Search the Community

There are many needed vitamins that can’t be absorbed through the skin. The patches should be done away with imho. Can’t believe a surgeon is selling them to patients. Crazy.

Can you soak in the tub -like maybe just your legs not to your incisions in a bath with a lot of Espom salt? Maybe your skin would absorb the magnesium? May not do anything but just a thought.

People Suck... I didn't tell many people that I had WLS (just Mr, the Kid, Mom, Sister & BFF). Those NOT in know were told that I ate much less, chose healthier foods, cut out carbs and exercised every day to lose the weight. I've been in maintenance for a while now, so being the main topic of conversation at family parties has lessened. My weight loss is no longer interesting, thank goodness. These past couple days, showing up at the various Xmas parties this season hunched over from my TT, I decided to let those who asked that I had plastic surgery to remove excess skin from massive weight loss. I was surprised to get the comments and questions most on here get from others when they share they had WLS! I got: "Why didn't you just do it the real way?" "Cutting your body parts off is a little drastic, isn't it? Why didn't you just go to the gym and turn it into muscle?" "I think if you just dieted more, your skin would have shrunk just like your body did"'. "Plastic Surgery is cheating". "Wow, that's pretty vain of you". After attempting to explain to the first two or three busy-bodies that skin cannot turn to muscle nor shrink with massages or lotions (!), I gave up. I always knew people are sometimes stupid, but man, extended family seems to always raise that bar of stupidity to new levels. Should have stayed home and kept my mouth shut. Le sigh. To add insult to injury, I didn't even get to dull the drone of their yapping with alcohol. I am on a regular date schedule with my new friend, BENEDRYL to keep the itching at bay, and have yet to finish my round of antibiotics, so I figured I should refrain. Which was too bad, as I'm sure a couple glasses of wine would have made these people much more funny and much less annoying. Le double sigh. Poop Watch 2019 continues... Today marks Day 12. I am carrying TWELVE days of poop in me, people. Mr. (he's a keeper) assisted me with suppository insertion this morning. After no less than 2 minutes, I felt the sweet, sweet urge to push. So I skipped (skipped!) to the toilet and out came........a partially melted suppository. That's it. Are you effing kidding me. Now, the instructions on the box said not to use more than once in a 24 hour period. It also said that it should have worked within 15 mins to an hour. So I'm going to try it again at 6pm tonite, which is 12 hours after this morning's attempt as I figure I basically pooped the suppository out before it even melted and do its thing. In the meantime I ate 2 prunes. Good News is that it didn't make me sick, Bad News is that I am not a fan of the taste. I am also drinking water like a crazy person. Miraculously, despite my backed-upped-ness, I don't have any pain nor cramps. Just a feeling of absolute bloat. Ugh. In other news... Haven't weighed myself since the day of surgery (I was 115 lbs even 10 days ago). Out of curiosity I stepped on the scale earlier and surprise! I am still 115 lbs even. However, I was fully clothed, along with wearing an arm compression shrug & abdominal binder, am retaining fluid to the equivalent of a 4.5" increase in waist circumference, AND have 12 DAYS OF POOP in my belly. Arms continue to not comfortably raise higher than my shoulders. I am not yet standing up straight. Hands continue to deflate and my forearms no longer make me look like Popeye (I'd say they are maybe 85% to normal) The v-jay is no longer sore (but is still looking up at me!) For some reason my skin on my face is FABULOUS. I suspect this is due to: (1) not wearing make up for 10 days (2) all the water I have been drinking (3) all the sleep I have been getting (4) swelling??? Been wearing too-big clothes for comfort and ease, and am totally looking forward to putting something cute on and going out. BUT. MY. PANTS. DON'T. FIT. Le Triple Sigh.

I know a few people with implants and they were all told they basically have a 15 year max shelf-life at best (saline and silicone alike). My ex saw me yesterday and outright said my "boobs look terrible like deflated sunny side up eggs" so now I am, of course, even more self-conscious. They truly don't have any volume; just skin... which is why I think if he took off the excess skin which causes INSANE AMOUNTS OF WRINKLING, I would just be completely flat. It would be kinda' awesome to be totally bra free whenever I wanted, but also would be nice to fill out some cute shirts again. I'm really torn on this. Maybe the best thing to do is just hold off and gift myself in a few years as a 40th bday present if I still want them. I can roll up my boobs like a fruit roll-up. That's what they are like. LOL. My guy does not do fat transfers. They are apparently illegal in a lot of places now because they are dangerous. I don't have anywhere to take fat from anyways. lol.

