This time, it's purely cosmetic.

Every time I drop into the low 170s I start looking and feeling sick, but the damned roll won't come off the middle. I finally broke down and went to talk to a plastic surgeon today.

He said that I've done a great job, but that the best way to get rid of that roll is to take it out via lipo. Fortunately my skin has rebounded well, and so no major cutting will be required.

His work looks good, his own staff has had him work on them and is happy, and the price was pretty decent. So, I'm scheduled for 9/22 -- which is just under 2 weeks away!

We'll see what happens.

Mana,

Great news! Congrats on the lipo. Wish I had that little to get rid of. You will look super! Love, zippy

Congratulations Manatee!!! And your so lucky to have rebounding skin. You going so look smashing!!

Yeah, I'm very curious to see how it'll turn out. Good luck.

Good for you on the lipo only!!! I know full surgery is in store for me. Please post before and afters.....Good luck.

Good luck. I'm in the same place. If I want to get my lower body looking the way I want it to, then I'm going to have to be skin and bones (and probably boobless) up top. It's just my build.

I was going to have a breast lift anyway, but I think I might start thinking about some lipo. Skinwise, you're probably better off being male and never having had babies, I suspect lipo wont do me any favours loose skin and cellulite wise, but if it could just get rid of that really annoying muffin top it would be worth it.

Sooner or later, you have to accept what nature has given you and decide if you want to tamper with it. We cant all diet away to nothing and scrawny chicken necks and hollow eyes are not really what we're aiming for.

You know its crazy but I could hit what ever weight I needed to with this band. If I needed to be at 185 to see my abs then no problem, give me a couple of weeks and I would be there. I have gone as low as 196 on a 6'3 body and still have the stomach that manatee mentions.

This is what I don't understand though. How does Lipo tighten the skin? I would do Lipo in a heartbeat but not the tummy tuck. I like to call myself one roll fat. When I was at my heaviest i still just had one big belly like Santa. I didn't have a roll on top of roll which in my uneducated experience would call for more drastic plastic surgery steps. I looked fine clothed and with a dark tan I am ok naked and I think I will have to leave it at that. If I had unlimited funds I am afraid at what I would do.

Manatee, when you first mentioned the possibility of lipo on these boards, I began to think about it for myself. While I'm still not quite at my goal *points down*, my surgeon said I should look "great!" at 170...just 12 pounds from where I am now. I suppose if I lost every ounce of those pounds directly above my navel it could work! :-) Otherwise, I may need lipo. I just want to be able to tuck my shirt into my jeans! Is that too much to ask?? *whines*

Anyway, all that to say I'll be watching this thread closely! Thanks for letting us all in on your journey.

Lipo doesnt tighten the skin and for women it wont get rid of cellulite either. It simply removes what fat is under that skin. The skin does recover somewhat, but if you have loose skin left over from weight loss, lipo wont remove that. One would imagine that if Manatee's surgeon has recommended lipo then that means there are stubborn fat deposits left over there.

Pre-op meeting with the plastics guy

Had my pre-op meeting for the Monday surgery. I was given a ton of prescriptions for pain control, which concerns me quite a bit. In addition, I found out that I'll have to be in a full-body compression garment 24-7 for at least 3 weeks following the surgery to control the swelling, and then have to sleep in the thing for another 6 weeks afterwards. That's fun. I made the decision to buy a few extra, seems only civilized

No exercise for at least 3 weeks, no weight lifting for 6, only "light physical activity" for 3-6 weeks -- and yeah, that leaves out exactly what you think it does :thumbup:

On the positive side, he's very confident that we'll get the results we want, and if there's a little bit of dog-ear left on the sides he'll go back in later to clean that up, included in the original price.

It turns out he's done band patients before, so there's no worries for the tubing and port and such.

Speaking of, I managed to get in today for a complete unfill of the band. Thank the (non-existent) gods that the pressure is finally gone. I'd forgotten what it was like to not have constant pain in the stomach. The acid is gone, the pain is gone, and not a moment too soon: I was vomiting blood again this morning :frown:

Turns out that my band doc knows the plastics guy and had good things to say about him. That relieved a lot of anxiety for me.

So here we go!

Made it through. Trussed up like Houdini, but I can see that the extra roll seems to be gone. Pain isn't bad at all, been up and walking.

Only weird side effect is that all my fingers are numb. Went back to the doc to have it checked, he has no explanation. His advice is to hold out for a bit and see if it's better tomorrow.

I am glad to hear you made it through relatively fine. I hope you take your pain meds to keep your pain in check. I can't wait until I get all my weight off so I can start planning my ps. But geez, I CAN wait for that pain. I hope you do well.

Congratulations on your successful surgery. I can't wait to see pictures. You've really done an amazing job with your band.

Now, rest, relax, and recuperate!

Sue

Congratulations!!!! Your going to look even more smoking hot!!!

Congratulations on your lipo! Did the doc tell you how many pounds of fat he removed? I would really follow his instructions carefully and wear that compression garment as directed. It will make a huge difference!

Made it through. Trussed up like Houdini, but I can see that the extra roll seems to be gone. Pain isn't bad at all, been up and walking.

Only weird side effect is that all my fingers are numb. Went back to the doc to have it checked, he has no explanation. His advice is to hold out for a bit and see if it's better tomorrow.

Congrats! I wonder if the compression garment might be contributing to the numbness?