Tummy surgery after 180 pound weight loss [warning - some graphic pics]
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Following. I'm planning to hang out at least another year and lose about 10 more pounds before considering surgery, but at present I definitely have a big old "udder" of skin on my lower belly and wrinkled upper thighs. It sounds like your cost was less than I would have expected, that's much more reasonable than I would have guessed.1
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Ok, here are some of my pics from before, day after surgery, arms are three days later, I have ones from next day but they’re bloodier because they were taped, and today. I had the fleur de lis tummy tuck and the arms done together in one surgery. In the today pics, you will see my crazy bone structure. I am barrel chested and those are my hip bones. Might’ve been better if someone else took them so they’d be at the same angle as the others. I need a couple small revisions but I am waiting to do them during other surgeries as to not have more down time. He wants to touch up my belly button, I need the spot where my incisions meet under my belly button touched up, and a small part of my left arm. My scars on my arms look more noticeable in these pics than they are otherwise for some reason.
I am 13 days out from my thigh lift. Debating whether to post those too.
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@melissa6771 Amazing! How much time between the surgery and your last pictures?0
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rickiimarieee wrote: »
Wow, if you didn't say that you had surgery and have a scar, I would not notice it. That's amazing!!!
My scar is a little bigger in select places because I had a hard time healing and it kept ripping open and you could see the stitches that lied underneath!0 -
Day 10 recovery.
Some of the scabbing is starting to shed. 95% of the soreness is gone. Went for a slow walk today, it felt good to get back to being my normal active self. Even if my activities are still very limited. My "workouts" are limited to slow walks, seated upper body workouts and calf raises: not too much but it's progress from activities being sleep and lying down. I'll be getting my drain removed soon, can't wait for that!
I didn’t apply any lotion or oils to mine so maybe if you apply oils and lotion it will fade even more than mine has!2 -
I have nothing to add except, you are all badass in my book! Cudos.4
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@kshama2001 I had that surgery July 25 last year so a little bit more than a year by 2-3 weeks. 2 down, 2 to go... hoping to be all done and ready to go by next summer.3
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melissa6771 wrote: »Ok, here are some of my pics from before, day after surgery, arms are three days later, I have ones from next day but they’re bloodier because they were taped, and today. I had the fleur de lis tummy tuck and the arms done together in one surgery. In the today pics, you will see my crazy bone structure. I am barrel chested and those are my hip bones. Might’ve been better if someone else took them so they’d be at the same angle as the others. I need a couple small revisions but I am waiting to do them during other surgeries as to not have more down time. He wants to touch up my belly button, I need the spot where my incisions meet under my belly button touched up, and a small part of my left arm. My scars on my arms look more noticeable in these pics than they are otherwise for some reason.
I am 13 days out from my thigh lift. Debating whether to post those too.
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Wow! Your tummy scar doesn't look like a scar at all, just some skin discoloration or a weird birthmark that run up you stomach.
Thanks for the pics.
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@VUA21 Yeah, you really can’t see it very much. You actually can’t see my arms much either I don’t know why it looks worse in the pictures. Maybe shadows because the light was in front and above me. Tummy one is a little wider in the middle but I think that’s because it’s where the natural bend of the body is. Nothing you can do about that. Some of it is very thin. My surgeon doesn’t use any stitches on the outside. All stitches on the under layers and he glues the skin. I love that. I think by next year it will be almost unnoticeable. But then I’ll have more, newer ones. LOL none that will be visible in a bikini though, other than the thighs but those should be pretty well healed by then. I lived in loose yoga pants for many months after my tummy surgery. I wouldn’t put anything on that rubbed on it.
So glad you started this. I was going to wait longer.4 -
melissa6771 wrote: »@VUA21 Yeah, you really can’t see it very much. You actually can’t see my arms much either I don’t know why it looks worse in the pictures. Maybe shadows because the light was in front and above me. Tummy one is a little wider in the middle but I think that’s because it’s where the natural bend of the body is. Nothing you can do about that. Some of it is very thin. My surgeon doesn’t use any stitches on the outside. All stitches on the under layers and he glues the skin. I love that. I think by next year it will be almost unnoticeable. But then I’ll have more, newer ones. LOL none that will be visible in a bikini though, other than the thighs but those should be pretty well healed by then. I lived in loose yoga pants for many months after my tummy surgery. I wouldn’t put anything on that rubbed on it.
So glad you started this. I was going to wait longer.
You mentioned posting your thigh lift pictures? Please do!2 -
@melissa6771 Everything healed really well. Big difference. Looks great!3
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This thread is educational and much appreciated. If any of you don't mind answering, how old are you? Do you think your age affected your healing?3
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@kshama2001 you want to see them now? It’s only 13 days out. They look different but not hugely so. They still,have a lot of swelling and a lot of healing to do still. I can show you the incisions and how it looks so far.