Hello, this is not surgery related but any suggestions on girtles to hold my tummy in?. I know I will need skin removal but any suggestions now while I'm still loosing?. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

@rs You are a trooper. There is no way I would continue to put on garments that made me cry I'd become a non compliant patient very fast! @ms.sss Holy he!! ... that swelling would have scared the crap out of me. It is surreal! As far as swelling and the mindf*ck, I get it. I was hoping to be able to wear cute, fitted clothes sooner. But between the raised incision and baby pot belly, I feel very ugh. I haven't even tried on any real pants or jeans. I might for today's lunch plans, we'll see how ambitious I get. I didn't take any measurements pre ps, so that was dumb. I didn't expect my waist to change much though as my excess skin, fat was below my waistline and on my lower abdomen. I wish I had my hip and thigh measurements though.

That's because you don't notice fillers when done right. People just look refreshed. Over 2 million people used Hyaluronic Acid Fillers last year, and they're not all walking around looking like freaks, right? (https://www.plasticsurgery.org/documents/News/Statistics/2018/cosmetic-procedure-trends-2018.pdf pg 😎 I have specific and realistic expectations for all the facial treatments I am going to go though. Botox is for my crows feet, laser resurfacing, peel & hydrodermabrasian are to even skin tone + fine lines, filler is to soften my nasolabial folds. The increased depth of my nasolabial folds after my WL aged my face more than anything else.

@mousecat88 that is a very tough decision to make. There are new implants called gummy bear implants if you do consider going that route. Gives a different feel than saline. im not sure what decision I would make. i had breast reduction surgery so many years ago I can’t remember when it was, if I had to even try to guess I might say at least 20 years ago? (My memory is Swiss cheese, more holes than cheese) I developed very young and practically overnight, they sagged terribly and were dense solid tissue. At the time of surgery I weighed 180lbs. I never wore the correct bra size. I didn’t know anything about those things then or what I know now. I do recall the surgery was extensive. It’s hard Having come from being very big chested and bullied for it and back then I think the biggest bra size I tried was lane bryant maybe at most 36 DDD and that was much too small a cup size for me, plus Brands thEn and even now make too big a band size and too small a cup size. at the moment my size is 28G/30DDD. Mainly because of my bony rib cage even though parts of me still need to lose weight. I hate my shape without a bra as there’s nothing at the top with fullness only at the bottom so a slope or indent shape. I feel like dealing with the sagging extra skin would help solidify the journey and maintaining the weight loss. I haven’t thought of this aspect as much. some part of me wouldn’t care if I could just not need bras at all. Maybe a lift would be enough but what would be left with skin removal is the question. I know my body probably would reject the idea of a foreign implant. I had implants for flat feet which involved major surgeries and they were titanium but they worked their way out of place, twice, until I needed them removed. So I can’t imagine implants, yet fat transfer doesn’t the fat reabsorb? I’ve seen people say they didn’t need skin removal they just exercise . . I wish is were that simple ... It’s hard when you lean forward you see and feel all that loose skin. I think if I had the choice of surgery I would have a thigh tuck, tummy tuck and breast lift (excess skin removal) my bra size is already a pain to find so I’m not concerned over a smaller cup size, and implants are not meant to last a lifetime, that is what would alter my decision, also knowing my body limitations and my financial situation. But I have had that niggling little thought sometimes about wanting some top filler so at least my bras would fit decently. wish I had an actual answe to a very tough question. its a lot of tough questions.

At almost 9 months (and post xmas family time) post op, I am ready for everyone to STFU about my body. Fortunately, my cousin had it done the week before I did, so that helped diffuse the attention from the extended family. I got to hear it all though...I look great, more attractive, older, tired, too skinny, etc. Then the questions/judgements about saggy skin, exercise plans, and my eating habits.... I don't eat right. I need to exercise more. I don't eat the right things. And everybody knows somebody that had it done and gained it all back. People (friends and family included) need to stop projecting their issues/insecurities on me. I'm not sorry that you have to run miles everyday and I don't (yet)...you don't know my struggle so stop trying to tell me what I should be doing. It was refreshing to have a little extra attention in the first few months and actually have people interested in the process and what I was going through. But now... I'm over it! I just want to return to being the introvert that I am and get on with my life...

