The Body Lift After Gastric Bypass Surgery
Imagine dropping from 305 pounds to less than 130, only to be left with the skin from your 305 pound body. It kind of puts a damper on the weight loss. So, after Marilyn Jacobson had Gastric Bypass surgery, she looked into having a body lift.
"You have to wear long sleeves, you have to wear a foundation, you have to wear a girdle," Marilyn said.
Gastric Bypass surgery left 48-year-old Marilyn with rapid weight loss and massive folds of skin to restrain.
"Otherwise, you're lumpy all over," Marilyn said.
As a relations manager for a local health care company, she wanted to finally be free from the skin that occupied her formerly obese self.
So, she had her body lifted by Dr. Gwen Maxwell.
She had more than 40 pounds of skin removed.
For the body lift, incisions are made over the hip and into the back, skin is removed and pulled up and liposuction smoothes it all out, said Dr. Gwen Maxwell.
"Maybe they've lost 200 lbs and they have a sort of skirt of skin that hangs over, down to their knees and they can't even hardly work, let alone exercise," Maxwell said.
That makes someone a good candidate for a body lift, as opposed to someone who only has a minor problem, Maxwell said.
"They will accept the scar and any potential little things that could go wrong because the cosmetic improvement is so great," Maxwell said.
At Dr. Maxwell's office, the body lift costs $11-13,000 and the breast lift costs around $5600.
The procedure can take five hours and initial healing can take three to four weeks, Maxwell said.
Marilyn said she doesn't worry about becoming "addicted" to surgery after having such a dramatic change, she's just enjoying the freedom.
"I don't know that I would wear a bikini, but I could wear a bikini," she said.
Marilyn is not opposed to future plastic surgery.
"I really feel like I'm in my 2nd bloom, it is just wonderful," she said.
Body lifts can even require an overnight hospital stay, as they are the most extensive procedure available, Maxwell said.
For warnings and a pre-surgery guide, visit the links attached to this story and the other "Beyond the Blade Beneath the Surface" stories.