Whos had a tummy tuck?

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2

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  • FabulousKP
    FabulousKP Posts: 97 Member
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    Bump :)
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
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    I had a tummy tuck 4 weeks ago and the difference is already amazing. I am 5'7" and was 136 when I had the surgery, and I'm 138 today. (I still have a bit of swelling and fluid retention from the healing process).

    I've had 3 children and at my heaviest was 246 pounds so I had a lot of loose skin. If you can afford it I see nothing wrong with it. I was so sick of exercising and doing situps and nothing would ever get rid of it.

    Edit - Also, there's the muscle separation. My Plastic Surgeon said I had a 4-inch muscle separation between my ab muscles! That can never be repaired without surgery. So repairing those muscles makes a HUGE difference.

    Here's my pic:

    before-after-4-weeks.png

    Did your insurance pay for it? I am 115 lbs, am done having children, but am left with diastasis and am umbilical hernia. After having C sections, I'm worried about the time I'll have to recover at home. I'm a busy mom who teaches fitness classes, so wouldn't be able to work for a while. My abs are strong as steel, but when I do sit-ups, the big gap in my belly sinks in.....so weird.
    Good luck with your insurance. We fought ours for 2 years. I had excess skin that was sagging over to the point it cause infections constantly. I had prescription creams every month. I had my primary doctor, a dermatologist, and a plastic surgeon battling for me and our insurance company said no. They said if i was obese and lost the weight it would be covered. WTF Because I'm healthy it's not covered?? After 2 years of an emotional roller coaster, I got a loan and paid for it.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
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    How much are we talking? I would like to have a tummy tuck someday.
    Mine was $8300 last year.
  • cabaray
    cabaray Posts: 971 Member
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    At my highest, I was 370, so I'm sure I'm going to have some sagging issues when I get to goal weight. I plan on having work done when the time comes. I'll probably get by boobs lifted too!



    Start saving now...it's expensive. I had a tummy tuck/lipo July 2011 and beast lift/augmentation last week. It's worth it, but be prepared for the pain and recovery. The tummy tuck is a lot more to deal with than the boobs. Those are the easy part. :)
    I have spoken with the insurance company and they said that if medical attention is needed because of the excess skin, it would be covered. However, I'm not counting on it. I already have a fund started and it's going to be awhile until I hit goal. I'm barely under 300 now.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
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    At my highest, I was 370, so I'm sure I'm going to have some sagging issues when I get to goal weight. I plan on having work done when the time comes. I'll probably get by boobs lifted too!



    Start saving now...it's expensive. I had a tummy tuck/lipo July 2011 and beast lift/augmentation last week. It's worth it, but be prepared for the pain and recovery. The tummy tuck is a lot more to deal with than the boobs. Those are the easy part. :)
    I have spoken with the insurance company and they said that if medical attention is needed because of the excess skin, it would be covered. However, I'm not counting on it. I already have a fund started and it's going to be awhile until I hit goal. I'm barely under 300 now.
    Good luck with it and be prepared to battle. Mine denied it and I had all of that documented. All of the office visits, prescriptions I received, OTC creams, etc. I had the paperwork to prove. I took photos with the dates on them of the infections and everything and I was denied.
  • cabaray
    cabaray Posts: 971 Member
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    At my highest, I was 370, so I'm sure I'm going to have some sagging issues when I get to goal weight. I plan on having work done when the time comes. I'll probably get by boobs lifted too!



    Start saving now...it's expensive. I had a tummy tuck/lipo July 2011 and beast lift/augmentation last week. It's worth it, but be prepared for the pain and recovery. The tummy tuck is a lot more to deal with than the boobs. Those are the easy part. :)
    I have spoken with the insurance company and they said that if medical attention is needed because of the excess skin, it would be covered. However, I'm not counting on it. I already have a fund started and it's going to be awhile until I hit goal. I'm barely under 300 now.
    Good luck with it and be prepared to battle. Mine denied it and I had all of that documented. All of the office visits, prescriptions I received, OTC creams, etc. I had the paperwork to prove. I took photos with the dates on them of the infections and everything and I was denied.
    Was it worth the pain and the cost?
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
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    At my highest, I was 370, so I'm sure I'm going to have some sagging issues when I get to goal weight. I plan on having work done when the time comes. I'll probably get by boobs lifted too!



