Melanie O.
14 Months Out
Mar 20, 2010
I am almost 14 months out, and I have just weighed in this morning (3/20/10) - I am down exactly 171 pounds!! I started at 341.3 and am down to 170.3, so I have lost more than half of my old self. This is very exciting! I feel like I look pretty great, and I get compliments all the time. I am only 20 pounds away from my doctor's goal, although I would really like to get down to 141, at least, so I can say I've lost TWO HUNDRED POUNDS!!! =D
When I get down to at least 164 lbs, I can go back to my plastic surgeon and schedule my abdominoplasty. I could just have a panniculectomy now, which as he described it is "an amputation of the pannus," or what I call "cutting off my saggy baby belly," from having four children. That would be free, since we have military health insurance and he said it is bad enough to qualify as being medically necessary. However, he urged me to check into the costs for having the full abdominoplasty, which would take care of the extra skin above my belly button (which he would have to re-create) as well as below, and give me a much nicer profile. Reluctantly, I did so, and found it will only cost me $1660! Hello, that's NOTHING compared to the thousands and thousands I expected it would be! So we are going for it as soon as I reach that 164-lb mark. He is scheduling about a month out now, so I will continue to lose weight in the time between scheduling and surgery. I would really like to have it done before summer hits, though, so I can look cute in a new bathing suit. Something I never thought I'd say!
If the money were there - and it's really not, because we had to self-pay for my RNY and are not exactly rolling in it with basically a single military income - I would get other surgeries done as well. After losing 171 lbs in 14 months, I have a ton of loose, jiggly skin. The stomach bothers me a great deal, but if I have to live with the other stuff, I can manage. Thankfully, the skin on my face and neck are pretty taut, or else I would do something about that, too. My age (33) probably helps there. The other stuff I'd love to have done include my upper arms (when they jiggle, my litle girls say they look like wiggling fish!), my boobs (they used to be a 46G and continue to shrink down from the 36C I was measured at a few months ago, so they are in a very sad state, I'm afraid), and my inner thighs. The legs would not be looking too bad right now if I didn't have a ton of sagging skin on the inner thighs, so unfortunately while my belly might look great in that bathing suit, I will still feel self-conscious about my legs! Oh well, can't have it all at once now, can I?
I am so, so happy that I was able to have this surgery. It has completely transformed my life. I am bi-polar, and the depression from being so heavy and, I felt, gross and disgusting, was immense. I hated myself, I hated my life, and I made everyone around me miserable. Well, our family has done a complete 180, and my marriage has improved because of my ever-growing self-esteem. I have been called a "skinny bitch" once or twice, and nothing could be a greater compliment, as far as I'm concerned! People that didn't know me before and find out that I used to be so big are amazed, and people that did know me before are constantly telling me how great I look. It goes to a girl's head; you can't help but feel pretty fantastic about yourself. I am able to do things physically that I haven't done in years, and the crushing pain in my back has long since disappeared. I no longer have GERD, which I was on medication for for about 10 years. The whole thing has just been fabulous. I recommend it to anyone who asks me about doing the surgery!
If you wish to follow along with our journey - and the rest of our lives - more closely, I maintain a small family blog at http://smellyann.typepad.com . Thanks for reading!
~melanie
2 comments
When I get down to at least 164 lbs, I can go back to my plastic surgeon and schedule my abdominoplasty. I could just have a panniculectomy now, which as he described it is "an amputation of the pannus," or what I call "cutting off my saggy baby belly," from having four children. That would be free, since we have military health insurance and he said it is bad enough to qualify as being medically necessary. However, he urged me to check into the costs for having the full abdominoplasty, which would take care of the extra skin above my belly button (which he would have to re-create) as well as below, and give me a much nicer profile. Reluctantly, I did so, and found it will only cost me $1660! Hello, that's NOTHING compared to the thousands and thousands I expected it would be! So we are going for it as soon as I reach that 164-lb mark. He is scheduling about a month out now, so I will continue to lose weight in the time between scheduling and surgery. I would really like to have it done before summer hits, though, so I can look cute in a new bathing suit. Something I never thought I'd say!
If the money were there - and it's really not, because we had to self-pay for my RNY and are not exactly rolling in it with basically a single military income - I would get other surgeries done as well. After losing 171 lbs in 14 months, I have a ton of loose, jiggly skin. The stomach bothers me a great deal, but if I have to live with the other stuff, I can manage. Thankfully, the skin on my face and neck are pretty taut, or else I would do something about that, too. My age (33) probably helps there. The other stuff I'd love to have done include my upper arms (when they jiggle, my litle girls say they look like wiggling fish!), my boobs (they used to be a 46G and continue to shrink down from the 36C I was measured at a few months ago, so they are in a very sad state, I'm afraid), and my inner thighs. The legs would not be looking too bad right now if I didn't have a ton of sagging skin on the inner thighs, so unfortunately while my belly might look great in that bathing suit, I will still feel self-conscious about my legs! Oh well, can't have it all at once now, can I?
I am so, so happy that I was able to have this surgery. It has completely transformed my life. I am bi-polar, and the depression from being so heavy and, I felt, gross and disgusting, was immense. I hated myself, I hated my life, and I made everyone around me miserable. Well, our family has done a complete 180, and my marriage has improved because of my ever-growing self-esteem. I have been called a "skinny bitch" once or twice, and nothing could be a greater compliment, as far as I'm concerned! People that didn't know me before and find out that I used to be so big are amazed, and people that did know me before are constantly telling me how great I look. It goes to a girl's head; you can't help but feel pretty fantastic about yourself. I am able to do things physically that I haven't done in years, and the crushing pain in my back has long since disappeared. I no longer have GERD, which I was on medication for for about 10 years. The whole thing has just been fabulous. I recommend it to anyone who asks me about doing the surgery!
If you wish to follow along with our journey - and the rest of our lives - more closely, I maintain a small family blog at http://smellyann.typepad.com . Thanks for reading!
~melanie
Pre-Op
Jan 16, 2009
I am having surgery on the 26th. I'm supposed to be having VBG but am going to ask about changing it to RNY. I'm self-pay so it's not doable if it will be more than what I'm already expecting to pay. I started dieting on my own on Jan 1 '09 (before I knew my surgery would be coming up so fast) and have lost 10.3 lbs in two weeks. I'm exciting to be starting my weight loss journey and get fine in '09! I have about 200 lbs to lose, so it's do or die time.
5 comments
About Me
Homestead, FL
Location
24.9
BMI
Surgery
01/26/2009
Surgery Date
Jan 08, 2009
Member Since
Before & After
rollover to see after photo
This was several years ago now. I'll try to post more recent photo soon.
145lbs
