55 and Looking for a Kick Start! - Mississauga, ON

I am 5'4 and weigh 192lbs. My highest weight was 250lbs back in 2000. In 2009 I weighed 236lbs and had lap band surgery. I did a liquid fast for 3 weeks prior to surgery and lost another 15lbs. On the day of the surgery I was 221lbs. The surgery went well and we finally found the sweet spot where I could use it as a tool and be comfortable. My lowest since that surgery has been 176 on my own scale and 186 at the clinic. I lost a bit more weight after not requiring any more follow up. Then my dad got really sick and I spent a lot of time travelling to Toronto to be with him in the hospital. I ate out a lot and did not really care about my choices. I just returned to my comfort food zone. Gained 15 lbs over several stressful months and have been unable to lose it again. Of course I refuse to diet after having dieted my way to 250lbs! I am quite comfortable at my weight and look good in clothes but I really really dislike my belly. Haven't been able to see my vagina in years! I do not want to live this way anymore. Even when I was down to 176lbs my belly was in the way of everything. Bending over is suffocating, buying pants that fit my legs is impossible and I live in long tops that cover my flap. I am so tired of it. A year after my lap and surgery the Plastic Surgery Clinic held a dinner for all lap band patients. We listened to speakers and got to meet other lap banders. It just so happened that one of the speakers was Dr. Frank Lista and I swore then that if I ever got a tummy tuck I wanted him to do it. My first consult was in August of 2014 and I brought my husband with me. Dr. Lista explained everything to us and I felt quite comfortable with him. Even my husband was impressed. I however, couldn't justify spending all that money on myself. So a few months ago I started thinking about how I was only getting older and it was now or never. I booked a second consult in early December, saw Dr. Lista again and booked a surgery day, paid the deposit and here I am. Excited and nervous. There is no question that I want this done. And like all of us on here I have read the difficult healing stories, seen fabulous results, not so fabulous results and one horrific pic of an incision that completely opened. That one fried in my brain. I see it clearly anytime I think of it! Lol. I think all of the pics we see are important. The good, the bad and the ugly. We have to be aware of all possible outcomes and know that the majority of times it all works out. Plus out of over 14,000 reviews, 97% feel it's worth it. That's a huge percentage. I will post some before pics as well. The only reason I am able to do it is because of all of you brave people before me have posted your pics! It also helps others especially when we are looking for similar body types to get an idea of what the results might look like on our own body.

Just got confirmation that all blood work is good. All paperwork was sent in previously and is all in order. Feeling excited and nauseous at the same time!!!

The only thing I worried about was getting a cold before surgery. Silly me. Never even occurred to me that I would get shingles. On Frisay I had a splitting headache in half of my head. Could have split it right down the middle. Half my face was numb and tingly. I went to the ER and they did a physical assessment to see if it was a possible stroke, did blood work and sent me for a CT scan. Everything came back fine. The neurologist suggested it could be a tension headache or the beginning of shingles and that if I broke out in a rash to come back. I thought it was probably a pulled muscle in my neck. No such luck. Saturday the pain in my head was still bad. My hair even hurt on the one side of my head. That evening I noticed a couple of spots on my eye. Then a few more on my forehead. Sunday I went to our after hours clinic and yup, it was shingles. I started the antiviral Meds right away. So what really bites is that my surgery may need to be postponed. Still waiting to hear from my ps. I will be done the Meds a week and a half before my scheduled date of February 3rd. Kind of bummed at the possibility of being rescheduled but really there is nothing I can do. I thought the date was perfect for recovery. Hibernate in the winter for a few weeks! Supposed to hear tomorrow from my ps's office. In the meantime my head freakin hurts! Well, the right half anyway! Of course the rash couldn't be in a better spot. My right side of my forehead, my right eye, up into my hair. Looks just marvellous! I will let you know what my ps says. I am keeping my fingers crossed:))