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Cape Town – The new series My Extreme Excess Skin on TLC follows people who have lost massive amounts of weight and are about to undergo a full body transformation through skin removal surgery.
Each episode culminates in dramatic reveals for the individuals.
Megan Boeh, a contributor on the show, has lost 103kg but now hides 23kg of skin under her clothes, leaving her physically and mentally trapped.
In this Q&A Megan shares her experiences about the surgery and the effect it has had on her life.
You went through extensive surgery, were you afraid of going under the knife?
I was afraid of going through with the surgery because I've had a lot of difficulties in the past with previous surgeries. But I think my weight was a big factor in that. I always ended up in ICU and on ventilators, and I had long hospital stays. So I was kind of anticipating having the same thing when I went in to have my skin surgery done, and luckily that didn’t happen and didn’t have any problems with them. Skin removal surgery was the only option for me. There wasn’t anything that I could really do on my own, so I did need to seek the help of surgeons to have that taken care of.
Do you remember how you felt when you looked in the mirror for the first time after the surgery?
The first time that I really looked at myself, especially after surgery and after healing some, but you know, it was mixed emotions. I was happy, I was excited and I was scared. Happy that I’ve finally been able to go through this process and get this taken care of, all this extra skin removed, but at the same time I was nervous and scared because this isn’t the life that I've always known. I’d always known being morbidly obese and then after I took care of that, I knew – with all this skin and I was afraid that I was going to be stuck this way. And I had the skin removed and now I look at myself in the mirror and I’m just like, I still don’t know who this person is really. But I knew that I would eventually discover who it is that’s been hiding inside of me all this time.
What effects did the surgery have on you mentally ?
At first, it was kind of hard. I had a lot going on when I was undergoing these surgeries and at first you just kind of, like I said, you doubt your decision to undergo all of this. But I knew in the long run that once I was healed and recovered, it was going to benefit me more mentally than it would have if I would have decided not to go through with the surgeries.
How do you feel about your body now after the surgery?
I’m really comfortable and really happy with the results that I've had. It’s given me a lot more confidence and it’s boosted my self-esteem to be able to put myself out there and be able to help others.I have definitely gotten a lot closer to my goal with the way that I look now. I still have a little bit of tweaking that I want to do, and shaping my body a little bit more but I've been given a chance to be able to do that now without having all this extra skin.
How much has your life changed since surgery?
I have been in my new body for almost a year now and it’s really changed everything. I am a lot more comfortable with who I am. I’m a lot more outgoing. I am able to do a lot more with my kids. We’re out constantly, enjoying life now. It’s just, it’s made the biggest improvement.
What advice would you people who suffer from the same problem?
You know, if you're going through the same thing, make sure that you want to go through the skin removal process. Make sure that you really research – your surgeons make sure that you research the pros and cons of each surgery and just take into consideration…take into consideration that that will change your life for the good.
Watch a clip here:
See the full episode on Friday, 27 May at 20:55 on TLC (DStv 135)
