Kerrie had been overweight for years and tried all sorts of dieting until she finally had a gastric sleeve and lost over 50kgs! However, she then needed skin removal surgery and found the amazing Dr Amira Sanki to perform her procedures. This is her story.
Trish Hammond: Hello listeners. We’re here again this evening. It’s Trish Hammond from Transforming Bodies. I’m here with Kerrie. Now, Kerrie has just recently had some surgery with Dr. Amira Sanki. She’s had some phenomenal results. I’ve had a bit of a chat with her a couple of weeks ago, and I can’t wait to do this podcast with her so that she can actually tell you all about it herself. Welcome, Kerrie.
Kerrie Ann: Thank you.
Trish Hammond: Thanks for taking the time tonight to have a chat with us.
Kerrie Ann: No problem at all.
Trish Hammond: Lovely. Tell us your story, Kerrie. What happened? What made you first … Give us a bit of background.
Kerrie Ann: Okay. I’ve been quite overweight for years, yo-yo diet, done all that sort of thing, and then decided that, you know, it’s very hard to lose weight that way. So I looked into getting the gastric sleeve done. So I had that done in 2014 with tremendous results. I lost 50 plus kilos, and then decided that I needed to do something with the excess skin I had.
Trish Hammond: Okay. What was your starting weight, and your weight now?
Kerrie Ann: My starting weight was, ballpark figure, probably like about 145 to start with.
Trish Hammond: Whoa.
Kerrie Ann: And then I got down to 82.
Trish Hammond: Wow. That’s phenomenal. That’s like nearly half your body weight.
Kerrie Ann: Exactly. Exactly. Put a little bit on as you do, you know, goes on, goes off, goes on. Yes.
Trish Hammond: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative). Okay. Tell us about your … you’ve obviously had some skin removal surgery.
Kerrie Ann: Yeah. I looked into skin removal surgery, main reason was my very generous mother knew I hated my arms, my excess skin on my arms for years, and didn’t realise until she looked at a photo how bad they were, so she offered to pay for me to have it done. So that was my start towards plastic surgery. I investigated, looked at a few different surgeons and things like that, and actually booked a couple of appointments. And then I’d heard of Amira, so I thought I’d ring up, make an appointment with Amira. She was my first surgeon I saw, fell in love with her, and never looked back.
Trish Hammond: Wow. Fantastic. How many different surgeries have you had?
Kerrie Ann: I had the first, I had in October 2016, I had my arms done. Then-
Trish Hammond: Was that … because I know girls that just had their arms done, that was pretty life transforming, hey, because you …
Kerrie Ann: Well, yes, that was my main problem that I thought at that stage was my main problem, and that was amazing. Absolutely amazing having that done. But like Amira said to me on my first appointment with her is, “Plastic surgery can be addictive,” and I said, “No way. I’m only having my arms done.” But unfortunately, she was right.
Trish Hammond: So true. I’ve always said that it’s very, very addictive. That’s what I find as well. I mean, it isn’t addictive as such, but when you have got things that you need to get fixed and you know that you can, it’s pretty tempting to, you know, if that’s available to you, it’s pretty tempting not to go ahead and do it when you know that it’s out there. And if you’ve had a good experience the first time, why wouldn’t you?
Kerrie Ann: That’s exactly right. And she is an amazing surgeon. I can’t fault her. She’s caring. The follow-up is fantastic. It’s just, you know, you go to visit her, and it’s like you’re a friend of hers.
Trish Hammond: Yeah. She takes her patients on as, yeah, and she’s very endearing to them. Yeah.
Kerrie Ann: Yeah. I mean, I live three hours away from her, from Sydney, and she messages me, she emails me every week, every day, you know, to find out how I was, and any problems I send her photos, and straight onto it. It was fantastic.
Trish Hammond: That’s so reassuring. So that was your first procedure?
Kerrie Ann: Yeah, that was-
Trish Hammond: What did you have after that?
Kerrie Ann: Well, seven months later, I went and had a corset abdominoplasty, which is the what they say is a tummy tuck and a reverse tummy tuck all in one. So I had the roll up the top of the stomach as well as down the bottom of the stomach. So she cuts the normal tummy tuck from hip to hip, then straight up the middle, and then under the breast from sort of same length hip to hip like under your breast, and takes the whole lot out and then sews it back up again.
Trish Hammond: Okay. Did you have like excess of skin just under your breasts as well?
Kerrie Ann: Yeah, I had rolls. She said with my arms, because I had rolls on my arm, she said, “Normally when you’ve got rolls on your arms, it’s the same on your stomach and your legs.” And unfortunately, I did.
Trish Hammond: So what was the recovery on that like? Because that sounds like a massive … How long was the operation first, do you know? Do you remember?
