Ohm

Oh, I don't know Mimi. Never say die. My old Grandma (rest her soul) used to always advise me "Marry money and take a lover:drool:". You know, I should have listened to the wise old bird. Please don't take offence if you are married - so am I - and my hubby is 8 years younger than me. He is coping with the realisation that his geriatric (42) wife is now a faster runner and fitter person generally than he is and that info is hitting hard, but not quite hard enough to get him off the sofa. He is taking solace in fast food - ooh, dear!!!! Perhaps we should get him walking Kenya - it would be good for both of them, and would perhaps help me regain my sanity. He is from Nepal and I keep on trying to persuade him to run the Kathmandu Marathon with me this summer - fat chance. I'll keep working on him.

You know, Mimi, I'm really not sure. I suspect that the muscles have merely been put back where they should have been - well after 4 kids and a lot of obesity my muscles had parted down the front to the tune of about 3 or 4 inches gap all the way down. One doctor asked me to do a sit up in order to demonstrate the gap (I was so very obese that it was hard to demonstrate the hernia/muscle partition any other way) and his comment when I did as he asked was "THAR SHE BLOWS!!". I felt like Moby Dick! Sadly, I feel fairly sure that the repair merely puts things back where they are and if I want "abs of steel" I'm gonna have to work hard for them (darn it!). On the other hand, what would I want to be doing with abs of steel???

Hiya. I had reached goal weight and have a BMI of 24.1 and I had a huge apron of skin hanging down in the front and a huge pouch above my belly button too. I had an inverted T abdominoplasty on 12th February this year. I'm 5ft 9 tall and weigh 72 kg or 158 lbs. Before the op I was wearing a uk size 14 (us size 10) and I am now able to wear a UK size 12, which is a US size 8. When I had the abdominoplasty I lost 7 inches off my waist. They removed 2 kg of skin (I think - my memory is getting bad and it was only two and a half weeks ago). However the tightening and repair of the abdominal muscles has acted like a band fill and I am able to eat less food than before so I have lost 1kg (2 lbs) or so since I had the op. I have no muffin top and I did not have any lipo. I lost 1 size (I was wearing a uk size 14/us size 10 before the op). My surgeon has told me that the scar will be invisible in one year and the bit above the belly button is already nearly invisible. I have one small "dog ear" at the top of the vertical incision but the surgeon says she can correct that very easily. I am utterly delighted with the results.

Hello again. Well, folks, I'm doing really well. I took my five-year old to a birthday party yesterday and he got a helium balloon. We stopped in at the supermarket on the way home and he let go of the balloon. Of course, it stuck to the ceiling and without thinking I started leaping up and down trying to grab the string of the balloon. It took me a minute before I remembered that I shouldn 't be doing that sort of thing yet. It was only the slight pulling of the tightened/repaired tummy muscles that made me think "ooh, maybe this isn't such a good idea" - so I'm afraid he lost his balloon. So sad:crying:. On the matter of the Peter Tobin thing, I am now officially recognised as being alive. As I put it in an email I sent them "rumours of my demise have been widely exaggerated". The police, using the information I was able to give them, have been able to find Lesley alive and well in London. So, that's my good deed for the day/week/month/year/lifetime sorted out. I went out today and spent £76 on toys to try to persuade a very bored Kenya to stop chewing everything. She isn't usually a chewy dog, but she's so bored because I haven't been able to get her back into a good walking routine - I have the stamina but my energy levels are just not back to where they were and I suffer the next day despite the exercise induced euphoria. But if she chews anything else I shall turn her into a pair of shoes and a matching handbag!!! Grrrr! Becci x

Yes. Well, there are three tiny areas (smaller than my little finger nail) which have not healed. There is a bit of infection but I have been given antibiotic cream and povidone iodine to hel and dry it out, and I have no pain (unless that darned dog decides to jump on me). My sister in law is coming to visit for two weeks today so I may not be online so much for this weekend, but wishing you all well and I'll "see" you all again next week. Hugs to everyone Becci

Oh Sue and Pickles, you are both too kind. But I have to agree with you - it is as if I have been given a new body, or perhaps a second chance with the old one. According to Ms Serra (the surgeon) the scar will be virtually invisible in a year so I'm already looking at bikinis....is this just a bit shallow? Yes, definitely, but it's fun!

