I want to wear a regular one-piece bathing suit. I haven’t been able to do this because of my hugs mons area. I’m a bit hopeful I’ll be able to get there. Hope so.
Choice of Surgeon
For those looking for a surgeon in the SF Bay Area, I went with Dr. John Connelly, who’s with Sutter out of Mountain View, surgery at their Los Altos facility. These are reasons I picked him:
- I was at a higher BMI than many surgeons would accept; no issue for him.
- Competitive price for the items insurance didn’t cover.
- Part of my healthcare group (Sutter) so easy to coordinate with my PCP and the doctor who did my hernia repair.
- The practice was recommended.
So far I’m extremely happy with the care, and the results are good although really too early to tell (only 2 1/2 weeks post-op).
Bariatric Success
I may have posted about this before, but here are my keys to success around bariatric surgery:
- Do the mental work to distance food from comfort, celebration, and boredom. Work with a therapist if you need to.
- Set up your support people. Set boundaries by telling people who love you that negativity is not allowed.
- Set realistic expectations. Don’t pin all of your hopes on a particular goal weight. Set some goals that are NSVs, like being able to fit in a theater seat or to walk a mile or reduce your diabetes meds or play tag with your kids.
- Recognize that this will not make you happy, it will make you smaller. Period.
- Make changes that are sustainable for the rest if your life. This is not a “diet” like you’ve done before. It’s changing how you will eat for the rest of your life. If you aren’t committed to that, don’t start this journey. I think the only thing worse than not losing weight, is losing weight and then gaining it all back, which is a distinct possibility if you don’t change the way you eat for the long-term.
- Everyone loses at a different pace. Don’t compare your journey to theirs. You will have stalls where you don’t lose for a while; just stick with the program.
Here’s a test: can you eat a post-op diet now, and maintain it? What I mean is, protein first, veggies second, carbs after that, at least 80 ounces of water, at least 75 g of protein. Do that for a while and see if you can maintain it. Don’t worry about the amount of calories or anything at this point, because after surgery you’ll be eating a lot less. But eat in that way and see if you can be satisfied in the long term. Develop new habits. Then, and only then, are you really ready for this journey. I started the journey, changing my eating, but didn’t have the surgery for almost a year because that’s when I was mentally ready.
Progress at 17 days
Still have a drain. Off all pain meds except occasional Tylenol (like at night). Weight is around 196. Still super swollen. Fairly uncomfortable due to the swelling and drain, and itchy at the incision sites. Nipples are super sensitive, although better every day.
Underwear
For most of my adult life I have not been able to wear regular women’s underwear because my mons area was too big. I had to wear boxer-type underwear. As a feminine person, this always made me feel like an alien, like not-a-woman.
This morning I put on a size 7 pair of briefs. Not only did they fit, but they completely covered my newly lifted mons area.
I cried.
Transformative
For most of my adult life I have not been able to wear regular women’s underwear because my mons area was too big. I had to wear boxer-type underwear. As a feminine person, this always made me feel like an alien, like not-a-woman.
This morning I put on a size 7 pair of briefs. Not only did they fit, but they completely covered my newly lifted mons area.
I cried.
Plastics after a couple of weeks
The first week was bad, on big pain meds and badly constipated, slept a lot. Second week more mobile, started taking short walks. After 2 weeks I started sleeping in my bed again. Still uncomfortable. Feels like I have a heavy, warm stone strapped to my lower abdomen. But better every day.
2 week follow-up with the plastic surgeon
All is well.
Medical detail, yet weirdly sexy…
Still pretty swollen so need to leave the drain in. The doctor says I’m “juicy”. Rio agrees. 
My nipples are extremely sensitive. His recommendation for that is “massage”. Once again, Rio agrees.
Surprised at how it feels
I guess I never really asked what it would feel like to have a whole bunch of skin cut off my body, so now I’m finding myself surprised. It feels like I have a huge burning stone strapped tightly to my midsection, one that itches and occasionally hurts more. Additionally my nipples are incredibly sensitive and I itch all around.
Journey
Interesting journey…
HW: 320
SW: 281 (sleeve 6/7/21)
Got down to about 207 and pretty much stopped losing. I decided I was ok with my body even at that size so decided to look into plastics, especially since my huge belly overhang and mons got in the way of so much physical activity. On 11/9/22 i had an extended panniculectomy and extended maxopexy (breast and side lift) where they removed 17 lbs of skin.
9 days post-op I now weigh about 196. I’m terribly uncomfortable from the surgery and nauseous/constipated. But better every day. No idea where the next step in this journey will take me, but it’s been a wild ride!
Here are a couple of pictures: close to my high weight a few years ago, and at my wedding a few weeks ago.
Here is my drivers license picture versus Halloween this year.
