Obsessing about Plastic Surgery!!

[Darktowerdream 421]

6 minutes ago, Riva_G. said:

I also have 20-30 pounds to lose. And I’m also checking up a lot about plastics. I’m wondering if anyone was covered by insurance due to skin irritations and fungus from the loose skin? My dermatologist told me to do research to see if I would get insurance coverage

I know that insurance might cover for some people but I asked my surgeon about it and they insisted that in Florida they cover it and referred me to plastics in Cleveland Clinic and yet I was told they accepted no insurance. I get bloody rashes especially on my thighs. I just can’t deal with fighting with insurance on the matter. And I’ve seen others post about insurance offering only partial coverage. I will say you can try just to see what happens. For me I ended up going with the plastic surgeon though BariatricPal at Hospital BC. They have excellent reputation and success. And are a Center of Excellence. They are the only American owned hospital in Tijuana Mexico.

[Sophie7713 3,335]

On 5/26/2020 at 9:45 AM, catwoman7 said:

well, yea - at age 60, my bikini-wearing days are L-O-N-G gone, so I don't care too much about scars, either, as long as they're not in the middle of my face or something. I do love my results, though. I could have lived with something not quite as aesthetic as long as that saggy skin was gone, but I must admit he did a great job while he was at it. I don't think my body looks like a typical 60-year-old's at all....let alone the body of someone who's lost a truckload of weight. Not a sag to be found, and everything is in proportion. This is how I should have looked at age 30 or 40 (but unfortunately, did not...)

and yes - there's no such thing as a completely stable weight. Normal, never-been-overweight people have weight that fluctuates - like a five-pound range or something. The surgeons just don't want people to have surgery and then put on 20 lbs, because it can affect the results (they say gaining or losing 10 lbs or so is fine, but much beyond that can screw up their work). That's one of the many reasons I had it - figured it might force me to stay at a decent weight since I went through so much hell and forked over so much money to look this way!!

I wish you'd share some pictures CatW!? I don't feel I look 60 either (just turned 61 Friday, 29th) AND completely thrilled with the WLS of 141 pounds lost (late 2018 - 2019) and then, plastics (early 2020). Like yourself - wishing too I could have enjoyed this teenage "light on my feet" like figure (that's what hubby and good friends reference me as) years earlier BUT suspect, I am exactly where I should be at this juncture. Not sooner or later given the strides and advancements they have made in nutrition, sleeve surgery and plastics to date. I'm committed to being a healthier and happier woman moving toward older adulthood defying frump and being the very best version of myself.

I am so very excited for fellow Floridian, darktowerdream! She has so much to look forward to in appreciating the next level of weight loss rewards and satisfaction. June 15th will be here in no time. As well as, chubrub! I do look forward to their continued success unfold, don't you! Fun. Favorite cartoon before plastics... ;]

[Darktowerdream 421]

10 hours ago, Sophie7713 said:

I wish you'd share some pictures CatW!? I don't feel I look 60 either (just turned 61 Friday, 29th) AND completely thrilled with the WLS of 141 pounds lost (late 2018 - 2019) and then, plastics (early 2020). Like yourself - wishing too I could have enjoyed this teenage "light on my feet" like figure (that's what hubby and good friends reference me as) years earlier BUT suspect, I am exactly where I should be at this juncture. Not sooner or later given the strides and advancements they have made in nutrition, sleeve surgery and plastics to date. I'm committed to being a healthier and happier woman moving toward older adulthood defying frump and being the very best version of myself.

I am so very excited for fellow Floridian, darktowerdream! She has so much to look forward to in appreciating the next level of weight loss rewards and satisfaction. June 15th will be here in no time. As well as, chubrub! I do look forward to their continued success unfold, don't you! Fun. Favorite cartoon before plastics... ;]

I like part of the op that says having surgery is a way to enforce staying at a healthy weight. I feel that way too not as much to enforce it but to solidify that a goal has been reached that wasn’t before. I lost weight before but metabolic disorders and surgery and life and stress got the best of me. So I’m hoping the combination of gastric bypass surgery and now plastics will solidify that I’ve reached a goal I never could before. I still panic a bit when the scale moves but I have to assure myself that because it went from 102.2 To 103.1 Over the past few days is more likely my working in my maintenance calories, the stress of some problems with my flight, not feeling well, ate something that bloated me, Maybe the peaches 🍑 but I read it’s good for hemoglobin. Or just something minor I did that I should not worry but I do, and I probably should be at a bit higher weight before the procedure anyway?

