I am pre-surgical right now. More than likely getting cleared on my last speed bump, psychology, TOMORROW! I am excited to move on in the process, and I am wondering if anyone has the answers to the following questions. I know you can't smoke, or shouldn't smoke following surgery, and I am not a cigarette smoker, but I DO love an occasional cigar. Does anyone here smoke cigars occasionally post surgery?

My second question is this: I have been athletic and an athlete all of my life. I am wondering how people in their thirties have found trying to get their skin to shrink back after surgery. Did you have a lot of elasticity in the skin still? Did it shrink back a lot or no? I understand that some loose skin is inevitable with such a large amount of weight loss, and I have a goal of 150 lb weight loss. Does anyone have any insight into these??

I'm sure I will be much more active in the weeks and months to come. I am hoping to have surgery sometime early october.

Thanks for the help!

I can't answer the cigar question as I haven't even dreamed of one after surgery.

As for the skin issue - I'm just under 7 months out and have lost close to 200 pounds so far, so I'm still new to the extra skin situation, but so far it is looking like there is no hope without plastic surgery. I'm also in my mid-30s and extremely active now (hiking, biking, running, P90x, weights, swimming, etc...) but haven't seen anything tightening up yet.

Once I shed these last few pounds I've promised myself to wait a year. If the skin issues are still as bad at that point then I'll figure out how to fund plastic surgery. If for some reason insurance decided to step up and cover things prior to that - I would consider it sooner, but since I ended up paying more after my insurance coverage than most self-pay folks I've spoken with I really doubt I'll be getting anything covered.

I can't answer the cigar question as I haven't even dreamed of one after surgery.

As for the skin issue - I'm just under 7 months out and have lost close to 200 pounds so far, so I'm still new to the extra skin situation, but so far it is looking like there is no hope without plastic surgery. I'm also in my mid-30s and extremely active now (hiking, biking, running, P90x, weights, swimming, etc...) but haven't seen anything tightening up yet.

Once I shed these last few pounds I've promised myself to wait a year. If the skin issues are still as bad at that point then I'll figure out how to fund plastic surgery. If for some reason insurance decided to step up and cover things prior to that - I would consider it sooner, but since I ended up paying more after my insurance coverage than most self-pay folks I've spoken with I really doubt I'll be getting anything covered.

I can't answer the cigar question as I haven't even dreamed of one after surgery.

As for the skin issue - I'm just under 7 months out and have lost close to 200 pounds so far, so I'm still new to the extra skin situation, but so far it is looking like there is no hope without plastic surgery. I'm also in my mid-30s and extremely active now (hiking, biking, running, P90x, weights, swimming, etc...) but haven't seen anything tightening up yet.

Once I shed these last few pounds I've promised myself to wait a year. If the skin issues are still as bad at that point then I'll figure out how to fund plastic surgery. If for some reason insurance decided to step up and cover things prior to that - I would consider it sooner, but since I ended up paying more after my insurance coverage than most self-pay folks I've spoken with I really doubt I'll be getting anything covered.

Have you considered having plastic surgery in Mexico to get rid of the excess skin? I live in Mexico and had lap band surgery 5 1/2 years ago. I had an arm lift and a tummy tuckin Guadalajara at very reasonable prices. Unfortunately I had to have the band removed because of esophagus problems a little over a year ago and now am looking at bypass in December, which is why I'm on this forum.

Welcome! I am not or ever have been a smoker, so can't answer that for you. But about the skin, though I am pre-op too, I did lose close to 100 lbs in my mid 40s. At first, I had some saggy skin, but everyone told me to wait a little while (at least 6 - 12 months) and see if it shrunk up any. Surprisingly, it did and I had no bagginess at all except for very droopy boobs. I did exercise a lot and don't know if that helped tone me up or if I was just lucky. I think it depends a lot of the individual - so many factors affect things. But I do think the advice to wait a few months after you get to goal is a good idea. I've known quite a few people who didn't have to have anything done either.

In my case, I just gained all the weight back and more, so if I did have baggy skin, I would have filled it all up again! I definitely don't plan on doing that again.