It might not be a bad idea to recover at your sisters. The pain meds are great and really help with alleviating the pain and making it more like severe discomfort (for me anyway) and you might sleep a lot.

Either way, good luck!

Thank you Gwen, for some reason I was visualizing a girdle type thing for your arms.

I was worried about getting into by myself, but I think I could do this.

DH has alz and is no longer able to "grasp" the idea of honeyjustPULL....spanx, 1 piece swimsuits, and sports bras are becoming a thing of the past. Not to mention back zippers in dresses. I haven't googled it but I'm sure somebody has done a youtube video or created a gadget to help with this.

Its just difficult with spandex, skin and more skin to get everything rolled out and in the "right" places.

Perhaps just in the vicinity.

R

Nikita,

Thank you for replying to the original poster. I never thought about item #6 and it totally makes sense.

Whenever I wind up in the ER, you can see the freak out factor in their eyes once I mention GB.

Ok, my previous message was a mess! I think my laptop is on its last lap.

R

How do you know if I should even have plastic surgery?

Very few people need plastic surgery. Those I'd put on the need spectrum are those who can't control rubbing and skin infections from overhang or those who can't do what they want to do in life because of the extra skin. But I think even if yiu don't have those issues it can still go a very long way to helping with mentally feeling whole again after the damage from obesity.

How do you know when to have surgery?

My PS says once you are at a stable weight for 3 months you can consider it.

Words/names: What are the usual surgery names? I think I want to fix my thighs and my butt needs to move up two feet. Bat wings are a maybe. Hospital + recovery times interest me too.

Lower body lift/360 body lift/circumferential lift are synonymous. You're cut all the way around the middle the excess is removed and the edges are sown back together with a lifted rear/hips and a flattened stomach. Many also have their abdominal muscles sewn tight too and some will do some kind of butt improvement with auto augmentation (using your own tissue to enhance projection) or fat transfer.

Brachioplasty: bat wing repair

Breast lift with or without augmentation bepending on your preference and existing tissue

Liposuction of various areas

Torsoplasty/upper body lift: can remove skin from the upper back, sides

Thigh lift: medial thigh lift cuts longitudinally down your thighs to remove excess skin. Crescent thigh lift cuts where your thighs join your body and pulls up

Costs: Any ballpark costs for some of these surgeries? I know they vary but it's like saying a car varies. Sure, but tell me $25000 for a new cheap car. some guideline?

Varies by location. Mexico is an option and cheaper than the US. It also varies based on how much time will be needed for your operation - more damage to repair = longer op = more $$.

Insurance:I was told Kaiser Colorado covers no plastic surgery period ever except as required by federal law. Do some people get coverage? I can wait and pick the right one.

It's pretty rare to get insurance help. Like lotto winning rare.

Pain!:With RNY, I can't have pain meds right? Well, tylenol. What do you do?

You can't have NSAIDS. There are lots of prescription pain relievers that aren't NSAIDS. That's said, I was looking at something that that lists the pain level for various operations and the lower body lift was "severe". Upper body stuff is more manageable I hear.

Medical Tourism: Any places, doctors to avoid? Bad outcomes? State the obvious. I like travel but I care about the anesthesia and the surgeon.

Mexico has some good surgeons. Research is important!

Do check out Realself.com. There some great info on there as well as surgeon reviews.