Well, hello there, boys and girls (well, I know Mimi reads this - and hello to anyone else too). Ok, so here is the latest pic, taken this morning by my daughter (choosing the least flattering angle and including a sideways view of the loo in the background - wonderful). Not too bad! But here is some totally unrelated news. A couple of years ago a guy called Peter Tobin was convicted of murdering a foreign student and since then he has turned out to be the most prolific serial killer Britain has ever known. When I was a teenager my best friend, at the time (Lesley) and I used to hang around with a bunch of daft teens, just like me, in Brighton. One of those teenagers was my cousin. In November (last year) my Mum passed away and I had to attend her funeral where I saw this cousin for the first time in 20 years - and it turns out that one person of our acquaintance - a guy we used to call Dodgy Pete - was none other than Peter Tobin the serial killer. Well, that was surprising enough, but on Crimewatch for the last two months (apparently - I don't watch it) they have been appealing for information on the wherabouts of Lesley and "Bo" (which was the family nickname I used until I grew out of it in my 20s). Apparently they thought we were both dead. Just to put your minds at rest, I have had contact with Lesley since Tobin moved away. I have contacted the cops and let them know that rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated - but this is the closest I've ever been to being famous! You know, I'm not sure if this still counts as a plastic surgery thread - Is there a crime and punishment forum? :eek:

Hello Glo13, as no one else has replied I thought I would. I developed a "hernia" which was diagnosed afer my third child was born, and it was investigated after my 4th child when I had my gall bladder removed (due to stones). The surgeon advised me that it was not a true herrnia but instead it was a general parting of the abdominus rectus (wrecked us? nearly blew us apart!). After I reached goal I had my PS on 12th Feb (the day you posted the above query, I think) and the PS stitched my abdominal muscles again. Incidentally she said they parted as a result of my huge bulk and also as a result of my multiple pregnancies and huge babies (the last one was 11 lbs born - a big lad). I would have had it fixed before if I could, but to be honest, when i was still far from goal weight, it wouldn't have made very much difference shapewise. Having the abdominoplasty and the muscle repair at the same time has given me an incredible result and I am very happy, but the muscle repair has given me far more discomfort than the skin job, if you see what I mean. I don't know if this helps at all??? Sorry.

Ah, Mimi, my dear transatlantic buddy, I knew I could rely on you to find "le mot juste".:wink: I am going to do something quick and easy for dinner and am completely leaving the ironing for another day - one thing you can always rely on is that ironing will still be there tomorrow if you don't do it today!!! Then an early night with a good book is in order, I think. Kenya can annoy everyone else this evening cos I'm going to bed:sleep:.

OK, so today I have to admit I don't feel so good. I think maybe I overdid it a bit yesterday. I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open and my bellybutton is oozing yellow stuff - so I am glad that I will be seeing Ms Serra (the surgeon) tomorrow for a check-up.

I would count that as excellent advice! Very well thought out.

Hiya Reneek. Well done on losing so much weight and I can really sympathise with your position, having just had my abdominoplasty 10 days ago (and I am delighted with the results). The things to consider, I suppose, is what kind of cosmetic result you will have. You don't mention your height, but if you are 35lbs from your goal weight you need to think about how losing that extra 35 lb (which you will hopefully do either before or after your abdominoplasty) might alter or detract from the cosmetic result so carefully crafted by your surgeon when he or she carries out the abdominoplasty. Heavens forbit it, but you might even find that having had your original panni removed, you develop a second one, albeit smaller, when you lose that last 35 lbs. Of course, that would be worse case scenario. Having said that, these rashes (I had them too) are a pain to live with, but you can use hydrocortisone creams (if you can tolerate them) to control the situation until you reach your goal weight - and they may even act as a kind of incentive - so you get a double whammy, or even a triple whammy of reaching goal, getting abdominoplasty and no more rashes - all at the same time. I ask myself if I would have had the abdominoplasty early if I could, and the honest answer is a resounding YES, of course I would. However, I am an NHS patient and they have rules - you can only get PS on the NHS 2 years after banding - apparently research shows that this is the time that the majority of people stabilise their weight for good or bad. Luckily, I lost 5 stone (70lbs) prior to being banded in Dec 2007 and I reached my goal weight in 18 months and have had 6 months to maintain (and reassure myself that I can maintain my weight) before my PS. I'm beginning to ramble, so I shall end hereabouts, but just give it a lot of thought. PS is expensive and you want to get the best result for the longest time in exchange for your dollar (and insurance is unlikely to want to pay out twice - although I have no experience of the US medical insurance system so I could be wrong). You don't want to spoil your results for want of a drop of patience. All the very best. Ohm x

