Wow... I can hardly believe I've made it this far. Tomorrow is my first appointment with the Plastic Surgeon, where I get to ask about possibilities and pathways. I'm nowhere near goal yet, but I can see it in the distance and believe that will get there one day, and I want to start planning for it now. I still have well over 15kg to lose but I'm on a roll at the moment and feeling confident that it will happen.

The boob job is a given - I've lost so much weight off my chest that the girls haven't just gone south, they've migrated to Antarctica. They'll need the full reconstruction treatment - lifted back up and filled out again. Of all the weight I've lost, the only bit of it I miss are my boobs :mad2:. After having G-H cups, I'm now down to an E cup, but that's all just skin. Basically, I have to roll the girls up and tuck them into the E cup, but there's not much actual boob inside them.

I don't want to do just the basic tummy tuck either. I have 2 very large scars from previous surgeries and these both need removing/disguising. One is 10" long and is the common full line across the base of the pelvis, above the pubic line, which accentuates the flabby pannus that folds over it. That was from a surgery in the 80's where I tried (unsuccessfully :tt2:) to have both fallopian tubes repaired after using an IUD.

The other is from a major kidney operation that I had in 71, to repair trauma damage after being run over as a child (I was 9 at the time). This runs 12 inches from a point about 6" to the right of my belly button, just above my right hip bone, up and around my side to the centre of my spine about 4" higher at the back. It is in just the right place to "help" the back fat and loose skin fold over into a really nasty roll. I'm hoping that the surgeon can somehow remove this or incorporate the old scar into the new one so that the foldover effect isn't as apparent.

As a result, I think I'll need the full lower body lift, probably with some modifications to work around the old scarring. I'd love to get my upper arms done as well, but not sure if the doc will do all of this in one go and I will only get one bite at this cherry, so I am going to try to push for it.

Lastly, and probably one of those "love to have" things but not one of those "MUST HAVE" things would be to get the slightest little tightening done on my neck. I don't have wrinkles around my eyes or lines around my mouth but the triple-chin has been traded in for the turkey neck and I DON'T like it! :wink: When I pull the skin back, it only takes a tiny tug to make an enormous difference - how hard can it be to add that into the Grand Plan?

I'm so excited, I don't think I'll sleep at all tonight. I just don't know what can and can't be done to work with the problems I have, but after all this time, I'm at least going to be able to find out!!

Wish me luck, folk! :smile:

Edited May 21, 200917 yr by Fanny Adams

Go for it, Fanny, and I am right behind you!!!!

Mimi

Good luck but you probably can't get it all done at once. I'm having abdominoplasty and breast reduction together. I really need to get my arms done but the doc said my surgery was already 6+ hours. He couldn't do the arms too. Although I was disappointed, safety first. Also it might be best not to be completely sliced and diced in one sitting. :thumbup:

Go for it, Fanny, and I am right behind you!!!!

Mimi

I'm right behing you too, Fanny, in a totally creepy / leery way. lol.

I hear you on the boobs. End of the year, I'm moving on that. As soon as I know I have a job (about to finish my teaching degree) I will be finishing summer 2010 with a great rack.

Have you looked into the botox neck lift? I have the teeniest turkey gobbler and the PS I say a year back about my boobs suggested it. No surgery, just botox. And of course, you dont tend to look like a stunned mullet a la Nicole Kidman when its your neck, not your forehead (and you can still raise your eyebrows when you realise Plain is breathing down your neck).

Good luck!

Well that was so exciting!! As expected, there's no way I can get everything done at once, so I have to prioritise and work out how I want to tackle it. Most likely plan is that I'll do the torso lift and boobs first as the major op and then go back in another year or two for the arms and neck, if I'm still keen to do those.

The doc says the torso lift will be a tricky one, because of the scar from the kidney operation. The scar from the tubal surgery won't be a problem because that is in the part that's going to get cut out anyway, so it will just be replaced by the new 360 deg cut. The tricky bit with the kidney is that the surgeon doesn't go that far up when he cuts, so I will end up with two scars afterwards - the old and the new. However, what he can do is to go under the skin and "release" the part of the old scar that has adhered to the ribs & muscle, creating a big fold. (Imagine a button in a thick fluffy couch/lounge chair being cut and releasing the pucker.) He says the results from that should be very pleasing.

He also said that the torso lift would give great results - apparently my bum and mons area are in good shape and won't need extra work - the lift will give them all they need. I lose the scar from the tubal surgery and all that horrible stretch-mark riddled flab above it. I will have another vertical incision in front, though, to pull in my waist.