sorry I go off on tangents. I meant to say @Sophie7713 you look awesome and thank you. I will try to keep things updated here. I can’t imagine signing a waiver to share photos with the hospital to share in their social media group. It’s a private group. I’m an even more private person. I have no pictures of myself or very few. None of myself heavy except one I didn’t know and didn’t want taken. It was my birthday right before surgery at my heaviest it was at the zoo, the most unflattering shot the zoo took of me bending over to feed the flamingos while I loved the experience it was sad and painful. And it ended up being more for my mother and her friends. I didn’t know yet if I would even be able to have surgery.

im leaving earlier then expected. I fly out June 13th for June 15th surgery and return June 21st. It’s a long flight home ...

some small part of me that isn’t exhausted is very excited 😜 about it and I love the cartoon. Some positions it’s like You can try and pretend skin what skin others it’s like where did this shar pei come from 🤣

Edited June 2, 2020 by Darktowerdream

[summerset 5,265]

Is rushing to plastics the latest hype on BP, btw? Did I miss something?

Most surgeons require patients to be at least 6 months at a stable weight before doing plastics. We're not even talking insurance here, but surgeons.

[catwoman7 11,285]

2 minutes ago, summerset said:

Is rushing to plastics the latest hype on BP, btw? Did I miss something?

Most surgeons require patients to be at least 6 months at a stable weight before doing plastics. We're not even talking insurance here, but surgeons.

yes - it would be a huge mistake not to wait. A vast majority of people put on 10-20 lbs after hitting their lowest weight. You really need to be at your final weight - and stay there for a few months - before investing in plastic surgery. A weight gain or loss of more than 10 lbs or so will affect your results.

[summerset 5,265]

4 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

A weight gain or loss of more than 10 lbs or so will affect your results.

That's why I'm glad now I postponed for so long. It's only 1 BMI point (about 3 kg) I dropped after revision but damn... it shows when it comes to the skin... I would never have imagined.

[AggiG 176]

I have been approved for the skin removal but now waiting util house is sold because I want to do my thighs, face and neck also.

[ChubRub 1,709]

40 minutes ago, summerset said:

Is rushing to plastics the latest hype on BP, btw? Did I miss something?

Most surgeons require patients to be at least 6 months at a stable weight before doing plastics. We're not even talking insurance here, but surgeons.

I don't know if it's a BP thing or just a ChubRub thing! LOL!! If I have PS in January, it will be 13 months after WLS, which does seem rushed...

The thing is, for me personally, I lived in a body I've hated for way too many years. Yesterday I was trying to find a "before" picture to compare my weightloss, and the only one I could find was from 2004 at my sister's bridal shower, and only b/c it was a pics someone else took. In the past 10 years, I've been to Italy, France, Mexico, the Bahamas, Disney, etc. I have pics of my husband and my kids on those trips, but none of me (unless you count my face only as I would hide my body behind my kids).

If I died today, my kids would have very few pics to remember me. I just want that to end, as soon as possible. I want to live my best life, and feel proud of the way I look for a change!! I plan on taking thousands of pictures to make up for the many years I lost!!

Also, I do think that people are more likely to keep the weight off when they've has PS, which is another benefit!!

Obviously, everyone needs to make the best choice for themselves!

[summerset 5,265]

9 minutes ago, ChubRub said:

I don't know if it's a BP thing or just a ChubRub thing! LOL!!

Of course people can do what they want. People can make their appointment for their first plastic surgery the day they plan their WLS if they think that's the way to go.

Quote

If I have PS in January, it will be 13 months after WLS, which does seem rushed...

If you reach your final weight at month 6 you'll be at a stable weight for 7 months then. If you don't even reach your final weight in 13 months... well - yes, then it's rushed. It's not the time span between getting WLS and plastics but the time span between reaching final weight and plastics.

And mind you I'm talking about "final weight" and not "goal weight" for a reason.

---

Side rant: "picking a goal weight" is not the same as "picking the color of your hair dye". I bet some of the old-timers on here have their very own opinion on goal weights as well.

[Darktowerdream 421]

1 hour ago, summerset said:

s rushing to plastics the latest hype on BP, btw? Did I miss something?

Most surgeons require patients to be at least 6 months at a stable weight before doing plastics. We're not even talking insurance here, but surgeons.