Kerrie Ann: Yeah, it was about a six-hour operation, and she took about five and a half kilos of skin off.
Trish Hammond: Whoa. Whoa.
Kerrie Ann: I think she took a total of my arms of about three kilos. So yeah, both of them were quite a massive operation, but amazing. Amazing.
Trish Hammond: What was your recovery like from the second one?
Kerrie Ann: It wasn’t as bad as I thought. I had a couple of little slight infections at the joins, but that was nothing. But I mean, I had two weeks off work. I took three weeks off work, actually, and after two weeks, I went back after two and a half weeks because I just was bored, basically. I had a great husband that helped me, helped me through every operation, every appointment he came with me. It was amazing. So I had a great, tremendous help with my husband being home. He took the two weeks off, and it was amazing. Yes. But no, I can’t fault the recovery. Like you know, yes you are in pain, you take the medication and you do what you’re told to do, and it was fine.
Trish Hammond: Wow. That sounds like a great recovery, because some people aren’t so lucky.
Kerrie Ann: No, that’s exactly right.
Trish Hammond: Yeah. Is that the only other surgery you’ve had?
Kerrie Ann: No, then because she took my stomach off and I had a beautiful flat stomach. I could see were the horrible legs walking before me. Four days after my surgery when I went to see her again, I said to her, “I hate my legs.” She said, “Unfortunately, this is what happens.” I was so, so wrapped having my stomach done that I hated my legs so much, and I said to my husband, “I can’t live with my legs. I have to have it done.” Four months later, I was in having my thighs done.
Trish Hammond: Wow. What did she do with your thighs? Because I know that’s a really hard surgery. I’d love to have mine done, but I’m actually too scared of that …
Kerrie Ann: Yeah, I would say the thighs are the hardest surgery as far as I’m concerned for myself. I don’t know anybody else, but I find that that was the hardest thing, was the thighs. She cut me from sort of up in … I don’t know how to say … up in the join, right down to just below my knee, around under my backside and up the front of it as well. So it was quite major.
Trish Hammond: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Kerrie Ann: Yeah.
Trish Hammond: When was that surgery? When was your thigh surgery?
Kerrie Ann: That was October. It was 12 months to the day from my arms. So it was the 9th of October.
Trish Hammond: Wow. So you had three major surgeries in the year?
Kerrie Ann: That’s correct.
Trish Hammond: Wow. So with your thighs, tell me a bit about the recovery on your thighs.
Kerrie Ann: Oh, the recovery I find is hard, trying to walk. The hardest part is trying to sit down and go to the toilet because everything feels like it’s strips breaking the skin, you’re trying to hang onto to do anything. It was a massive recovery. I spent probably the two weeks basically nearly lying on the lounge because it’s just so hard to move and you can’t sit. It’s very uncomfortable.
Trish Hammond: Wow. Wow. I can’t help but say, “Wow,” because it blows me away, your braveness to have it all done. How long do you reckon it took you to recover from … with your thighs, I know you had two and a half weeks off for your tummy tuck, which sounds phenomenal to me, especially considering it was such a big one.
Kerrie Ann: Yeah. I mean, I work in a doctor’s surgery, so I’m a receptionist sitting at a desk and I had great girls work with me, so that was what I think made my job easier as well. The thighs I took two weeks off again because I sat, but I ended up taking an extra few days off again because yeah, like sitting. And I mean, you’re in a compression garment, so wearing the compression garment to work wasn’t the easiest thing too because it’s like from right onto your breasts, right down to your ankles. So you know, it’s quite hard to run to the toilet if you need to or anything. That was the hard part too, I find.
Trish Hammond: Yeah. Yeah. So how long did you take off work that time?
Kerrie Ann: I took the two and a half weeks again. But like I said, I have a sit-down job and I was very careful of getting up and down and what I actually did. Lucky to have that sort of job too that I could go back to the work, you know, working with doctors and that, so I was quite lucky in that way.
Trish Hammond: Yeah, true. If something went wrong or if you got a bit anxious, you’ve got someone there that you can ask them straight away.
Kerrie Ann: Exactly. Exactly. I mean, as in with my abdominoplasty, I had drains in for five weeks, so I went to work with them in my pocket for five weeks.
Trish Hammond: Did you have drains in for five weeks?
Kerrie Ann: Yes, yes, yes.
Trish Hammond: Wow. That seems like a long time.
Kerrie Ann: It was a long time because I was draining. I was draining a lot, and to a certain amount, then you can’t take them out. So I ended up having one out and then I had … Because I had three to start with, and I took two with me, one in each pocket to work and had to measure them out. Then I was allowed to have one out, and then the second one come out, the last one, yeah. It’s just something you learn to do. I mean, the operation that I think gave me the most confidence was the tummy tuck, to be honest. It’s amazing. It makes you feel so good.
