My LBL surgery is scheduled for Friday, and I am so anxious about it! 6 hours of anesthesia sounds overwhelming and from what I'm reading, it seems the recovery period is really painful, and does a bit of a number on your mind for a bit. Please tell me this is going to be worth it! Thanks!

It's going to be worth it...not that I've had that done or really know anything about the experience but I can send up a prayer for you! @@BethinPA

It is so worth it. I had my LBL done about a year ago. Best thing I ever did for myself other than getting the sleeve. I had anticipated so much pain, that I was surprised I didn't have more. The first few days were not fun, that is for sure, but never near the pain level I thought I would have. You will come through it just fine, just take it day by day. It will be so worth it when you look in the mirror for the first time and you don't see all that excess skin hanging there!!! Good luck.

It is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo worth it!

Yes it may be painful (Most of my surgeries were not really painful though I hafta be honest, only the inner thighs - Until the moment I was in compression garment then all was well again)

But - This is an important part of your journey. It helps you ( I believe )

To value everything you have gone through and put in to this - Like anything we truly value sometimes it comes to us through some testing times..... You don't have a beautiful baby without some 'discomfort' :-)

And - After having all of the Ops I have had - I would go through it ALL again (And one of them was a tad ouchy as I said until I was in my compression garment) But - I would go through it all over again as the amazing results, and the feeling of finally feeling 'normal' and not like a freak inside a body of saggy skin - Definitely well worth a few days of ouchiness.

You will be fine - An old poster here said to me 'Keep your eyes on the prize' and she was so right - I kept that sentence with me the whole way through and in times of wobble - I got my son to repeat it to me - To keep my mind focused on that prize.....

Good luck - This is an exciting time :-)

Edited January 7, 201511 yr by Scamp

My plastics were 15 months ago - so worth it!!! I did NOT experience significant pain.

so I have been curious about your screen name. Are you Beth In PA? or Be Thin PA? I have been calling you Beth and it hit me just now that might not be your name...LOL

It's totally worth it. I did have quite a bit of pain and even more swelling, but the pain didn't last that long. I do it again, for sure.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement! I will keep my eyes on the prize, and I took my "before" pictures today. I can't wait until this is over! I so appreciate the support!

And CowgirlJane, you are more creative than I! It is Beth. : )

It is sooooo worth it!! I had mine on 11/19/14 and go back to work next week. The recovery is rough but I had instant gratification. I had my husband take a picture of me in the post anesthesia care unit when the we're checking my dressings and I cried not from pain but seeing a flat tummy for the first time since puberty. My lbl changed my body so much it's amazing. I went from a 6 petite to a zero or two petite. Even my bra band changed. I love my new little body and buying clothes and cute panties has been a blast. I won't lie and tell you it's easy but nothing worth having is. Remember to up your protein, rest, walk as much as you can and you'll do great. Over Christmas I wasn't eating and did way too much and ended up with a small tear on my right hip that got infected. It is much better but just remember healing takes time. Oh and because I wasn't eating enough I lost too much weight. When I got to 109 I realized I needed to up my calories. I am back up to 114 and maintaining there but eating 300 more healthy calories than I was pretty surgery. The lbl must have improved my metabolism temporarily because I sure as heck haven't worked out like I was before. I am walking 12 thousand steps a day and hope to get released for my workouts again next week. You've got this!!!!!!

Thanks so much! I'm to be at the hospital at 5:45am tomorrow morning, so I just have to wait a little longer to get on the other side of this!

Good luck to you. I don't know that anyone had more anxiety going into this than I did. Wow, I cannot even describe what I went through. BUT it was absolutely worth it!!!!!!!

I may have had more anxiety! ! when my surgeon had me standing to mark me with his lines I almost passed out and had to sit. I was so embarrassed I did that but he said it is common. Beth you'll do great! Stay strong!!

