[Goodbye Chubby]

I just read an article about a woman who quickly lost weight and donated her excess skin. It never occured to me that that was possible. It sounds similar to getting a hair cut and donating your hair to Locks of Love (in principle, at least). Here's the link, and I'll copy/paste the text.

http://www.nbc11.com/news/9646282/detail.html

LOS ANGELES -- It is said that one person's loss can be another's gain.

That is certainly true for a Southern California woman who lost 145 pounds and donated her excess skin to help other patients who need it, NBC affiliate KNBC reported.

Sheila Tehrani just got a new car, but she can't take the wheel just yet.

"My abdomen is just in the way, the skin is just in the way and it wouldn't be safe or comfortable," said Tehrani.

Sheila stopped driving in 1996 because at 579 pounds she couldn't fit into her car anymore.

Finally, she decided to get lap band surgery, which restricted the size of her stomach.

One year later, and 145 pounds lighter, Sheila continues to drop weight.

Doctors said the rapid weight loss resulted in a lot of loose skin. The sheer weight of the hanging skin is causing backaches and numbness in her legs.

Doctors at the oBand Surgery Center offered to remove the skin for her.

In May, Sheila underwent a four-hour surgery and had close to 50 pounds of skin removed.

She donated that skin to the non-profit Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, which will use that excess skin to help other patients undergoing hernia operations, breast and pelvic floor reconstruction.

After six weeks of recovery Sheila finally got into her new car and drove for the first time in 10 years.

"It's very liberating being able to maybe go back to school or to get a job. I think it will change my life a great deal," said Tehrani.

Last year, more than 200,000 patients received skin grafts donations from weight loss patients.

[Meg]

I've always heard that it's an urban legend that you can donate excess skin, so I'm puzzled. I certainly don't believe that 200,000 number - perhaps they're confusing it with skin grafts generally since nowhere close to 200,000 WLS patients even have excess skin removal in a year. I've always read that skin grafts use cadaver skin because our excess skin is stretched out and not very desirable.

I'll see if I can find out more info.

[Meg]

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[bbobsgrl]

I just saw a story featured on our local news a couple of nights ago about a woman having 50 lbs. of excess skin removed. The skin was donated and accepted for various solutions. I'll check to see if I can find the story on the web and will post a link.