I had a plastic surgery last week, just to get the ball rolling. My insurance takes so long to do anything that I figured, even though I'm still 19 pounds from goal, why not? To my surprise, the surgeon said he'd be willing to operate as soon as the end of May! Did anyone else have plastics done before hitting goal? Did you lose weight after plastics, and if so, how did that affect your skin? If I went ahead with the surgery at the end of May, I'd be having a tummy tuck and brachioplasty.

I guess I would ask how long have you been at your current weight? It seems like you have dropped quite a bit...Congrats to you! How much of that 19lbs can be associated with the skin and fat that will be removed with the surgery? If a good portion of it is excess skin and fat that will be removed, I say go for it. If not, then I would say stay the course and try to lose the additional pounds first.

This is just my opinion, so maybe others with experience would chime in...

Congrats again on your loss!

Ideally you want to be at/near goal and maintaining for 8-12 months before having plastics. Do NOT expect to lose any significant amount with plastics. While the skin and fat removed will have weight to them, you will have swelling for months post-op and likely have limited activity for several weeks. By the time you are healed up, the swelling is down, and you can get back to working out, you will be lucky to be back to the same weight you were at pre-plastics. It should be okay to lose a little weight after that, but if you lose too much more, you will risk additional saggy skin.

@@JamieLogical for some reason this surgeon doesn't require the 8 - 12 month rule. What is the reason for that time frame? I had heard that from a variety of people which is why I was surprised when this surgeon said he could do it so soon. He's a well known surgeon who works consistently with my bariatric surgeon so I don't get the impression that he's just hoping for the money.

@@JamieLogical for some reason this surgeon doesn't require the 8 - 12 month rule. What is the reason for that time frame? I had heard that from a variety of people which is why I was surprised when this surgeon said he could do it so soon. He's a well known surgeon who works consistently with my bariatric surgeon so I don't get the impression that he's just hoping for the money.

The idea is that you want to give your skin some time to bounce back a bit on it's own first, which it WILL do. Also you want to be sure you can actually maintain your weight. Losing or gaining weight after surgery will compromise your results.

@@JamieLogical ah, that makes sense.

The plastic surgeon who lectured to my surgeon's bariatric patients told us (and told me privately when I ran into him in the hospital hallway when my husband was in for a non-bariatric surgery) that he won't touch anyone until they have lost all their weight and then maintained their weight for a full year.

He says that bodies change a lot during that time and that if he performed surgery before that time he'd be working with a body that wasn't yet stabilized.

I have had plastic surgery before goal and weight at goal. For me the surgeries that have had no change in my skin(with respect to sagging) are the ones that the surgeon performed extremely well and pulled the skin nice and tight. The surgery that the doctor did not well now that more fat is gone my skin is a little loose, obviously not like before but I think this surgeon was to conservative in his skin removal. Oh and not all bodies will change this statement should be taken across the board everyone is different. Go with what your surgeon suggests and don't look back!

I had my first surgery (brachioplasty and breast lift/augmentation) before I was at my goal. I had them done in December and hit my goal in March. My second (TT and thighs) will not be until December, simply so I can get them paid for by my insurance. I would do it tomorrow, if I did not have to deal with insurance companies.

There was a plastic surgeon, guest speaker at my support group meeting last night and he recommended being within 30 pounds of your goal. Each surgeon is different. I personally would book it and use it as an incentive to get that last 19 pounds off! Best of luck!

Many surgeons will work on bariatric patients that have lost over 100 lbs and are not at goal once your BMI is below 32.There are surgeons that operate on women who have never had WLS and are around 30 BMI, they aren't going to discriminate against WLS patients.

I have a consult scheduled for May 20 which will be about 2 weeks shy of my 1 year surgiversary. I am very close to goal (and honestly not sure I have a lot more to lose other than the skin). The dr I am going to says to consider consults as you near goal and he requires weight to be steady for 3 months. Will be curious what he says for when I will be a candidate.