Post weight loss - tummy tuck/excess skin removal experiences?
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I am pretty sure I will be in same boat , However, I am not worrying it yet. I am down 41 and have 69 to go and will see what I am like at that point.
If it's any consolation, I'm down 175lbs. I didn't start seeing the excess until I was down over 100lbs. Also, a year's worth of time and recomp got rid of 1/2 of it. Remember, skin takes longer to shrink than you from fat loss, but it does shrink. Just give it time.6 -
I don't think anyone is telling the OP that the idea of surgery is silly or should be dismissed - it's just that she gave the impression she wants to have surgery regardless of how she looks at goal, and people are cautioning her to wait a while and see how bad things are.
There's nothing silly about wanting to be more informed on the whole process, and of course everyone has the right to choose to have (or not have) surgery for their own body. The OP may decide she really wants to go ahead, and that's absolutely fine! We just want her to consider all the relevant factors, that's all.
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I had a friend who lost 140+ pounds, and has kept it off for several years. She had skin surgery. She said recovery was terrible but worth it. Research the providers that do this surgery. She had several drains. I personally want to wait until I lose all my weight to even think about it, so I can figure out all what i need done.0
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@pastelcarly
I will be having a tummy-tuck on Aug. 2nd. I did as was recommended by my surgeon to wait a year in order for 1) my skin to shrink back as much as it naturally can, and 2) to make sure that I can maintain the weight loss. If you want to add me and follow my recover log, please feel free to. I'll be trying to post daily updates including my true before (taking a pic at the hospital), and recovery photos. So if you would like a 1st person recovery and results information, in a bit over a month.... that'll be me.
As far as picking a surgeon: a board certified plastic surgeon. Do NOT go with someone who's a cosmetic surgeon, but not a plastic surgeon. A plastic surgeon is specialty trained in plastic, cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. A cosmetic surgeon is NOT necessarily. Also, ask to see thier credentials and references, anyone good will be happy to give that to you. If they avoid the topic: RUN!!!!!
Cost:. For just the abdominoplasty (tummy-tuck), $8,000-$10,000 out of pocket is average. If you get a quote for substantially less, ask if it covers everything including the anesthesiologist and recovery. Many places will advertise for $5k, but fail to add in the $2k-3k for the anesthesiologist, plus $1-2 for recovery and follow ups. You'll probably want to save up about $12,000 though. A tummy-tuck just removes the skin, it's recommended to get liposuction (liposculpting) as well for optimal results (That's what I am getting). My total cost: $12,600 (and change). It's cheaper to do both at once as you only pay for the anesthesia once.9 -
Excellent discussion!!!1
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@pastelcarly ,
Whatever you choose, good luck. I can share my experience. I'm 46 , have been overweight my whole life. I'm 5'7", my highest weight was 238 or so. I was very concerned about lose skin, and i anticipated a lot of it. I lost over 75lbs, and in 140s now. It's been about one year and a half of maintenance for me. My areas that were problems are better to the point that I'm actually happy with the way i look. For reference, i wear small/medium tops and a size 29 jeans. Or 4-6 bottoms dependent on a brand. I'm muscular, my legs are big due ti cycling. My tummy has a bit of jiggle and a tiny frown, but i feel it's fine and happy with the results. Again, good luck to you.10 -
pastelcarly wrote: »I appreciate the responses everyone...but has anyone actually been through this and have any insight to give? This is a decision I have already come to, I'd love a boost from someone whos been there and gone through the entire process.
I had a rocky time with my surgery but now 6 months out it was probably worth the expense and experience. I ended up with necrosis. Pretty much anything that could go wrong did for me so I can tell you what that's like but still after a loss of over 100 pounds my abdomen is better than it was. I'm numb from the navel down but as Julie says it isn't a big problem although sometimes I wish it would come back. I had two incisions one horizontal and one vertical because I had lost so much weight and had so much loose skin. My surgery entailed cutting down the center and along my pubic area and pulling the skin forward from my back and up from the pubic area. I had alot of stretch marks in the front and alot of excess skin on my back. This means I won't be wearing a bikini any time soon since I have a central scar but at 61 years of age I had no intention to anyway. I was shocked at how much time it took me to recover. Again I am older so you may not experience the same thing I did. I also had my muscles stitched up and I understand that can take a bit more out of you. My surgery lasted 5.5 hours so it's not minor surgery.
What I've learned from this whole experience is that it pays to shop around but there are no guarantees. I went with an experienced surgeon (25 years) who teaches at a university that had done surgery on a friend of mine. Yet I had a trunkload of problems and my friend didn't. Be sure it's worth the money and down time. Make sure you give your body time to recover and don't depend on liposuction to eliminate leftover fat. I think what alot of people have said here is valuable. Once you get your weight down make sure you give your body time to recover from losing weight. It is a very expensive surgery and it is also a tough surgery. I booked my surgery months after I expected to have made it to goal but I was actually 8 pounds over. I regret I didn't get to goal. The last six months of my diet I just plain couldn't lose weight.
The last question I bet you have is how much weight will I lose from the removed skin... It was my question anyway but what ends up happening is that you tend to weigh more after the surgery due to inflamation. Just be prepared for that. I was really depressed about that, lol.
