Tammy Slaton has candidly shared how she feels about her new appearance following her recent skin removal surgery.
During the June 10 episode of 1000-Lb Sisters, the 38-year-old reality star saw her post-surgery body for the first time following an intense eight-hour skin removal procedure.
More than 15 pounds of excess skin were taken from her chin, arms, and lower stomach, and the result left her nearly speechless.
“Boy…” she whispered, stunned as her bandages came off and she caught her first glimpse in the mirror. In a later confessional, she reflected on the moment with a mix of disbelief and joy: "I'm shocked, like I feel so weird.
"I don't have my hanging b***sack off my face. My bat wings are gone, too. And I look down, and there’s nothing there but my lap now," she said, adding that it will "take a little while" for her to get used to seeing her new look.
Fans flooded social media with messages of support and praise. One wrote: “Tammy deserves this. She has put in so much effort and is really sticking to it,” while another shared: “I’m so proud of Tammy and her progress.”
A third chimed in: “I feel like a proud bestie right now!!! lol Watching Tammy’s journey has been nothing short of amazing!!! So happy for her!!!”
The complex procedure, performed by Dr. J. Peter Rubin at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center on January 18, marked a major step in Slaton's health journey, which has seen her lose over 500 pounds in four years.
“After six years and losing over 500 pounds, I was finally approved for surgery,” she told PEOPLE. “I was just overwhelmed with excitement. I worked really hard for this, and now it's here.”
Still, the night before the operation brought a wave of anxiety. “I was, like, seriously freaking terrified,” she admitted. “I was even more nervous about having skin removal surgery than I was for the [sleeve gastrectomy] surgery because they're actually cutting the whole belly!”
Just a week earlier, on the June 3 episode, the reality star had voiced fears not only about the pain but also about facing a new version of herself.
“I’m so used to seeing all this hanging [from] my arms… I’m going to look halfway normal from the face down. It’s scary but rewarding at the same time," she said.
Her brother, Chris Combs, echoed the emotional weight of the moment: “Honestly, I'm hoping Tammy sees a new person in that mirror,” he said, per E! News. “She's put all this work in to lose all this damn weight, so it's time for her to feel good, too, about herself.”
Slaton's journey is a deeply personal battle that has tested her mentally and emotionally. After weighing 717 pounds, she dropped to 534, going 14 pounds below her goal.
“When I got on the scale and I saw the scale was at 534.7, I kinda stopped breathing for a second,” she said. “I'm like 14 lbs under my goal weight. From over 700, that's a huge drop. I'm feeling thrilled, proud, excited - just all the emotions. I proved everybody wrong… I finally got mine! My told-you-so moment.”
Despite the success, the mental hurdles haven’t disappeared. “I’ve come so far on my weight loss journey. But now I have even more insecurities about my body because I have so much loose skin,” she previously shared.
And in an Instagram video from August 2024, she revealed just how much the fight goes beyond the surface.
“It’s not a diet, they say it’s a lifestyle change. It really is,” Tammy said. “I had a lot of demons - inner demons that I had to fight. And I’m still fighting.”