Michelle’s Story



Well since my surgery in August 2004, I feel like the incredible shrinking woman and feel fantastic, for those patients that don’t know I have lost 15 stone and gone from a size 30/32 to a healthy size 10 since having surgery all those years ago!

 

For the last 2 years my life has turned upside down and you cannot imagine the new world I now live in being a ‘normal’ sized person.

 

The only thing that bothered me was the skin. Losing so much weight and being a little older in years my skin had not ‘sprung’ back onto my bones, in fact it was hanging off it.

 

Now for the last 2 years I have put up with this as you can hide your flabby tummy and saggy boobs in good underwear but it was only when I went into a new relationship did I start looking at my body more critically and made the big decision to go on and have cosmetic surgery to finish what I had started in 2004.

 

The first step was organising a consultation with our Cosmetic Surgeon, Peter Patterson. Your first thoughts whilst in the consultation are of fear as you have to get your kit off for him to appreciate your problem areas and to then be able to advise on what procedures are best for you.

 

So in June I went along to his private practice in Preston and started the first stage of creating the new me.

 

The surgeon is fantastic, he recognised I was anxious and immediately put my mind at rest by telling me this was his job, he is used to seeing bodies every day (especially those who have lost a lot of weight) and therefore straight away he made me feel comfortable.

 

The larger version of me would never of taken my clothes off in front of another person in the daylight unless I really did have to so this was a big thing for me and amazingly Mr Patterson understood that and really helped me through each stage of the process.

 

After a thorough consultation it was decided that ultimately I needed an arm lift, boob lift, thigh and bottom lift and tummy tuck - phew!

 

Due to cost and time off work I opted to have the arm lift and boob lift first as this was the easiest of the procedures to recover from and I booked in for surgery at the Fulwood Hall Hospital in Preston with Mr Patterson a couple of weeks later in July.

 

I chose to make the 4 hour journey by train as knew I wouldn’t be able to drive for a few days following surgery and arrived at the hospital for all my pre-op tests.

 

From this moment on I knew I was in safe hands, the team at the hospital from the receptionists to the nursing staff are truly amazing.

 

Everyone was very interested in how I had lost so much weight and were amazed at my before and after photos (I carry them everywhere to remind me of my old life!).

 

I had all my pre-ops and was then shown to my room and gowned up ready for surgery.

Mr Patterson and the anaesthetist came in to see me to sign the consent form and explain the procedures I was about to have again.

 

The nursing team came and introduced themselves and I was assigned to a nurse post op so I knew who would be looking after me.

 

I then sat for about 15 minutes imagining what my new ‘top half’ was going to look like as I had asked for an implant as well as uplift for my boobs and asked Peter to go as big as possible to make my boobs look better as they reminded me of tennis balls in socks!

 

I then walked down to theatre, not nervous or anxious but quite excited at the thought of the excess skin finally being removed (well some of it anyway!)

 

When I woke in recovery I was told the operation had gone well, I don’t really remember much else that day as I was still dosing from the anaesthetic.

 

The following morning I woke and felt well - I wasn’t in any pain and even though I was uncomfortable as my arms and boobs were bandaged up I genuinely didn’t feel that much discomfort.

 

I was up and moving around within a couple of hours, the nurses came and changed my dressings and gave me lots of tips on how to get dressed etc. and left me to my own devices as I felt so well.

 

The surgeon came in to check I was okay and looked over my wounds and discharged me so I got dressed, packed my bag and headed back to the train station for my journey home - felt great.

 

The journey back was a little tiring so I just rested as much as possible.

 

Once home I fell into bed as I was a little tired and then recovered really well that first week.

I changed my dressings every couple of days like the nurses had shown me and then went for my review appointment a fortnight after surgery with Peter.

 

All my staples were removed at this point which I was pleased about as I was starting to feel a little bit like metal Mickey and my wounds were cleaned and re-bandaged.

 

The surgeon and nursing team were really pleased with them and I must admit so was I as even through the swelling you could already see a massive difference.

 

Now, three months later I cannot tell you the difference the surgery has made to me.......... I now wear t-shirts with short sleeves and am not afraid of hiding my arms away anymore as it did used to frustrate me knowing I had put myself through weight loss surgery but still wouldn’t wear short sleeves or strappy clothes due to my arms being so flabby - well no more.

 

Yes the scar is still quite red and runs from my elbow to under my armpit on the underside of my arm but unless you look very closely you really can’t see it and I am using Bio oil every day on the scars as it helps hem fade.

 

Now for my boobs. Well what can I say. They are fantastic and look amazing!

 

I am a size 36 DD and can wear nice underwear, tops, strappy dresses etc. without using the ‘chicken fillets’ (you ladies will know what I mean) and they feel and look so natural.

 

I went abroad 3 weeks ago and wore a tankini for the first time in my life because I had the confidence to show off my top half with pride. I still kept my bottom half covered with a sarong but this time next year there will be no cover up!

 

I am scheduled in for the next stage of my cosmetic surgery journey at Christmas as I can recover during this time so watch this space for the next update on creating the new me.