Well, I thought it was time to leave the old TT thread and start a separate one for my lateral thigh lift and brachioplasty that are coming up on November 8th. I figured months and years down the road, it'll be easier for someone considering the different procedures to find info if the threads are appropriately titled, so I'll have a thread for this surgery, and then probably another for the medial thighs and mons lift that I have planned for December 20th (assuming all goes well with the recovery from the November 8th surgeries).

As backgound for anyone who hasn't followed my first round of PS, I had an extended TT and breast lift on March 28, 2007, approximately 11 months after my band was placed. I am 5'2 (when I stand very very tall!) and I started at 358 lbs. I was at 199 when I had the first PS, which was somewhat controversial because obviously 199 isn't goal for someone who is 5'2. I went ahead with it because my pannus was so large and completely in my way in terms of exercise and the timing coincided with a job change, which gave me the time off I needed. Plus, I'm in the fortunate position of having a father who is a plastic surgeon, so cost wasn't too much of a concern (it's not free, but it's close) if and when I needed a revision (which, BTW, I do need).

Lateral Thighs

OK, so November 8th. The lateral thigh lift is the last MAJOR surgery I'll likely have from my morbid obesity. It's a very big surgery, particularly for me because I have an extreme amount of excess skin on my legs and bottom. Basically, they will re-open my TT scar on the sides and continue it around until it nearly makes a circle, as if I was wearing a belt. Then they pull up the outer thigh and butt. I'm expected to lose about 5-7 lbs in skin. It's not expected that I'll need any lipo in conjunction because I'm supposedly quite thin, but for the skin (or so they tell me). Supposedly there will be some improvement to the inner (medial) thighs as well, but they do think it's a near certainty that I'll want a separate operation for that, even though the scar is bad and many people would rather live with the excess skin. Mine is extreme enough that they think the scar will be outweighed by the improvement. Medials will likely be December 20th, along with a mons lift.

Brachioplasty (arm lift)

As for the brachioplasty (arm lift), I've been working out my arms for 2 years with a trainer my muscles are really great (if I say so myself!). I toyed with not having the arms done. Like the medial thighs, the scar is really bad if you're not a candidate for having them done through the arm pit (my hang is all the way to the elbow, so I'm not a candidate). Once again, my Dad said that the scar is bad, but that my extra skin is bad enough to justify it. If my Dad weren't the PS, I don't know if I would be having the arms done. I trust him completely when he says it will be worth it. I guess it's that I know the extra skin is bad, it's just that the legs are SO SO bad that I don't question them for a moment. the arms, well, I usually wear sleeves and they just don't bother me as much. Anyway, I'm doing it. As it can be done in conjunction with the lateral thighs, there's not much more surgical risk, so that's the plan.

I will post pictures along the journey, including before shots. 16 days in counting. I expect this will take me from being a size 6P to a size 2P (on bottom) -- something I truly can't fathom as I still see a heavy girl when I look in the mirror. I don't know if my top (4P) will change a size or not. Probably not. My rib cage is large for my frame and I don't find myself not buying things because they're too small in the arms -- they're more likely to not zip up the side, etc.

So there we have it. This forum was such a major source of support during my first round of PS. I look forward to sharing this journey with you as well.

To be continued....

WOW JULIE. You look amazing and are such an inspiration to SO many. Thank you SO much for posting your surgery pics, I'm going for brachioplasty and breast augmentation in March/April 08 and am a little nervous about the arm lift. Your pictures and posts have given me an honest picture of what I'm getting in to. Thanks again and you are absolutely beautiful.

Buffie

Julie ~

Looking at your before and after pics side by side made me think my mind was playing tricks on me . . . WOW!!! Not that the girl in the before pics wasn't beautiful too, but the after pics are nothing short of amazing.

As everyone else has said, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us.

Julie,

You are beautiful and my inspiration. You should be so proud and I wouldn't let your uncle not recognizing you get to you too much. If you were thin before how long ago was that? Perhaps you being thin, beautiful and all grown up what threw him.

Thank you for giving all of us hope.

=)

Angela

wow julie - amazing...i dragged my husband into my office to view your pics & he could not believe you 2 were the same person. Great inspiration, thanks for sharing.

lulu

WOW!!!!! Julie you look OUTSTANDING!!!!!!

You can for sure say LOOK at me NOW!!!!!

I know people keep saying this, but it's true -- you really are a huge inspiration. Seeing your journey is incredible and so encouraging to me. Can't wait until I can wear horizontal stripes!!!

You look amazing! Congratulations.

All I can say is

you are GORGEOUS!!!