For the boobs, he's going to do a lift with the classic anchor cut. He doesn't want to put in implants at the same time but said I could come back in a few years if I really want them. He thought that there was enough tissue left to leave me with a good full D cup, after he's removed all the excess skin and lifted them up (about six inches!) That should help to tuck in the flabby armpits quite a bit too. I dunno - I'll feel really weird being only a D cup after all these years of having huge norks. Even when I was young and really slim I was a DD to E. I'd really like to stay at least an E now. Still... we'll see how that goes... The bright side is that he said because he won't be removing any breast tissue at all and the nipple remains attached, just repositioned, I shouldn't lose any sensation in them - YAY!

Edited May 22, 200917 yr by Fanny Adams

Good luck as you start this new phase. It is really exciting. When are you having all this done?

That is awesome and I am so happy you are reaching the final leg of the journey after coming so far. Good luck with everything.

I have to lose another 10kg (22lb) before I do this, as the doc said it didn't matter what weight I was when I had the op but I should be no more than 5-6kg from goal, as he didn't want me losing that much more after it, as the skin would get loose again. The op itself will take off about 5kg.

At this stage, I'm aiming for mid to late December, so I can combine the time off with my forced Xmas break and get good recovery time for the minimum of income impact.

Yay Fanny I'm so glad to get online and see you've been to see our genius Dr and have a plan of attack, so to speak!

I was just under 3kg from goal when I had my first consult, and at goal when I had the torso lift and I'm glad of it because now I'm 7kgs under goal and my skin is still really tight as a result of the op. Those last 15kgs will be gone by Dec for sure, and you'll be good to go.

Also I saw Dr A 7 weeks after my op to ask about getting lipo for my mons area, which still seemed puffy to me. Dr A convinced me to wait 6 months before deciding to do it, and I'm glad he did because the 'puffiness' is just about completely gone and it looks completely normal now. On that note, perhaps in his wisdom, he figures that in a couple of years, you too will be accustomed to your perky new D cups and will be happy as larry! Lol!

I'm sure you're going to be so happy with it all, matey. I am now almost 10 weeks post surgery and am incredibly happy I did it!

Jacqui, I too heard that botox can help with a 'popply' chin. I have completely lost my double chin with the wieght loss but the skin under there is a little more loose than I would prefer, and would be interested in seeing if botox would help. I might have to make some calls to make some enquiries into that.

Edited June 8, 200917 yr by lellow

Thanks Lellow. At this stage, I'm trying to book a December or January date, but it will be tricky as I need the theatre for the full day (9 hour surgery!) and apparently Dr Allbrook only has one day a month where he gets the theatre for the whole day. I really need to do it around the Xmas break, so that I can minimise my time off from work - I'm a contractor and if I don't work, I don't get paid, no sick leave, etc. So...six months to lose 10kg and then I can get my new body!! Can't wait!!

Woot woot!! Got my date!! It all happens on Monday, 7th December. YAY!! Now to get serious about the weight loss and fitness program all over again. I have to lose a minimum of 10kg in six months. I can do that!!!

Fabulous news about the date, Fanny! You'll be surprised how much having a date motivated me no end! I'm sure that 10 kgs will be well gone by then.

Time to ressurrect this thread, as I'm only days away from surgery. I didn't lose all that I was hoping to, but my lapband doc says that's a good thing, as I'm already below their recommended goals for me and that the surgery will take off another 5kg. My personal goal was 70kg, so I would end up at 65kg after the surgery has settled. My lb surgeon says I should be at 72kg at the end, so I'm almost at that now and the surgery will take me under the 70kg mark for sure.

I dunno about the lb surgeon's numbers. 72kg is a BMI of 27 which is still considered overweight in most BMI charts. I had a big discussion about it with him on Monday, when I had my fill out for the op, and he says the latest research says a BMI of 27 gives me the best chance of a long healthy life... I dunno... I don't mind where I'm at now (except for the loose/saggy skin and droopy boobs) but I can still see lots of room for improvement. I'm kind of hoping for Lellow's result - that I'll continue to drop just a little after the op to get to my true goal.

Whatever, ready or not, the op is coming up on Monday and I'm going for it!

Oooh good luck Fanny.

Surgeon's are so silly about this weight thing, as if 72kg exactly is the ONLY weight at which you will be healthy. Do they not realise that those are STATISTICS - which means you absolutely cannot apply an absolute to any one person.

You could be a 72kg smoker and drinker or a 64 kg runner who lives on freaking mung Beans - who is going to live longer? Or you could be a 60kg pot head or a 72kg yoga and lentil enthusiast.

the best weight for you is one you like, one that looks good on you, one that you can maintain with healthy measures. Dont let someone else, even a doctor, tell you what that is. Perhaps you could ask him if he's heard the latest research saying men with small appendages live on averate 6.72310 years longer than the ones hung like donkeys? It's about as sensible.

ROFL!! As always, Jachut, you make perfect sense and I love the way you tell it like it is! Thanks mate. I'm going to keep aiming for my eventual goal of 65 (after the op) and see how happy I feel then.