Age and a LBL?

I am pretty sure I will (when steady at goal for long enough) want a LBL. I have some concern about this, since I have seen a fair number of After photos of women who have had this done, yet who barely look different than they did prior to that surgery. Some look so beautifully transformed, but others seem to have a fairly minimal result. I know that recovery from that surgery is quite painful, and I'm concerned that my age makes a good result less likely. I am 64 and would at a minimum be 65 (likely older) when I have that done. I have no illnesses thank goodness, and take no medicine except for a thyroid pill every day. I have slight varicose veins appearing in my right leg, the left is fine. My ideal result from a LBL would be that I would be able to go to the beach and wear a bathing suit (I don't care if it's a two-piece of a one-piece), without being embarrassed at the state of my thighs. As of now, I wouldn't expose my poor thighs on a dare! Has anyone here had a LBL (obviously, after massive weight loss - mine will be 200+ pounds lost) at around my age? What was your result? Inside myself I really am younger than most my age, and people always tell me I look younger (the first thing my surgeon said to me was that I look like I'm in my 50s, not my 60s), but it seems like everyone says that they look younger than their years whether it's obvious to anyone else or not, doesn't it? I'm concerned that after all the pain and expense of a LBL, my result would be just so-so, and I'd still be too self-conscious to wear a bathing suit, or shorts, etc.

I am 51 and have lost over 125 pounds since surgery (2/28/17). I am grateful that while I have lots of loose and saggy skin that has been stretched for the 30 years that I was MO, I have also had some skin return a bit. I have read that the biggest factor in skin either sagging after WLS or returning to shape is genetics. Things like good health, hydration, not alot of sunning and of course age also make a difference too. My PS keeps reminding me that he will be removing extra skin and tightening muscles as best he can, but that he can't return elasticity to skin that has lost it.

I have found that swimming has really helped my muscle tone overall and when the extra skin is removed what is left will be more toned. I encourage you to be active and do some strength training but that won't fix the stretched out problem just what is underneath.

As far as feeling comfortable wearing a bathing suit, there are women in my water aerobics classes who are 300-400 pounds and they wear bathing gear of different types. Feeling good in your clothes is part style and part self-confidence within your body. That can't be fixed with plastic surgery or weight loss for that matter.

Sorry, no better experience or info to share, but work on accepting yourself in your body whatever the size and PS will just build on that to help you be more active and comfortable.

HUGS! You're doing great! Stick with it!

Janet, you've done so beautifully, and your dedication to and joy in exercise is inspirational.

As far as feeling good in clothing - I do - I feel wonderful, even with 50+ pounds yet to lose, I really feel joyful. Honestly, despite everything, I am getting quite happy with my looks as I emerge from the fat suit I've been wearing for the past 9 years. Basically I really just enjoy being a girl! And I am appreciative of and grateful to my body - it carried babies, is strong and resilient, healthy and reliable, knock wood! And it will be longer and leaner in the future! Nothing I am embarrassed about physically is my poor body's fault. But I screwed up behaviorally, as we all did, and that has left its mark. I am confident in clothes, but not at all confident without them. It's a process, and thank God there are plastics!

Anyway, your advice is very sound. I've been walking and will be watching a black lab next week so that will mean longer beach walks twice a day as opposed to just once. I would like to swim, and there's a water aerobics class close by, but I will have to wait to wear a bathing suit in publi****il my issues with my appearance in it are somewhat resolved. Instead I will intensify my daily walks, and a yoga class is on the horizon. I've just started doing an exercise I've used off and on since the 80s which I have always had really good results from - it targets my obliques, so hopefully a (comparatively) tiny waist is in my future!

I'm going to have more plastics beyond the thighs/LBL, but am not as concerned with those procedures as I am confident a good result can be attained. It's mostly the thighs which people seem to not always get a good result from. So we'll see!

You would probably need a thigh lift in addition to the lbl. The lbl pulls up the sides and front of thighs somewhat, but doesn't do anything for the inner thighs unfortunately. Have you had a consult with a PS yet? I think you could ask them to be very honest with you about your results and you could then decide whether it's worth it. I stood in front of a full length mirror in the buff while he pulled up my skin to show me what my results might look like. It looked a lot better than what I've got!

Also, I have seen in some surgery videos that my surgeon, Dr. Katzen, also fixes varicose veins during surgery if you need it. He also trained as a vascular surgeon. So maybe you could kill two birds with one stone if whoever did yours does that too?

Thanks for your response. I thought that a LBL included a full thigh lift, inner and outer, so that was a misunderstanding on my part. But yes, you're right, I'd need both done. I haven't had a consult yet as I am still losing - I have lost 151 pounds in the past 10.5 months, which is fabulous! But I have to lose a minimum of an additional 50 pounds - if not 70 more! I feel it's a toss-up: lose to 145 or so (I am 5'8") and hopefully retain some fullness in my face, or lose to 130 and have wiggle room for year 2-3 regain commonly experienced,, but probably look more haggard. Or base where I lose to on the results of a Dexa scan! Anyway, I figured I will wait until I am at goal before having PS consultations. The vein issue is mild and not terribly visible, but such things can worsen over time, so I will ask about having that done too.

151 in 10 months is outstanding! Try not to worry about your face. It does change a bit after you're maintaining a while. I was at the hairdresser yesterday and she was going on and on about how healthy I'm looking these days (unspoken at first was how unhealthy she thought my face looked right when I got to goal 6 months ago, but I wheedled that out of her). It has filled out again in a good way. Lose to the right weight for you however you choose to determine it. I went by the mirror and my healthy BMI and the fact that I didn't like what I saw when I was under my goal by 10 pounds due to some surgery. I'm hoping plastics (in 81 hours! Eek!) really helps me feel finished. Extra skin makes me still feel not at goal.

Good point, I know that the body does adjust and redistribute a bit once maintaining at goal. I'll just wait and see!

I'm so excited for you that you're about to have plastics! That's awesome! What are you having done? I wish you all the best, and a wonderful outcome!

Thank you!! I'm nervous as all get out. This is the first of two surgeries (second in the fall being arms and breasts). Tuesday I'm having a lower body lift, modified medial thigh lift (just the top half, bottom half survived my being fat), lipo of flanks, chin, inner knees, stomach and inner thighs with fat transfer to my rear. I just want to be on the other side of this. My anxiety is way higher than it was for my VSG. I'm anticipating all the pain and discomfort and needing to rely on/bothering others which I despise. Argh.

So exciting! I wish you a wonderful outcome, and hope that your recovery will be swift and sure! Please post as you can, and let us know how you are doing, post-op!

Like Cecily said, do what feels right for you but I'm guessing that at age 64 you will find 130 pretty slim for 5'8" tall. I'm 5'7" and 125-130lbs and I have very low body fat (lower than would be considered healthy for someone older than myself). You can see my ribs in my back and that kind of thing. I'm healthy and I'm not worried about it because at some point I'm guessing I'll have some lax times in my diet and I'll have wiggle room, but I didn't need to lose to this point!