Lou1973
New Member
Firstly a bit about me.
I got to my lowest weight 2 years ago and boy I hated my body - skin hanging everywhere - apron around tummy, bingo wings, dropping skin between my legs and drooping boobs - in a weird way I had less confidence in my body at 10st than I did at 16 and a half stone - I looked great in clothes but I found myself avoiding intimate situations with men because i didn't want to have to "warn" them prior to seeing me naked that I looked like a 90 year old woman and I definately felt they needed warning rather than just discovering it for themselves!! This is going to sound weird but when I was dating someone and I was overweight they could see from what I was wearing clothes what to expect - the different when I was thin was that they had no warning of what to expect - I looked like I had a great body and I hate to think of the shock they would have got if I hadn't prewarned them.
The consequence of this was that I lost my confidence in dating situations, didn't take care of this body that I hated and gradually the weight crept back on - nowhere near the 16 and a half of my heaviest weight but enough for the loose skin to no longer be quite as loose.
A couple of months ago I had a serious discussion with myself and decided I needed to lose the weight that had crept on and that I would reward myself with cosmetic surgery mid december to deal with the physological (sp?) issues from last time.
So for the last 2 months I've been as good as gold and yesterday i had an appt with the Harley Medical group.
I thought I'd start this thread as a diary to track my progress but also to help anyone else considering cosmetic surgery post weight lose.
My appointment was with the nurse yesterday but by a huge and fab coincidence the surgeon was also at the clinic that day and when she chatted to me and realised I was ready for the next step of meeting the surgeon she introduced us and I had the surgeon consultation at the same time.
I went in wanting three procedures all at the same time - a tummy tuck, an arm lift and a thigh lift.
The surgeon did not seem keen on the arm lift - although he agreed i had very unsightly arms he showed me pictures of the scars i could expect in a very negative way (I had researched this already) and just didn't inspire confidence in me regarding the procedure.
I mentioned that i wanted all three procedures at the same time and he said he wouldn't do all three together as post tummy tuck I'd need the strength in my arms to help me get around (makes sense).
Next we spoke about the thigh lift which he said he didn't want to do at all - he said that it is a very unhygenic surgery (think where the wound is) and that the scars are very unsightly and theres a high risk of them not healing properly and that he didn't want to do it.
Was starting to get a bit depressed. Then we started talking about the tummy tuck. Finally i started to get some hope - I showed him my tummy and he said I was the perfect candidiate for a tummy tuck and he was sure I would be delighted by the results - my stretch marks are all under my belly button and he said this was the bit that gets cut away. He explained the procedure for me and explained he would be happy to perform this on me. He ran through the possible risks and complications but really inspired confidence in me. He also showed me some before and after photos which looked great and told me he could perform lipo on the stubborn bit of fat above my waist that just never shifts.
The nurse left to grab his diary whilst we chatted. In a weird way I feel quite reassured that he didn't want to do two of the three procedures - he could easily have done all three and taken my money but I got the feeling he only did the ones that he was comfortable with despite the fact they would earn less money in the end.
So by the end of my hour consultation I had a date for my tummy tuck (and lipo) of 9th Dec and I'd paid my deposit.
It's costing close on 6k and I'll be in hospital for 2 nights but I'm really excited.
The date is great for me as 9th Dec is the first day of my holiday - I have 9 working days off (so until 22nd Dec) and then I can work from home from 22nd Dec until 2nd Jan so I don't even have to go back into the office until 5th Jan which is practically a full month to recover. Of course I have xmas in between when I'll be going to the family but that's 10 days after the op so by then I should have my mobility back and it's a great excuse not to do too much over xmas ;-)
I haven't totally given up on the arm/thigh lift and possible breast surgery but I now accept I'll have to have them at a different time if at all - and with a different surgeon because he didn't inspire confidence so tomorrow I'm off to meet the people at transform to chat to them about that surgery - I'm thinking early Feb for an arm lift and breast surgery (if they will do them both together) I'll also chat to them about the thigh lift but he has put me off quite a bit
So that's my story to date - in 2 weeks and 6 days time I'll be at the hospital ready to have the first procedure in regaining confidence in my body.
As you'll see from my ticker i still have a bit of weight to lose but it's such a small amount that the surgeon is happy that if I lose a little post op it wont be a problem in terms of getting more loose skin.
