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

worker,

having an unfill depends on your surgeon. SOme will take take all out for preacautionary reasons, because swelling is so bad, others say leave it in.

I didn't gain any weight being unfilled and was unfilled 3 weeks. You don't have much of appetite after surgery and it depends on how you handle food. I had been in maintenance for so long that I pretty much knew what I could eat and how much to keep from gaining.

Well the time has come... My ticker said "you have not updated in 80 days..." this morning, so it was time to bite the bullet and acknowledge what I have been in denial about since my surgery. I have GAINED 5kg since the operation - that's 12lb!! No, I can't put it down to swelling anymore, no I can't put it down to fluid rentention or any of the other excuses I've been trying on for the last 2 months. Plain and simple, I'VE BEEN EATING TOO MUCH!!!

After having the band really tight to get to my pre-op desired weight and being very uncomfortable for that, I wussed out when the surgeon went to refill me and asked for the fill to be less than his recommendation. Of course, I didn't consider the fact that their office is booked out months in advance and that I wouldn't be able to change things easily if I wasn't happy with the result.

Well of course, the inevitable happened. The operation swelling went down within a week or two of the fill and the hunger came raging back with a vengeance. It took me 6 MONTHS to lose that last 5kg before the operation and a mere 6 WEEKS to put it back on. GAH!! I could kick myself!! What's worse is that, now that my skin is so tight, it is REALLY uncomfortable and I'm all bulgy and have lumps and bumps in odd places. I feel like a sausage that's about to split its skin and I hope I haven't already stretched out my new tight-fitting skin *cries*

I've been struggling through, thinking that it will get better when I get my next fill (22nd Feb - not far now, thank goodness!), but I've finally realised that this is the wrong attitude. I need to do something about this RIGHT BLOODY NOW!!!

So... for the next week at least, until I get the fill, I'm going right back to basics - back to the original pre-op diet for the band!! Yes folks, that means I'm doing the Optifast thing and I'm hoping that by posting this and making it public, I will STICK to it for the whole week!

Wish me luck!

Well, Fanny, I do wish you the best. I know you can do it, you sound determined. I am sorry your fill person is booked so far in advance, but now only a week to wait. We are here for you, keep posting. I have been on 2 binges since last Friday and got my determination cranked up, too, after reading your post. I want to lose 10 pounds before my TT in 4 weeks and sweet slider food is hindering me, so I feel your pain!!

Mimi

You are going to be fine. Acknowledgment is the first step, so you are on your way. I still think your decision to stay a little looser at first was a good choice, and I doubt you wonderful new body will have any lasting effects from the 12lb. You are on a great start with the Optifast and will probably drop at least 4 lbs before you get that fill.

Fanny:

I gained weight after my tummy tuck too. Between May 2009 and November 2009 I gained 20 pounds! EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK! Anyway, my band is still my belly cop. I was grazing and eating alot of the wrong things out of boredom and stress of losing my job that I'd had for 15 years. I fessed up to my surgeon in November and we discussed a plan to get me back on track. I started weighing in at his office on a weekly basis. I lost ten of the twenty in four weeks. The other ten aren't coming off yet, but I hope to get rid of them in March when I clamp down and eat like a really good bandster again. Please know that your band (when properly adjusted) will help you again.

My thoughts are with you and I can tell you're going to fight those 12 pounds away!

Best wishes to you.

Sue

Thanks everyone. You know, it's obvious that I know I've been doing the wrong thing lately but haven't wanted to face up to it. All I have to do is look at how long it had been since I updated my ticker (DIDN'T want to have to put in the increase!!) and how I have been avoiding coming here, because I was reluctant to admit my weakness. And yet, it is never as hard as one imagines, after one makes the admission - and getting the support from others makes it worthwhile! Funny how you forget that part, in the shame of hiding from yourself...