Nicole's Skin Removal Surgery for a stronger life.

Hi, my name is Nicole and I’ve lost a person’s worth of weight, and am on the way to do it again. Trying to further and maintain my success for years to come.

My name is Nicole, a 37-year-old mom from Nova Scotia, Canada, and I have lost 127 pounds (so far) through diet and exercise, but it was not without trials along the way.

My weight has always been an issue for me and it started young. Memories of bullies from elementary school still find their way into my consciousness even now as I approach the age of 40. Not being able to be a contributing teammate in gym class because of my lack of fitness and fear of ridicule left me picked last or unable to play at all. Making friends was hard, though I do have cherished friendships still from that season of life which I am very thankful for. I feel that this ostracization from peers made me feel inadequate to try out for sport teams, so I never pursued them instead devoting my time to being academic and creative.

I also struggled with binge-eating behaviors and portion control issues my whole life, sometimes sneaking food around so my parents didn’t see (I’m sure they knew though). My young adulthood was one of poor nutrition combined a bit of night life leading me to reach my peak weight of 386 pounds. Around the age of 24 or 25, I started to experience abdominal symptoms which lead to imaging which eventually in the early weeks of 2024 led to diagnosis of gallstones (which has now been surgically corrected). There was also an incidental finding in 2010, as a result of weight, that I had developed the beginnings of osteoarthritis in my hips. I tried the standard cardio and calorie reduction, each attempt leading to a marginal weight loss which I usually gained back when I became frustrated or disheartened with lack of progress. My menstrual periods were messed up and I wondered if I had PCOS or insulin resistance, but nothing was ever confirmed with medical professionals and I feared I would never be able to have children. I did have my first child in 2013, which was amazing and challenging, but trying to be a new mom and care for yourself at the same time is really, really difficult.

For the next 6 years, my weight went up and down but always returned to above 350 pounds. In 2016 I got married and in the months leading up I tried desperately to lose weight to look my best for my photos and memories. I lost some weight, but still not anything substantial, perhaps 25 pounds at most.

A year and a half after our wedding, I started looking into nonconventional diets and found out about low-carb eating. My diet growing up always had significant carbohydrate consumption, because hey, carbs taste great and help make sure the bellies of a large family are full! But just maybe it wasn’t the best way for me to fuel myself. I told myself, if I can get down to 300 lbs this way, I vow to start exercising. We also wanted to conceive again, but I still wasn’t having regular cycles and weight loss was usually helpful in regulating that, so I had a defined goal to meet with said weight loss.

The low-carb lifestyle modifications worked REALLY well for me. Less than a year after I started, I was down to 300 pounds and I decided to give running a try. Unfortunately, my arthritis did not care for that (even though I was starting to have fun) and the progression of hanging skin on my abdomen and legs made it quite painful to complete with slapping and pulling. Enter strength training. Where has this been all my life? I felt powerful, bouncy and energetic and just full of life. I continued to stay the course though, strengthening my body and resilience and sought medical help to make sure I was doing everything I could to optimize my body for pregnancy. I made it down to 218 pounds by this point. Finally, in fall of 2019, we were able to have a pregnancy make it out of the first trimester after several losses; but, I was terrified. I was scared that my training and diet would cause me to lose this baby too. I reverted to a standard diet and didn’t take any risks as far as pushing myself in the gym. I gained weight back in pregnancy, not all of it, but probably around 70 pounds. I had good intentions for after my pregnancy though. I wanted to resume the diet, resume the training, I even had plans to take my new baby to the daycare at my gym when she was old enough.

…and then the pandemic happened. Holing up at home for the remaining 2 months of my pregnancy, having her with just my husband and son by my side. There was no village, just isolation. The mental toll was intense, caring for a new baby, trying to keep her and my son safe from the virus, and, regrettably, I wasn’t able to return to the gym due to lock downs. I regained and regained until I was back up to 330. I stayed there, for 3 whole years. My arthritis has progressed to such a point that my orthopedic surgeon has said if I wasn’t so young, he would have me on the waitlist for a bilateral hip replacement ASAP. For now, I am chronically medicated with an anti-inflammatory, receive injections to the joint space, and work regularly with a physiotherapist.

Here enters my new goal, regain strength and lose weight to protect my remaining bone health until I am such an age that I will receive the most longevity of hip appliances I can get. I am now back down to 259 pounds (as of February 2024), and plan to continue. I have resumed strength training and am getting back to that feeling of health I experienced several years ago. I’ve also found a love for archery which I am starting to pursue and it’s one of the most enjoyable sport activities I have ever tried (aside from strength training ).

Despite these positives and newfound joy in activity, I’ve once again reached the stage in weight loss where I am starting to be affected by my skin folds. Due to the cesarean sections I had to deliver my children, I have a very pronounced fold on my bikini line where my abdominal tissue hangs over and causes endless chafing and skin issues. Also, due to the way my abdominal fat distributed around my waist, my navel experiences the same skin issues and is virtually invisible hiding away in the fold. The skin apron on my abdomen makes certain movements impossible to complete with good form because it simply has nowhere else to go. It slaps and throws me off balance. It causes a significant discrepancy between my waist and hips, so clothes are a nightmare to find that fit, either being too tight in the hips, causing more of the same skin problems with lack of airflow, or so baggy and loose that they fall down constantly.

While my primary goal is health and longevity, it would be insincere of me if I completely denied that my self-image is also altered by this hanging skin. To feel so good on the inside, but see this juxtaposition on the outside, is emotionally difficult. I feel like my youth is lost and the body that I live in is so beat up and damaged that without the help of skin removal, I will never truly feel as well and confident as I could. A strange combination of defined muscle and bone with hanging, loose tissue hiding all the efforts I have put in. In a perfect circumstance, in addition to removing the abdominal skin, I would like to have a breast lift, brachioplasty and thighplasty; though, if I could have enough help from kind and generous people for just the abdominal skin, I would be eternally grateful for that opportunity.

I reached out to a private surgical centre in my city as unfortunately provincial healthcare, though I am very lucky to have it for everything else, will not cover skin removal surgery as it is deemed cosmetic, and the skin issues and quality of life is not something they will consider as exception. The waitlist for consultation at this center is until March of 2025, and I do have my booked appointment. My family practitioner supports my request for skin removal surgery and will help in any way she can to push for my private health insurance to assist with the cost. I’ve set a goal of 17,500 to help with the cost of surgery, recovery, and any medical devices that would be required after the surgery. This goal is based on research of cost for abdominoplasty and breast lift (without augmentation) in my province (average cost of breast lift is $4516 and abdominoplasty can be between $13000 and $16,500). My donation request to the patrons of GoFundMe wouldn’t cover everything, but it would significantly offset the additional cost to me and my family and possibly allow me to finance a smaller portion. I humbly ask for your help either through donation or sharing of this fundraiser to increase the reach of people who see it.

Thank you for reading my story ( I know it was long, but you stuck it out), and I appreciate any help you can give either by donation or sharing my story around social media.