Question:
When to tell about the size 28 skin/size 14 body mismatch, before plastic surgery??
Okay, ladies and gents...I know all the psych standard phrases such as love thyself, and trust that if they really love you, too, the saggy skin will not matter. I know the stuff about building self-esteem, etc. I agree in some ways. Yet in other ways, I think it's the same BS we got when we were fat, about how and why to love/accept our fat bodies, while simultaneously being told to shrink them. That is what is known in psychology as a double-bind, in regular terms a catch-22". NOT FAIR or realistic. The fact is, saggy skin is no more lovely in our culture than a third eye or scaly skin might be..and others will love us in spite of it, not because of it. (Though, if they are the right ones, they might admire such signs in that they are our battle scars/badges of courage and the will to be happy!) I am in no hurry to be in love, for I've got lots to think about and do during this cycle of change. I knew there would be more attention and some advances, and frankly, I am not interested...still a little mad, even, that there was no interest pre-op from these same characters. And none of them interested ME before, so they still don't now. But there is someone new, and the interest is mutual. Bad timing! I look great and feel confident in my new size 14 clothes, with 49lbs to go, but am wrinkled and saggy like an old woman under them. I CAN'T WEAR SHORT SLEEVES, EVEN, WITHOUT MY SKIN SPLLING OUT THE BOTTOM LIKE MELTING WAX! I want plastic surgery when I've lost 29 or so more lbs, but not before then. And in any case, I won't be able to get it all done at once, by any means....the most expensive (and almost always self-pay) part is the thighs, and I need that almost the worst (oddly, because my legs never got huge.) Sooo, help! What do you say to yourself while waiting for the right time to tell? What do you do if, lke me, you don't WANT to have sex until you are more normal-looking? I don't want my first lovemaking after several years of comfortable celibacy to be tainted always with the memory of sadness and anxiety about my body. Too much like the days when at 20lbs overweight, I felt like a whale! (Of course, I'd feel gorgeous in that body now.I have come a good ways in self-acceptance.) The power imbalance in being accepted in spite of something physically unappealing wouldn't feel very comfortable or aid sexual pleasure, either, nor the feeling of having to explain in advance to avoid shocking my mate. Even if it WAS real love and the acceptance was there. I'm tired of feeling like I need special acceptance--I want to be just normal! Has anyone else met someone, then chosen to wait for total nudity/sex until after at least some plastic surgery? If so, what did you say? Other advice on coping also welcome...excepting the "love thyself and all else will follow" schtick--I could write that myself. And yes, I'm working on it. I'm looking for HOW to deal practically with the scary feelings and the inconvenient timing. Should I just pass tis one by, even though it seems like a speial connetion? (Too ealry to tell, actually.) — [Anonymous] (posted on October 22, 2001)
October 22, 2001
I felt renewed sexually when I was down from a 32 to an 18. I had skin
sagging and bagging everywhere - arms, tummy, thighs. Not a pleasant sight
at all. I had been dating someone about a month and we had sex the weekend
before my abdominoplasty was scheduled. He was not bothered by the excess
skin at all. We were more into each other than our physical flaws. The
next time we had sex post-op, it was incredible. I'll never forget him
saying, "WOW!" when he undressed me - he couldn't believe the
difference. Getting the excess skin off my tummy definitely made for
better sexual positioning for us. The weeks that have followed have been
better than the first. Now, to the "real love" thing, be
careful. I thought this relationship was real love, and now everything has
changed and I am hurt. The best advice I can offer is that you are still
changing and adjusting to your new body. Stay away from committment until
you define your new self. In the meantime, weigh the risk of getting hurt
against the risk of your involvement. Yeah, I'm dealing with hurt, but we
had some really great conversatsion, trips, and dates together, and I'd do
it all over again. I'm trying to sort through my feelings to get past the
hurt, remember the good memories, and learn from this relationship in
preparation for my next. I don't want to be alone, but I'm not going to
sacrifice myself for anyone else again. You can't demand respect and
honesty - only time and observance of another's actions will show you
whether the other person is truthful about who they are and they
consistently show you respect. I learned about the 3-month rule this week
- after three months, the real behavior of another person begins to come
out, because the honeymoon of the relationship is over. Dating is
scary...nothing is convenient or timely...that's the nature of life....I'm
not sure there is any practical way of dealing with the scariness of new
relationships, new people, and trusting yourself during a time of change
while also trusting another. All I can say is good luck, and be careful!
— [Anonymous]
October 22, 2001
PS, I was the anonymous post previously. I am now at a 12/14 post-op and
still thinking of additional reconstructive surgeries. It will not hamper
me from being responsibly sexually active until I complete the additional
surgeries. Anybody who judges me solely on my appearance is not someone I
want to be with anyway - there's too many other pieces of the puzzle of me.
— [Anonymous]
October 22, 2001
Just a quick comment to get this question back on the board...I want to
hear lots of opinions. Right now I am leaning toward explaining my
situation and feelings, and offering alternative ways of sexual intimacy
vs. total nudity/sex, when the time comes...maybe I'll feel so comfortable
and loved/trusting, or so (--ahem--) hormonal, I'll change my mind then.