    Start saving now...it's expensive. I had a tummy tuck/lipo July 2011 and beast lift/augmentation last week. It's worth it, but be prepared for the pain and recovery. The tummy tuck is a lot more to deal with than the boobs. Those are the easy part. :)
    I have spoken with the insurance company and they said that if medical attention is needed because of the excess skin, it would be covered. However, I'm not counting on it. I already have a fund started and it's going to be awhile until I hit goal. I'm barely under 300 now.
    Good luck with it and be prepared to battle. Mine denied it and I had all of that documented. All of the office visits, prescriptions I received, OTC creams, etc. I had the paperwork to prove. I took photos with the dates on them of the infections and everything and I was denied.
    Was it worth the pain and the cost?

    I feel so much better now...and my clothes fit differently as well. In the long run, it was a very LONG and EMOTIONAL roller coaster of healing. I had my husband do everything for me, and I mean everything. I was a baby all over again because I couldn't stretch, bend, get up alone, lift anything...the list goes on. But once the healing gets easier and you can start to move around and do things yourself again, you start to feel better. It has changed my life and I do believe it was worth it. Only downfall is that now I'm trying not to obsess over my weight. I refuse to let my stomach get fat since I had to pay for the tummy tuck. I have that monthly reminder (the BILL!) that I have to pay every month....so it reminds me to watch what I eat, otherwise I wasted $8300!
  • bombkitty
    bombkitty Posts: 17 Member
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    I'm having mine on 1 June, I'm freaking out. I'll have to let ya'll know how it went!
  • 1Kristine1
    1Kristine1 Posts: 697 Member
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    Is there a way to lose weight and prevent excess skin?
  • bombkitty
    bombkitty Posts: 17 Member
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    If you're blessed with good elasticity in your skin, maybe. I have the most awful stretch marks, that stretched out skin isn't going anywhere.
  • traceyjayne64
    traceyjayne64 Posts: 262
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    Haven't had one but REALLY, really want one :cry:
  • paralegalnc
    paralegalnc Posts: 43 Member
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    I had a mini tummy tuck in 2009. Mainly to get the "pouch" off. I didn't lose weight with it... and I didnt go down in pants size. I was disappointed but my surgeon made a good point. He said "we didn't move your hip bones" but my pants and panties were fitting better. I no longer have the stretch marks on my belly and most on my hips are gone...

    It was a difficult thing...not going to say it was easy... but percocet was my friend for weeks!! Would I do it again... in a minute.

    contact me if you want more info...I also have before and after pics.
  • qtiekiki
    qtiekiki Posts: 1,490 Member
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    If I were you, I wouldn't get one pre-kid. Just because your belly will get stretch out again by the pregnancy. I would get it when you are done with kids. Unless you have extra money laying around to spend.
  • paralegalnc
    paralegalnc Posts: 43 Member
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    Also....I had mine at a teaching hospital. We have one here and I went to the Resident Clinic. My surgeons were 6th year residents supervised by an attending physician. The surgeon is now with one of the best plastic surgery clinics in NC... I did a mini tummy tuck w/lipo... lipo on my hips and inner thighs (dont do this) Was about $4000
  • paralegalnc
    paralegalnc Posts: 43 Member
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    yeah don't do it pre-kid. They sewed my ab muscles back together from being stretched and torn from pregnancy. If you get pregnant ...you would have just wasted money
  • ilike2moveit
    ilike2moveit Posts: 776 Member
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    I had a tummy tuck 4 weeks ago and the difference is already amazing. I am 5'7" and was 136 when I had the surgery, and I'm 138 today. (I still have a bit of swelling and fluid retention from the healing process).

    I've had 3 children and at my heaviest was 246 pounds so I had a lot of loose skin. If you can afford it I see nothing wrong with it. I was so sick of exercising and doing situps and nothing would ever get rid of it.

