General Chat

Paul Thorn lost nearly 17st (107.5 kg) as a result of gastric bypass surgery, but has been left with large amounts of excess skin on his body.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire show that he felt more confident when he was obese - and that he is unhappy that he'll have to wait years to have the loose skin removed.

When Paul Thorn had a gastric bypass procedure in December 2007, he weighed 28st 4lb (179.6 kg).

"When I was big, I just had this filled-out skin," he said.

"But now it's just hanging skin where you've got patches where it's sore underneath.

"It's all stretchy and horrible, and I just don't really want it there."
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8144040.stm
Brian(i)

poor bloke. Apparently he has to wait for medical reasons. Must be hard living with all that loose skin though.

We had something similiar on the news a couple of months back.

The NHS over here will remove the fat but not the excess skin as that is regarded as cosmetic surgery. I wonder if they tell the patients how much the skin weighs and that they will be dragging it around with them before doing the procedure.

Poor man!

Lindy

I think if someone goes to such extremes to lose weight - albeit for their own health - they should be entitled to have the loose skin removed ASAP.
I sometimes wonder at the NHS and it's priorities.
FGS boob implants are on the NHS for those prepared to moan long enough/claim it affects ther confidence, whereas it's difficult to get a boob reduction, even if they're causing back problems.
As for Viagra - Is it really necessary for a 70/80 year old man to 'need' sex on the NHS?
Fair enough if the man is in his 60's or lower - but there must be a cut-off point!

the article says

Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust, which has agreed to fund the surgery - involving abdominoplasty - has issued a statement saying: "For clinical reasons, it is not appropriate to undertake the removal of 'excess skin' before a two-year period.
"We need to ensure the BMI of the individual has stabilised and to give the skin time to recover from the weight loss, thus helping to ensure we only need to conduct one intervention."

If you lose a lot of weight and have the spare skin removed and then you get fat again does more skin grow to accommodate it?

I'm not surprised that he was happier before.
how cruel it is that they will not do this for him, and yet they will do a breast enlargement for a woman!
There again, agree with me or not, men do get a raw deal in this country these days.
Deanna X

To be honest he will have been informed excess skin is very likely if you have a gastric band fitted, to complain now is a bit off. I support the NHS saying we have to wait for his BMl to stablise, no point in doing an operation to remove the skin if in a few years time they are having to repeat the whole process again.

I have sympathy with people who cannot for good reason (medical conditions) loose the wieght, but I think a lot just don't make the effort, okay its hard work it sucks but if you do it slow and steady your not going to end up with excess skin.

By the way I'm not a slim person myself, am working on steadily loosing weight, its taking some self control, but I'd rather take my time then go after the 'quick fix'.

The harsh person in me just wants to say why didn't he save the money he'd previously been spending on food and cover the cost himself.

I suppose there is risk with every operation so to wait makes sense.

Susan, you might have been happier as a smoker but you might not have lived very long.

My o.h.'s ex brother in law died last Sunday, just went to bed cos he didn't feel well and his son went in to see if he wanted anything and his father was dead.
Turns out he had surgery or something for hardening of the arteries in his leg because of heavy smoking, and was getting on ok, but a blood clot moved and stopped the supply to his heart, instant death.

The same thing happened to a friend of mine a few years ago except he hadn't had the op, a heavy smoker he was in constant pain with his legs due to the hardening of the arteries, and couldn't walk far. He got up in the night to use the loo, and was found two days later dead in the bathroom - he lived alone and friends went to check on him when he didn't meet them as usual, and police had to break in for them to find him gone.
Could have happened to b.i.l. had his son not been home from uni.

Both men were in their mid fifties.

Lizx