You may want to snap a pic or two and shoot them over to your doc so he's aware of what's going on. The elevation will help you hopefully! It could just be post-op/drains out stuff or it could be a lymphedema issue and you might need lymphatic drainage--it will be super painful at this point. I have stage 2 lymphedema from BC so have to wear a compression sleeve and glove all day every day until night time. It's a very tight garment and takes getting used to. I also keep my arm propped up all day above my heart on 2 big pillows to encourage it to drain back into my chest and trunk and then at night it's propped up on pillows whenever I'm in a chair and or laying down. By staying on top of it, I keep it from getting out of hand, but it can quickly go back and get cellulitis. Super painful and glassy almost transparent skin, swelling, leaking of lymph fluid. It gets hot to the touch and brite red. Is yours doing anything like that? If you do not know how to wrap your arms for lymph compression or don't have the proper tools, you can totally make it worse and trap the fluid in your arms/hands as the girls already mentioned. It might be time to ask for a consult to a lymphedema specialist to help you with wrappings and lymph drainage. ((hugs))

I had a reduction years ago when at a BMI of around 34. I went from a saggy 40G/F to a perky 38 DD/DDD. They were great and over the past few years despite not gaining or losing more than 5-10 lbs. they lost perkiness and dropped a bit but were still WAY better than prior to reduction. Now from WLS and losing from 195 to 145 I went down to a 34 DD. Still fullness etc. so a smaller bra and everything was fine. Then last 15 lbs from 145 to 130 made them go down a lot to a sad droopy 32C/D but that is only because side boob skin helps fill up the cup. I am flat at the top (lost fullness). However I now wear a thickly padded bra they are ok in clothes and I feel like I look balanced out but will definitely have to get a padded swimsuit next year. It's OK and manageable but not great. I can see others on here at my height 5'2"ish weighting 125 or less look great. I honestly think I personally looked better 10 pounds heavier than I do now and I think a lot of that is due to the loss of my boobs. I love the smaller waist and skinnier legs from the last 15 pounds of loss. However, I do not have great skin elasticity and my skin reacts like a grandma,very wrinkly and I looked better naked 10-15 pounds ago. I am trying to maintain at around 127 for now and stay at that for plastics. I am going to have plastics for arms and a TT in a few months. I am assuming once I heal my body will go back to 127 like I did post breast reduction (I lost 4 pounds of breast skin/fat but my body within 2 weeks was back at my prereduction weight and stayed there for a long time. Now here's where my crazy thought process is. I am assuming I will stay at 127 even though I will lose 3-4 pounds of skin from my TT and arm lift but I am assuming those few pounds will settle else where in my body. I am also assuming I will have they the typical bounce up a lot of us have 2-3 years post surgery. If that happens it would probably get me to where I think I look better at around 135 and the increased 10 pound shouldn't all settle in my arms or belly since I will have less fat cells there. I am assuming the fat would hopefully go to my boobs, maybe butt and probably thighs. That said it could be wishful thinking and the 10 pound weight gain I assume will happen may not happen at all or could go straight to my calves or back or big toe, who knows. I briefly considered implants but do not want to have to think about going in to have implants replaced. The doctors on the TV show Botched made a comment about the average life span of an implant being 10-12 years. I had no idea that was a thing. I also kick myself for not doing the WLS before the reduction but hindsight is 20/20. I just want to have this one plastic surgery and be done with it so I don't think implants are in my future. I don't judge others who have multiple surgeries etc. but I am anxious about the risks and feel guilty and spending the $ and time recovering. You are still early enough out from WLS that maybe your body composition will shift even if you don't gain or lose much weight and maybe you will feel differently one way or the other in 6 months.

Like, the outside of my arms look fine, but when I look at them from the inside they look droopy. Maybe it's the incision line really making it seem like more should be taken off because it's like a border line or something. I feel like everything below the incision line should go away. lol. They do dangle a bit when I wave, but also when I flex, my triceps are basically tight to my skin so I guess it's normal and I just need to tone and be patient.

