2006 Pontiac G6 $199/month, 2006 GMC Envoy $199/month,2006 Mazda 3 $209/month at Tom Wood Pontiac, GMC Mazda By Dan McFeelyTwo years after bariatric surgery saved my life, I'm faced with another big decision.This time, it's not about wanting to live. It's more about wanting to look better and feel better about my body.

It's also about a $6,500 abdominoplasty -- or tummy tuck -- that I am considering. A few weeks ago, I visited Sando Jones Aker, a cosmetic and plastic surgery center in Noblesville for a consultation.If I decide to have this done, I would not be alone.According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, about 106,000 people had body contouring procedures in 2004, a 77 percent increase in the past five years. The increase is directly related to the rise in the number of bariatric patients with loose skin, according to the organization. In fact, more than half of the surgeries were on massive-weight-loss patients, like me. So far I've lost more than 190 pounds.Here's the catch. A tummy tuck would be purely a cosmetic procedure. That means insurance won't cover the cost.Yet it's the only way I can get rid of the "flapper," the roughly 15 pounds of loose, fatty skin that hangs around my waist and flaps whenever I jog or jump for a rebound while playing basketball.The flapper is always with me. Hundreds of sit-ups won't make much difference, nor will gallons of skin creme.The experts say that your skin is like a balloon: When you lose a lot of weight, it tends to sag and hang around like a deflated balloon. There is some evidence that if you are young (I am 41) and do not smoke (I don't) that your sagging might not be so bad.But when I button my pants -- size 44 now, down from a size 60 -- I sometimes struggle to zip up over this mound of useless flesh. Depending on the cut of the pants, I sometimes have to go to a bigger waist size to compensate for the bulge.Form-fitting shirts look fine from my neck to my belly button, but become not-so-fashionable below, thanks to the flapper.

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