I thought I'd provide some of the helpful resources that I have found whilst I was researching about Tummy Tucks and Breast Uplift procedures.

It's a collection of information about the procedures themselves and some first hand experiences from other people (I've found these the most useful).

*** Tummy Tuck Resources ***

Christa Cox
I very recently found Christa when I was googling for more tummy tuck experiences. Christa has very detailed and informative vlogs about her tummy tuck experience. What to expect before and after surgery, how to prepare for surgery and the recover afterwards. She's been doing frequent update son her scars too.

Runs for Cookies
I've been reading Katies blog since I first started my blog and started building up a reader of other bloggers. I noticed she'd had a Lower Body Lift through her blog tabs at the top of her page.

Although her surgery procedure was different to the tummy tuck that I am booked for, I have still found all her posts extremely helpful as there is tonnes of info and a detailed account of how her recovery was after the surgery.

Beth's Journey
Beth is another blogger that I found close to around the time that I started out with my blog. Again, I noticed that she had Plastic Surgery - She had an Extended Abdominoplasty with Flank Lipo, so not exactly the same as me, but again, every little helps with regards to what to expect. She's documented before and after her surgery and has been posting about her recovery after her surgery.

PriorFatGirl
Another blogger, Jen went through a tummy tuck, she's also had the excess skin on her arms removed. She's provided a wealth of information about the tummy tuck, her consultations, her recovery and scar updates.

Makeup Geek
I originally was watching Makeup Geek (Marlena) where I went through a phase of really wanting to get into makeup and watching makeup tutorials *rolls eyes* It didn't happen for me.

Marlena has vlogged about her Tummy Tuck Surgery and recovery after surgery. She also did a whole post on her website about preparing for surgery which I've found massively helpful!

BlueEyedBetty
Found Lauren on Instagram. She has had a tummy tuck, she provides information and pictures on her instagram with regards to her scar updates and also vlogged about her tummy tuck and check ins after having her surgery.

*** Breast Uplift Resources ***

Tittilicious(Warning: NSFW)
I'm not sure of the womans name, I'll be sure to ask her. I literally found her today whilst browsing the internet and she's had a breast uplift and then implants as a second procedure. She had the same surgeon as me at the same company so its actually been an awesome resource for me to find out what it will be like.

Breast Buddies
This is an online forum full of loads of people that have had different types of breast surgery, their stories, chances to ask any questions or have questions answered through other peoples questions, it's definitely been a helpful resource.

*** General Surgery Resources ***

RealSelf
This site has loads of information, from reviews, Q+As, people documenting the recovery from surgery. Found some great pieces of information on here and its definitely worth a browse around.

---

I've definitely found more results for Tummy Tucks than I have for Breast Uplifts, Theres plenty of resources via the forum and the Real Self website.. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

It's been helpful to get lots of peoples perspectives on tummy tucks. Everyone has a different experience, everyone has a different recovery so its good to see it from all angles.

So, I'm almost coming up to a month before my surgery date. It's nerve wracking. I'm starting to have dreams about it. Some not so pleasant. I'm not sure whether reading about the surgeries is helping or hindering me at the moment.

I do however think that knowing more about the recovery from other peoples perspectives is going to help me with my recovery and that's the reason why I keep reading about it. I want to be as prepared as I can.

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*** Specific Tummy Tuck Questions ***

So, I went for my third and final consultation for Skin Removal surgery with The Hospital Group.
If you haven't checked out my how my other consultations went, you can click the Plastic Surgery tab at the top of the page!

I emailed the Sally, my surgery coordinator that saw me the last time that I came in for a consultation. She notified me that surgery dates for booking are only available two months prior to when you are considering having surgery.  I was pretty set on April, so I emailed her at and asked if I could have an appointment to see her to have a look at surgery dates and ask her some questions I had.

She mentioned that there was another surgeon in on the 7th February if I wanted to see a second surgeon. Originally, I was just going to go along with the first surgeon and book with him, but I saw no harm in having another consultation so I agreed.

The surgeon I was going to see was Mr Mario Russo (he is going to be my surgeon in April). I did some research on him to find out a little more about him. He's a celebrity surgeon, has been on TV for surgery like Embarrassing Bodies (show in the UK) and is famous with TOWIE stars.

I found out his nickname is 'Dr Boob' which seems quite appropriate as that's an area I was looking at having and I've heard a lot of good things about his work.

So, I went to see him on the 7th of February. Much like last time, I had to fill in my medical history and the clinic was running late again, meaning I had to wait 45 minutes past my appointment (this is the only thing bugging me currently, I HATE waiting around when my appointment is for a certain time).

