"Honey, my world has changed completely," Cross admits.
Vannessa Cross has "changed her life" after achieving a huge milestone in her weight loss journey. As per PEOPLE, the February 22 episode of 1000-Lb. Best Friends, the 44-year-old meets with her bariatric surgeon Dr. Charles Procter for her nine-month post-op check-in. As soon as she walked into the doctor's office, Procter said that she looked fantastic.
"Honey, my world has changed completely," Cross admits. "I put a seat belt on. The first time, in the front, put a seat belt on and clicked it. All my life I've had to put it behind me, click it, and just pull it around." She continued, "I have had so many different breakthroughs," adding, "I feel like I've been locked up for 20 years — been in prison for 20 years and now I'm free. I get to see things in the world I didn't get to see."
Procter then told Cross they will weigh her and monitor her progress, reminding Cross that he asked her to have lost 40 lbs. when she came back. "I'm confident that my weight is still going down, so I'm excited to step on the scale," she said. "Dr. Procter wants me to get to 260 lbs. so I'm hoping and praying that I've done enough work, I've done what I'm supposed to do to not only reach but possibly exceed his goal."
When Cross stepped on the scale, she was ecstatic and had a big smile on her face as she learned she weighed 248 lbs. "That's the 200 mark. You did it! You've lost 200 lbs. Congratulations," Procter tells her while giving each other a high five and then hugging it out.
Also in the clip, Cross opens up about how she wants to get skin removal surgery now that she's lost the weight. "I have to have the skin removed. It's messing with me more having all of this stuff hanging than it did just being big, voluptuous, and full," she explained.
"I don't like all this hanging skin. My rolls pull and it rips my stomach. The bottom roll is so heavy that if I turn over in my bed too hard, it pulls it," she said. "I'm just having issues with my skin and I don't think I'm gonna be able to fix it until I have surgery."
However, she was told to lose weight before starting the skin procedure. "I'm not at my goal yet. I'm working there, but I'm not there yet," she told PEOPLE. "I'm going to the gym — that's one thing I've done differently because I'm trying to build muscle. Procter said that's when I get the skin removed, I want something there. You don't want to remove the skin and it just is bone and skin. So I'm working on my core. I'm doing upper, I'm doing lower, I'm doing everything I can."
"I never thought in a million years Vannessa Cross would say, 'I'm gonna go to the gym today.' But I'm doing it."
References:
https://people.com/health/1000-lb-best-friends-vannessa-cross-celebrates-losing-200-lbs/
Cover Image Source: Youtube | TLC
