Male Tummy Tuck -Medford, OR

The weight loss was a combo of things. I weighted in at 440 lbs in 2009- and when I could no longer by weight in the doctors office, and had to go down to shipping and receiving and use the industrial shipping scales- THAT was the wake up call. At that point, I KNEW something had to be done. I started just walking behind my house- a little each day..1/4 mile, then 1/2 mile- slow, and having ALL sorts of knee, ankle, back, feet, etc issues going on because of the weight, this is where I tested myself- I knew if I didn't just walk thru the pain, and just keep doing it, that this was it- make or break. FIT or dead, and I KNEW those were the only options!! By 2010, I had dropped 70 or so lbs, around 375. I stablized for a couple of months, and was feeling alot better. I just happen to see a tv ad by a DR Curry, in Cincinnati. He runs a placed called "Journey Lite", and being that he, as well as most of all of his staff were gastric bypass veterans- (cause their AINT anything worse than having a skinny Minnie nurse/ dietitian TELL at FAT person their FAT- hey, guess what, we KNOW)- I made the call, and got into their next seminar. I had done a TON of research of various gastric bypasses, and had for 10 plus years. But the high mortality rates, with the "cut and paste" of most of them didn't appeal to me. When I learned of the sleeve, and that my insurance JUST started covering it, I was on board 100%. On Nov 7th, 2011, I weighted in at Dr's office at 377 lbs. Dr Curry wanted to shrink down my internal fat deposits around my abdomen, and wanted me down to at least 327 lbs b4 he would operate. At first, I was eating regular meals, albeit smaller and healthy, it just wasn't going fast enough, So I switched to medifast meals for all but a very small dinner, and with hitting the gym EVERYDAY for 2-4 hours (by this time, I had taken a buyout from my corp job, and was now devoting 100% of my time and energy to getting healthy. It was that dam desk job working 12-14 hrs a day for 25 yrs that HELPED me get to the sorry state I was in, so it had to go!!! And the way I looked at, if I hadn't made the change, what good is a high paying job in corp America if your DEAD...and that was where I was heading. Back to the weight loss- so by Feb, 2012- 3 months after meeting Dr Curry- I was down to 327 lbs, and he scheduled me for March 12, 2012 for my sleeve. On the morning of the operation, I weight 317. All in all, I have to say, the sleeve, and all of the procedures ( when and what to eat, how soon, pain, etc) was easy!! I know that most people will question that statement, but for me, it was! I had NO hunger, no pain, just spots of extreme weakness while my body adjusted to its "NEW" base energy levels!! Fat MELTED off- I kid u not when I say there were nights early on after the surgery, where I woke up 10 or 12 lbs lighter in ONE day!! In no time flat (STILL HITTING THE GYM EVERYDAY 2-4 hrs) I was down alot, By July 2012, 4 months post-op, I was down to the 235 lb range. The doctor, as well as his staff- all said I'd never get down to my old HS or Marine Corp weight (165 out of Parris Island in 1981). They had 207 as a goal, which I was happy with, but once I reached that, I made the mental decision to push on, and see where I could take this. By the spring of 2013, I reached 175 lbs, and had stablized at or near there for the last 6 months. On the day I had the tummy tuck, I was 166 lbs. In a nut shell, this has returned my life to me-I would rather now be homeless and under a bridge, and happy as I am now, vs going back to a 6 figure job in some big building, dying a slow, very painful, death from all the things piling up (diabetes, joint issues, heart, liver, kidneys, pain in moving- hell, the embarrassment of NOT fitting into the world). IF YOU CAN DO THIS- DO IT. SAVE your life- no amount of money, of stuff can replace your life. Even with insurance, I still had to pony up over 5k, but when YOU think of how much money was going down my mouth just to eat then vs now- I got that 5k back in a very few months...........Happy to alive again :)))

Oh my god what a journey!!   You are pretty amazing in the way you took your life back.  I agree, no amount of money in the world is worth dying.   You should be very proud of yourself.   New life and new you!    

You are an inspiration to many and I thank you for sharing your journey with us.  