The fundamentals of the actual consultation went pretty similar to the last one. Mr Russo went through my medical history, asked me why I was there and then examined me, same as last time.

However, I didn't get the same outcome that I expected based on the other consultation. He gave me his recommendation of a Breast Uplift with Implants and a Tummy Tuck.

Image Sourced from Real Self and ammended for Tummy Tuck Illustration

Straight away, I asked why he didn't recommend a Fleur De Lis like the other surgeon. To which he explained that its a procedure that he would ONLY perform on patients that had really dramatic loose skin following weight loss and that I would achieve the same (flat stomach) results having a tummy tuck as I would from a Fleur de lis (but minus the scar, which is a HUGE bonus!).

He showed me the results that I would have afterwards by pulling and stretching the loose skin from my stomach downwards and explaining what he would remove and what I would be left with.

I expressed my concerns raised during my previous consultation, where the other surgeon mentioned that if I had a tummy tuck alone, when I bent over, the pouch of skin would still hang around my mid section.

Mr Russo is confident that this is not going to be an issue if I have a tummy tuck and I suppose if the results don't turn out as I expect, then I will have the opportunity to express this afterwards, but I'm pretty happy that Mr Russo feels confident enough to say that I won't have a problem.

He explained the scarring and any possible risks from surgery, something they have to tell us about. This included, obviously, the effects of having a child and that some of the results COULD be reversed. He also mentioned implant rejections, where your body can reject a foreign object such as the implant. A low possibility, but a risk that still needs to be mentioned.

He said that both the surgeries could be done in one, rather than the recommended two from the other surgeon (I asked Sally about this, it is based on how fast the surgeon is able to do the procedures).

I then met up with Sally, I explained that I wanted to see both of the surgeons work to see a comparison. Both of them were quite good. Mr Russo is very neat with his lines and is a perfectionist in the breast area, all of his work looked amazing!

I decided there and then to book the surgery with Mr Russo for the 10th April.

Generally, overall I felt happy with Mr Russo, he made me feel comfortable, I was able to have a normal conversation with him, he didn't make me feel nervous or embarrassed and seem to be very confident that I would achieve 'perfect (in his words) results'.

It's been quite a good outcome. I don't have to have two sets of surgery, which I was worried about for work. I would have had to have 2 lots of 2-3 weeks off work, which isn't very good for me when I'm in training at the moment.

It would also mean I'd be out of exercise for a very long time and I wasn't too happy about that. The thirdly, I wont need to have the big vertical scar going up the middle of my body - which for sure would get questions all the time and was one thing that almost put me off.

I know that a lot of people can see loads of surgeons before ultimately making the big decision but I'm happy with my decision to have Mr Russo as my surgeon.

I'm looking forward to it. I'm trying not to really look at any photos or read up much about the surgery because it makes me really nervous. I don't deal with pain well or anything gruesome looking, so I'm pretty sure looking at the scars after surgery is going to be quite an ordeal in itself.

but bring on 7 weeks! It's going to fly by!

Question: Do you get the heebie-jeebies when you look at something gruesome?
Do you think you have a low or high pain threshold?

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This is going to be a fairly long post in itself for just covering the first consultation, so unfortunately, I will have to make a separate post for my other consultation, but I suppose its also a good thing, too much information in one is not necessarily the best idea.

So, as I'd already explained in my previous post, The Harley Medical Group was a NO for me. I had already researched a bunch of companies that were potentials and when watching Embarrassing Bodies one night, The Hospital Group was on there for some surgery (I can't remember the procedure).

Image Source from the Hospital Group Website.

I looked them up online that very same night and saw the celebrities that they've worked on, I did some research on the company and some of the surgeons and decided that I would go for a consultation. I emailed The Hospital Group and arranged to see a surgeon at their Cambridge Clinic.

I was booked to see a surgeon on the 30/11/2013. I did not get to pick a surgeon when I booked the consultation, but I am assuming that if I had a particular surgeon I wanted to see, that this could be arranged.

The routine was pretty much similar to that for my other consultation, I filled in a bunch of Medical History Information and waited to see a surgeon(I was waiting over an hour which is the only thing I've been unhappy about).

The surgeon was polite, went through my medical history info that I'd supplied and asked me why I was there.

After telling him I'd lost a lot of weight and had loose skin, he then examined me. As I expected, he did agree that I would need a Breast Uplift and also suggested that I would need a Fleur De Lys Tummy Tuck rather than a normal tummy tuck.

