Surgery for 'Redundant Skin'

Off Topic
1

It seems like I start every post with “In the last year i’ve gone from 336lbs to 208, blah blah blah”. So with that out of the way.

I need surgery to get rid of the loose skin.

I finally manned up and went to the doctors this morning to see what the state of play was. Sometimes I thought “Its just fat, keep on dieting and it’ll go. Stop being a pussy” and other times I thought “Maybe it is loose skin”. Never thought it was that bad though.

So I went into the docs office this morning, explained, lifted my shirt up and he had a good squeeze around it. There is a little bit of ‘wrinkly’ skin on the front of my belly, and thats all I thought it was, definately shrinkable, if not dietable.

Turns out I was wrong. That big old flabby tyre is, in the words of the doc, “Mainly redundant skin, with a touch of fat.” Makes me sound like a fucking main meal. Just add pepper to taste.

So then he goes through the options, basically “It needs cutting off, who’s going to do it? A plastic surgeon. (yes, a ‘question talker’) Who’s going to pay for that? Maybe the NHS. (Side note, i’m from the UK, we have ‘free’ healthcare, some cosmetic procedures are covered) But there are no guarantees. If not, you’ll have to get the credit card out”

So, I went home, spoke to my Mum, who has been “worried” that I was getting obsessed with it. Too right I was! She’s going to get my consult to see what the options are, and is willing to pay for it if thats what needs doing. Which i’m really grateful for.

However, i’m gutted, totally fucking gutted. Gutted that I cant do this on my own anymore. Gutted that I let myself get so fat that I need surgery to fix it. Was any of those pizza’s worth it. Hell no.

I put on about 80lbs in 18 months after my Dad died, I found my comfort in food. Was it right? No. It’s not an excuse, its a reason. I know I fucked up on that score. But to have lost close to 130lbs, and then be told “Yeah, you’ve done well, but that ball bag on your gut is permanent”, - flat out sucks.

I’m getting the surgery it seems, but I feel so dejected. Give a fuck if this isn’t ‘T-Man’ style posting, i’m sure some of you relate to this. And I needed a place to vent. I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the end. My life has markedly improved in the last 12 months, but I just feel sick. Sick having to face up with what I did to myself.

2

I may not know what it’s like to be where you have been but I know the feeling of how could I let that happen to myself? Most detrimental things we do to ourselves can be explained away and we think they’re entirely fixable in the long run but theres a good amount that are just there. That’s the end of it.
On the other hand, what you’ve done to turn it around is absolutely amazing. Sure you can’t get rid of the loose skin on your own, but I think you should look at it as more of a finishing touch. The fact that you’re ready to finally get rid of all the evidence of the bad time you went through means your journey is complete.

You’ll have one hell of a story to tell and a big life message to pass on to those wise enough to take a page out of your book. No one can honestly say it’s all good, everything was understandable. But the fact that you’ve been to the dark side and come back is more than 99.9% of people who gain a lot of weight can say for themselves. Be proud of where you’ve come from, not for where you were, but for how far away from that you are.

3

I hear you man, Hope the Nhs does cover it, I’m living in Wales myself and just to see a doctor is a nightmare let alone asking them to pay for additional things… Hope it works out well for you, and best thing you can probally salvage from all this is, learn the lesson, And just dont let yourself go regardless of the circumstances. Sorry to hear about your dad also, but yea I aint gonna turn this into a girly man post, but even Tnation guys have hearts mon.
keep us posted on how it goes
Abs

4

Sorry to hear it man. When I hit a rough spot I just put my head down, steel my jaw and plow forward.

5

I am sorry to hear of your loss, I also put on weight when my dad died. If you can get your doctor to say this procedure is medically necessary, then hopefully NHS will cover it. Best of luck.