@candicew70 thank you, so glad I’m doing all this. I have to live in this body for a long time.
@lokihen I just turned 47. I was 46 when i had my tummy/arms done, 47 for thighs, bum will be in January and will hopefully have my fourth and last one, boobs, by my 48th bday. I don’t think age has affected my recovery at all. I have been up and about the next day each time and I think it’s healed well. I also work out a lot and am very healthy.4 -
This thread is educational and much appreciated. If any of you don't mind answering, how old are you? Do you think your age affected your healing?
@lokihen I will be 42 on the 20th. A little, but i think health probably has more do to with it. I was 25 when I had my daughter and my recovery fromy C-section took a lot longer, I was in a lot more pain, and overall was substantially worse of an experience: I was extremely out of shape. I'm a lot healthier now, and find that I'm healing rapidly and with little pain. Even bruising isn't lasting as long on me know than when I was younger.3 -
Amazing!!!
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melissa6771 wrote: »@kshama2001 you want to see them now? It’s only 13 days out. They look different but not hugely so. They still,have a lot of swelling and a lot of healing to do still. I can show you the incisions and how it looks so far.
@candicew70 thank you, so glad I’m doing all this. I have to live in this body for a long time.
@lokihen I just turned 47. I was 46 when i had my tummy/arms done, 47 for thighs, bum will be in January and will hopefully have my fourth and last one, boobs, by my 48th bday. I don’t think age has affected my recovery at all. I have been up and about the next day each time and I think it’s healed well. I also work out a lot and am very healthy.
@melissa6771 Yes, would like to see the Before as well.
Also, how much weight did you lose?0 -
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singingflutelady wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »Your incision looks awesome! I had a midline (1-2 inches above belly button all the way down) incision (for a completely different operation) and it never looked as nice as yours
My c-section scar was pretty bad, it's gone now. Part of it, is that plastic surgeons have a higher focus on end result aesthetics than other surgeons so the suturing tend to be focused on both proper closing and minimizing scarring. When I had my C-section, the top layer of sutures were staples, which resulted in a big ugly scar. My tummy-tuck removed it as the bottom incision went right below my old scar.
I had staples too and part of mine reopened so it didn't heal for 10 months so the scar is bad. I had a total proctocolectomy (colon and rectum out) by a colorectal surgeon so aesthetics was the least of his concerns.
As well as should be! Doctors need to be focused on thier specialty. The ugliest scars are generally from ER doctors, but then thier focus is to save your life when seconds can be the difference between life and death. So yeah, you would end up with a hideous scar, but you'd be alive. Same with other doctors. That's why hospitals have plastic surgeons, mainly for severe facial trauma but also for reconstructive work. If there's time to do precision suturing, they'll call the plastic surgeon to suture as the face is one of the few places that are not normally hidden under clothing and can definitely affect quality of life.1 -
rheddmobile wrote: »Following. I'm planning to hang out at least another year and lose about 10 more pounds before considering surgery, but at present I definitely have a big old "udder" of skin on my lower belly and wrinkled upper thighs. It sounds like your cost was less than I would have expected, that's much more reasonable than I would have guessed.
@rheddmobile
I personally recommend doing a 1-year (give or take) body recomp after you get to your ideal. The reason is that skin shrinks a lot slower than fat. A year ago I had definite bat-wings, a year later most of the excess skin shrank back. So, while there is some excess skin ony arms, it's minimal. Also, if you have multiple areas that could use some surgery, ask if they can be done at the same time. My boob lift (no implants - just lifted a bit) and a thigh lift can be done at the same time, so it'll save me a good $2500 (cost of anesthesiologist) at minimum (downtime, prescriptions, and maybe a few other things as well). And my thighs have some pretty ugly droopage - I'm just going to wait until I drop the rest of the fat. I have about 20lbs to go and the last place that holds onto fat for me is my butt & thighs.3 -
singingflutelady wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »Your incision looks awesome! I had a midline (1-2 inches above belly button all the way down) incision (for a completely different operation) and it never looked as nice as yours
My c-section scar was pretty bad, it's gone now. Part of it, is that plastic surgeons have a higher focus on end result aesthetics than other surgeons so the suturing tend to be focused on both proper closing and minimizing scarring. When I had my C-section, the top layer of sutures were staples, which resulted in a big ugly scar. My tummy-tuck removed it as the bottom incision went right below my old scar.
I had staples too and part of mine reopened so it didn't heal for 10 months so the scar is bad. I had a total proctocolectomy (colon and rectum out) by a colorectal surgeon so aesthetics was the least of his concerns.