He said that because the skin on my upper abdomen is also loose, a regular tummy tuck would not rid me of all the skin and that if I lean over, I would still have a dangling pouch around my midsection.

Image Sourced from Real Self

It's ridiculous thinking about how CLOSE I am to going in for surgery. 8 WEEKS! If this is news to you, I did do another post about the date for my surgery. I can't wait to get it over and done with. I now think its agonizing having to wait for it!

Until Next Time!

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This is going to be a very quick update,  but I did not see the point in keeping hold of the news until I get round to my next Plastic Surgery post next week.

I went to my 3rd Skin Removal Consultation today. I went with the intentions of booking regardless of the outcome. I was going to pick between the two surgeons that I'd seen for this particular company.

I have now picked my surgeon and I'm very happy about my decision. I have also BOOKED my surgery and it will be happening on the 10th of April.
I'm both nervous and excited. I know now that it's something real and it will be happening, quite soon as well.

Nervous as hell because I don't deal with pain very well, but I'm also MAJORLY excited about it finally happening. You'll have known from reading my blog posts on surgery, that its something that I've been thinking about for a very long time and it has just become VERY real.

In 2 months time, I'll be under the knife having my excess skin from my breasts and stomach area removed.

Nervous but Excited.

Keep your eyes peeled for a post going up next week regarding my other two consultations. Please go and read my other post about my first consultation if you missed it :)

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As always, if you've not read any of my previous Skin Removal Posts, you can click the Plastic Surgery Tab at the top of my blog to read those first :)

So, I'll be talking about the first consultation that I had regarding Skin Removal Surgery with a private company Harley Medical Group.

Image Sourced from Google Images

After looking around at different private companies for skin removal surgery, I came across Harley Medical Group. I'd heard of them before, they're  quite a popular company for skin removal surgery and I'd seen some of the adverts on TV.

I emailed through their websites for price enquiries for the procedures that I was looking at having and was asked if I wanted to come in for a free consultation. PERFECT! Being able to talk to a professional about what I wanted done. I had my consultation on the 28th October (2013).

The clinic wasn't too far away from where we live, around a 30 minute drive (I take this into consideration as this is where my post-op appointments would be).

I was obviously nervous upon arriving as it is a big deal to me. I was met by a Nurse and she made me feel welcomed and calmer. I filled in paperwork, the paper work is your details and your medical history to fill in. After it was all done, I went in for my consultation.

The nurse went over my details with me and asked me what I was there for and we had some general chit chat about my weight loss. I was examined, the most embarrassing part of it all. If I am embarrassed at looking at myself in the mirror, I wasn't exactly comfortable with someone else taking a look.

The nurse agreed that both procedures were necessary as the loose skin I have cannot be reduced through exercise or diet.

I was told that a Breast Uplift and Tummy Tuck was recommended, they explained the procedures and the scarring that I would have after the procedures. I was also notified of the risks of my results of surgery being reversed if I were to have kids and that she wouldn't recommend breast feeding as that can also reverse the effects.

I did ask whether or not I would need implants based on the amount of breast tissue I have left and was not given a clear answer. Not much detail was gone into about the tummy tuck either, it seemed like a breast uplift was the main topic to talk about.

This was the disappointing part of my consultation. I would have to have ANOTHER consultation with an actual surgeon to find out more information that I required and this came with a fee. Only the surgeon would be able to tell me whether or not I would need breast implants.

I was given a quote for both of the procedures and had the opportunity to ask any questions (I'll go over questions and answers in another post when I've been through all of my consultations).

I was given an information pack containing quotes for procedures, information booklets for each of the procedures and a resume for the surgeon that would perform the procedures.

This was another part that I wasn't particularly happy about. There were no list of surgeons that could perform the surgery. After the consultation, I had a look at my information pack and decided to do some research on the surgeon that I was recommended. Unfortunately, I couldn't find ANY information at all on this surgeon other than that he was GMC Registered which was concerning.

I couldn't view his work or find anything about the type of work that he had performed. I looked on the Harley Medical Group website and again, could not find any information on any of the surgeons that they have working for them, which I found odd.

I decided not to proceed any further, I would purely be going on word of mouth and recommended surgeons by the company themselves rather than that of patients experience.

That's not to say that other people wouldn't have a good experience with them. The Nurse who did my consultation was great, but this is such a big deal to me and not being able to find any surgeon information was a bad point that pushed my decision.

So overall, it wasn't a good start to my consultations. I've had another consultation with a different company and I'm having a second consultation with a different surgeon from the same company tomorrow.

