The following Healthcast report by Channel 4 Action News medical editor Marilyn Brooks first aired Feb. 6, 2004, on Action News at 5 p.m.

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Maria Sitar and Greg Beal have looked forward to this day for more than a year. You may think it's just another wedding, but those close to the lucky couple know that Sitar is not the woman she once was.

Sitar: "I weighed about 340 pounds."

Those pounds were on a 5-foot, 5-inch frame. At age 36, she wore a size-32 dress.

I caught up to her three days before her wedding. Now a petite size 8, she said she lost 190 pounds, but not the skin that covered those pounds.

Sitar: "There were days when I would look at my body and be more uncomfortable than when I was heavy. I thought, 'Boy, maybe I should put some back on,' but I didn't want to do that either."

Fortunately, Sitar has a supportive partner who stuck with her through thick and thin.

Beal: "I said, 'You know what? You didn't like the way you were before, you've come a long way from there, you don't like the way you are now, so just finish the process.'"

Sitar took out a second mortgage for $20,000 and had an operation. The payoff was more than just cosmetic.

Dr. Dennis Hurwitz, plastic surgeon: "The redundant skin flapping on itself is a source of chronic infections, which can lead to abscesses and cellulitis. It's of medical importance to correct that problem. In addition, that hanging skin is a drag on her back. Maybe while she's young, she won't notice it. But over the years, it'll pay its price. It's better to get rid of it sooner than later."

After doing much homework, Sitar decided Hurwitz would be the one to change her body and her life.

In one operation, Hurwitz removed 17 pounds of skin from Sitar's body. He calls it the total body lift.

Hurwitz: "We're talking about one incision here and one here. The loose skin gets removed and you're left with one scar around the bikini line, one around the bra line, and maybe one in the arms."

At age 41, Deborah Kramer went through gastric bypass. She has lost 150 pounds and is about to follow Sitar's path -- a total body lift in one procedure.

Kramer: "I would much rather go through it all at once, get it done and over with, deal with the pain at one time, because I know what the pain was going through the gastric bypass surgery."

Oddly, it's not the pain that worries her, but the scars. She wants to wear the revealing clothing she can't wear now.

Kramer: "Will the scarring be that noticeable? I'm hoping not, but I still think in the end, it's better than having all the skin there."

The 45 minutes spent drawing lines on Kramer's body now serve as guides for Hurwitz's surgical blade. For the next 13 hours, a six-member team will remove at least 10 pounds of skin from her back, buttocks, back legs, thighs, stomach and breasts.

Hurwitz: "For both the surgeon and the patient, it's a lot of stress. It's like a marathon."

Sitar, now on her way to a honeymoon in Hawaii, says Kramer may even question her sanity.

Sitar: "I didn't have a space on me that didn't hurt, other than my lower legs, but it's all worth it."

A body lift is usually done in two or three stages, but it takes four weeks' recovery every time.

Hurwitz is the only plastic surgeon that I know of in this area who does the total body lift in one operation.