Pannus Concerns

FWIW, I started at barely 40 BMI (had to gain to qualify) and had been MO for at least 15 years, if not longer. I am 45 years old and 5'9" tall. I have lost just shy of 90 lbs since June. I carried my weight mostly around my middle and in recent years it had spread out from there to arms, legs, whatever. (take a look at the was/is photo in my OH pics). I work out with a trainer 2x week but try to get as much cardio in at the gym or in the neighborhood as possible on my off days. I'm netting an average of about 550 calories per day since early November.

My belly looks like punched-down bread dough/deflated balloon at the moment, but it IS shrinking such that there is little to no hang left right now at ~20 lbs from goal. I can no longer hear it flapping when I do jumps in cardio (it used to- embarrassing in front of my trainer!). I don't think I will need a pannulectomy to remove a hangover, but it is possible that I may want one because the skin texture is so bubbly now from stretch marks and loss of elasticity. As others point out, it's easy to cover up with clothes.

As for romance and intimacy, I am long-time married and hubby can't keep his hands off of me lately. I have read reports by others who are single that they are nervous about intimacy but once they are in the moment, there are no issues. Have you checked out the sex after weight loss forum? You may find helpful content there.

I hope this helps in some way.

Laurie

Thank You Laurie.

In the beginning I was super psyched about the idea of being eligible for this surgery. I had read a TON of information and knew that I met all the qualifications and suggestions from others that have done it. I have struggled, actively, for 10+ years on a conscious level. I have been overweight my entire life and have tried every "tried-and-true" diet and even most of the "fad" diets.

I admit I am in a slightly different situation as I have no comorbidities and while my focus is on being healthy and the future I would be lying if I denied this was partially for vanity, as I have never been in a situation where I was not considered "morbidly obese". The thought of what could possibly change in my non-existent love life is awesome. Its not only the concern with being seen with my clothes off, it is also knowing that there is a chance that someone will give me the time of day to get to know me which has never happened. (I realize small town mentalities do not help but I cannot change that).

I wouldn't even say that the possibility of developing a pannus would be enough to turn me off of the surgery I was just not finding reliable depictions of real world scenarios of the results of WLS. Everyone seems to be super willing to share their negative results and unattractive results if it was not what they expected but very few have provided useful information like the information you have provided in your profile.

So again I must thank you it was truely refreshing to hear your story and read the results of your journey.

 

For what it's worth, my husband has a BMI of ~41 with a hanging belly and has since I met him 11 years ago when we were in college. I thought he was cute and sexy then, and I still do now, and it's because of what's on the inside just as much as what's on the outside. So don't lose hope! :)

Again I appreciate the vote of confidence but I've tried every dating site/service available I can find, made a conscious effort to socialize with groups in college and the "real" world and I feel as though my size has always dictated the outcome of my encounters. I could get talking with someone and everything would seem like it was going well then the would see pictures or meet me and then suddenly disappear.

I had even taken to attending "bear" nights at the local watering hole as it usually attracts a group of people interested in guys my size and build. The result was almost always getting hit on by someone much larger and much (20+) years older then me. Or stuck talking to the bartender, also much larger and older...

Time for a change, I think this will help reduce the instances of immediate rejection based solely on size.

Thanks for the reply :)

It really is difficult to get an estimate simply because everyone's body is different. There are LOTS of factors to consider: body shape (how you carry your fat), how long you've been overweight, how many times you've gained/lost weight and how many times the skin has stretched and bounced back, age and elasticity.

I did a bit of digging through PubMed (hooray data!) and couldn't come up with any stats for the US, but I did find a couple of international studies. It's difficult to make cross-cultural comparisons, particularly due to healthcare coverage issues and such, but at least it's something. It does make me wonder if 95% is a BIT high of an estimate, between those who are actually strongly interested in surgery and those who can actually finance it. Just something to consider :)

Saudi Arabia: Of patients receiving WLS over a 6 month period, 78% were interested in body-contouring surgery. At the time of publication, only 10 of 128 actually went through with an abdominoplasty.

Mexico: Of 684 WLS patients surveyed, only 10% had abdominoplasty post-surgery.

Finland: In a survey of 360 WLS patients, 62% had a "high" or "very high" desire for abdominal plastic surgery; patients 3+ years out from surgery showed a significantly lower desire.