I'll be writing a blog post to sum up the other consultations into one post for next week.

If you  have any questions to ask, feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email at: laurafat2fit@gmail.com

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If you haven't seen my other surgery posts, please feel free to navigate to them via the Plastic Surgery Tab at the top of the page.

So, I'd been thinking about surgery for a long time before deciding to do anything about it. I'd brought it up once or twice when I'd gone to see my GP about other issues but never sat down properly to discuss my excess skin issues.

I'd been advised on previous occasions, without a GP actually looking at my loose skin, that it was something that could be done on the NHS but had certain criteria to meet to be considered.

I booked an appointment to see my GP on 8th of October last year. I was actually pretty disappointed about it. My GP didn't seem to know much  about weight loss, loose skin or even the procedures and criteria for the getting anything done through the NHS.

She had a look at the loose skin around my stomach and by look, I mean literally, all she did was take a quick look and then said that was fine.

I initially wanted to know if it was something that could be done via exercise and I might be able to tighten up, but nothing, no advice.

She said she didn't know the procedure for having it done through the NHS and would find out from her colleagues and give me a call back. She advised me of a Private Company that she would recommend to get prices for surgery if it was not available on the NHS.

I think I knew by then that it was something that could not be done via the NHS. My GP didn't seem to care, so much so that I even had to ring up to find out if she had the criteria I asked for.

The Criteria she gave me were:
* If loose skin in areas is causing mental or physical problems and causing lifestyle issues.
* Be within a normal BMI range
* Have maintained weight for 2 years.

Unfortunately, I didn't meet the criteria of having maintained my weight for 2 years and therefore told me to come back then. 2 Years is a long time to wait when you're suffering both mentally and physically.

I wont go on a rant about how much I think it sucks that the NHS won't help. I just have to do it on my own and that's what I'm doing.

By all means, if you've got issues with loose skin, go and see your GP for advice, from my perspective, they didn't help but it may be different for others.

----

I started my research at this point into Private Companies that could be considered for my skin removal surgery. I browsed several websites, looked for 'reviews' so to speak and emailed a few of the companies about quotes for both procedures I wanted done.

Spire was a Private Company recommended by my GP, these came out at the most expensive for the surgery and asked for a £250 fee for an initial consultation.

I decided not to get a consultation with this company, for every consultation (such as if I decided to see a different surgeon for another consultation), I would have to pay the fee again. I thought this was a little extortionate.

I have had two consultations with two different private companies and will be going for a third consultation with another surgeon from the second company.

I will go into some detail about each of the consultations that I've had so look out for those posts. I'll be sticking with Thursdays for my Plastic Surgery updates.

I'd also like to say a massive Thank You for all the support that I've received from these posts on my blog and social media. It was tough to post.

If you have any questions that you would like to ask, then feel free to comment below or even email me at laurafat2fit@gmail.com and I will be sure to answer them as best as possible.

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Wasn't quite sure what to call this post.. but I thought this might be appropriate. This post is about my 'after' of weight loss, but it is my 'before' of skin removal surgery so I thought it would be quite appropriate.

So, the post I've been dreading, but maybe one that you may be intrigued about. My loose skin photos..

So, first off, I think a clothed CURRENT before and after photo would be a good start..
Clothed, everything looks fine. I don't think that people suspect that there is anything different than other people walking down the street.

For myself, when I look down, I'll admit that if I wear anything even remotely tight fitting, for example in the photo above in my running gear.. when I look down at myself, I can SEE a bump.. and I can get pretty paranoid as it kinda looks like I'm  a couple months pregnant from that angle and its not something I would want someone asking me, especially if I wasn't.

As I mentioned in my first surgery post, there are other, more uncomfortable factors that come to hand, such as soreness, but we're talking on a pure looks perspective here.

So, lets get onto the uncomfortable part for me.. which is the actual pictures of my loose skin.

For obvious reasons here, I will NOT be showing full pictures of loose skin on my breasts as its a little I am not comfortable with putting these photos on my blog. I do, however, have one picture, but it does not show the full extent of the loose skin around my breast area.

Pinching the loose skin around my breast area

As you can see from the above photo, I am able to freely pinch quite a large area of loose skin around the breast area and as you can see, looks wrinkled.

Now, I'll share full photos of my stomach area and the loose skin that I have here.

Stomach, Stood Up.

 The above photo is when I'm stood up. My stomach protrudes and hangs. I've also go the little flap of skin above my stomach area where my abdominals are supposed to be.

It affects my exercise in many ways as both the flaps of skin will bounce around and cause quite a bit of discomfort with high impact exercises.

