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Did You Say, `Easy Way Out?!?`Posted Monday, March 10, 2008 to PROCEDURES > Body Posted by cathy As a plastic surgery writer, I've had the pleasure of helping a few post-bariatric surgery patients tell their stories. In fact, for the plastic surgery after weight loss site I wrote recently, I worked with four of the most wonderful women...I got lucky enough meet up with two of them personally for dinner a couple of weeks ago. Let me tell you, I have never run across women as courageous as these two. Not only have they been through a life-changing experience, losing over 100 pounds each, they are brave enough to be so brutally honest about their journey that I laughed until my cheeks hurt. They shared before and after pictures of themselves (yes, nude) that are far from flattering, and I cracked up as the banter flew back and forth. "Your butt looks like my face after I lost weight!" "Look! My boobs were down to my waist!" They also related stories of living with obesity that were both heartbreaking and hysterical. One of my new pals told about getting stuck in a chair at a fancy restaurant and how she spent the whole meal plotting her escape. Other snippets of life were heartbreaking without the laughs--friendships and even family relationships going by the wayside when someone is at last successful with weight loss. I began to understand why bariatric surgery patients feel betrayed when weight loss surgery is described in the media as "the easy way out." Apparently, Oprah herself has been guilty of giving this impression. Another patient I've spoken with recently, who spent two years in counseling and classes to prepare for surgery, said "It's absolutely NOT the easy way out." I understand now. It's what you do when all else has failed and you're desperate to get your health back. You have surgery, you commit to altering your eating patterns forever, you bear both the good and bad that come with your choice. Then there's the final insult, the extra skin that hangs around afterward that can make a face look like a butt. Plastic surgery after weight loss is in the cards for many post-bariatric patients for this reason. And lest you think that's a frivolous move, I could tell tales of people "wearing" paper towels under their belly skin in an attempt to keep the area dry and cut down on rashes and infections. I met my two new friends because they had plastic surgery after weight loss with a surgeon I've been writing for. I know from working with all of them that post-bariatric plastic surgery is not the easy way out either. Most people need more than one procedure, it's not inexpensive, and recovery takes time. Scars stay with you for life. But in the end, that's what it's all about, isn't it? For life! A brand new, hard-won life.
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