As well as should be! Doctors need to be focused on thier specialty. The ugliest scars are generally from ER doctors, but then thier focus is to save your life when seconds can be the difference between life and death. So yeah, you would end up with a hideous scar, but you'd be alive. Same with other doctors. That's why hospitals have plastic surgeons, mainly for severe facial trauma but also for reconstructive work. If there's time to do precision suturing, they'll call the plastic surgeon to suture as the face is one of the few places that are not normally hidden under clothing and can definitely affect quality of life.
I had a plastic surgeon perform my carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel (ulnar nerve at elbow) surgeries 15 years ago and was very impressed at how nice it looks. I had a choice between a neurosurgeon or a plastic surgeon and lucked out to find a plastic surgeon who was a hand specialist.3 -
melissa6771 wrote: »Ok, here are some of my pics from before, day after surgery, arms are three days later, I have ones from next day but they’re bloodier because they were taped, and today. I had the fleur de lis tummy tuck and the arms done together in one surgery. In the today pics, you will see my crazy bone structure. I am barrel chested and those are my hip bones. Might’ve been better if someone else took them so they’d be at the same angle as the others. I need a couple small revisions but I am waiting to do them during other surgeries as to not have more down time. He wants to touch up my belly button, I need the spot where my incisions meet under my belly button touched up, and a small part of my left arm. My scars on my arms look more noticeable in these pics than they are otherwise for some reason.
I am 13 days out from my thigh lift. Debating whether to post those too.
]
You’re a badass for getting this done at the same time! I know how difficult it is to sit up using your stomach so you have to use your arms!3 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
My before and after wasn’t as drastic as some of these women, but I lost around 50 pounds. I went from 170 at my heaviest to 120. I’m 5’3.3 -
Wow! It looks great!1
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kshama2001 wrote: »
This was about half way through my weight loss and that extra skin hanging right there never tightened up no matter what I did.1 -
This thread is educational and much appreciated. If any of you don't mind answering, how old are you? Do you think your age affected your healing?
This sounds terrible but I’m 22. I definitely had a hard time healing but that’s due to some other health problems. I did have one pregnancy and I definitely didn’t “bounce” back like I should of for my age but it’s happens and I just wanted to be comfortable in my skin!3 -
This was my before tummy. I lost 180lbs. These pictures were taken approximately one week before surgery.
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Week 2 Recovery Update:
Drains finally removed!!! I no longer have to wear the compression contraption, now I get to wear normal compression gear for the next 4-6 weeks. This includes Spanx, compression tights, and compression wraps (like the one's for the abdomen for post birth).
Most of my swelling is gone (yay, no more cankles!) from the rest of my body excluding abdomen. I can still feel my stomach being swollen and distended. Even more bruising is gone, and the bruising that my post surgery compression contraption was causing will be going away as well.
I'm feeling good and moving around pretty well. Went for a 30 minute walk on the treadmill yesterday (at a whopping 2.5mph!). I celebrated my last drain being removed by going out to dinner with my daughter. With the drain in I wasn't comfortable leaving the house too much.
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Love it! You are doing so well, and it's healing nicely.1
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Week 2 Recovery Update:
Drains finally removed!!! I no longer have to wear the compression contraption, now I get to wear normal compression gear for the next 4-6 weeks. This includes Spanx, compression tights, and compression wraps (like the one's for the abdomen for post birth).
Most of my swelling is gone (yay, no more cankles!) from the rest of my body excluding abdomen. I can still feel my stomach being swollen and distended. Even more bruising is gone, and the bruising that my post surgery compression contraption was causing will be going away as well.
I'm feeling good and moving around pretty well. Went for a 30 minute walk on the treadmill yesterday (at a whopping 2.5mph!). I celebrated my last drain being removed by going out to dinner with my daughter. With the drain in I wasn't comfortable leaving the house too much.
Your belly button is probably the best I have seen in a tummy tuck surgery. I have been planning for years to get me a mommy package. I'm hoping when I finally drop some weight and am able to afford the surgery that I heal as good as you have been. Congrats on your weight loss.. And tummy tuck! 😁3 -
Week 2 Recovery Update:
Drains finally removed!!! I no longer have to wear the compression contraption, now I get to wear normal compression gear for the next 4-6 weeks. This includes Spanx, compression tights, and compression wraps (like the one's for the abdomen for post birth).
Most of my swelling is gone (yay, no more cankles!) from the rest of my body excluding abdomen. I can still feel my stomach being swollen and distended. Even more bruising is gone, and the bruising that my post surgery compression contraption was causing will be going away as well.
I'm feeling good and moving around pretty well. Went for a 30 minute walk on the treadmill yesterday (at a whopping 2.5mph!). I celebrated my last drain being removed by going out to dinner with my daughter. With the drain in I wasn't comfortable leaving the house too much.
You don’t look too swollen! You look really great for only being 2 weeks post op. I looked 6 months pregnant for like the first month!2
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