Can anyone help me with this?

My surgery date is on October 3rd, Im super excited to finally have the surgery done. This is going to sound bad, but its a real concern for me. I am about 225 lbs and this is the heaviest I have ever been. I am really concerned about what I will look like after the weight is gone. How much loose skin will there be? Will I look better than I do now. That sounds crazy right??? I know losing the weight is the most important, especially for my health. Maybe Im just really anxious, border line scared!!
Sadly enough Im 37 years old and I look at myself with such disgust. My looks have always been important to me and over the years, I just let myself go. I just want to love myself and look in the mirror and like what I see.

At 37, you could be very lucky and the skin will contract.  It does for some.  It really depends on how long you have been overweight, the degree of stretching, your genetics.  Your surgeon could best tell you.

MOst everyone has a degree of excess skin.  In most cases it can be hidden under clothes.  

If it really bothers you, go ahead and start saving up for plastic surgery.  That is really the only long term guaranteed fix for loose skin.  Save your money on miracle creams, laser treatments and all of that BS - thats just designed to separate you from cash.

 I'm 38 and down 52 lbs and so far it's not bad. I have a couple spots but my health was way more important to me than the skin. There's always cosmetics!

You are young enough that it should tighten back up nicely.  Be sure to get exercise and lots of it.  That will help!  Good luck!

I lost 110 lbs more or less, and at age 60 @ time of surgery, that skin wasn't going anywhere.  It puddles a bit above the waistband on my pants, and my thighs look like swagged drapes, LOL.  Batwings are with me to stay.  I have no interest in plastic surgery.

The only things that bother me are the waist and arms.  For the waist I have one word:  shapewear, baby!  The best brand I've found is Lipo in a Box, better than Spanx.  As far as the batwings, for the longest time I thought quarter-sleeves would be my best friend, until the weather turned hot, and I discovered I don't give a rat's ass what my arms look like when the weather's hot.

Since you're a lot younger, your skin may bounce back a bit, as Bob says depending on how long you've been fat and genetics.  For us, and IMNSHO, it's a problem devoutly to be desired, compared to 250 lbs.  Last summer I sashayed around a hotel pool in a bathing suit, completely happy.  (The hour massage beforehand may have had something to do with my contentment!)

Good luck on your surgery!

"Sadly enough Im 37 years old and I look at myself with such disgust."

start there...  stop looking at yourself with disgust and start looking at yourself with love...  



just sayin'....


jeris

OK, honey.  This is a problem bigger than 225 pounds and saggy skin.  You have *got* to learn to love yourself *just like you are.*  If you are dissatisfied with how you look, there is plastic surgery.  But that body, that 225 pound body, is who you are, is part of the whole wonderful package of you. 
Did I abuse my body with food?  Yes.  But I have been working all my adult life to figure out how not to, and I might finally be getting there.  I don't have a traditionally beautiful body.  But it's carried me throughout this life, withstood my food abuse, and never let me down.  I don't have pert breasts or a flat tummy and my arms look like deflated, wrinkly balloons.  And that's OK.  I am still a sexy 52-yr-old woman!

Please try to be gentle with yourself.  It makes this all a lot easier!

 I was 40 years old and weighed 238 before my surgery.  6 years later, I have lost 106 pounds and have never had any loose skin.  Not everyone gets it and as you can see from the posts you are young enough that you are very likely to not get it.  you are about to do the best thing for yourself possible.  When you are wearing a size 4,6 or 8 you won't care about skin.  You will be thinking about adding a belt to your jeans because it makes your waist look even smaller.  I promise you that during the past 6 years since I have been a member on this site, I have seen hundreds of people who are not sure if the surgery will work for them.  Then they get it done and thier weight loss plateaus and they think the surgery is not working for them.  Then they get to their goal weight and they say not only did the surgery work...it changed their lives in wonderful ways.