Nearer the time and pre and post op I'll put up some photos
I got to my lowest weight 2 years ago and boy I hated my body - skin hanging everywhere - apron around tummy, bingo wings, dropping skin between my legs and drooping boobs - in a weird way I had less confidence in my body at 10st than I did at 16 and a half stone - I looked great in clothes but I found myself avoiding intimate situations with men because i didn't want to have to "warn" them prior to seeing me naked that I looked like a 90 year old woman and I definately felt they needed warning rather than just discovering it for themselves!! This is going to sound weird but when I was dating someone and I was overweight they could see from what I was wearing clothes what to expect - the different when I was thin was that they had no warning of what to expect - I looked like I had a great body and I hate to think of the shock they would have got if I hadn't prewarned them.
The consequence of this was that I lost my confidence in dating situations, didn't take care of this body that I hated and gradually the weight crept back on - nowhere near the 16 and a half of my heaviest weight but enough for the loose skin to no longer be quite as loose.
A couple of months ago I had a serious discussion with myself and decided I needed to lose the weight that had crept on and that I would reward myself with cosmetic surgery mid december to deal with the physological (sp?) issues from last time.
So for the last 2 months I've been as good as gold and yesterday i had an appt with the Harley Medical group.
I thought I'd start this thread as a diary to track my progress but also to help anyone else considering cosmetic surgery post weight lose.
My appointment was with the nurse yesterday but by a huge and fab coincidence the surgeon was also at the clinic that day and when she chatted to me and realised I was ready for the next step of meeting the surgeon she introduced us and I had the surgeon consultation at the same time.
I went in wanting three procedures all at the same time - a tummy tuck, an arm lift and a thigh lift.
The surgeon did not seem keen on the arm lift - although he agreed i had very unsightly arms he showed me pictures of the scars i could expect in a very negative way (I had researched this already) and just didn't inspire confidence in me regarding the procedure.
I mentioned that i wanted all three procedures at the same time and he said he wouldn't do all three together as post tummy tuck I'd need the strength in my arms to help me get around (makes sense).
Next we spoke about the thigh lift which he said he didn't want to do at all - he said that it is a very unhygenic surgery (think where the wound is) and that the scars are very unsightly and theres a high risk of them not healing properly and that he didn't want to do it.
Was starting to get a bit depressed. Then we started talking about the tummy tuck. Finally i started to get some hope - I showed him my tummy and he said I was the perfect candidiate for a tummy tuck and he was sure I would be delighted by the results - my stretch marks are all under my belly button and he said this was the bit that gets cut away. He explained the procedure for me and explained he would be happy to perform this on me. He ran through the possible risks and complications but really inspired confidence in me. He also showed me some before and after photos which looked great and told me he could perform lipo on the stubborn bit of fat above my waist that just never shifts.
The nurse left to grab his diary whilst we chatted. In a weird way I feel quite reassured that he didn't want to do two of the three procedures - he could easily have done all three and taken my money but I got the feeling he only did the ones that he was comfortable with despite the fact they would earn less money in the end.
So by the end of my hour consultation I had a date for my tummy tuck (and lipo) of 9th Dec and I'd paid my deposit.
It's costing close on 6k and I'll be in hospital for 2 nights but I'm really excited.
The date is great for me as 9th Dec is the first day of my holiday - I have 9 working days off (so until 22nd Dec) and then I can work from home from 22nd Dec until 2nd Jan so I don't even have to go back into the office until 5th Jan which is practically a full month to recover. Of course I have xmas in between when I'll be going to the family but that's 10 days after the op so by then I should have my mobility back and it's a great excuse not to do too much over xmas ;-)
I haven't totally given up on the arm/thigh lift and possible breast surgery but I now accept I'll have to have them at a different time if at all - and with a different surgeon because he didn't inspire confidence so tomorrow I'm off to meet the people at transform to chat to them about that surgery - I'm thinking early Feb for an arm lift and breast surgery (if they will do them both together) I'll also chat to them about the thigh lift but he has put me off quite a bit
So that's my story to date - in 2 weeks and 6 days time I'll be at the hospital ready to have the first procedure in regaining confidence in my body.
As you'll see from my ticker i still have a bit of weight to lose but it's such a small amount that the surgeon is happy that if I lose a little post op it wont be a problem in terms of getting more loose skin.
Nearer the time and pre and post op I'll put up some photos
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