I am at a point where I honestly don't know what to do. I am so disapointed in the way I look. Everyone says I look great, but they are the people who don't see me naked. I hate looking at myself naked. I want to cry. I am 28 years old and feel from my breast to my knees I have the body of an 80+ year old. I have "bat wings" under my arms and my excess skin as been known to make "noises" when I move a certain way.

I expected excess skin, but never like this. I have a baby that is almost 2 years old and I work 45+ hours per week and I'm starting back in college on Saturday (yeah Saturday is the only time I have to go to school!) I don't have time to take off for another elective surgery not to mention the $$ involved. :mad:

I honestly don't know if I was happier with my body at 300lbs than I am now.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Have you checked with your insurance to see if they will pay for PS?

I spoke with someone today about it, they told me to find a surgeon that is in network and have them submit a benefit advisory. So they didn't say no.

My problem is I just started a new job a few months ago in the medical field (a field that is not too understanding of time off from work) and I don't have time to heal from another surgery with school, work, housework and a little one. :mad:

I am excess skin city..I still have 77 lbs to loose..And it ain't going to get any better..I have Bat wings bigger then BATMAN..I have loose skin on my inner thighs, My boobs sag (i am 23) and i look like a 90 year old...My stomach is getting flappy (where most of the weight is)..My doc says my TT should be covered underneath Insurance..But i still want everything else done but i am not sure i can afford it. I have been trying to pay off bills now so that if it comes down to it..I might be able to get another loan but i don't see that happening either..

:mad:

I hear you girl !!!! When people tell me how good look, I tell them "NOT NAKED". I am going this Friday for a PS consult. I hate the new me, sorry to say

This is depressing ladies. I know I will also have loose skin somewhere down the road, but aren't you happy about where you have come health wise? There has got to be something positive enough to outweigh the skin issues. Please tell me there is.

I' Feel Your Pain .and Can Relate To What Your Saying! I Have Tightened My Bat Wings.and Im Smoking Hot With My Cloth On But When I Take Them Off....... I Feel Fat! My Only Spot Is The Stomach Area.

One Good Thing We May Have Excess Skin, But We Are More Healthyer. Take Care.

Yeah, I've got some. I'd be happy to provide...

Wait a minute, this isn't a request line, is it?

oops.

Seriously, same thing here, would love to get rid of the excess in my stomach, but the $$$ is too much.

Carrie,

Congrats on your weight loss! How wonderful...I understand the not wanting to take work off. Maybe, down the road when your daughter is a bit older and you're more established at your job.

For now, you are healthier and have probably extended your life by many years. You also can shop and buy clothes in the normal-sized departments. Also, getting around and doing things doesn't require the amount of effort that it used to.

Maybe, down the road. Be kind to yourself...you deserve it!!!

Take care, Shawn

Carrie I deffinatly know were your coming from... I too am 28 and have way to much saggy everything. I also know that having this band done was the best thing I could have ever done for my self and my family. I will one day get PS done but it will take time,planning and saving to do it...in the mean time I am just trying to focus on eating right and excersing and hoping that will help me be a better person over all ..at least healthier anyway!!! I need to lose about 20 more pounds and my next Dr. viist for my band is in about a month... I will start asking questions about it and start planning from there. I do know of one PS group locally that lets you pay monthy payments on your PS and they don't charge a consult fee...so I will probably check with them first ...then at least I will know what I'm up against money wise. As far as my job I'm deffinatly worried about how I will ever get to take off enough time to have this PS done with out getting into trouble with boss, money ect.. for know I have to wait,.... so we wait together.... but we wait looking and feeling lots better than before.... What an acomplishment and a long road ...we all have come so far!!

This is one of my biggest fears I am 26 and do not want to have to have plastic surgery to remove excess skin I've met a few people that have had no problem with excess skin they said drinking lots of water and excercise helped alot I would love to hear any suggestions I'm wondering if cocoa butter will help at all. Anything that might work is worth a shot I would love to hear any suggestions Did anyone lose a lot of weight and not need plastic surgery and if so how did you do it??????

There's no limit on when you can have the PS though. If you cant afford the time or money right now, you can always do it in a few years time.

My boobs are a disaster, they're really bad and I really think for my own comfort and running performance (I'm so addicted to running now) I need a breast reduction and lift. But it wont be happening whilst I'm a lowly university student and whilst we need to buy a bigger house. I figure five years time, I'll be out working, I can then afford the operation.

I dont have hanging skin though, as I was lucky enough to nip my weight problem in the bud before it got that serious. So I cant really imagine how hard it will have to be to wait for that. But it will happen for you one day if not immediately.

Till then, I"m wonderfully fit, active and so much slimmer than I was. I look great dressed, I do not care that I look like an almost 40 year old women who has birthed and fed three children when I'm naked because that's what I am!

Try to enjoy your newfound healthiness - your mental image of yourself and your self esteem is more important than the reality of the shape your skin is in. If its hidden pretty much by clothing and not causing you health problems, be glad of that and just save towards your goal of a fine tuning later on.

Chin up Carrie! Set yourself a reasonable goal to have PS. You are still losing weight, so you wouldn't be having it until you lose all you want. I have heard that it can take up to 2 years for your skin to shrink back on it's own. If you set your goal for 2 years after losing all your weight, you might not require as much PS. Less makes for faster recovery. I think a TT you need about 2 weeks to recover to go back to work. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

I know Ive heard that there are some Dr's around me (chicago and indy)that will give you a big discount if you donate the skin to burn victims. My cousin works in Indy, and her coworker got everything done for free since she donated it all. I think that is what I will do when I finally reach that point. I think that would be so cool to help someone out. I work in the med field. I have had a gastric pt. RN argue with me that you cant reuse the skin blah blah, but I checked with more docs, and RN's and then my cousin, and there seems to be some people out there to do it.

Carrie, I'm with you girlie! Though I am at my goal of wearing a size 12, (keep in mind here, I'm 56 years old), I don't know that I really care if I lose any more weight or not. My goal was not by the pound, but for a healthier, HAPPIER ME. The only thing worse than looking at fat is looking at sagged skin, :omg: . I'm getting to a point where the skin is becoming an issuer and I really fear that much more of a loss and I'll be unhappy with the new happy me......does that make any sense?

I'm trying to muster up the nerve to do the reduction again, then I think I will be MUCH happier.

Good luck, lose for your health first, then your appearance...even naked.

I have only lost about 1/3rd of my weight and I already look saggy and baggy everywhere...hate that my boobs hang down and my belly, too. Now my arms are going and the top of my thighs. I would never want to stay fat like I was but I certainly don't have the money for PS, either. At least we look better in our clothes and are healthy!