An obese mother who was left with 13lbs of saggy skin after shedding 196lbs (14st) has spent over $11,000 (£8.5K) on surgery to get the body she’s always dreamed of.
Laura Deubel, 37, from Palm Bay, Florida, managed to slim down from a US size 30 (UK 34) to a size 12 (UK 16) after having gastric bypass surgery.
However, following her weight loss, Laura was left with two large flaps of hanging skin above her stomach – which she says resembled ‘an extra pair of boobs’.
Deciding she ‘couldn’t live like this’, the mother decided to have skin removal surgery – and now says she feels more confident than ever.
Laura Deubel, 37, from Palm Bay, Florida, was left with 13lbs of saggy skin after shedding 196lbs (14st)
Laura explained: ‘After I lost all of the weight I felt amazing, but my excess skin was still there, physically hanging over me.
‘It looked as though I had an extra pair of boobs or a front-bottom, it was something that I really struggled to come to terms with.
‘I knew that I had to get skin removal surgery because I couldn’t live like this and it was definitely worth the money after the four years of intensive weight loss.
‘And although I’m still recovering from surgery now, it’s all worth it to finally be a slinky size 12 with no extra skin!’
The mother (pictured before her weight loss) decided she needed to lose weight after tipping the scales at 392lbs (28st)
After having excess skin removal surgery, Laura says she feels more confident than ever
After managing to save up enough money, the engineering documentation specialist underwent excess skin removal surgery two weeks ago.
Laura said: ‘I was sick of having to pull my skin up like pizza dough and look like I was carrying a rubbish bag full of water on my stomach.
‘So after raising enough money I decided to finally go ahead with the surgery and rid myself of the skin I hated.
‘When I woke up after the surgery I couldn’t help but burst into tears – because finally it was gone and I could live my life again.
Laura described how she was left with excess skin that looked like an ‘extra pair of boobs’
Laura (pictured after surgery) said she burst into tears following the skin removal operation
‘Now I know that I’ll never let myself get so out of control again, because I’m not prepared to go through everything I did again.’
Laura initially decided to start her weight loss journey when her father, mother and grandmother all had life-threatening heart attacks within weeks of each other.
Tipping the scales at 392lbs (28st), Laura knew she was also in danger of suffering similar health problems, so decided she needed to lose weight.
She said: ‘I spiralled into binge eating after my son’s father committed suicide in 2005, and it was my family’s medical conditions that gave me the true wakeup call.
‘I knew that I couldn’t leave my son an orphan, and with the rate that I was rapidly gaining weight, it was looking likely.
Laura explained how she decided to lose weight after three of her family members, including her father (above) suffered heart attacks
Realizing she could face similar health problems, Laura (pictured before her weight loss) decided she needed to lose weight
Laura described how she started binge eating after her son’s father took his own life
‘I just thought of my son every time that I went to put food into my mouth and it became easy and that’s when I realized I wanted a gastric bypass to help me with the weight loss.’
Laura explained how she eventually managed to shed 196lbs (14st) after having gastric bypass surgery.
‘I had the bypass fitted in September 2014 and from there on I just continued to lose weight, I went on liquid diets, stopped eating out and cut my portion sized down,’ she said.
‘But with the weight loss came all of the excess skin and that made me more self-conscious than I ever was when I still carried the weight.
‘Now I feel complete and I’m really happy – and I can finally look in the mirror and see my whole body and I like what I see.’
Laura described how she ‘struggled to come to terms’ with the excess skin she was left with after her weight loss
The mother decided that she ‘couldn’t live like this’ and raised enough money to have surgery