My dermatologist suggested that I was going through post traumatic stress syndrome. I think this is probably true of all of us. We've undergone a traumatic event that cannot just be magically wiped away. We are reminded of the event in the mirror every day. I suppose many psychologists could deal with this, but I agree - many would just not quite understand. It's quite shocking that with the increasing emphasis on therapy in our society, we can't find someone who understands our story. I think of the Henry David Thoreau quote - "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation".
I would love to see a therapist, but unfortunately, I feel like I can't afford it because of the high out-of-pocket expense with my insurance. I'm also a single mom and struggle with finding the time to do this. And - final excuse - I do sense that it's probably hard to find someone who gets this. I look normal to anyone who meets me for the first time - it's not that I look disfigured - but I feel that I've been disabled. It's not just a looks thing. I feel very unhealthy and old before my time. I can't even exercise due to bursitis in multiple areas. It would be nice to go to a support group, but I don't know of any in my area. Sometimes I get the feeling that there's not that many of us out there. (Or maybe a large number of liposuction patients haven't clued in to what's going on.) Rose
Hi Kate8802,
I'm sorry to hear you had a bad result. You're in good company with this group! Did you have very much liposuction done? I had what I thought was a conservative amount of fat removal - abdominal liposuction and a slight breast reduction - and I still gained weight (and still struggle with it.) What kind of options are you looking at? Rose
Thank you for your words of encouragement, Julia. I think you're right about there being hope. I may not be able to exactly return to a pre-lipo state, but I have hope that putting some fat back will improve my situation. Based on what I've read, I'm certain that we currently have the technology to grow fat and implant it into the body. Heck, they're working on creating kidneys which are far more complex than a bunch of fat cells. One thing I know I do *not* want to do is take fat from one area and implant it to another. No more large fat removal for me! I would either want them to take a small amount of fat and grow the cells to larger numbers outside the body or use stem cells from the bone marrow to create the fat cells. (Both approaches have been taken, and I think there's still debate as to which is the better option.) I have to say, though, I would be petrified to proceed with this for fear that it would make the situation worse. I don't think I could cope with a worsening situation (e.g. fatter face, greater tendency to gain weight). I wish they would study this on animals like they do with many other medical conditions! Rose
Hi NewSelfNC,
I'm sorry for not answering sooner - I only just now saw your question. (I don't use my regular email so I sometimes miss postings.) I wouldn't say that anything went wrong with my *procedure* per se. The doctor supposedly took a conservative amount of fat, and I recovered from the procedure without any adverse event. One thing that is maybe different with me compared to others on this site is that I had fat removed from the abdomen and a little from the breasts. It's quite possible that removing fat from different areas has different effects. (In fact, I think this has been shown in various animal studies.) Having said that, some of the posters here report weight redistribution and an increased tendency to gain weight after lipo to the thigh. Fat removal - whether it's cut out, sucked out, or dissolved away - seems to result in a compensatory weight gain in other parts of the body. At least, that’s what animal studies show - it has been studied very little in humans. Regarding the time frame, I stepped on the scales about 1 month after the procedure, and I had gained about 3 pounds. After 9 months, I noticed that I looked chunkier all over in some vacation photos. I think that the redistribution was occurring slowly over several months, but I just hadn’t noticed it. My suggestion is that you wait at least a year before proceeding. From people’s reports, it seems that the weight redistribution occurs by that time frame. Good luck. Rose
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