48 Year Old Male Lower Body Lift After Large Weight Loss. - Golden, CO

I am a 48 year old 5'6" male that led a fairly sedative life style coupled with terrible eating habits for most of my adult life. About 7 years ago I saw a picture of myself at my heaviest which was 230 pounds, and could not believe how large I had allowed myself to get. Through college I was very active and that along with my young age, resulted in a metabolism that allowed me to get away with poor eating habits. Through an increase in activity levels, coupled with a much improved set of eating habits, I began a long slow decline in weight and about a year ago found myself at what I consider a good weight of 145 pounds. As I guess can be expected after such a weight loss at my age, I am left with significant amount of loose skin around my midsection, which I know can not be fixed in the gym. I live in Colorado and met with a couple of surgeons before deciding to go with Dr. Steven Vath at the Center for Cosmetic Surgery. I was really impressed with Dr. Vath's willingness to answer all my questions and his experience with tummy tucks/body lifts seems really extensive. I was initially drawn to him as he uses the "no-drain" technique with tummy tucks. We discussed both a tummy tuck and a body lift and I ultimately decided to go with the body lift surgery. I keep joking with my wife that I am "cutting myself in half", which of course she doesn't find funny. I've decided to document my experience here as there are just not a lot of men's stories. I am 12 days out and will post some "before pictures" in the next couple days.

Having some fairly regular freak out moments when I start thinking about the surgery.

Well I’m one week out. I’ve posted a few more before pictures. I’ve read a few people say to take lots of before pictures. Dr. Vath’s office called this morning to tell me they wanted to put me on a blood clotting medicine post-surgery because of some clotting issues in my family history. It’s nice to know they are taking every precaution to keep me safe.

Needless to say I am still very nervous. My wife is being supportive, and I’d really like to get some input from the community here on Real Self. I plan to document my journey for other men considering having this surgery. With that said, I’d like input support from anyone in the community (realizing it is largely made of women, and that men are much less apt to contribute).
Besides making it though the surgery safe and sound, my biggest concern is being able to find a comfortable position to sleep in the evening. I plan on moving a recliner into my bedroom and using pillows. My bedroom is upstairs, but , and I have read some people say they have not been able to deal with stairs for a while. At my pre-op they told me I can probably get up the stairs the evening of my surgery, but it might be a day or two before I can come back downstairs! The thought of being trapped upstairs for a couple of days has me a bit concerned.

So far Dr. Vath’s staff has been great. I called in once just to have them talk me off the ledge of nervousness, which they did quite well. In my pre-op appointment I never felt rushed and they answered all my questions. I forgot to mention that one of the reasons I picked Dr. Vath is because he uses the “no-drain” tummy tuck procedure, and the thought of not having to deal with drains is great. When we switched gears to the LBL surgery the plan is to still do it with no-drains. It will be great not having to deal with drains if he ultimately decides he does not need them.

Well that’s today’s posting, again I’d really appreciate some comments/support from the community here.