6

The body is your fortress

that being said

go for it. You know it is important to you, there may be stigma surrounding surgery (especially for cosmetic reasons.) but if people don’t care to understand why you’d do it, you shouldn’t be bothering with them anyways

Look at it this way: You achieved some sort of greatness in your life, and now in order to exemplify it, you have to take a route you’d rather not be seen taken. Why would you belittle your accomplishments? At least you can say you got rid of the fat. The scars will serve as a reminder that you did everything to meet your goals.

I have a slight cosmetic dysfunction with my left ear (no ear lobe, heavy scarring etc.) and I was miserable before I had some surgery adjustment, it left permanent emotional damage (gradeschool etc.) but I had gotten surgery when I was 12 in an attempt to correct it - and now it is a non issue. Sure the damage is still there, but its not even comparable to what it was before and I realize that whatever could be done has already been done - and it is no longer worth worrying about

No ‘what ifs’
Do it now, it can only worsen as you age…

7

Dude, STOP IT! Seriously, stop beating up on yourself over this. There’s nothing you can do about the past, and what you’ve accomplished is awesome. There’s no shame in getting something fixed that you CAN’T fix on yor own.

I feel your pain. Awhile back, I hit a point where my skin just stopped firming up. It sucks, and I’m a bit obsessed with it too. The more fat I drop, the worse I feel like I look. I have these vertical wrinkles running up and down on either side of my belly button.

The surgery will help you feel better, and you’re getting it for the right reasons, because it’s the only way to fix the problem, not because you’re lazy.

8

I know I need the surgery done, and i’ve made my peace with it. I’ve got my consult at 4pm on Weds at a private place, to have it properly assessed, basically find out how much needs to go. As I said, I know I need to lose a few more lbs, which I plan on doing before any surgery, as its really not that much, maybe 20lbs max now. So, post op, should still be bopping about 175, hopefully 8-10%.

I know how hard the work has been, and how worth it all its been. I just wish I could do it all on my own. It sounds a bit strange, even to me. I suppose in my head I built this up to be my Everest. Now it feels like i’m getting a chopper up the hardest part. I’ll still be proud I got there at the end of it all.

I guess its tough admitting that you damaged yourself beyond your bodies natural capability to repair, no matter how much effort you put in.

Although, brightside to it all. The frustration pushed me to a new bench PR in the gym today. Edging closer to that 1.5BW bench that, to me, means I can enter a PL meet next year!

9

First off, grats on the weight loss! Secondly, I completely understand where you are,2 years ago I was 6’5 515lbs basically a tub of lard, right now I’m 320lbs with an estimated 60lbs of ‘Redundant Skin’. Took a year of fighting tooth and nail with the insurance company but next wednesday I go in for my pre-op appointment. Dude you gained the weight yeah shit happens seriously but you did something most of the people who gain that weight never do, you lost it. So go for it man, here in the states where health care is downright criminal it would have cost me $20,000 all in all, which is why I fought so hard with the insurance company. You did what you could by losing it chalk the rest up to learning experience and if you do end up having to pay for it…well next time you go to eat an entire pizza you’ll ask yourself is it worth it.

10

I had my consult yesterday afternoon, pretty much all the stuff I thought was dietable away is skin, except for little bit of fat on my back. I still reckon I need to lose some more fat to look properly lean, but its encouraging to know that its not as much as I thought. Maybe 15lbs.

The surgeon said that i’ve been lucky with the amount of skin that I have for the amount of weight that i’ve lost, and for that reason he doesnt think that the NHS will pay for me, especially as my BMI (Yep, BMI) is still around 30. But he said the operation is definately viable and that to him, with a shirt on I just look ‘normal’ - not the look i’m going for granted, but was nice to hear that its not that noticeable.

Going to phone his secretary later to find out about the prices etc and when I could have it done. He reckons i’ll be pretty immobile for the first week, and that it could be up to 6 before i’m full bore in the gym again, but someone else I know was back in 3 weeks when they had it done. Obviously diet will be a major factor post op to ensure I can keep the muscle that I have as I wont be able to use it that much!