I just read this entire thread! I've become so educated within the past 15 minutes...I had no idea what TT even stood for before this!! Girl, you look absolutely amazing! You're just beaming happiness in your pictures. I just want to give you a hug! I truly have tears in my eyes seeing the changes and reading all of the encouraging words on this site. What a great group of people on here! You've become one of those skinny b!tches on the streets of NYC that I secretly despise because of all the fabulous clothes they get to shop for while I'm stuck browsing the plus sizes at macy's! :girl_hug: I have to say, taking advantage of the shopping here in NYC is one of the things I look forward to after banding (I'm set for Jan 7 at NYU)! I appreciate you sharing all the details of your journey! You truly are an inspiration to all of us just getting started on this wild ride. I look forward to following the rest of your story! Best of luck and happy healing!

And if our paths ever cross on the sidewalks of New York, I promise not to trip your skinny ass out of jealousy.

Flaunt it, girl! You've worked hard!

Comepickmeup,

I'm so excited for you!! NYU is awesome and I can't wait for January 7th for you. It's going to be GREAT. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions, particularly about the NYU process, etc.

And, start saving NOW for all the clothes shopping you're going to do in NYC. I think I spent about $9-10K on clothes last year (so embarassing) and none of them fit! SO sad, but SO fun. I spent about $5K in one week, the week I got to a 12/14 after my TT. That's when I felt thin for the first time. Of course, I wound up losing 60 more lbs after that...Then when I got to a 10/12, I made the mistake of discoverying BERGDORFS. Oh my....danger, my friend. I still haven't set foot in Barney's EVER. I'm waiting for my last PS so that at least if I go broke, it'll be on things in my final size, whatever that may be! Haha.

<p>Julie, I have just begun this journey, and I am sneaking up on 40 pounds, at two months out from my surgery. I want to loose about 100 more. </p> <p> </p> <p>I just wanted to ask you this....do you feel like a thin person? Do you find that you are treated differently? What do you mean when you say your head is playing "fat girl tricks" on you?</p> <p> </p> <p>You truly are beautiful on the outside, but more importantly, your willingness to share your story and to offer your support to others suggests that you are, and have always been, just as beautiful on the inside.</p>

I have not idea why things I typed showed up funny, with extra words and symbols. This has never happened before, please forgive me.

Yo Julie,

You're looking amazing.

Thanks for all the inspiration.

Comepickmeup,

I'm so excited for you!! NYU is awesome and I can't wait for January 7th for you. It's going to be GREAT. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions, particularly about the NYU process, etc.

And, start saving NOW for all the clothes shopping you're going to do in NYC. I think I spent about $9-10K on clothes last year (so embarassing) and none of them fit! SO sad, but SO fun. I spent about $5K in one week, the week I got to a 12/14 after my TT. That's when I felt thin for the first time. Of course, I wound up losing 60 more lbs after that...Then when I got to a 10/12, I made the mistake of discoverying BERGDORFS. Oh my....danger, my friend. I still haven't set foot in Barney's EVER. I'm waiting for my last PS so that at least if I go broke, it'll be on things in my final size, whatever that may be! Haha.

4 words: Century 21 and Loheman's.

Oooh, I haven't been to Century 21 as a thinner person. It was pre-9/11 last time I went there. GOOD CALL, Lucy!

kygal,

//do you feel like a thin person? Do you find that you are treated differently? What do you mean when you say your head is playing "fat girl tricks" on you?//

Those are hard questions. You might find it interesting to read through what some of us have said over on the "At Goal" forum in a thread called "Passing for Thin." Basically, the answer is, no, I don't feel like a thin person most of the time. I have moments where I do, but mostly I'm a person with a disease who is maybe in remission, but the disease is still there. Meaning, I still obsess about food and my body and eating too much or too little. I still think I'm "fat" a lot of the time, though the PS helps with that. Sometimes I feel thin, but then I'll see a picture of myself from a certain angle and I genuinely do think I'd look better 10 lbs lighter. Those 10 lbs make me feel "fat." Maybe that IS what it is like being a thin person -- meaning everyone has fat days. I don't know. I see a therapist weekly and we work on these issues and will for a while.

I don't find that I'm treated differently in most instances. Meaning, I always had a job where people respected my mind, and I always had family who loved me for who I am. I am lucky. Where I find myself being treated differently is in anonimity. I'm not anonimous anymore in public. Men hold doors for me (or sometimes even hand me their card -- so wild!), strangers (men and women) strike up conversations on the bus, people just talk to me more. Now I do believe this is in reasonable part because I'm simply more approachable now. I don't dress to be hidden. I smile more. Etc. But some of it is the weight.

I hope that begins to answer your questions. I can't completely answer them because I don't know the answers and even when I do, they change for me, sometimes hourly. It's a process....