With normal underwear, it is impossible to tuck away unless I was to wear Granny Pants. It also means that I need to wear a size up in pants.. I actually don't know what size I would be in trousers. I'm currently a UK size 14.. sometimes a 12 in trousers, I'm able to tuck my stomach into trousers, but not into underwear.

As far as measurements are concerned I am:
On smallest part of waist: 27 Inches
On Largest part of belly: 35 Inches

That's quite a significant difference between the smallest part of my waist and the widest part. 8 Inches. These measurements have not changed within the last ~8 or so months, with hard work and diligence, it just will not budge.

Next, is a picture of my stomach when I am laying down, which is quite uncomfortable and rather disgusting for me to look at. It goes into a squidgy wrinkly mess when I lay down.

Stomach, Laying Down.

So, there you have it. My loose skin in all its ugliness. I know this is not half as bad as what some other people have going on, but as I mentioned in my very first post about skin removal surgery (HERE if you missed it), it affects me physically, but also mentally and can cause such a drain on my mood.

Regardless of the loose skin that I have now, I, in no way, regret loosing the weight and would do it a million times over. I would rather have the loose skin that I have now, than feel the way I did when I was at 258 lbs. That's not to mention the stress and the health complications that may have come along with staying at the size that I was.

Please, if you're afraid of having loose skin at the end of your weight loss journey. Don't be. This DOESN'T  happen to everyone.  I have seen plenty of weight loss stories and journeys on social media where people, heavier than me, have lost a lot of weight and have not had loose skin.

I do not know the reason why I have loose skin and they don't, but this is the way it has happened and I am grateful for a supportive Fiance and family that are supporting me through the next step in my journey.

If anyone has ANY questions at all, please feel free to leave a comment or email me if you'd like at laurafat2fit@gmail.com and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I am TERRIFIED of posting this, so please, please be nice!

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 As far back as I can remember, I've always been unhappy with how my body has looked. As a teen, I was the biggest of my friends and never really felt like I fit in. I couldn't wear the same cute clothes as everyone else and I HATED getting changed with everyone else for P.E in high school for fear of people passing judgement.

As I got older, and went to college and then university, I transitioned from being overweight to obese. My already low self-esteem and confidence got worse and  I was constantly worried about judgement from others when out in public.

Now, I've completely transformed my life. I've lost 123 lbs and got to my goal weight. I've found confidence(somewhat) and I've learnt a lot of lessons about myself, like how to never underestimate myself and what I can accomplish(proved by me running a HM in May last year).

I've never really stopped to give myself credit for how far I've come and the hard work that I've put in to get me to where I am now. One(or rather two) things have been holding me back. It affects me physically but more mentally then anything else and its the extra skin and fat that I have been left with both around my abdomen and my breasts - the after effects of having lost nearly a whole person.

With clothes on, I just look like an average sized woman, but underneath is a whole different story. Although my confidence has improved somewhat after weight loss, I still don't feel like myself and I have worked SO hard to get to where I am and I still have a lack of self-esteem and confidence.

I hate getting undressed in front of people, even Phillip, I don't like when he looks at me when I'm getting changed. I don't like wearing anything that is tight fitting to my body as I feel uncomfortable and nervous that someone will make comment.

I've been thinking about this for a long time now, I always knew there would be a possibility of loose skin even before I had reached my goal weight. I have been doing really well with maintenance of my weight since I hit my goal back in November.

Id been trying for MONTHS before reaching my goal weight to see if toning and adding weights to my workout schedule would help to reduce/lift the skin in these areas and make them look better, but to no avail.

After 6 months of measurement and picture taking, everything was exactly the same. My stomach still overhangs and my breasts are still just as saggy as they were before.

I am almost 24/7 wearing a bra, as it is too uncomfortable to go without and my breasts will ache and be sore. In some high impact exercises, my stomach will bounce around and this will hurt as the skin pulls and tugs each time.

After a lot of thought and research on Youtube, other blogs, before and after pictures and advice from my GP. I have decided to move onto the next step of my journey and will be going ahead with Plastic Surgery on my Abdomen and Breasts to remove the excess skin and fat.

I have not yet booked my surgery, but I have been for two consultations and I have decided on my surgeon of choice who will perform both procedures.

I will be making separate posts on my consultations and any further posts about the next steps and you will also be able to keep track with this journey in the Plastic Surgery Tab at the top of the page.

They are both major surgeries, they require a lot of research and though and a large investment in time and money, but I'm sure it will all be worth it once its done.