Knowing myself on the Autism spectrum I am not able to put to words properly my reaction to this. I think it makes me feel a little like someone saying it’s just hype and not a good thing and that I’m somehow wrong. I reached goal surprisingly early I think June would be four months at a Pretty stable weight. Whatever the numbers are I agree with @ChubRub I’ve lived in this body most of my life not wanting to be in pictures and hating always fighting against my weight hating it and hiding from mirrors and cameras. It goes so far back to being bullied on school including the school. Being made to feel less than. Always fighting my constant medical battles and being clouded by my weight and knowing my weight wasn’t the cause but what did they care. Having reached the lowest weight I’ve ever been my skin can’t magically snap into place or look good. It’s also a part of my lifelong medical history. It just seems odd to guilt people by saying a post on a forum means people are obsessed with rushing into surgery. But there is always a story behind why. And we don’t do it unless we feel it adds to our overall weight loss journey and success.

im paying a price not just monetary to achieve this. I need this both for the physical problems the excess skin causes, the fact that strengthening my core might help chronic back problems, and also my own mental well being. And now felt like time.

sometimes that’s what matters. It’s not about trendy. It’s about personal need. I’m sorry if that statement got to me. It hurt a little bit. I’m doing my best. I’ve got not much else in my life I’m losing a lot and I just wish to have a body I never could while I’m still able to achieve it ..

[catwoman7 11,285]

16 minutes ago, Darktowerdream said:

It just seems odd to guilt people by saying a post on a forum means people are obsessed with rushing into surgery. But there is always a story behind why. And we don’t do it unless we feel it adds to our overall weight loss journey and success.

I didn't get the impression she was trying to guilt you - she was just trying to be realistic. I got down to 138 lbs but during year 3 it gradually increased until I settled at 150. Gaining 10-20 lbs after hitting bottom is VERY common. It's not inevitable, but it seems to happen to the vast majority of us. And as I've said before, gaining or losing more than 10 lbs after plastic surgery will affect your results. I gained eight lbs this past fall/winter and my plastic surgeon (I was there for my one-year follow up) about had a heart attack and told me to get it off - NOW! (working on it...almost there!). That's why most plastic surgeons will advise you to weight 6-12 months after you reach your final weight - which is rarely your lowest weight.

[summerset 5,265]

@Darktowerdreamwhat catwoman said.

I'm not trying to give someone a guilt trip - why should I?

In the end everyone has to to make a decision. If people want to rush it - I can understand. I was in the same place several years ago. I just wanted to be over with this whole sh*t!

Now I'm glad I didn't rush it because of weight loss due to revision. Imagine having plastics and then losing more weight. All wrinkly/saggy again and it doesn't need much weight to come off when you're in a normal BMI range to notice the change.

[catwoman7 11,285]

2 minutes ago, summerset said:

it doesn't need much weight to come off when you're in a normal BMI range to notice the change.

you can say that again!! Five or 10 lbs either way makes a noticeable difference! So different than from when I weighed over 300 lbs!

[ms.sss 15,859]

To each their own. One person's "rush" is another person's lifetime.

I booked my PS consults ONE WEEK after reaching goal weight (7 months after WLS). Had the actual PS surgeries 7 months later, (14 months after WLS)...and only because it was the earliest he could get me on his schedule.

He (nor the other 3 surgeons I consulted with) had any time requirement to be at a stable weight. In fact, I lost another 12 lbs by the time surgery came around.

At the time, my surgeon seemed to be more concerned about further weight loss after surgery than weight gain, at least in theoretical terms of how the skin at the the incision lines *may* have an undesirable "pucker" look depending on how your the scars heal. He said a 10lb loss would probably have more undesirable look-effects than a 20lb gain...but again depending on how your scars heal. In terms of weight gain, he said possible effects would be widening of scars (again depending on how you heal, AND how much you gain).

I figure if I gain or lose weight in the future, and don't like how it looks, then I will do whatever I am prepared to do at that time to address it then. Maybe I'll have to re-tool my diet/exercise to "re-fit" my skin, maybe I'll have another surgery, maybe I won't care. But TODAY, I am completely and totally happy with my decision to get what I got and the timeline it was performed. Bring on bikini season!!!

Do what makes YOU happy and what is in your means to do so.

Good Luck!

P.S. I am really excited for you though...PS is a GAME CHANGER.

Edited June 2, 2020 by ms.sss

[ChubRub 1,709]

2 hours ago, AggiG said:

I have been approved for the skin removal but now waiting util house is sold because I want to do my thighs, face and neck also.

My chin and neck will be Round 2 for me! LOL!!