WARNING: If you keep
reading, you will see more of Brian than you ever wanted to.
You're still here?
Why??
Don't say I didn't
warn you! :P
First off, I know I haven't
updated in forever. And I'm going a
little out of order...I had promised the marathon entry first, but I'm not
quite ready to post that yet. It's
turned out deeply personal (even more so than showing skin) and I'm still
tweaking it.
Instead, I'm posting on my surgiversary - not of my sleeve, but the
one year anniversary of my lower body lift surgery.
Honestly, I never
thought I would have skin removal surgery.
Oh, I definitely had (and still have plenty of) excess skin, but I didn't think
insurance would consider the amount to be medically necessary to remove, and
thousands of dollars to throw at it wasn't in my plan. However, I was at an obesity walk last
October, and one of the representing surgery
centers asked me if I wanted them to check my insurance
benefits. Sure...why not.
To my surprise, a week
later, I got a call that my plan did have benefits for skin removal
surgery. But, I was told, it's one thing
to have benefits...it's another thing to be APPROVED to use those benefits. So, I
was asked if I wanted to come in for a consult so they could take pictures for
insurance approval. I had low hopes, but
again...why not.
Talk about
degrading. These aren't actually the
pics that were submitted...no, those had to be taken of me completely naked in the most unflattering poses by a cute young office assistant to emphasize how the skin impacted my normal life.
And, truth be told, it did. I hadn't ever really thought about how much
it bounced when I ran, or how it had to be kept clean and dry underneath to
prevent rashes, or how I had to buy pants four sizes bigger just to accommodate
the overhang. Like dealing with so much excess weight before, excess skin was the new normal.
Again, though, I figured that
my case wasn't nearly as bad as others that had been denied. So imagine my surprise
when I got a call a couple of weeks later than I had been approved for a
complete "360" - panniculectomy, tummy tuck, and muscle
tightening. Fast forwarding a bit, after meeting my deductible, I owed $88, and they covered $37K!
Maybe this was karma in my
favor - I was self pay for sleeve surgery, because my insurance had a clause denying bariatric surgery.
The next hurdle was
figuring out a time to schedule the surgery before the end of the year, because
my insurance plan was changing, and I'd have to start all over. It was scheduled for December 21st, but later
was pushed up to the 18th. The timing couldn't
have been more perfect - I had two weeks off of work for the holidays to
recover.
I got all marked up the day before...
Folks...how do I say
this...
It. Was.
Hell. Friends who had gone through it warned me,
but the level of pain really is indescribable. I left the hospital that day
after being under anesthesia for over six hours. I was sent home attached with three drains
and a pain pump, which provided a time release reliever for the suture line,
which went literally all around my body (hence why it's sometimes called a
360). But, that wasn't the painful
part. Nor was the five days of
constipation from the opiates.
No...for me, the
muscle tightening in the abdomen that was the killer. Imagine doing a million sit-ups. Now, imagine you are lying in bed, flat on
your back, trying to figure out how to get up.
I didn't have a hospital bed at home, so there was no bar to pull up on,
and you can't roll over on either side without pulling at the stitching. And trying to sit up straight forward is
impossible because the abs were so tight and sore. The pics below were taken a couple of weeks later, when I finally felt like I could remove the compression garment without dying. What you cannot see is the internal stitching, attaching the abdominal muscle wall to the pulled up skin, which creates the taught look. If you are squeamish about stitches, you might not want to look at these.
I needed every bit of
that two weeks to heal. I called it
being on cat time. I slept about 16
hours per day, and didn't have much of an appetite. I had a couple of days of fever. I had drains in for almost two weeks and
couldn't shower, having to monitor the level of fluid they were putting
out. I marveled that though a month
before I had completed a marathon, I struggled to walk around the house.
They removed 8-10lbs
of skin, but I actually lost about 20 from not eating and my body burning
calories like crazy trying to heal itself.
It's not a fun way to lose weight, but it is effective, haha. That has since come back on, but during that
time, I was actually in the "normal" BMI range according to the BS
charts. Now, I'm back in "overweight" category.
I was beyond impressed
with the results of the lower "360" body lift. It's crazy to think
they actually had to remove the belly button and re-attach it.
But, I guess it's human nature to focus on flaws, and
having the taught new belly to me emphasized the skin still around my chest and
arms.
In March, I made the decision to
have those done as well, and recover over my Spring Break. They actually called it a male breast
reduction, and I didn't even try to get insurance involved.
Recovery for this one
wasn't NEARLY as difficult. I was in that upper chest compression garment you see above for a few weeks, but it was easy to remove and
bathe, unlike the lower body one.
Now, one year later, I have maintained close to the level that I left with a year ago. I can easily tell now when my weight goes up, because there is no extra skin to hide it. My belly is still mostly numb. I can sense pressure, but not feeling.
And, you can see that despite having upper and lower surgeries, there is still extra skin in the middle!
However, I am happy with the results and
don't expect to go under the knife again any time soon. MAYBE at some point I will have my thighs
done. But, they don't bother me that
much, although they are pretty bad. In a way, having the battle
scars is a good reminder of where I came from, and how I'd really prefer not to
go back.
I wish I had taken quasi-naked pics before sleeve surgery in March 2013. I didn't - I figured it would be another failed attempt at losing weight. SO FAR, I am proving that wrong. I will never say "I've got this" - but each year that passes, I get a little more confident that I can maintain this, and not go back to 2009 unhealthy Brian.
If
you are reading, your help and support has been crucial in this fight, so I
thank you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Bring on 2017!