Follow-up: It has been 5 months since the tummy tuck, and I also had the skin removed under from my arms and chest on Feb 4th, 2014, by Dr Kreul. The stomach is still TIGHT, and feels like I have a belt a little tighter than I need it. Other than that, no pain, and the scar is still gnarly looking, but is starting to fade some. Perhaps this is the feeling I'll have going forward, but I work on stretching every time at the gym (still going 3x or 4x a week, hour or two min). Paper tape was working for a long time, but gave it up when it really started to irritate my skin (regardless of the brand). I found I couldn't use the tape at all for my arms and chest- it was too much- always causing a red swelling, in addition to the fact it became harder and harder to get the left over glue off the scar without "ripping" the skin like a waxing!!! Ouch... Total skin removed from both- appx 15- 20 pounds. Its the ONLY issue I have w/ /Dr Kreul- he didn't bother to weight the removed skin, on either surgery. But, considering I weigh in now at 157, roughly (bounce from 152-160 range depending on amount of water weight/ exercise I do) 15 to 20 is my best guess. I did have quite a bit of swelling after the stomach- bloating all the way up to 190 pounds- which caused me to FREAK OUT- I had to wear 6-8 inch bigger pants while I was recovering- slowly shrinking back down, to my current size of a 31 inch waist, and size small on most clothes (from a high of 76 inches, and 7x shirt size before, and then prior to skin removal, I was at 34 inch pants, and a Med shirt). Here's is the most ironic thing from ALL of this-- I NEVER could buy clothes locally when I was a 7x kinda of guy, and NOW, I STILL CAN"T FIND CLOTHES!! Now I wear a size small, and NOBODY carries oodles of small size clothing...good god- so I went from HUGE, and bland, ugly clothes- cause that is what sell to fat people- and now, what ever I can find on the rack that fits me! CLOTHES- what a nightmare....IF you are even thinking of doing this- MY advise- start wearing a kilt, or some other kind of clothing that can adjust downward muliple times--- the money I spend on clothes makes me go crazy--BUT, I still would do it all over again... :)) ARMS- no where NEAR as painful/ pain in the a**, as the stomach!! But, still had some issues. Had a little infection, internally on my left arm- 2 months after the operation. Unknown why, and the Doctor and his staff were befuddled as to why after such a long time (scars were closed completely, and healed shut). Dr. Kreul gave me another round of antibiotics, which did clear it up- although I STILL have a small amount of fluid still remaining in that left arm, similar to the fluid built up post operation. The flare up happen after I did my first REALLY hard arm workout, so..... Its all going well overall, but I really wish this tightness around my waist would fade... Current sizes: 157 pounds, 31 inch waist, size small shirt- OH, and I can NOW wear my old Marine Corp dress uniform- and IT FITS!!!!!!!! How many 51 year olds out there can say that!!!

I am in complete awe...

Wow, what a great story of how you got energized and kept going until you had the weight off. You are an inspiration.

hey mike. choice to go w dr k was mostly due to a friend who works in the hospital in GP, and Dr K had/has a really great rep amongst the people who work in that area. The 8k was everything. Not sure how pricing works, might be based on each patient.. He was great for me. That's all I can tell you. I was NOT locked into a local or even regional doctor- I could have gone anywhere- it just so happened the doctor I felt the most comfortable w was Dr K.

Hey man, wanted to say thanks for your story. I'm going in, today 11/11/14 for extended abdplast (amongst a few other things), w/ Dr Kreul.

Good luck ! Dr Kreul will work w/ u, and don't be afraid to be an active patient- Its your life- right!! And SOON you will have it back!!!!!!!!!!

Sore! It will get better !! Get up and move; it really does help. I remember doing a lot of "small step" walking right after my surgery last year ( we had that storm that dumped a bunch of snow, and it stayed cold enough to leave the roads and walk ways an icy mess!! I just finished up w/ Dr K about 2 weeks ago- free and clear! Did you require drains? If you did, pay extra attention to treating those areas of the scar- it will be the last to heal, and last to start to fade (if at all). Stay hydrated- and for crying out loud- stand up straight :)) just kidding- it will be awhile before you do that... :) Good luck, hope it all goes as planned, but if it doesn't- adapt, adjust, and overcome ! Say hello to Dr K and the staff for me!

Had just the 1 JP drain, was pulled yesterday (1wk post op). Really eager to get back to working out, if all goes as planned hopefully get permission to start light cardio next week. Really wanna see what I can do w/ my ab definition!