Body Lift After 285lb Weight Loss - Kansas City, KS

I am a 26 y/o male who had a Lap RNY in April of 2013, after which I dropped from my highest weight of 455 lbs to 170 lbs. While I was very happy with my results from the bypass, the weight loss left me looking very "deflated" and the extra skin was really depressing me. I had met with a few plastic surgeons in the KC area and I decided upon Dr Cannova after being referred to him by my therapist (and seeing her own impressive results). I had the procedure performed on 4/8/15 and am 1 week out today. So far, I have to say I am very very happy with the results from my body lift. There is definitely some pain and a lot of swelling, but I am really excited to see where my results will be a few weeks.. then months down the road. I will try to keep this post updated weekly for the first 2 months of my recovery to help others know what they can expect.

This week is when I finally started feeling like myself again. During my last visit with the Dr he encouraged me to walk as much as comfortably possible. It took a few days but I am back up to 10k+ steps a day and I can definitely tell the difference in how I feel. I am still very swollen in my abdomen and legs (and still weigh more than I did pre-op), I was assured today that this is normal and will resolve in a few weeks. During my office visit today the Dr removed my 2 remaining drains (hence the gauze you see in the photos below). I am still very happy with my results and can't wait till the swelling goes down further. Thanks for reading, please let me know if you have any questions about my experience and I will answer as best I can :)

This week has been a bit rougher to say the least. My energy levels bottomed out this past weekend (my calorie intake was normal for me - approx 2200 a day)- then my appetite came back with a vengeance and I just couldn't stop being hungry, so I ate 4k calories a day for 3 days and then paid the price in swelling. I am normally someone who is very very strict about what I eat but I seriously had no control those days, I've never felt anything like it. The Dr reassured me today that this is all part of the natural healing process and that I am progressing as expected. I personally feel like I have passed the turning point because my energy is starting to rebound again. I also am experiencing a small complication with the backside of my incision- there is a very very small opening in the incision (less than 3mm) The Dr expects it to heal without intervention, he instructed me to completely eliminate bending as much as possible during the next week (and admittedly I've definitely been bending and should have known better). I am feeling a lot better now that my appetite is normal for me again, just trying to get in as much water as possible and get this swelling down. Thank-you for following please let me know if you have any questions.