Trish Hammond: Yeah, especially when you’re carrying around rolls and rolls of skin.
Kerrie Ann: Yep, exactly. Exactly. And at my age, it was amazing. Like I say to everyone, “I don’t think I was born with a flat stomach like I’ve got now, but you know, it’s incredible. I love it.”
Trish Hammond: How old are you?
Kerrie Ann: How old am I? I’m 58.
Trish Hammond: Okay.
Kerrie Ann: So not young, but you know, this time in life, and you make yourself beautiful like you can. I love it.
Trish Hammond: Oh, absolutely. You got to look after you no matter what age you are. And the thing is, 58’s the new 38, you know?
Kerrie Ann: That’s exactly right. Exactly. Yeah. Your kids are all gone growing up and it’s time for your life now.
Trish Hammond: Absolutely. So tell me, so your thighs, you’re fully recovered from your thighs now, are you?
Kerrie Ann: Yes, yes, I am. Yes. Yeah.
Trish Hammond: Okay. And that is like five or six months, actually, nearly … Hang on, you’re eight months out now, aren’t you?
Kerrie Ann: Yeah, about eight months out. Yes. Yes.
Trish Hammond: Okay. How long do you reckon it took you to recover from start to finish for your thighs? Because I know that it’s a big deal.
Kerrie Ann: Yeah. Look, it does take a while to heal because of the spots they’re in, you know, your underwear sits on the line where they are, the moisture down that area, you know, it does take a while to heal, which it did. So I would probably say it probably took maybe two months to completely heal. I had a lot of spots where I had to put cream and Betadine and things on to dry it out because it was moist. Got a loving husband that did a lot of that for me. But yeah, it does take a while with the thighs. So I’d say probably a good two months for it to heal up. It still feels tight and numb in places. It’s a very strange feeling. It’s a strange feeling going to bed of a night of I would say, even. I still wear compression tights from Kmart to bed of a night because it’s a strange feeling, not having that excess skin rubbing there.
Trish Hammond: Yeah. Wow. Well, it’s funny because I know someone that had their thighs done, oh, it’s got to be a good three months ago now. She’s still in the throes of hard recovery. But I think what’s a little bit different, is obviously your recovery probably hasn’t been as easy as what you make it sound. You’ve kind of gone with it, or you’ve just been … It sounds like you’ve been really positive about it. Like even saying, you know, “I had five drains in,” I’m like, “What?” To me, it’s a big deal, but you sort of took it on or you knew what to expect, so you were kind of ready for it.
Kerrie Ann: Well, I think I did a lot of research, Trish, the same as I did with my gastric sleeve. I did a lot of research on everything before I had it done, and I had done all my research the same as I’d done my research on Amira. I think that helps along the way with anything, is you need to do research, you’ve got to be prepared for what you go through. None of them are a simple operation. I think you just need that preparation and look into everything you can to see what it’s all about. Read what people say. Don’t believe a lot of what people say because some people are different at healing. Everyone’s different.
Trish Hammond: Oh, that’s so true. Everyone is very different. Tell me, is that your last surgery?
Kerrie Ann: No, it’s not my last surgery. I’m hoping before the end of the year, I have, I guess you’d call it, you know, the side boob under the arm there near the breasts and that. I have quite a lot there, which Amira didn’t want to operate on when she did my arms. She didn’t actually realise how much I had there, but she didn’t want to do … it was a big operation with my arms, because she actually went below my elbows for mine. So my scars go probably only about four inches from my wrist because I had big forearms as well.
Trish Hammond: Wow. That is … Yeah, wow.
Kerrie Ann: She didn’t want to do the side. So I’ve been and seen her to get the side done. So hoping before the end of the year, I’ll be having that part taken off as well.
Trish Hammond: Oh, fantastic. So like the side boob, like the excess skin around there.
Kerrie Ann: Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know what you call it.
Trish Hammond: I don’t know what it’s called. I think it’s like, it’s the back fat. It’s like back fat.
Kerrie Ann: Lateral … It’s a lateral … I can’t think of what it was. Yeah, something, yeah. Yeah.
Trish Hammond: Okay. Awesome. Awesome. So is that going to be your last surgery?
Kerrie Ann: Well, I’d like to get my breasts done, but she thinks that I don’t need them done. So that’s sort of another thing I’d like to get done. But yeah, I don’t know, like I said in the beginning, she said it’s addictive. I said, “No way,” but you know, I’m just so exasperated with the way I am now and my stomach and everything that I don’t know. As far as I’m concerned, that probably will, but maybe not. Who knows?
Trish Hammond: Yeah, exactly. Look, I’ve seen your before and afters because I met you in the closed Facebook group. But I would love to share some of those with the audience out here if you’re happy for us to do that?