It had stopped snowing by the time I got back, and I could have taken the car, but then Kenya wouldn't have had her exercise - and I would be going slowly off my rocker! Like her, I go stir crazy - I really get twitchy if I am forced to stay off the running track. Actually, last week, due to her enforced incarceration (cos nobody else ever walks her any distance) Kenya ate the laces out of my Mizunos. My £150 Mizunos (very expensive, high performance and comfortable running shoes)!!! Thank goodness she only ate the laces - they can be replaced - but if she had chewed the actual shoes then she would have needed running shoes to stay alive. I would have happily made Soup out of her - and I'm vegan! Grr! Wicked, evil and recalcitrant dog!!!!! She's a naughty, bad girl!!! Glad to know that you are still smiling, Mimi - and well below goal weight too. THREE WEEKS TO GO!! Whoa, I bet you are getting excited/nervous/delete as necessary. Right gotta go and make dinner - I must slow down my convalescence or people will start using 4 letter words like WORK! Pah!

Ok, so I thought I had better post to let those who follow this thread know that my funeral isn't imminent. Ohm Lives!!!! Kenya enjoyed her walkies (Chester is really too old to do anything like 5 miles these days) and you know what, I really enjoyed it too. There was one moment when I felt slightly sick, which was when we were overtaken by a jogger, and truth to tell I really wanted to be doing what he was doing....But the bitterness passed and I consoled myself with the thought that when I do jog again I shall no longer "flollop" along. The loose skin used to flap so badly it sounded as if I was farting with every step - and that situation shall be no more. And the best thing is that, right now Kenya is lying in her basket - snoring her silly little head off! Success! Give peace a chance!!!!

Thanks for that, Mimi, I enjoy posting so I suppose it shows. Right, well, today the goal is to take crazy hound for a walk. Kenya is driving me absolutely nuts - without her usual walkies (and has anyone else walked her? Yeah, for about 10 minutes - not enough, beleive me) she has far too much energy and if she doesn't have some directed activity she is likely to explode. Last night a friend called and she was making so much noise worrying our other geriatric canine (Chester Rough Jack Russel Terrier - and they don't come much rougher than our Rough Jack) that I had to lift poor old Chester up onto my lap just to be able to hear my friend on the phone - and then suddenly found that I had not one dog but TWO crazy mutts on my lap - KENYA HAD LEAPED UP TOO! Now, there are things you can put up with and things you can't and 25 kg of Staffordshire Bull Terrier bitch on your stitches definitely falls into the latter category - it is not an experience I shall be seeking a second time!!!!! I need to get some milk today anyway (have you any idea how much milk 4 kids, a husband, two dogs and a thoroughly spoiled moggy-puss can get through in 24 hours?). So, today I shall be walking one of my short run routes - to Sainsbury's and back. Five miles at a slow pace (well wrapped up cos it's still snowing - wow, my cup runneth over - NOT). So, if I don't check in again later, the chances are that I will be lying dead in a ditch by the side of the track, covered in snow and being worried by a totally hectic staffy bitch. I've said for a long time that Kenya would be the death of me..... Ah, it's a hectic rave, ek se. Watch this space!

Well, it's been 10 days since the surgery and 8 days since I came home and today we went back to a normal routine. Stretching up still hurts, and obviously I can't go back to running just yet, but otherwise, I can do the majority of things I used to do. I can do an emergency stop in the car without screaming in agony, so it's OK to drive. I can Iron and load and unload the washing machine and tumble dryer. I can carry small loads of laundry up and down the stairs - which makes for more trips up the stairs and hopefully thinner thighs (there's always an upside). I cooked pasties for dinner wwithout having to sit down halfway between peeling the spuds and making the pastry. I picked the tiddly pom up from school. And truth to tell, I'm cream crackered, so tired I can barely type, but I'm OK. The funny thing is that the incisions are just about numb - any pain seems to come from the muscle repair - apparently I'd popped my internal buttons open all down the front too (wonderful image....)! When I get pain it comes from places where there is no incision - which is a bit un-nerving. And the oddest thing is that the upper part of my abdomen looks like an overstuffed Chesterfield (that ab repair again, I guess). Ah well, with every day there are changes - it's all quite exciting. At the top of the vertical incision the swelling has started to recede quicker than other areas, and the result is a sort of stickyout third nipple. Like I said, it's interesting. I await my new body with interest and just a little trepidation.:frown:

Truly. :thumbup: How embarrassing!

