I am now so close to reaching my target weight (3-4 lbs away) I am starting to take stock of what my body looks like after losing so much weight. I am not vain in any way but I would like to feel confident enough to wear the clothes I have wanted to for years.
When I reach my target weight I will have lost 10 stone (140lbs) and I have been left with a lot of loose skin on my upper arms, stomach, bottom and inner thighs. I have been aware of this for a while but didn’t realise quite how bad it looked until I saw myself in a full length mirror without any clothes on a few weeks back. Below is a photo of the loose skin on my stomach.
I had already considered having skin removal surgery on my arms but I am now seriously considering having it on my stomach too. I think these two areas will make the biggest difference to my appearance. I recently met up with an old friend who had both of these procedures ten years ago and she still looks great. I’d already found an excellent plastic surgeon and by chance it was the same surgeon that had operated on my friend so I know I have made a good choice.
Being me, I have done a lot of research and have watched countless videos on YouTube. The tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) seems to be the more major of the two procedures and I am certain I will require the full tummy tuck as I have loose skin above the belly button. This will involve extensive muscle repair which some people find to be quite painful afterwards. As a fibromyalgia sufferer this is something I will have to seriously think about. The other major concern for me is the pain relief I may need to take immediately following the surgery. Since coming off my opiate medication in March 2019 (apart from a single dose of dihydrocodeine after my gallbladder surgery) I have not taken anything stronger than paracetamol. I’m not going to be stupid about but I want to keep the stronger painkillers to minimum. I could have NSAID painkillers instead of opiates but there is a risk of bleeding with them. This is one of the many questions I will have to ask my surgeon.
I have decided to wait until after my birthday in February before making an appointment with the surgeon. This is because I usually have a bad patch with my depression after Christmas and I don’t want to compound this low period with major surgery. It will also give to me time to think about whether I’m doing the right thing. At the moment I can’t see me changing my mind and I’m quite excited at the thought of finishing my transformation. It’s been a long time coming!
My Faulty Brain 