Kerrie Ann: Oh, look, I would’ve been shocked at those horrible photos. Years ago, I never was one to have photos taken, but when I did the comparison of that and now I just, you know. And the last one I put up of my day of my birthday that I turned 58 in lacy underwear. That was just amazing. I was in tears myself because I couldn’t believe it.
Trish Hammond: Oh, that’s fantastic. That’s so good. You must be so proud of yourself.
Kerrie Ann: Oh look, look, I am. I’m proud of what I’ve gone through and my husband, as I said, all the way helped me. But I just think, if anyone wants to do it, look into it. But it makes you feel so much better.
Trish Hammond: Yeah. Yeah. It totally does. Unless someone’s been in that position, they can’t relate really, unless you’ve been a former fatty who’s lost … That’s probably a horrible thing to say.
Kerrie Ann: That’s right.
Trish Hammond: But, you know, a former larger person who’s lost weight and gone through that and seeing the skin that just hangs.
Kerrie Ann: Definitely.
Trish Hammond: It’s traumatic. You can’t explain it to anyone who hasn’t actually been through it. So I get you, because I’ve been there.
Kerrie Ann: Yeah, I’ve seen that. Yeah. You’re just as amazing, lady.
Trish Hammond: Yeah. I don’t know. I’m too scared to have my thighs done. I’m just like, it freaks me out I think probably too much.
Kerrie Ann: Yeah. And people say that, and like I said, I don’t page it as a pretty operation. It’s a pretty major operation and I said it would’ve been the worst one I’ve had. But I couldn’t stand the look of my legs. I had rolls on my legs, like my back legs as well. So it was just something that was always there trying to wear clothes. I mean, after I had my tummy done, trying to get pants to fit you that fitted your legs and your stomach, you just couldn’t do, you know. So yeah. It’s just, you know. And I mean, it is a little expensive to have done too, but hey, I’m happy.
Trish Hammond: Yeah, exactly. And you know, you’ve got one life, you might as well live it to the full. That’s what I reckon.
Kerrie Ann: That’s exactly right. Exactly.
Trish Hammond: Oh, that’s awesome. Well, thank you so much. Is there anything that you … anything else that you want to add, or is there something, sort of a takeaway that you could give to someone who might be thinking of having … not this or any surgery, but is a little bit hesitant, or …
Kerrie Ann: Look, what I say, is, you know, do your homework on what operation you’re after. Google everything. Look at what you can, talk to people. Get the idea, so you’ve got the idea of what you’re going in for. So you don’t think, you know, you wake up and you think, “Oh my God, I didn’t think was going to be like this.” Do your homework. Find out what it’s all about, as much as you can. I only saw one surgeon, Amira. I had booked into see three. She was my first, and I fell in love with her in the beginning and I said to my husband, “I’m not going anywhere else. I don’t care what it costs with her, she was my choice.” And you know, these people that go to three, four, five surgeons, that’s fine if you want to do that sort of thing and get a price from that, but what price does your health? I mean if you find someone and you’re so comfortable with them, even though it is expensive, choose that one, you know?
Trish Hammond: Yep. I see the both sides. I did the same thing. Well, I actually went and saw three surgeons for one of my procedures. And then four years later when I decided to have it, I went back to two, and that’s when I decided on the one that I’d gone with. But I didn’t have that, you know, when you know straight away. I didn’t know. But I reckon if I had that feeling, I’d probably be exactly the same. But I obviously wasn’t sure, and that’s why I went to the next one.
Kerrie Ann: And do your homework on your surgeon as well. You can find as that much information you want to out of the surgeon. And that’s the thing too, do your homework on the surgeon, and see what you think. But yeah, I just fell in love with her, and she is an amazing … I mean everyone has their ups and downs with their surgeons, but she’s just amazing. I can’t fault her at all.
Trish Hammond: Oh, that’s awesome. That’s so good to hear. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I’m going to put this up as a blog post as well so that we can put the before and after so that people that are in the same position can have a look at how amazing you look, because you do.
Kerrie Ann: No problem. Thank you.
Trish Hammond: Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Kerrie Ann. I really, really, really appreciate it. It’s been really lovely, you talking to us.
Kerrie Ann: No problem. Thank you very much, Trish.
Trish Hammond: Thanks so much. And so listeners, if you’re out there, if you’re looking to have some plastic surgery after weight loss, there’s quite a bit on our website, and there’s a few surgeons that we have listed that do that procedure as well, and don’t go past looking at Dr Amira Sanki as well. Thanks so much, Kerrie Ann.
Kerrie Ann: Thank you very much.
Trish Hammond: Bye.
Kerrie Ann: Bye. See you.
To hear Trish’s podcast with Dr Amira Sanki where she talks about weight loss procedures and skin removal, along with Kerrie Ann’s story, click here.