My Bariatric Life

***Please read my interview and articles on BariatricPal***
 
You have the power to change your life, if only you will give yourself a chance.
  OCTOBER 2014 - I am a writer and obesity health activist known as My Bariatric Life and I am one-year out from my body contouring plastic surgery with Dr. Joseph F. Capella (Capella Plastic Surgery) and approaching one-year out from my facial plastic surgery with Dr. Catherine Winslow (Winslow Facial Plastic Surgery). I am 11-yrs out from my RNY gastric bypass with Dr. Vishal Mehta (Mehta Obesity Center).
 
Read about my body contouring surgery here.
Read about my facial plastic surgery here.
Read about my gastric bypass weight loss surgery here.
 
My words cannot do justice to the life changing transformation plastic surgery has been for me this past year. The physical changes were outstanding. From the plastic surgery I lost 50 inches and 50 pounds and 6 jeans sizes. I look about 15-years younger. Dr. Winslow gave me back a matured version of the pretty face I had in high school – yes, believe it or not, I was thin and pretty before I became morbidly obese in my adulthood. And Dr. Capella gave me a body better than what I had in high school. Someone told me that they took me from a 1.5 to an 8.5. It is true. Weight loss surgery may have saved my life but it left me with a distorted face and ugly body. You can see the change for yourself in a video montage I put together. All in all, I lost 11 pants sizes and 135 pounds from the night before my gastric bypass to today. The side by side photos do not even look like the same person. 
 
View my video on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/108545064
 
View my video on YouTube: https://m.youtube.co...VEU6ulkJpyMdVm2
 
The emotional changes have been magical. It is an amazing thing to experience your body changing so dramatically so quickly. To understand just what that feels like must be experienced for yourself; those whom have gone through it know exactly what I mean. One patient told me that "plastic surgery is so much more about finding the person you were meant to be." Another person told me that weight loss surgery saved her life and plastic surgery saved her soul. At one-year post plastics, I am now focused on finding myself and living life fully. I was never a wall flower but there were things that I let hold me back from doing exactly what it is I want to do. Well, no more. I am breaking through all my barriers and grabbing life with both hands. I’ve got a lot of life to live and I intend to live a life I love.
 
I am very blessed to have been able to afford plastic surgery. I envy the patients whom get insurance coverage. I sacrificed $40,000 to transform myself from my eye lids to my knees, and that was a big investment in myself, but worth every penny. I am equally blessed to have found TWO plastic surgeons who are at the top of their categories in reconstructing massive weight loss bodies. 
 
It is CRITICAL that your plastic surgeon be an expert in post massive weight loss plastic surgery. Even though we post massive weight loss patients are normal weight now, our bodies metabolically are still morbidly obese. We are not getting simple Mommy Makeovers to tighten up a little flab and loose muscle. Our bodies and faces are literally being reconstructed. So be sure to choose your surgeon(s) very very carefully. The most important questions you can ask your doctor for each procedure that you are considering is, “How many of these have you done and how often are you doing them?” Learn more about this in my article, "Dr. Joseph F. Capella Interview: Plastic Surgery after Weight Loss."  And definitely check out my 18 Plastic Surgery Insider Tips. It is a must-read for anyone considering plastic surgery after massive weight loss!
 
Today I am a size 2 and living larger than ever,
My Bariatric Life
 
Visit me on MyBariatricLife.org, Flickr, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, StumbleUpon  
View my Borne Appétit recipe collection on Pinterest