Changes for The Better
LIVING IN EXCESS How body contouring helped one man fit in his skin again.
by DEREK GENOVESE
See James’ video story at BestDocsNetwork. com
James, on the far left, after his weight loss and body contouring procedure.
At his heaviest, James weighed 485 pounds. Four years later he lost 300 pounds without the use of surgery.
“ I just woke up one morning and decided that I was tired of being the fat guy,” James, who will be identified by first name only to grant anonymity, said.
From that moment on, James did everything he could to lose the weight naturally. Losing 300 pounds is quite the accomplishment but it did come with a price. James was left with excess and loose skin.
Every year nearly 220,000 people undergo bariatric surgery and whether the weight was lost through diet and exercise or surgery, it typically ends with the same result. The weight is gone, but the leftover skin remains.
Coincidentally, the more weight one person gains, the less elastic it becomes. Skin is naturally very elastic, but once its limit is reached the body begins to produce more skin cells. The sagging skin after someone undergoes massive weight loss are the over produced cells. Age is also an important factor in one’ s skin elasticity. The younger someone is, the more
Photos Courtesy of James
James, on the far right, before his weight loss and body contouring procedure.
collagen is present in their cells and the more likely they are able to regain their original shape.
Unfortunately for James, the extra skin began keeping him from enjoying his everyday life. One of James’ s favorite activities was road biking, but sitting in that position brought attention to his problem.“ As I would bend over you’ d feel( the skin) especially in the abdominal area, you’ d feel that skin as I was bent over biking,” described James. He was ecstatic to lose more than half of his own weight, but his situation still left him feeling uncomfortable.
Back when James began his weight loss journey, he reached out to a friend, plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Ha. James’ s wife and
Dr. Ha’ s wife had grown up together, so James sought him out to do the plastic surgery after he was done losing the weight. Dr. Ha is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and received his plastic surgery, craniofacial, and pediatric plastic surgery training from UT Southwestern Medical Center. He practices at Ha Plastic Surgery and the Pediatric Plastic Surgery Institute in Dallas and Frisco respectively.
Dr. Ha described his meeting with James saying,“ I was able to sit down with him and we came up with a very tailored specific plan for him. His primary concern was around his trunk, his arms and his breasts.”
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the abdominal, arm, breast and buttocks are the most common areas addressed in a body lift. A comprehensive body lift includes upper and lower body lifts. The body lift should always come at the end of any massive weight loss experience. Because every patient’ s body is unique, a customized procedure is necessary in order to achieve the best results.
Dr. Ha continued,“ We addressed all those areas through a comprehensive body lift and his results are outstanding.”
James agreed saying,“ Now it’ s just a natural curve and feels normal.”
Understanding and maintaining expectations plays an important role when undergoing any type of plastic surgery.
“ He’ s going to let you know what you’ re up against, how it’ s going to work and the way it’ s going to all pan out. Everything he told me in the beginning is exactly how it went,” says James.
Now when James wakes up in the morning, he no longer has to worry about“ being the fat guy” and he can continue participating in his favorite activities without hesitation.
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