I was 4ft 11in & 23 stone – I shed the weight but was left with a saggy skin apron tummy so loose it farted when I moved
A MUM had a £12k transformation after having 13lbs worth of loose skin removed – the equivalent to a ‘small bear skin’ that was ruining her life.
Leanne Kendellen, 32, from Dublin, Ireland, stands at just 4ft 11ins tipped the scales at 22st 9lbs before undergoing gastric bypass surgery in July 2020.
H er first round of surgery helped her shed an impressive 13st.
However, the dramatic weight loss left her body engulfed in loose skin, weighing 13lbs, which made her hate her body more than she did when she was at her heaviest.
She was fed up of tucking her saggy skin into her clothes and feeling like she was covered by a blanket at all times.
Leanne went under the knife again this summer for her second round of plastic surgery to remove the last of her loose skin from her thighs, which she says made her look like she had a scrotum, and her arms and back which made farting noises whenever she moved.
Arms made farting noises when she moved
Since spending £12k on her weight loss surgery, boob job, tummy tuck, which she had done last summer, and then her thigh, arm and back skin removal in Turkey last month, she is now a size six, weighs 8st 7lbs and finally has her dream body.
Leanne said: “After losing all the weight and when I first started looking into plastic surgery, I always knew I’d want all of my loose skin removed.
“This was my second round of plastic surgery. In June last year, I went to Turkey for a tummy tuck and breast lift and implants.
“This time I went back to Turkey and to my same surgeon, Dr Faurkin Kayhan, to have a thigh lift, upper bra line lift and an arm lift.
“I was so excited to get the skin removed from my thighs because it made me look like I had testicles. I hated it so much.
“The loose skin around my armpits was also like a cave, the skin would sink in and make random farting sounds when I moved.
“I was so ashamed.
“I was actually more embarrassed about my loose skin than I was when I was at my heaviest weight.
“I’d get rashes and fungal infections in my skin folds and underneath my overhang. It was horrendous, and I am so happy it is all finally gone.
“I’m finally happy with how I look. Whenever I look in the mirror, it feels amazing that I no longer have anything to pick apart about myself.”
At her heaviest, Leanne was well over 22st, wore a size 30 and described herself as being a ‘walking heart attack’.
However, after 10-and-a-half-hour surgery, she finally has a body that is beyond her dreams.
Leanne added: “Being a size 30, I didn’t even imagine I would ever be a size 12, never mind a size six.
“It feels incredible. I never envisioned myself with a body like this because I’d struggled with my weight ever since I was a child.
“When I woke up from the surgery and saw how tiny my arms looked, I was delighted.
Delighted with surgery – but at what cost?
“I couldn’t wait to see the rest of my results.
“I feel like a totally different person living a new life now.
“I feel free and confident in my new body.
“Before I lost weight, my size affected every aspect of my life.
“My children couldn’t sit on my knee, they would be sitting on my belly and I would get out of breath by changing nappies.
“I would eat takeaways at least three times a week and my portion sizes were huge.
SURGERY PRICE BREAKDOWN
Gastric bypass: £0 (Had this surgery done with HSE – the public health care system in the Republic of Ireland)
Breast uplift, implants, and tummy tuck: £6k
Arm, thigh and upper bra line lift: £6k
“I would make sandwiches with four slices of bread and I would snack on chocolate bars throughout the day.
“I was unhealthy and a bad example.
“It was a horrible way of life.
“So I knew I needed to do something drastic to turn my life around.
“After losing so much weight after my weight loss surgery, my loose skin then felt like a punishment for being fat.
“So I went for my first round of plastic surgery which included a tummy tuck, body lift and boob implants and uplift.
Leanne wasn’t nervous
“I wasn’t nervous at all for the surgery. I wanted it done so badly because I was fed up with still being ashamed of my body even though I’d lost so much weight.
“However, I still had so much loose skin on my legs, arms, and around my back, that I couldn’t wait to get removed too.
“It was the final piece of the puzzle in my journey to having my new body.
“I’m free from everything that used to hold me back. I don’t worry about what people will think of me now and I am more confident than I have ever been.”