assisted liposuction (also known as Smart Lipo), has recently appeared. As with any very new technology, it is too early to tell if it has any advantages over the ultrasonic liposuction technique. The most important concept to understand about liposuction is that this technique removes fat tissue without removing skin. This means that once the fat tissue is removed, we must rely on the natural elastic properties of the skin to shrink down over the empty space where the fat used to be. If you have loose skin to begin with, liposuction will only make things worse and the skin will get looser after treatment. With this in mind, the best candidates for liposuction are people with well localized deposits of fat that won’t go away with diet and exercise and good elastic skin in the areas that will be treated. As new technologies develop, our ability to selectively refine “problem areas" gets better and better!

The term “tummy tuck" is often used by people who desire a flatter abdomen after weight loss, and understanding a few simple concepts can make sense of this procedure. 

The first concept is that to get a flatter belly, you have to remove any excess skin. Just removing fat with liposuction from beneath loose skin will only make the loose skin worse. There are many versions of the abdominoplasty (the medical term for “Tummy Tuck"), and all of them have a common element of removing skin in the lower part of the abdomen. This results is a scar that usually runs along the lower part of the abdomen from hip bone to hip bone. 
  The length of the scar is determined by how much skin needs to be removed, and can be kept much shorter in some patients.

The second concept is that tightening of stretched out abdominal muscles is a technique that is often used along with skin removal to help get a flatter belly.This tightening is done with sutures and gives a corset effect. Muscle tightening is used in varying degrees—some people need a lot of it to get a good shape, while others need no muscle tightening at all. Surgeons will customize the technique for each patient’s body type. 

The third concept is that the belly button is kept in place, like a flower on a stem, and the loose skin of the belly is freed up and pulled down over it. This means that a new incision must be made on the skin for the belly button to pass through. The final scar pattern involves a scar low across the belly and around the belly button.
  There are special cir****tances in which patients have so much extra skin that the surgeon will recommend a vertical scar in addition to the low horizontal scar. While the procedure involves an additional scar, it prevents loose skin in the middle of the belly.

Recovery from a tummy tuck requires 6 weeks with no heavy lifting. People with desk jobs average 2 to 3 weeks out of the office, while people with strenuous jobs can’t go back to full duty until after 6 weeks. 

I'm Kathy. I'm 52 years young, and I live in New Hampshire.  I've been married to a wonderful guy for 30 years.  He always said that my size never mattered.  That was hard to believe, and I think I just realized that he really meant it recently.   I mean, how could I be lovable at 260 pounds?!?!?!  I guess my head was pretty screwed up before.  I also have two wonderful adult daughters and a naughty little beagle.  I had RNY on 9/17/07 and have lost 130 pounds total, which is exactly half of myself.  I have never felt better, both health-wise and confidence-wise.  I'm done losing weight (I think).  At least, I know that I don't have to lose anymore weight.  I've gone from a size 22-24 to size 6.  Even my shoes are a half size smaller!  (The most weight I had ever lost at one time before having the surgery was 35 pounds.)  I can now eat just about anything, which scares me a bit, because I never, ever want to go back to where I was.  Everyday I work my tool as best as I can.  I exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week, doing anything from walking to weight lifting, pilates, medicine ball, or different machines at the gym.  I used to hate exercising, but now I hate it if I can't get at least something in each day.  I also record everything I eat in Fitday and attend 3 different monthly support groups.  My biggest struggle is still getting in the 64 oz. of water during the day.  It took me a whole year to actually do it once.  My next adventure is plastics.  I'm having a lower body lift  and brachiaplasty on 3/23.  I can't wait, but I'm scared of the pain.  The only other things I would like to have done would be an inner thigh lift and breast augmentation, but I'll have to wait and see how the first surgery goes and what Wall Street has left for me in my 401(k)!