But I need to feel it IS a choice, and that it is mine to make. I am not
too worried that someone I have chosen will not love me anyway, or will
care ONLY about my body. It's I who do not want to have that memory, and
who do not feel comfortable with my body as it is. I mean I've been
celibate for years, even though a few others were interested even at 284
lbs...but I did not want to have sex in that body, and I don't now. My sex
drive is low, anyway. If I force myself to have sex because "it's the
natural (typical, normal) time" to do so in a relationship, and I'm
not ready, and I don't like my body yet, it will be a miserable (and too
memorable) experience. Sooo, I am thinking to be honest, defer sex until
I'm ready (though not ALL intimacy), and let the chips fall where they may.
Just as others might choose to have sex NOW because they miss it, and trust
that they will be appreciated "as is" or cope securely with
rejection.....Regardless, I STILL want to know (please) how you dealt with
the surprise factor. Did you "warn" the lover in advance, and
risk seeming ashamed, or just wait and let him see it when you undressed?
If so, he had to have been a LITTLE surprised, right? ....I went to see a
surgeon who does RNY for a related problem, and he thought I'd already had
plastic surgery, since in clothes I look pretty trim. He blushed hard when
I said, "Yeah, I think I'm going to need a few tucks--know anyone
good?" I don't want to see someone's face fall in surprise, nor do I
want to tell it in advance like I warning them about a problem like
herpes.---Thanks, Jesse
— [Anonymous]
October 22, 2001
Jesse, I cannot really give you advice cause I haven't dealt with that
issue . BUT, I think you won't really know how to deal with it until the
time comes. It's really hard to say how you will deal with it now until you
are in that situation. That is what I would think anyway. You have to do
whatever is comfortable for you. If you get in a serious relationship, then
that will be the time to discuss things of that nature. If he isn't
"cool" with it, then he isn't "the one".
— Kim B.
October 23, 2001
Jesse, I can't give you any advice either. I'm not going to give you any
advice about loving your body because I sure didn't love my body at
350lbs.
I do think that you should see a therapist who specializes in body image
issues, because if you are going to find any peace in life, you have to
learn
to *accept* your body. Even if you have the means for reconstructive
surgery,
it's going to take quite sometime to get the body you want. As for the man
in your
life. If you love him and if you don't want to lose him, explain your
feelings to
him. Prepare him. Presumably he knows about your weight loss, let him know
that you
need some reconstructive work. If you aren't in love and if baring your
body for a man
is too painful now, tell him that, and let him go. Let the the
relationship thing go
until you have a body that makes you feel good about yourself. I am glad
that I have
stablized at a size 16. My single fear about wls was that I would be in
your position.
I'm very vane and I couldn't bear the thought of working soooo hard to lose
weight and
ending up with body that I still didn't consider attractive. That was one
of the things my
surgeon cautioned us about prior to wls. I renmeber he said "you
might lose 150 pounds and
end up with a body that looks worse than the body you have today". It
terrified me......
— [Anonymous]
November 6, 2001
Sorry, Jesse, but I can't really offer the kind of response you're looking
for, either. I'm just about where you are. I've lost within 10 pounds of my
goal & haven't been sexually active for a long time. I've worried &
thought about the same things you're facing. My advice, though, is simple:
if you want to do it, do it and if you don't want to (for whatever reason),
don't.....yet. I think it's going to take a while for us
newly-normal-weight ladies to get comfortable with ourselves. I know I
don't have the body I hoped I would have, but I do still feel strongly that
it's much better than it was before. I'm hoping to have plastic surgery,
but that may not be possible. If that's the case, I will have to learn to
accept that & my body, even as it is. I think I can do that, maybe just
a little more time. For right this minute though, if I were to meet that
"someone" & wanted to have sex, I would do it, but I might
make sure the lights were low the first few times. Yeah, it would be great
if after surgery we could all have the perfect bodies we dream of, but that
just ain't gonna happen. Even after plastic surgery you know there will be
LOTS of scarring. Sure, much of it fades with time (here again, the waiting
thing), but not all of it ever fades (as I understand). I'm thinking of the
little slogan on the front page of this site that says "you won't look
like a supermodel....but you may feel like one!" And that is true; I
don't think any of us that lose this much weight are going to look like we
never gained, then lost all this weight. It's too bad, but just not
realistic. So I'm thinking if you, if I, if any of us, wait til we look
perfect, we'll be waiting a LONG time. Jeez, I hope I don't have to wait
that long. ;) Good luck with whatever your decision is. I hope you get more
answers & more helpful ones, but I have noticed it's harder to get as
much response to questions devoted more to us post-oppers who are at or
close to goal weight. It makes sense, I suppose, cuz most people here are
at the earlier stages of this journey. But I think it's good for them to
have a more realistic expectation of what their final outcome is likely to
be, too.
— Kathy W.
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