Woman who has lost 417 pounds has surgery to remove 47 pounds of excess skin

A 44-year-old teacher who lost 417 pounds has documented the painful process she went through to remove 47 pounds of excess skin around her stomach and waist after embarking on a nearly five-year weight loss journey.

Teresa Parent, from Long Beach, California, has described her recovery to more than 910,000 followers on TikTok since her surgery in December and shared an emotional and raw video of her just before the surgery.

“They’re about to take me right back to surgery,” she says in the video, which has been viewed more than 1.1 million times as of Dec. 7, before she bursts into tears.

“I just want to say to anyone who is on a journey to try to save their life or change their life for the better to lose weight, just believe in yourself because you will be blown away by how much you can do achieve and what you can do just by believing in yourself and not giving up.’

California teacher Teresa Parent, 44, had a tummy tuck to remove her excess skin and has documented her recovery on TikTok

The 44-year-old weighed 600 pounds (left and right) and her doctor told her to lose weight or she could die

Teresa also posted a tearful clip after waking up from surgery to remove what she called her “apron.”

“I’ve never been without my stomach,” says Teresa, who is clearly emotional but sleepy while staying in a hospital bed.

“I can not believe it. My stomach is gone… that skin was literally the last of all my heartache.

After the deaths of her brother and mother, she started eating junk food. She is pictured here when she weighed 600 pounds

“I’ve been so sad and I’ve felt bad for so long and I’m tired of feeling like I didn’t deserve to be happy but I do.”

It’s been an incredible journey for Teresa, who told British news outlet SWNS in 2019 that her weight had skyrocketed to 570 pounds as she turned to bites of junk food to cope with the tragic losses of her brother and mother over the years to be finished in 2001 and 2003 respectively.

The teacher said she eats about 10,000 calories a day.

She suffered a mild heart attack in 2016 and when she went to the doctor she was told she could be dead within five years if she doesn’t make dramatic lifestyle changes.

The news prompted Teresa to implement a new diet and exercise routine before having to undergo stomach surgery when her stomach had shrunk to the size of an egg.

In the days after her recent surgery, the 44-year-old shared mirror selfie videos of her transformation.

On Dec. 8, she posted a TikTok of her in a navy blue robe and a walking frame with the words, “I’m so happy.”

She says in the clip, “I feel small for the first time in my life,” as she turns to reveal her profile.

Teresa also reveals a few “firsts” she’s having after her tummy tuck to remove her excess skin.

“I usually have to put everything on my stomach,” she wrote in the caption of a video shared December 26.

“It was surreal today when I wanted to put my arms and my journal on my stomach and it was gone. This is just one way my life has changed forever because of @drcharliechen and his amazing team.”

In another video, Teresa shared her joy at being able to cross her legs.

“I want to show you something that is so amazing to me,” she says, before rotating the camera onto her lap.

“Something I’ve never been able to do. Obviously my stomach is back here now, there is no apron covering all the way to my knees.

“But now I can literally lift my leg up and cross my legs. I can cross my legs without this big apron hanging down to my knees, such a good feeling.”

Teresa’s doctor makes the preoperative markings (left) before surgery and the excess skin before surgery (right)

An emotional Teresa wakes up after the surgery and says her excess skin is the last of her grief

Teresa talks to her doctor, Charlie Chen, after her tummy tuck in December

Over the weekend, Teresa shared an update with her followers about a complication she suffered in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve.

“My recovery was going really well until a few days before New Year’s Eve I couldn’t eat or drink,” she says.

“I got shortness of breath and extremely shooting pains in my side. I was taken to the emergency room on New Year’s Eve and stayed in the hospital for three to four days.

“I’ve been diagnosed with a few things, but one of them was a blood clot in my right lung.

“Now this is a complication or side effect of major surgery, we knew it was a risk. It happens to 1 percent of people with major surgeries.

“But I’m home now, I’m happy, I’m healthy, I’m fine.”

But Teresa said the blood clot stayed and she still has intermittent shortness of breath and pain, adding that she is on blood thinners and resting.