So, I am having my butt skin and leg skin removed in 2020. I had a breast reduction in 2017. I went from a 48H to a 42D. 8lbs of boob was removed. After weight loss, I am now a 34B. But my boobs are empty. There is NO volume at all. It's basically just skin. Because the breast reduction included a lift, they aren't droopy, but if I bend over they look like skinny pregnant dog nipples. I had a LOT of back pain from my large breasts. I hate boobs. I kind of just want the excess skin removed, but that would make me 100% flat-chested. I am nervous to get implants because of the percentage that need to be swapped out after 10-15 years. I don't really want to have more surgeries in the future. But I also don't really want to have NO boobs. So I was THINKING of B cup saline implants. I don't know! I was SO happy to have my breast reduction, it seems weird to put boob back in. I also had a full nipple graft so I am not even sure if they can do another lift or implants??? The blood supply to my nipples is tenuous as is. BUT, ever since my breast reduction my left nipple sticks out pretty far so it would be kind of neat to remove them both and get those hyperrealistic tattoos instead, lol. Anyways - do I go flat-chested, stick with my somehow perky yet "skinny" boobs, or get very small implants to add volume? DECISIONS DECISIONS

(I thought my long response via private message made more sense than public forum, but it’s weird it won’t go through!) It definitely makes sense and is totally normal! I am a nurse and work in a PACU and I was still really nervous. So was my husband, maybe evenmore so than me! He literally broke out into a rash the day prior to my surgery. The dermatologist thought it was stress dermatitis. Crazy! Poor guy 🤣 Just keep reminding yourself Dr.Snyder is an expert and the nurses, anesthesiologist, and otherprofessionals at Rose are amazing as well! You picked a great program and will do great! It’s also normal to have a few rough weeks at first. I think between your body healing, hormone surges, and not being able to eat solid food like a “normal” person your emotions can be all over the place. It gets easier before you know it though! At 4 months out I tolerate most things in small amounts. I just feel like a light eater and I love it. I stick to the protein first rule, but I can get some veggies and a little fruit in now too. I even splurged this Christmas and had a piece of cinnamon role and couple bites of hash browns. Back on track tomorrow! My surgery also wasn’t considered “medically necessary” and because my BMI was under 40 my insurance wouldn’t cover it. PCOS and chronic back pain (Degenerative disc disease) were my only issues and my insurance didn’t consider those qualifying reasons. 🙄 Since I was self pay I pretty much just picked my day. You are really lucky your insurance approved so fast! That’s great! I’ve heard horror stories about it taking up to a year for approval, which has to be so frustrating. When I decided I wanted this surgery, I wanted it done before I chickened out, lol. I had been considering it and researching it for years too. I know I am still early out, but I have no regrets today, I Just wish I had done it sooner. I am only 5’3” and started at 205 lbs. I’m down to 155 lbs and would love to get to 125-130 lbs. Weight has been a struggle for most of my life and I have been the classic yo-yo dieter. I feel hopeful this tool will help me reach (and hopefully stay at!) my goal. My back pain is already so much better after losing 50 lbs too. I am so thankful for that! I have a little sagging skin on my arms and belly, and my boobs are loose and saggy (pregnancies didn’t help that though either, lol), other than that not too bad. I would love a “mommy makeover” after reaching my goal, but it’s probably not realistic since I had to pay for this surgery out of pocket. Oh well, I would rather have loose skin than be obese and miserable. (My husband wasn’t allowed in recovery, but I got a room pretty quick and he met me there. Since I don’t remember my PACU stay at all that worked well for me, haha! I believe he waited around 3 hrs total between surgery and recovery.)

Ladies. I’m looking for a new sports bra. Medium to high impact, I’m a D-DD (but it’s all skin) and most important I struggle with chaffing under my arms. The wrong bra will tear me up!!!! Happy for all suggestions. Thanks in advance

Oh, thank you so much! I was feeling a bit self-conscious about my loose skin tummy flab. But, I’m really trying to fight that, you know? It’s such a head game.

If you don't mind me asking, where is your surgery going to be and how much did you loose on your first day of a liquid diet? I lost 4lbs. last night. I also rechecked as I do every morning right after I pee. I was still down 4lbs.. Even after putting in 128 oz. of water yesterday.

I think why I am so nervous is because this is an elective surgery not a really “medical” need to “save” my life? I say that loosely because it is saving my life but not in the emergency sense? If that makes any sense. Lol.

