AZDee

You look great, has much changed this last year? Just wondering how things shape up a year out from a LBL.....

Maybe if he charges $5000 for the panni to the insurance company he will also do the muscles tightening while he is in there....He knows you have the approval for the other two procedures right? This PS sounds like your man. I believe you just know when it's right....Funny because my first time around, I just didn't feel right and I thought it was just nerves... I learned to listen to that voice inside of me. When I met my second PS I felt so at ease.... Now the new PS is having to redo some stuff from the first guy...(that is when I save up the money again)...ugh

Wow that is a lot of extra money just to have the muscles tightened...Makes me wonder how good of a job she would do if you don't pay up the extra??? Glad you are going to other consults. I know plenty of people who have just had the panni and been thrilled with the results, and you also get the bellybutton redone, so you should look pretty good. Hope you find a good honest doctor who can help you...

Fit2btired, have you gone to your PS visit yet? I am sure if you haven't that your PS wants to give you the option of doing more while you are in the OR...Give it some thought it could save you a lot on later plastic surgery....Most of the time they will give you the option of including the muscle tighting to the panni. I know someone who had her panniculectomy a couple of weeks ago, also paid by insurance and while the doctor was in there he decided to go ahead and tighten the muscles for her....She was very pleasantly surprised, since the doctor knew she couldn't afford to pay to have it done...Give us a update...

I still have to wear my garment for another month!!! I am pretty used to it now...

I am two months out tomorrow actually from my LBL, medial thigh lift and BBL and I have to save I feel 100% back to normal...So it's not really that long, it's just that a week feels like a month when you are recovering...Just relax, rest and heal...

You look fabulous!!! So tiny too!!! The tummy looks great and the arms are so tiny. Glad to see you wearing your sleeves, they helped me so much, they made my arms feel so nice and tight, I am sure that's one reason I didn't get the "spread" that some do with arm incisions...Each week you will feel better...Time is going by really slow I know, but now that the drains are gone you are free...take it slow this is your healing time...

This was the site that I found my plastic surgeon with....I love it!

Last night I watched the show Extreme Weight Loss, and was happy to see that they again included the removal of excess skin as part of the process of this mans journey to the new him. I mentioned it on a WLS site, which started a vocal dialog of people wanting to complete their journey but feeling they couldn't due to restrictions placed on them because of the government or their insurance company. I was surprised, how many people feel stuck in their old skin due to not having insurance. Maybe I didn't feel stuck due to insurance woes since I haven't had any support from insurance along the way, as I was a self pay for my RNY years ago... This got me thinking how much are we worth? I ask this because it took me several years to feel worth spending the money. If insurance would have covered it, I am sure I would have done it sooner, but since I had to pay (my family) it was a whole different story. We don't have extra cash sitting around the house so this was money that could have gone to fixing up the house or buying a new car...All sorts of important uses, then it hit me, if I were to buy a car, it would most likely last 7 years and then we would be in need of replacing it, well if that money went towards me I am planning on lasting more than 7 years! Do I value a car more than myself? No... There are ways to have the surgery without breaking the bank. I know one lady that had all of her surgeries at a Teaching Hospital in NYC for a fraction of the normal cost. I went to Mexico, just 5 miles south of the border in San Diego, which was so simple, I felt safe and close to home and paid about 1/3 of the costs back home. Also there is a company called Credit Care, which finances plastic surgery.... So I urge you, if you want and need plastic surgery to complete your journey please don't give up but do some investigating I am sure you will find a way...You are worth it, you have come so far.....

Dr. G. is going to be doing a upper forehead lift and eyes on me. When I was down there for my lower body lift I met two women who had just had amazing facelifts with him the week before...That's why I said I had a great source for a facelift. My lower face/neck lift that was done the year before (at the other center) it's fine, although Dr G. said the cheeks should have been pulled tighter and the muscles sewn under the neck should have been done better. I have a pretty deep line still from the nose to the mouth which may be helped with a filler...Last year when I went to the Beverly Hills PS, I mentioned to him I had recently had a lower facelift, he was surprised and said, you would never know...I left there wondering was it because such a good job was done, or was it because I still looked like I needed one???? Just yesterday I got a message from a woman who had a facelift with my first surgeon and she was asking me about mine since hers looked so bad, she's only 3 weeks out so hopefully it will get better, her ears are not even and there is extra skin around the ear area...made me thankful for the outcome I did have....The face is one area not to mess around with, that's for sure...

Recovery has been so easy...Surprising since I had built it up in my mind so much I was pretty scared, but it's been great, I have a great surgeon who told me I would not experience any pain, I thought he was just blowing smoke but he was right, when I asked how could this be? He told me it was how he handles the tissue, he said first of all he doesn't allow his patients to bleed, and secondly he is very gentle with the tissue, well it seems to have worked because the only time I felt any pain was during recovery at the hotel I was staying in and I was watching a rerun of a old friends episode and I started laughing...not a good thing after your stomach muscles have been resewn together! I pretty much am back to my ole self...I traveled to Mexico, where I had a wonderful surgeon, board certified, and also a micro-surgeon so my incisions were great and the price was very affordable too...

8 weeks post op from having a lower body lift and loving the exercise from swimming in the pool...

Hello....I had 10 consults before I decided on my surgeon....check out realself.com where you can read up on these surgeons and compare pictures and prices...That's where I found my Doctor....

You can find them online at their own site, or Amazon or GNC. I used to take advantage of the GNC buy one get one sale, but then I guess too many people were taking advantage of it, they started excluding Quest bars from their sales... I don't eat them all the time, I use them as a treat, when I would want to reach for a candy bar or something like that, then I eat one...I have to put them up and forget about them or I think about them all the time...I guess some things never change, but substitution is a key for me!

I agree, I have heard many people say they wear their excess skin as a badge of honor for losing the weight and are fine with it...But then there are others who wish they could have surgery and feel trapped due to their insurance company, these are the ones I was addressing, we should never allow ourselves to feel trapped but get out there and find a way...I am sure there are even more ways than the ones I described. In fact if anyone has watched the TLC program that Dr. Katzen did a couple years ago that showed two people having full Lower body lifts, which he calls 360 body lifts, you will find that both of those people had their surgeries paid for from some sort of obesity support group that funds surgeries. You can find that video on his website. He is a very talented surgeon specializing in patients who have lost 100's of pounds. I met with him and absolutely loved him but for my two needed surgeries the total was just shy of $40,000....

I enjoyed your video, you are looking great. I also did the hyperbolic treatments to aid in healing of my plastic surgery...

It's huge step in your life, take it slow, you will know when it's right and as far as finances go, you should have plenty to get what you need done. I would have several consults either online or in person, best to have both. The doctor I ultimately ended up choosing was one I consulted with online. He had me take pictures and send them to him and then we talked several times on the phone at great length, I just knew, he was the one for me...I had 10 consults in person and online, so I was pretty OCD...so when I found my surgeon I was confident in my decision....

I would suggest that you look at realself.com, it's a great source to read unbiased reviews from real patients from those who have had surgery with these Plastic Surgeons. The thing that I really liked were the photos posted. Sometimes you will find that a person is happy with their outcome since there has been some improvement, but the pictures tell another story... I feel the pictures really tell the true story of a surgeons work. All you have to do is go there and type in the type of surgery you are interested in and you will have many reviews come up that you can take a look at. Most people post pre and post op pictures there too. It was from that site that I found my new surgeon who preformed my recent surgery. You can find all of my reviews there under the same name as here. When you find a surgeon that looks promising you will be able to check out all of his reviews under his surgery page. I would say do not forget to look at the unfavorable reviews too...Good luck with your search,