Why-Loose Skin....???

Right there with ya Michael.  It was entertaining, wasn't it?  Nobody stirs up a **** storm better than Frisco!  My hero!!!

Deb

I have a cluster of autoimmune disorders (Graves' Disease, Thyroid Eye Disease, Thyroid Dermopathy/Pre-tibial Myxedma are all caused by the same auto-antibodies)  that have caused a disfiguring skin condition on my legs along with the classic 'bulging' eyes  and visual impairment that come with Thyroid Eye Disease.  Short of weraing a burqua  my 'disfigurement' is visible.  I live in Florida, so I'm pretty much in shorts year round.   I cannot physically wear a cute pair of boots in winter or a strappy pair of sandals with a summer dress. I have to sleep with my legs elevated at night to be able to put on the running shoes I wear most days. 

I've lived with this condition since I was in my mid 20's.  I nearly went blind. It took 3 painful operations to save my vision which will never be right -- I see double in all my fields of vision except straight ahead at computer and 'driving' distance. Surgery to make my eye-sockets larger (less fun than it sounds, trust me) helped my appearance some while reducing pressure on my optic nerves,  but I still look an awful lot like a muppet.  I have reduced mobility, and I live in pain every day due to the condition in my legs. I can't post photos, now, but  the form of the disease I have is "Elephantistic" and it's pretty descriptive. 

At the end of the day, buggy eyes and elephant legs don't define me any more than being fat did. I just live my life.  I get up, go to work, exercise, play with my dogs and enjoy my time with my husband.  Do I get the occasional 'woe-is-me'? Sure, I even buy really expensive shoes I can never wear just to have them in my closet because they're pretty.  Of course I do the same with handbags, so perhaps it's just shoe-handbag 'thing' lol.  My husband calls my closet the 'island of lost coach handbags.' I take them out, clean them, look at them, periodically, but I use the same bag pretty much every day. 

Do I have loose skin? Remarkably little considering my age (44), and the fact I've lost 150lbs and regained it previously. I workout quite a bit, and instead of a pannus I have a little pooch and wrinkles on my (believe it or not) abs that are beginning to look kinda six-pack like.  I genuinely believe exercise has made difference there.  Having said that,  the upside of my disfiguring skin and eye diseases is they are collagen disorders (collagen collects in the eye muscles and skin). That causes me to have high serum collagen levels which has helped my skin retain it's elasticity. Anyone want to trade their panni for risk of blindness or permanent facial disfigurement and elephant legs that can't be fixed, ever?  

 My point of this rather long post is that life is never going to be fair or perfect, and it's up to us to decide how we react to the good and the bad.  Finding love, happiness, etc., is all possible if you treat life as a gift regardless of your physical imperfections.  It's not perfect skin that makes someone attractive to the people worth attracting.  It's the joy, for lack of a better word, that emanates from people who are comfortable in their own skin and appreciate life for what it is rather than bemoaning what it isn't. 

I love it.

 On top of being fat for 98% of my life, I gave birth to triplets (and two of them where almost 5 lbs when they where born). I could literally NOT reach my arms around my belly while pregnant and it completely ruined the skin in my stomach area even before I started to lose weight. I look like a melted candle under my cloths, but you know what it does not stop me from being fabulous and it does not stop my husband from having trouble keeping his hands off me. 

Do I wish I could have plastics some day, sure I do, I am vain but I don't have any worries that my extra skin will keep me from doing anything beyond wearing a bikini (in public ) LOL

You go girl :) 

I can actually get away with a bikini top in public as long as I wear board shorts that cover the tops of my thighs. The best thing about havng my own pool, though, is I can wear whatever I want.  

 Yeah, I can't get away with a bikini top at all, the triplets literally ripped all the muscles right down the middle of my abdomen and everything is all lopsided and hangs funny, my lower two ribs where actually broken and on my right side the one above the bottom was dislocated. It limits me physically, I can't do a sit up no matter how hard I try and crunches are incrediably painful, I have a hard time doing any workouts that engage my core muslces b/c of the weakness the rip has caused. Yet, still my insurance does not seem to think this is a reason to get corrective surgery so they won't cover it. 

In my own backyard I wear what I want and don't care who sees, if you don't want to see my saggy belly and butt, stop peeking over my fence LOL

You know, I feel similar.  I have fared well with my skin in some ways, but my belly and upper thighs aren't pretty.  I hope I can figure out the money and logistics for plastics next year, but if not, I'm okay, too.  I really don't think I look that much worse than an average 43 year old who has had a 9 pound baby and breast fed for a year. 

Throughout this process, I've spent a lot of time studying my naked body in the mirror as it has changed.  This sounds strange, but it has really helped me to connect what I see with who I am.  That belly and those thighs, along with those lean shoulders, long neck and muscular arms and legs, are ME.  They are who I am!  They are not separate entities, and if I love myself, I have to love them, too.

I don't look at my daughter and think, "Wow, I love her so much...  but I sure wish she wasn't so tall."  I just love her, however she is and no matter what.  That's how I love myself now.

Loose skin is a part of me, and although the idea of dating and sex after being divorced and losing weight is a little daunting, I don't know that I would feel more confident if I didn't have loose skin.  It doesn't matter, because if someone wants to have sex with ME, then they get all of ME, perfect and imperfect parts. 

It is what it is, and my job is to accept it and love myself, no matter what.  I would much rather be thin, strong, fit and muscular with some loose skin than be fat.  No contest.  Hands down.  Absolutely. 

With you on this one Frisco. I'm 60 and am at my high school weight right now. Whatever bounce back I've gotten has been a blessing and the rest is a tribute to the life I've lived. Its all good!

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I LOVE you Frisco...******G LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU.

It's unfortunately that people no matter the topic CHOOSE to stick their heads in the sand and "hope" it won't happen to them.

I'm as vain as they come and I'm SPECIAL too but ummm really I was fat since 13, overweight since 19 so yeah the dice didn't land on 7 nor did the cards deal me a 21!

I did MY research (yeah it's out there).  I went to FREE plastic surgery conferences BEFORE I had my WLS "just in case."  I NEEDED to know the prices, the doctors, the experiences.

**** I'm not MUCH on the Internet but guess what since I was on OH I had access to it and well google is WONDERFUL.  I'm my OWN advocate and again it's because I'm SPECIAL.  Any doctor is ONLY as good as the last journal they read or researched (which are almost ALL online as well).  If I'm going to see a doctor for ANYTHING best believe I've looked up my symptoms etc etc.  WHY you ask Frisco???  BECAUSE I should be PREPARED for the eventuality not just hope and pray it doesn't happen to me!!

Ok I'm done agreeing with you and ummm...well you wrong for this post...you woke up some folks and I see pissed some off as well.

Ms Shell