In October, we highlighted the story of Alley Faith’s incredible weight loss journey, which led her to pursue plastic surgery for skin removal. Now that Alley is recovering and finished with all her procedures, we took some time to talk with her about how she is feeling, what her experience entailed, and how she feels with her results.
Alley Faith’s Results
Alley came to Illume looking to remove the extra skin she had after losing over 150 lbs. Although she was able to lose the weight, the skin had been stretched out and could not be remedied without taking the next step, which was to consult a plastic surgeon.
To remove excess skin, the team at Illume Cosmetic Surgery and MedSpa had put together a customized plan that included an arm lift and tummy tuck. Below are the results of all those procedures, as well as the conversation we had with her after a few weeks of recovering.
Post-Surgery Interview with Alley Faith
Question: What was it like right before you were rolled into surgery?
Alley Faith: When I first got to Illume the morning of my surgery, I didn’t know what to expect but I was really excited. I went back and spent some time with the nurse, who made me feel really comfortable as I settled in, and I was able to talk to my doctors about what was going to happen with my surgery. The more we discussed the day, the more excited I got! Overall, the day went by so fast but the entire time I felt comfortable. I knew it was about to get real as soon as they started to roll me back but then I was asleep, and it was over!
Q: How have the results changed the way you feel about your body already? And what are you looking forward to most when you’re fully healed?
AF: I think that I really have a different relationship with my body after surgery. Right after surgery I was kind of afraid of my new body, but overtime I felt more comfortable and really fell in love with the results. I feel better about each area, and I don’t have the problems I had before the surgery like my extra skin hanging, the rashes, and general uncomfortableness. I feel better when I put my clothes on and I feel like I just look better overall which makes me feel happy because mind and body go together.
I think what I am looking forward to most is going shopping to see what kind of clothes I can wear and being more comfortable with how I feel in clothes. I am excited to date and be intimate again. I am excited to go swimming and wear a swimsuit. And mostly I’m excited for the confidence I’m going to have.
What’s so cool about this is that it’s not for anybody else. The surgery was for me. I want to feel good in my own skin, and I already feel a lot better. I am just excited to feel how I always felt in my mind even though my body didn’t reflect that.
Q: Tell us about your daily routine during recovery – is it easier than you thought it would be? And what would you tell someone who is afraid of a longer recovery process?
AF: My recovery has been really interesting because week to week it has been totally different. The first week after surgery I still had drains which didn’t bother me as I got more comfortable with them. After the drains were gone I felt really good. I still had to deal with swelling and being a little slower than usual but every day I felt better.
As I started to feel better with each day in recovery, I started to feel happier and happier, and I was never in a lot of pain. Everybody wants to know if it was painful, but I don’t remember anything being painful. The only things I experienced were moving more slowly and being swollen. But by the fourth week I am walking fine and walking faster, I don’t feel hunched over, and the swelling has gone down.
For me, the recovery process never got worse, it just kept getting better with each day. Emotionally, mind and body really do go together. The more my body heals, each day I feel more like myself, and my body starts to look like I feel it does in my mind. I just feel better as a person. It’s a full circle moment for me because for the last few years this is how I always felt I should look, and now my mind and body match.
Q: After going through a larger surgery and recovery process, what advice would you give to people who feel ready to take on a larger surgery but might be hesitant about recovery?
AF: Overall it’s been such a full circle moment. Even though I never imagined I would be at this point, and now that I am here I feel in control over my destiny and my future wellness. For as good as I felt in my mind, my body never matched that, and it finally does. Now I feel it comes across in everything that I do, I feel better when I go out and do things.
I want to be even more active with my kids, and all that goes into the confidence that I feel with my new body. People can say that the outside doesn’t matter, but for me the mind and body synergy does matter. I want my mind to be healthy and I want my body to be healthy. I want to feel good and confident. I want to feel that I because I worked so hard for this that I can now enjoy my surgery. All aspects of the surgery made me feel healthier and because of this surgery I feel more confident about the future for me and my kids.
Q: After going through a larger surgery and recovery process, what advice would you give to people who feel ready to take on a larger surgery but might be hesitant about recovery?
The people who are nervous about the recovery for a larger surgery should know that the process goes by so fast. I had someone with me for two days and then I was doing everything on my own. I wasn’t moving fast but I was letting my dog out, I could take care of my kids, and do things that I have always done. I wasn’t lifting things or moving as fast, but I was still living life. If someone is nervous about the recovery, they should know that they will be way more independent than they think and things will go back to normal before you can even blink.
Q: What do you know now about this process that you wish you would have been told before going into it?
AF: I think that a lot of people don’t know what to think when you’re having plastic or cosmetic surgery. It sounds really intimidating for average people, especially those of us living in the Midwest, but I think what I learned coming out of this is that I still feel like myself. I don’t feel like a different person or that I changed anything. My surgeries were an upgrade and something that changed my life and self-esteem for the absolute best. I feel like I earned this and that I put in the work to make this positive life change possible.
I think that anybody who is thinking about or planning on having this surgery will have zero regrets. I have never once in this whole process had any regrets or thought, “Oh no! I’ve had a breast augmentation,” or “Oh no I’ve had skin removal”. It’s been the opposite. It’s been a celebration of myself and who I have become through hard work and dedication to myself. It is just a gamechanger overall for how you feel.
