yup, i am about 70-80 pounds from my first huge goal (180/190 lbs) and i have a PS consult tomorrow. i actually completely forgot about it with everything going on until they called to confirm.

i have the appointment for arms and LBL. hopefully he will say "i can do the arms now" and give me a goal to hit for a LBL. dont think i will go with this guy though - no insurance whatsoever... how discouraging... i dont even know if my insurance will help me out, but it would be nice to be able to go to someone who accepts insurance.

here we go ..

If your pannus is interfering with your exercise as much as it sounds like, I think you should go for it, with the realization that you'll need more PS later.

If that's the way you feel, then book the panniculectomy and do it NOW. No sense in waiting. By the time you recover from it and are ready to run, you're going to feel so great that my true opinion is that you're going to wind up setting a lower final goal anyway. So you'll do panniculectomy, then arms, then LBL. I know you think you're going to be happy in the 180s, but my opinion is that you'll get there and the 160s will call your name. I've seen that happen to so many people, including myself! I truly thought I'd be happy at 160. That wasy my firm goal. Now, the 30s call my name and it won't surprise me one bit if I'm not satisfied until the 20s (keeping in mind I'm much shorter than you, of course).

Go on and do it. Getting rid of the pannus is the best thing ever (as long as you truly recognize the esthetics aren't the same as a TT -- but the flapping will be gone, which is what I think you're after). Check out lots of pannus vs TT pics, ok?

How will all of these choices affect the bottom line? $$$$$$ Is this something that you would need to consider as a priority? It would be a/THE major consideration for me/my family.

If this is not such in your case.... Watch out "Panni" ...here you come!

Do you mind to share, what "ball park" figures these docs are quoting?

By the way/off topic...... your posts did encourage me to JOG... three minutes the first time..... and I did not need an ambulance or knee replacement that day! Thank you.

LJM, do you remember Funnyduddies from here? Prolly about six, nine months ago now, she went for a pannus removal despite being only part way to her goal weight as well. She felt it just held her back sooooo much from losing the rest of the weight, due to how it restricted exercise.

The result was amazing, she looked like an entirely different person. She disappeared very soon after, but I did see the before and afters, and wow, even on someone who still needs to lose more weight, its a great change and it must make so much difference to your mobility.

She was fully expecting to have some fine tuning done at goal but she was so happy to be rid of it when she was.

thanks Jachut, i tried to email Funnyduddies last night thru this board. i hope it works.

i have my 2nd consult Thursday. i want to discuss the panni and the LBL and see what he says.

it's funny (not as in haha), but after chatting w/ JulieNYC and reasoning it with DH, i decided to just suck it up, lose the weight and then go for the LBL.

well, seeing pics of me this weekend ... seems to get me back in the i want / need a panni NOW ... as in if they could schedule me tomorrow i'd go. some of the before/afters i've found on the web really frighten me though.

Abdominoplasty for massive pannus - Panniculectomy

the 5th and 6th one down just frighten the hell out of me. i do not want to look like that, even if it is only for a year or so until i get the LBL.

:think

Have fun! Force him to walk you through as many scenarios as you can think of -- make a list -- make the most of your time face to face because it might be a while until you get his attention again (calling back with questions rarely works, in my experience, even with my own dad!)

Here's what I mean. What if you go in thinking you're going to lose 80 more lbs and you fully vet that scenario with him. But then 40 lbs from now, maybe you decide you've had enough and you just want to maintain your healthy, albeit larger than planned, weight. Would he recommend different procedures then if you'd gotten to -80? Make SURE he doesn't see that as failure, but as a different set of input to work with. Or, on the other end, what if you plan to lose 80 and you actually lose 110? If you're ok with the possibility of needing a revision, is he ok with that, if you want to go ahead with PS at -80? Or will he only operate once your weight is stable for X months? (I hate that attitude, as much as I understand it.)

These things may not apply to you -- I use them as examples to make my point that you may want to think through things to ask questions, even if you don't think those scenaria are particularly likely....

Fill us in when you're back!

you have no idea how helpful that advice is to me! I want to make my first consult in 25 more lbs. i will be 15lb from goal at that point. How far were you from being considered overweight when you began your process?

you ha

Holy s*!#...those pics would scare everyone. I'm excited to see what your thoughts are going to be after Thurs. consult. Good luck.

What date did you get your Band surgery?

I may jog a few minutes again tomorrow. Thinking of you daily!

...well, seeing pics of me this weekend ... seems to get me back in the i want / need a panni NOW ... as in if they could schedule me tomorrow i'd go. some of the before/afters i've found on the web really frighten me though.

Abdominoplasty for massive pannus - Panniculectomy

the 5th and 6th one down just frighten the hell out of me. i do not want to look like that, even if it is only for a year or so until i get the LBL.

:think

Just found this thread, and so glad I did. LJM, the woman in those frightening pics also had an 11 liter tumor removed along with the panni, so she had some added medical conditions that you won't be dealing with.

I think removal of the pannus at this point is a good idea. As others mentioned, your mobility will be greatly improved and exercising will be substantially easier on you.

Before I had my arms done, every time I looked in the mirror I still saw a fat person. After the arm lift, I see more possibilities. Now I think, yeah, if I lose 20 more, I'll really look good. But before it was, well, even after another 20 lbs, I'll still have these heavy, sagging arms and I'll never look proportionate. One procedure can really lift your spirits and improve your self-image, which in turn gives you impetus to get to goal. And the LBL you plan to have when at goal may be less traumatic for your body if you take care of the pannus now.

I know money is always an issue, but is it the deciding factor in your case?

i have news, just really busy at work. the visit went well today. will post soon.

I am not a big Dr. Phil fan or anything but I did tivo a show he had about plastic surgery this week. On his website is a list of questions to ask a potential plastic surgeon. Good luck! I am so excited for you!

Dr. Phil.com - Advice - Choosing a Plastic Surgeon

Ragdoll,

thanks for that list. i printed one similar and the cool thing is, is that i didnt really have to ask the surgeon any of them... he answered before i had a chance to ask!

i posted this to my blog, but i'll paste it here...

- full 'extended' abdominalplasty (tummy tuck) including muscles and pannus removal.

- lipo where needed

- mons lift included

- 1 night in hospital - progressive tension sutures helps with healing.

- NO drains due to special suturing

- running in 4-5 weeks at a slower pace

- basically if it hurts stop doing it

dr said that he did not think I was really a BIG GIRL... except of course for my massive pannus...

oh and another thing... the gown which they said time and time again was EXTREMELY small... fit!!!

I wanna do it. now. :scared:

How exciting! Can't wait to hear more as this progresses!

....dr said that he did not think I was really a BIG GIRL... except of course for my massive pannus... </p> <p>oh and another thing... the gown which they said time and time again was EXTREMELY small... fit!!!</p> <p> </p> <p>I wanna do it. now. <img src="http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)" smilieid="8" class="inlineimg" />

Have you posted any recent pics? I remember seeing some of you on the Before & After thread but don't recall anything in the past month or two. Your smile always stands out. You look like such a happy, fun person with a great smile like that.

Argh! Why doesn't the edit option work right anymore? I went back to fix one typo and ended up with garbage. Very frustrating.

Update,

i have financing ... i am going to try to get a surgery appointment late January / early February... wow wow wow ...

Enterprise, pics are attached ...