If you have more questions please feel free to PM me.
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I have lost 95lbs. And the only extra skin issue I have is in my boobs. (TMI sorry!) So if you had/have huge boobs like I did than you may have some loose skin. But it can be fixed with a breast lift, if it doesn’t go away with exercise1
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I've lost 100 pounds as well and have terrible loose skin. I had a vertical tummy tuck with a small horizontal cut also, and had my arms done at the same time. I had no problems like the above poster did. I went back to work in 8 days and I'm a hairdresser. I'm having my thighs and bum done July 31. Last but not least I will go in January for my boobs. I love it. I love how flat my tummy is. I will definitely wear a bikini, the scar doesn't bother me and it's faded a lot. Looking forward to doing that next summer. I'm also happy to answer any questions. Feel free to message me as well.11
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melissa6771 wrote: »I've lost 100 pounds as well and have terrible loose skin. I had a vertical tummy tuck with a small horizontal cut also, and had my arms done at the same time. I had no problems like the above poster did. I went back to work in 8 days and I'm a hairdresser. I'm having my thighs and bum done July 31. Last but not least I will go in January for my boobs. I love it. I love how flat my tummy is. I will definitely wear a bikini, the scar doesn't bother me and it's faded a lot. Looking forward to doing that next summer. I'm also happy to answer any questions. Feel free to message me as well.
Good luck on your upcoming surgery--you must be SO excited!
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JulieSHelms wrote: »melissa6771 wrote: »I've lost 100 pounds as well and have terrible loose skin. I had a vertical tummy tuck with a small horizontal cut also, and had my arms done at the same time. I had no problems like the above poster did. I went back to work in 8 days and I'm a hairdresser. I'm having my thighs and bum done July 31. Last but not least I will go in January for my boobs. I love it. I love how flat my tummy is. I will definitely wear a bikini, the scar doesn't bother me and it's faded a lot. Looking forward to doing that next summer. I'm also happy to answer any questions. Feel free to message me as well.
Good luck on your upcoming surgery--you must be SO excited!
Thank you Julie. I'm so excited, and scared. I have a feeling this one is going to be much more painful and more recovery than the other. That said, I have hated my thighs for 20 years! And my bum looks much like yours did before your surgery, probably worse. Lol... looking forward to seeing the results. I'm going to look like I'm out of a criminal minds episode, like I was stitched together. Haha4 -
@pastelcarly
Update:. Home from surgery. Feeling pretty good (Valium + Tylenol 3). Back is sore from lipo, but nothing worse than bad back pain from period crap. Surgery went very well (according to my doctors). So hopefully I will have a great and speedy recovery.14 -
Download the app real self. Has tons of before and after a, real experiences etc.0
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@VUA21 Hoping for a speedy recovery and a nice outcome for you1
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I had two surgeries within the last year - got a 360° Bodylift to remove the tummy-back-area. I lost over 300lbs in total and it was medically necessary and paid by my insurance company. In March i got a upper-body-lift removing the skin from my breast/back/arms. I just submitted my application to my insurance company for removing my thigh-skin. Wish me luck.
For me i would wait for at least a year after maintaining weight, because your body/skin can do more than you will expect. Especially if you're young and the weight loss is not extremely high.
Concerning the surgeries i had some troubles with them. Because of the bad-skin-quality (due the many years and the extreme high weight i had) the seam torn and i had to have an emergency surgery. After that i had some more problems concerning not healing wounds, which will give me much thicker scars in some areas. All in all it took about 3 month for all wounds to be closed. Luckily no inflammations. My belly button ripped and was lost within my stomach.
On the second surgery i had some similiar (but not that worse) problems. Some open spots closing slowly took about two month for healing. And hey - they found the bellybutton and put it back in place. Healed fine. Nevertheless i would do both of the surgeries again, because i like the result and it was definitely necessary in my case.
@VUA21 I wish you good luck and a fast healing. Give it more time, than you expected and the result will be fine ;-)7 -
Day 5 recovery update. Saw doctor today, healing very well. Babying the wounds, and trying to put as little strain on my abdomen as possible.
@felixg1109 Thank you. Sorry to hear about your mishaps and glad that you recovered well in the end. Yes, I always double the time that I expect. Took 3 years to lose the weight and give myself time for skin to shrink as much as possible before surgery.
Here's my day 5 recovery photo:
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Here's my 1 week recovery photo. Also, if anyone is interested my surgery video is on YouTube, I'll post the link as well.
https://youtu.be/C2RZD5pXPLg
I have one drain left in, the bellybutton bandage is now removed. Most of the bruising from surgery is gone. I am still sore, but no pain. Walking around pretty well - even went to the grocery store, did use the cart as a walker a bit, but managed to get around pretty well.14 -
Wow I can't believe how well, and fast, you are healing. Just goes to show what good nutrition and a healthy body can do.
Thanks for posting the video too.
I am not sure I can watch it. I can watch medical stuff in the abstract, but I kind of know you, so I think I may become a little squeamish.
Maybe I will sit with smelling salts at hand
Cheers, h.6 -
I watched, he was very thorough in his explanation.4
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