Yea I’m really nervous about the anesthesia. But I’m sure it will be fine. People with really bad health issues do this surgery all the time. And I am blessed in the fact that I don’t have any health issues other than insulin resistance and pcos. And over weight. How long did the entire process take before u where able to see your family? Like from the surgery time and PACU time? Cause Snyder said our surgery takes him 35 minutes. Im such a control freak so it helps me to know each step 🤣 I have told my close friends and my close family. Some family I haven’t even told. Like a lot of my husbands side because they r in India. How is loose skin treating you? So my stats are 5’8” Highest weight 336 Current weight 275 ( I lost all the weight diet and exercise on my own without nutritionist etc got down to 230 then got pregnant) Goal weight 150-160 I started my journey for surgery Dec 7 so I have not been at it long. Even though I have looked into it for years. Even attended some classes at university in the past. My insurance is very lenient and don’t require much prep work.

Right!! Please dont loose no papers!!!

Ok. so I finally took a good look at my tummy this morning after another unsuccessful attempt at Number-Two-ing (Poop-watch: Day 8 and counting... ). So I know I'm bloated. I mean, I haven't pooped in 8 days, for eff's sakes. And I also know I'm swollen from the surgery. But my midsection is huge right now. My stomach was flatter when I walked into the operating room. Mind, you, it is now smoother and tighter, but man, it's also BIGGER. Naturally, I did what my surgeon told me not to do: I busted out my measuring tape. Now I normally take my measurements every Wednesday, but in the flurry of getting ready for surgery last Wed, I forgot to take them. So my comparison measurements are 2 weeks old. RESULTS: Calves remained the same: no change. I think I have those lovely leg massagers at the hospital to thank for this. Hip & Thigh measurements increased by about +1 inch. I'm still swollen. Fine. Boobs increased by +2.5 inches. Now granted they are also swollen, but they are also higher up now so my back is wider higher up. So i think this measurement can't really be compared to the old one. Fine. Arms remained the same: no change. Which is odd because they visibly look TINY to me. I know I am swollen there, and it was all just skin removed from that area so I sort of get it. Plus, I took the measurement with my garment on cuz its a pain to take off (unlike sports bra and ab binder). So judgement reserved for later. Fine, for now. BUT my Waist!!!! an increase of +4.5 inches!! WTF?!?!? I went from 25.5" two weeks ago to 31" !!!! And my drains were only producing less than 10mL those last 24 hours they were in !!! So there isn't THAT much fluid left in me!!! And yeah, I haven't pooped in 8 days, but I haven't eaten much either!!! I won't fit into my pants for for the next 3 days of xmas parties!!!! And I have really cute pants!!!! Ahem. OK. Freak-out over. BTW, my fellow Winter PS patients, do you find yourselves a little more emotional than usual....???? @rs @sillykitty @okayestmom @mousecat88 P.S. This is exactly why my surgeon told me not to measure yet.

@Moa: wow! congratulations on all your success! you look amazing, and comparing the two close up head shots before and after, you look about 15 years younger now! (the fab hair and clothes make a difference too ❤️) As far as goal weights go, if you want to lose more (and your doc is ok with it), then by all means go for it. If you are happy where you are (and you do look great, lady) then that's cool too. Your goal-forever weight ideally is whatever you feel comfortable at and can maintain. I agree, whatever loose skin you may have under there, you hide it well P.S. I just had an arm lift, breast lift and tummy tuck 6 days ago. Of the three, its the tummy tuck that is the most annoying in terms of recovery (for me) because I can't stand up straight and my back is paying for it. With that said though, my recovery from my WLS was much, much more painful than this. But I've also read from others who have said plastics was more painful than WLS. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I've had two skin removal surgeries (8/18 and 3/19). LBL was rough - but worth it. The recovery on my upper body procedures wasn't as bad (had some issues with the incisions on my upper body procedures, so it wasn't as smooth as it could have been - but it wasn't as painful as the LBL recovery)

How difficult is this surgery and recovery? My doc doesn't think I need it, but I'm considering it. Getting rid of the excess skin on my abdomen would make me very happy, but I probably won't have it if it's a really rough.

based on your photos, we look like we're roughly in the same age category. There are a number of physicians now who think their "older adult" patients (I assume they mean 50+ or 60+) should be in the 23-27 BMI range. So basically at the higher end of their BMI range to maybe 5-10 lbs overweight. Supposedly it's the healthiest range for us as it gives us a little cushion in case we get sick. My PCP freaked out when I got down below a 22 BMI. I now sit right around a 25 and she's happy as a clam. So anyway, what I'm trying to say is, you're probably at an optimal weight right now (and you look it!) - and yes, you may actually be a bit lighter if you factor in the excess skin. I think you look perfect!