I had my first consult with my plastic surgeon today and am now booked in for a Torso Lift on the 2nd of April.

I will need to get completely unfilled one week prior to the surgery, and while I'm recovering in hospital, my bariatric surgeon will visit and refill me. I can commence walking as soon as I'm home from my week-long stay in hospital, and work up to my regular exercise regime over the following 4-6 weeks.

I'm being ring-barked, plus having skin removed from my upper tummy, my stomache muscles knitted together and lipo on my mons area to remove any fatty deposits that have remained there.

My surgeon says he usually asks weight loss patients to wait until their weight stabilises, but in my case, my loose skin, he believes, has more to do with my previous pregnancies, which has been exacerbated by the weight loss, so he's happy to do it now.

So the countdown begins!

Congrats Lellow!

You must be super excited. I'm not sure what ring-barked means. Can you explain? Anyway, very, very excited for you.

Sam

Thanks Sam! I appreciate the support right now - it's all a bit of a scary, yet exciting new world for me!

'Ringbarked' was how my surgeon explained my torso lift to me. I think it means excess skin gets removed from right around my torso, so I end up with a scar that goes right around my body.

I have contacted my PS's clinic to ask about lipo on my inner thighs as well, which is something he mentioned as a possible procedure to do at the same time, but in my nervousness, I forgot to ask about during the remainder of the appointment. I have had thighs that meet in the middle since I was in my early teens, and he is sure it's not going away with exercise. Though I'm not sure if I'll actually do it, especially if it ends up costing too much more.

I'm actually still waiting to see if the redraw on our mortgage is approved too, so am not celebrating or getting too excited yet!

Lellow, thanks for the info. I've just been looking into the tummy tuck/breast lift, my thighs and backside have been pretty good, but I took a good lack at my bum area yesterday and maybe it's with this last 10 lbs, but geesh i'm saggy there now. Don't think I could handle the full lower body lift, cost and recovery, though. Soooo, i guess for my i need to start trying some serious exercise for that part of me. lol. Good luck on the finalizing the financing issues.

Sam

Sam,

I was hoping to only need a tummy tuck at worst, but I can see that to get the best results, I will need a full body lift. I can live with a saggy butt, but it's the overhang on my hips (that extend onto my back) that will need to be taken care of, or else I doubt the result will be anything than a slightly flatter stomache, and not much else.

In my latest progress pics, you can actually clearly see the buldge where my skin overhangs on either side of my hips. It completely ruins my silouette.

I hope at worst, you can get away with a TT and look like a million bucks. I too am a little concerned about the pain, but my PS reckons a body lift isn't a lot more painful than a TT.

I know Sam. I'm thin and I didnt get hanging skin that you can see through clothes, but sheesh my bum and thighs are saggy. But even the THOUGHT of that lower body lift, I just dont think I could do it unless i was really terribly afflicted with metres of excess skin. Its huge and it would rely enormously on the support of others - DH having time off work and WHEN on earth would I have the time to recover?

its about a lot more than just the money isnt it?

On a positive note, I was desperate about getting my breasts lifted. They've shrunk so much in the last six months taht I dont think I'll bother. They are now very easily covered and disgused by even a good bikini top. I'm actually thinking that a lot of the "sag" I see on my lower half really might still be excess fat. I'm in the middle of my healthy weight range and I think that I'm naturally more built to be at the bottom of it. I've plain got too much fat.

I've been working extremely hard to actually build muscle in the area, who knows, maybe it will pay off? But I suspect if 3 years of running hasnt given me a great arse, nothing will.

Sorry to hijack your thread Lellow!,

It's perfectly okay for you to hijack, Jacqui!

I have to admit to worrying about the time needed to recover - DH has committed to being there and making sure I get the time I need, and I'm sure he'll follow through. The hardest thing for me will be not being able to pick my 3yo up - I don't think he'll understand why and that will be difficult.

I'm not too worried about the pain - I guess I know that's part and parcel of this, and I know I can take pain well.

I have wondered though if I'm prepared to carry on with life without surgery to remove this excess skin - after all, I've lived with my saggy belly for years before this. And I have concluded that I am not prepared to live with the belly, and will accept the cost and pain involved if I have to. The hips? Maybe. The bum? Definitely. But the overhang of belly that covers half my pubic area is something I cannot live with anymore.

I did weigh up whether I wanted to go 'the whole hog' with a body lift as opposed to a TT though, and I think, hell, one in, all in!

Oh, if you're going to do it, you may as well get the best possible result, I agree.

I wouldnt live with a really visible problem either, I think you've worked too hard to have to live with only half the result you wanted.

