Born in 1963, struggled with weight my whole life. Love food, tend toward depression and retreating, so a lot of "eating my feelings" over the years. Sought talk therapy, joined gyms, exercised sporadically, then would inevitably get bored with a monotonous routine and have sedentary periods.  In 2001, feeling like I was unhealthy, had asthma, and just generally uncomfortable, had a wake up moment after 9/11. On that day I had to walk home, from downtown NYC to uptown and was hot, scared and felt so vulnerable. I thought if I had to run to save my life, I couldn't have. So I had a roux en y surgery with Dr. Leitman at Lenox Hill hospital in NY. Without going in to too much detail, I started at my heaviest at 5"6" 265 lbs, and after surgery got to 175-180 lbs. Eventually the weight came back on. I felt awful and depressed about it and thought that was it. I was a "failure". Years later, 2011, I had to have my left adrenal gland removed because of a tumor. In the visits to endocrinologists, I met Dr. Inabnet at Mt. Sinai (NYC). He took my history and asked why I had gained weight. He thought it was worth investigating. His practice is endocrine and bariatric. Long story short, he proposed a revision surgery after we dealt with the tumor/adrenalectomy. On October 31 2013 he was planning to turn my roux en y in to a sleeve, but upon seeing the anatomy after getting in, saw that my 2001 surgery was quite crude, and he could only do a roux en y revision. Apparently in 2001 the method that was used was 1970's level technique, and the stomach was sectioned off, but became reattached in parts...In any event, the original roux en y failed, allowing me to eat more and not have the full feeling of a proper surgery. It was a gift for me to start again, it felt like a second chance! The reason I share it here is because there could be someone like me out there who regained weight, and without looking in to it, might not realize there could be reasons, other than "you are a failure", for the weight to have come back. After this revision I got down to 165-170. After that, I decided (and insurance covered this) to repair my incisional hernia. I got it soon after my 2001 surgery which was performed "open" (as opposed to laparascopically). After weight loss, it was a real bummer to have a big protrusion in my upper abdomen, and it was more noticeable after I had lost weight. Dr. Inabnet recommended Dr. Harmaty for plastic surgery. He wasn't covered under my insurance, so I went with Dr. Taub who is part of the practice there (affiliated with Mt. Sinai). We discussed removing additional loose skin, while he was in there anyway repairing the hernia. On December 10, 2014, Dr. Taub repaired my hernia and performed an abdominoplasty with a fleur de lis incision. See pics. It was an amazing transformation for me. I've never had a flat stomach! It felt so much more comfortable not to carry the weight there! Which brings me to today. This surgery left me with "dog ears". They are extra flaps of skin on either hip where the incision closes and flat front meets excess skin in the back. I am scheduled to have them repaired on January 25th 2016 with Dr. Capella and to have a brachioplasty (excess arm skin), flankplasty (extra skin between underarms and side of breasts), mastopexy (breast lift) and body lift. His method is the body lift, which cuts around the circumference, like a belt. He explained that the best results come when tight meets tight, so the upper skin meets the lower skin and can be smooth and tightened. In addition, he explained why he would prefer to do a breast lift (something on my wish list for down the road), at the same time as a brachioplasty, sort of for the same reason. If performed separately, the place with the arm incision ends meets the extra bra band, armpit area, I understood him to mean that it would be difficult not to have some dog ear equivalent there too. He will do an extended arm lift where the incision follows down the armpit and below the breast. He explained that this is his speciality, and having done so many (1500 to date), can perform the entire operation in 6 hours with the help of his surgical assistant. There are many "pros" to this approach. In addition to the "dog ear" issues, there is all the pre op testing, expense of anaesthesia etc, time away from work, etc.. I have found, with all my surgeries, that the most painful aftermath is gas and constipation. So there is great appeal to have one big painful surgery instead of breaking it down to 2 or 3!  Kimberly, his surgical coordinator, provided me with the exact quote for arm and breast alone, or with body lift. 

About Me
27.6
BMI
Surgery
10/31/2013
Surgery Date
Dec 09, 2013
Member Since

Before & After
rollover to see after photo
Feeling better in sleeveless tops :-)
169lbs

Friends 16

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