I may have had more anxiety! ! when my surgeon had me standing to mark me with his lines I almost passed out and had to sit. I was so embarrassed I did that but he said it is common. Beth you'll do great! Stay strong!!

My surgeon does the markup really quickly and does not put that many lines. I've heard of some markups taking 2-hours... wow, mine was like 15-min and I had LBL, medial thigh lift, extended arm lift, and breast lift.

I was so anxious about the thigh lift markup because I thought he would mark everywhere that he was going to cut. Thankfully he did not. I was even too timid to ask him before surgery about where he was going to mark me and so I just suffered all those months. Add to that, my stomach was doing summersaults every time I thought about my legs being spread wide open on the spreader bars and what he would be seeing. Silly!

I had been worried about labial spreading with the thigh lift. So when he did my markup, he had me lie on the table and as he was hunched over me looking at my mons, he showed me how he would pull my skin -- and when he did that my labia spread open and revealed my juicy bits. I seriously thought I would die. In my head I was screaming "I told you so!" But I could not utter a word. I was soooo scared about the surgery. Gladly I awoke with a very pretty mons and no labial spreading.

I think I will start a new thread for us to share our most embarrassing moments during plastic surgery.

I can relate completely! My markup didn't take very long either it was just nerves. Plus I know my surgeon really well as I work at the hospital he practices at, that made it ten times worse. My husband said he looked at me like I was a piece of clay and doubts he even 'saw' me. Lol

I'll see him professionally for the first time since surgery next week.

Well I am 9 days out from my surgery, and I can't believe what a difference a week makes! My anxiety before the surgery may have been the worst of it. The pain has not been bad overall. I had both of my knees replaced 6 years ago, and every sort of pain pales in comparison to that. The first 2 days after the surgery were the worst, and then I began to feel more myself again. He took 10 pounds off, but I wasn't at goal for this, so I'm looking sort of boxy, but pleased nonetheless. I still have all of my drains in, which is a real drag, because they are leaking from the insertion sites, which is hard to manage. I can't wait for my appt on Tuesday - I think I will feel really different with the drains out! I want to go shopping and buy just a little celebratory something to see what fits me! It's early days, but I definitely think the surgery is worth it!

Thank you all so much for your supportive posts - they really did help!!

Congrats! And just a word of caution... I bought clothes too early after surgery and they ultimately ended up being too big. Try to wait 4-mos if you can. Your body will change a lot. As for me, my "celebratory something" were thongs. It was nice to feel sexy for almost the first time ever.

Well I am 9 days out from my surgery, and I can't believe what a difference a week makes! My anxiety before the surgery may have been the worst of it. The pain has not been bad overall. I had both of my knees replaced 6 years ago, and every sort of pain pales in comparison to that. The first 2 days after the surgery were the worst, and then I began to feel more myself again. He took 10 pounds off, but I wasn't at goal for this, so I'm looking sort of boxy, but pleased nonetheless. I still have all of my drains in, which is a real drag, because they are leaking from the insertion sites, which is hard to manage. I can't wait for my appt on Tuesday - I think I will feel really different with the drains out! I want to go shopping and buy just a little celebratory something to see what fits me! It's early days, but I definitely think the surgery is worth it!

Thank you all so much for your supportive posts - they really did help!!

Congratulations! So happy your recovery hasn't been too difficult.

I know what mean about being boxy. I was pretty concerned right after surgery. Before, I had a small waist and was pretty flat from the side view, especially above the waist. For the first couple of weeks I was also boxy and looked like a barrel. It's been 5 months now, and that's subsided. I was much better after a month, but the rest of the improvement has been gradual. The skin removal improvement was immediate, but the shape was more gradual. For the most part, I was given my pre-obese shape back. My clothes are looser, but I still haven't bought anything new. I had a second round of plastics December 12, (thigh lift and breast lift/augmentation) and so now all that swelling has returned, so I am waiting for that to subside. I think things continue to shift and improve for up to a couple of years.