As you can see from my avatar pic, for myself I'm talking about obsessing tiny details, not overhanging stomachs.

I can also report I've just tried on some new bras and my boobies have shrunk to C cups! Eeek. The PS told me that if I have a lift I have enough excess skin that I would probably lose almost a cup size. Hmmmm, C is great, I dont yearn for bounteous bosoms. But I'm not sure I'd want to be a B at 5ft 10. But I'm totally ambivalent about implants, really really not sure about that.

I envy people who are brave enough to do it!

Argh typed a long post then lost it!

Will try to recap:

I have been lucky in the boob dept in that I only lost a cup with the weight loss - went from a DD cup to a D. And while they're not perky and perfect, for a woman who's breastfed 4 kids, they're not bad either.

I would be ambivelant too about implants if I'd lost more than that. I suppose the bottom line is that I wouldn't have much minded anything more than a C cup myself as well. I could probably also have lived with a B cup, but then again I'm only 5ft 4in.

Also, before I would do my boobs, I would have taken care of my inner thighs, which have met in the middle since I was in my early teens. Though my PS's clinic just called me with a quote and it will be $4400 to lipo my inner thighs, and that's on top of the $16000 I'll be paying for my body lift. So I'm passing on it.

He also says lipo alone probably won't do the trick, that I'd likely need a thigh lift as well if I go down that route. While I don't like that part of my body, I don't hate it enough to spend $4400 let alone the cost of a possible thigh lift to get it fixed!

Right now the most important thing is to get this visible and very obvious 'overhanging skin' off my body. The rest of my imperfections, I can more than live with, I'm sure!

Last night we received our mortgage redraw approval papers.

I am officially on the countdown to flatlands!!

WhooHoo!

Congrats!

Sam

Lellow,

We are having the same thing done, well looks like I'm having my arms and breasts cut upon too.

All the talk of pain in the above posts has me freaking out a bit. My surgeon, whom I find a little funny, was said, "oh your arms and your back side will hurt but you won't even notice because your stomach will be really, really painful."

They are sending me home with a pain pump.

My other worries are how to sleep, like do I borrow a recliner? What to wear, do I get granny nightgowns that button down the front?

Luckily my daughter is 7, and while she's not keen on me having surgery, as she says, she likes me a little fat, I don't have to worry about picking her up. My ex is going to keep her for a solid 8 or 9 days then I have friends who will be picking her up, dropping her off at school. Until I'm off the pain killers I can not drive.

How many nights in the hospital will you be staying? Do you have other children?

How are you balancing the fear with the excitement?

How are you balancing the fear with the excitement?

Juli, I keep swinging between the two!! Lol! Today I'm excited. Probably because I developed a lovely red raw rash under my stomache folds and am hating this overhang at the moment.

My DH is taking some time off to make sure that my baby doesn't jump on me too much once I'm out of hospital, but my Dr reckons that because my insurance is 100% covering my hospital costs, it might be worth me staying a full week in hospital recovering, and I'm tending to agree.

I've also warned the husband that I won't be able to drive, shop, do the laundry, cook or anything else for about 4 weeks, and he promises me he's prepared for it (I hope so!!)

I am worried about the pain though. My Dr assures me that he'll make sure I'm as comfortable as I can be, to the best of his ability, but still. :thumbdown: I was also wondering about the other stuff, like should I get a granny nightie? A recliner? What will I need? What will I wish I got? You know, all the usual questions!

We should compare notes!!

You're so lucky to be able to stay in the hospital for so long. I had one night and it really wasn't enough. A recliner would be very helpful. A toliet riser is a must. A wedge pillow also helps alot. I understand your anxiety. I didn't sleep for weeks before my surgery. Don't worry too much about the pain. You will cope! Best of luck!

Thanks for dropping in Kareyquilts! I've been lurking in your PS thread and appreciate your wisdom on the subject!

I too am glad I'm staying in hospital for a while. I don't think it's a bad thing, even though I'm not fond of hospitals in general. It would be nice to have someone cook for me, and help me with my wounds and dressings, and provide pain meds when I need it!

I have to ask though - what's a toilet riser?

A toliet riser is a seat that you can buy at your pharmacy or medical supply store. They fit right over your regular toliet seat and add about 5 inches of height to the seat. This is VERY helpful when it's difficult to bend and get up and down. In the states, they cost about $26. You may also be able to rent it, too. Glad you got something out of my thread. Looking forward to following your journey. I would bring some things to entertain yourself in the hospital, IPOD, books on tapes, DVD's etc. You won't be able to concentrate too well, but it will help to make the time pass more quickly!