Hey again, Mimi. I think, in order to be totally truthful, I shall need to reveal the embarrassing truth. I hadn't weighed myself since the op - but I had been, errrr, well there's no other way to say this -constipated :blushing:too. Not pleasant. Anyway, so I weighed myself, and then felt the urge. Success on all fronts - very satisfying and the pleasant surprise was, when I got up and decided to re-weigh myself (purely out of scientific interest, I assure you) I had lost 7 lbs.:w00t: That was one mega poop, I can assure you! I daren't tell the kids, they already think I'm full of pooh! Anyway, I phoned my best mate and she was truly impressed, but I'm now really worried about the state of my sewage flow. Couldn't handle an external blockage at this point in time!:wink2: Anyway, the struggle is ongoing.:thumbup:

Ok, guys, so here is a little reminder of the seriousness of this op. I saw my surgeon yesterday and she took off all the residual steristrips and told me that I could shower every day from now on. Yippee! On the way home I stopped off at the supermarket and did a little shopping, and although I felt tired, I felt good - as if I was returning to the real world. So, this morning I took my "waistcoat" off and hopped in the shower and suddenly, everythings going black and dark, and then, next thing I know I'm on the floor! "Ah" thinks I "I've been here before".:confused::confused: Anyway, I hammered on the floor (such as I could) and yelled for hubby (ditto) and .... nothing. Clearly, I couldn't make myself heard. So, as ever, I hauled myself off the floor, sponged off the remaining shower gel and got on with the process of getting dressed! Downstairs, I asked Komal (my husband) if he had heard me and he gave me that bullfrog look that husbands do when perplexed! Such is family life! Mimi, how kind you are! A special place for people who rescue doggies would be lovely.

The band really does it for me on anything normal: bread rice, Pasta and potatoes, I can eat less than half a handful of each so I don't bother at all with them. I can eat aout a haldful of pulses, Beans, etc, but I can't manage quorn. Raw veggies, I can eat some but they fill me up very quickly unless I eat them very very slowly, likewise fruit. Soya yoghurts, I can eat a normal portion (1 pot) but I can eat as much chocolate or biscuits as I like - so I am very grateful that they aren't the things that float my boat. Mind you, having acheived a normal BMI and a normal body, nothing would persuade me that I should go back to how I used to look. There is nothing I wouldn't cut out, nothing within reason that I would not consider in an effort to maintain this new body size. Having said this, I have taken up running and run a couple of marathons a year, plus 5 miles (at least) every day) - except for now as I have just had plastic surgery and can't run for 4-6 weeks.

Kenya came to me through a friend. She belonged to a lady whose relationship broke up and so she had to move back to live with her folks and there just wasn't space for crazy Kenya - so she came to live with us. I'm not sure how pure bred she is but she is a typical staffy in every way. When I take her out running with me people cross the street to avoid walking near us and yet she is the softest, daftest, gentlest mutt you could ever meet. She loves kids and other dogs and, please God, she will one day grow a brain (cos while we all love her, we acknowledge that she isn't the brightest star in the sky).

If it is any help, I had abdominoplasty (Inverted T) last Friday and I have lost about 15 lbs (from the weight I was on the day I had the surgery). However, there is some swelling around the new scars and so I expect that this is excess fluid. Once the inflammation goes down I expect I will be a few pounds lighter still. Yippee!:thumbdown:

I can only agree with you. The op was the best thing I have ever done. After losing so much weight my body was healthy but certainly not pretty. Hopefully by this afternoon I will be able to pos the pre-surgery pictures taken by the surgeon - you will see what I mean. The NHS require that you don't get any plastics done until 2 years post banding or bypass - and I have to say I really think this is a good idea. If you are big enough to need weight loss surgery then you have to give your body a chance to do what it can for itself before you take the risk of going under the surgeons knife. I lost shedloads of weight, and my body needed to get used to that weight before I worried about the cosmetic effects of that weight loss. It would have been awful if I had reched my goal weight and had the surgery immediately and then gained a whole load of weight. :thumbdown: I've been at goal (BMI 25 or less) for more than 6 months now and I've been a "normal size" (i.e. able to guy off the rails in normal clothes shops) for over a year, so I know that I can keep my weight stable now.:thumbdown: Life - here I come!!:thumbdown:

And these, my friends are me, 3 or 4 years ago now, but still me.

Oh, and this is Kenya, by the way. Isn't she cute?