    Edit - Also, there's the muscle separation. My Plastic Surgeon said I had a 4-inch muscle separation between my ab muscles! That can never be repaired without surgery. So repairing those muscles makes a HUGE difference.

    Here's my pic:

    before-after-4-weeks.png
    Love the pics. Thanks for sharing. I've read that when there is a big muscle separation, like you had, that it's almost impossible to heal through exercise etc and the only way to correct it is surgery. (I'm also aware of women that have healed it through wearing corset thingys-can't remember the name right now but it's very difficult and they have to be extremely careful or they can make it worse.)
  • Wyoruby
    Wyoruby Posts: 175 Member
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    I had one exactly 6 weeks ago. Presurgery I was up to 154 and now I'm sitting around 148-147. I had 3 kids lots of extra skin and the whole seperated muscles thing!! I love my results, I'm hoping to post some before and after pics to my profile soon. I haven't really changed my pant size because of my hips and thighs. To get my pants to feel comfortable around them the pants have about a 2 inch gap around my waist. So I'm currently working on toning and shrinking my thighs and hips!!! I didn't have any lipo with my tummy tuck. I do have to say that it is pretty painful, the most painful thing I ever did but I was feeling almost normal about a week after but I have pretty high pain tolerance. And I would wait till after having kids to do it. There is some videos on youtube of someone who had a tummy tuck then had a baby afterward and she looked awesome the whole time and her baby was in the 8 lbs range!!!
  • kristen49233
    kristen49233 Posts: 385 Member
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    I've really been thinking about this myself. C-sections 20+ years ago and with being about 1/2 way to my goal weight (hoping to lose 60-70 lbs. total when I'm done with this journey)...I would love to reward myself with a tummy tuck. As it is now I have a very noticable "pouch" and have to dry myself very well underneath because I have had infections before.

    Hopefully my past weight would qualify me for insurance coverage...but if not I would seriously think about taking out a 401K loan to pay for it. Hmmm...now this really has me thinking.
  • amyniceneasy
    amyniceneasy Posts: 143 Member
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    I had a tummy tuck, breast reduction and lipo done about a year and a half ago. It was painful and I still have times when the nerves go haywire and itch where the incisions were. I was 183 before and about 165 after. The doc took a lot off! I had been telling myself for years and years that I would have my breast reduction done once I got down to the size I wanted to be...but I could never get there. I'd loose 5 lbs and gain it back. I had stayed around the same weight for the last 10 years so I figured it was the weight my body wanted to be. Well let me tell you what....having that surgery changed my life for the better. I gave me a taste of what my body could look like and has given me the motivation to change my lifestyle. For the new year I was determined to try one more time to see if I could improve upon what the doc did for me. I got a fitbit for christmas and it gave me real feedback as to how active I was. I upped what excersize I was doing. Started tracking my food and discovered the fat2fit radio method. I'm not starving myself for the first time during a diet, I'm excersizing most days of the week, and I'm loosing. :) Slow and steady. This is a "forever" change and I'm NOT gonna go back.

    So would I do it again. Hell yes. I'd have liked to have done this whole process in reverse but honestly, I think the tummy tuck and breast reduction are what gave me the motivation to do this.
  • Skinny_Jeans_Soon
    Skinny_Jeans_Soon Posts: 326 Member
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    I had my consult for my breast aug and tummy tuck last week. This is the quote they gave me and this is with a really good surgeon. It took 2 months just to get in for the consult. Is this reasonable? The total (over 15k) seems really high to me.

    Mastopexy (Breast Lift) w/augmentation $4500.00
    Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) $4500.00
    Cost of Silicone Implants $2050.00

    Surgery Center is:

    Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) $1400.00
    Mastopexy with augmentation $ 650.00

    Extended stay past 23 hours per night $500.00
    (Required for Abdominoplasty Patients)

    *** Hospital policy, they will charge a pathology fee if breast tissue is removed; that ranges from $250.00 - $500.00.

    Anesthesia quote is:

    Mastopexy 4 hours $1280.00
    Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) 4 hours $1040.00

    ($500.00 for first hours and each additional
    hour is $260.00)

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