Meet Plastic Surgery Services of Fredericksburg patient “Megan”

Procedures:    Lower Body Lift, Breast Lift and Arm Lift after Weight Loss

Patient:           Megan Reinard of Dumfries, Virginia

Before:           Megan weighed 300 pounds when she wore her pink formal to the junior prom. She topped 375 pounds by high school graduation.

                        Little by little, the young woman with the outgoing personality began leading a life of compromise.  She gave up swimming because she was embarrassed about her size.  She gave up trips to Kings Dominion because she was too large to fit in the roller coaster seats.

                        In February 2005, at the age of 19, Megan opted to have a gastric bypass. The bypass, combined with new eating habits, helped Megan drop from 436 pounds to 210 pounds by July 2006.

But the weight loss also left her with large skin folds that could not be dieted away. In fact, they made it difficult to exercise.

After:              Megan logged on to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Web site to locate board certified plastic surgeons in her area.  She talked to several plastic surgeons, but was most impressed by the doctor she visited at Plastic Surgery Services of Fredericksburg.

                        “He was much more informative than the other doctors,” Megan recalls, and he had been personally recommended by a co-worker. She also found his staff to be very friendly and reassuring.

                        Megan’s doctor performed a lower body lift in July 2006 to remove 12 pounds of excess skin around her stomach and thighs. In September 2006, she had an arm lift, breast lift and excess skin removed from her back.

                        The experience has changed her life in some ways, restored her life in others.

“I have never run in my entire life,” says Megan, who works as a dental assistant at a pediatric dentist’s office in Springfield. “But within weeks of my lower body lift, I ran a mile.”

She has also developed a new-found love of clothes shopping.

And she's back to riding roller coasters.

Meet Plastic Surgery Services of Fredericksburg patient "Cherri"

Procedures:    Lower Body Lift and Face Lift after Weight Loss

Patient:           Cherri Notarnicola of Orange, Virginia

Before:           Cherri enjoyed an active lifestyle on her horse farm in the rolling hills of Orange County. But she could not shake her weight problem, which had persisted for years, was affecting her health and even interfered with her love of horseback riding competition.

“I had a prize horse that I wouldn’t ride because I felt I was too heavy,” Cherri says.

Cherri researched weight-loss options and determined that gastric bypass surgery was the best alternative in her case. She underwent gastric bypass surgery in February 2003 and shed 150 pounds within nine months of the procedure.

But the years of heavy living had also taken its toll on her skin. Cherri could not firm up the excess skin that remained around her abdomen, lower body and face.

After:              Cherri contacted Plastic Surgery Services of Fredericksburg. Her board certified plastic surgeon advised her to consider a lower body lift, which included a tummy tuck, liposuction and buttocks and thigh lifts. He performed Cherri’s lower body lift in November 2003 and, two years later, her face lift.

The procedures have erased years from her appearance and revealed her curvaceous figure.

“It made the difference,” Cherri says. “Before, I could say I lost the

weight. But now I can say, ‘Wow, I look great.’”

She is equally positive about her doctor and the staff at Plastic Surgery Services of Fredericksburg.

“They were all so wonderful to deal with. I always felt I was cared for in the best professional manner,” Cherri says. “I would never consider going anywhere else, and have recommended the office to my friends with glowing confidence.”