Tummy Tuck/Lower Body Lift

I was hoping for anyone with experience with having had the above surgeries to offer some insight.

After being lapbanded just under 5 months ago, I am close to my goal weight. At the recommendation of my Dr I've booked an appt to see a plastic surgeon to remove the excess skin from the weight loss (and from 4 pregnancies!) on the 21st of Jan.

I have some excess skin on my upper arms and thighs, which I'm happy to live with, but have a LOT of loose skin in the belly region, which I had even before I lost a kg. Now that I'm 20kgs+ lighter, I look like an empty sack when I'm naked. It's not pretty.

Plus I know that it's not going away with time. The skin will not bounce back.

So basically sometime in the next year I WILL be having either a tummy tuck or a lower body lift (depending on what the surgeon suggests).

So I have some questions I was hoping someone could help me with: have you had a tummy tuck? Did it hurt? How long were you off work? How long after you saw your PS did you get operated on?

yes i have had it done (TT)... yes it did hurt to recover for a while... two weeks off work and five weeks of NO lifting... had to wait 6 weeks from my first appt....

its funny isnt it how you can lose all that weight and think at the beginning that it will make you feel so much better about yourself... but then the reality of all that loose skin can make you feel worse in some ways (im talking about minus the nancy gantz here...) But it is SO worth it!

Ask away little sushee......

Thanks myson! I'm so glad someone has been through it and is willing to help me out with my myriad of questions. Lol!

I see you only took two weeks off work. Does it mean that most of your discomfort was over in two weeks? Or would you have preferred to have taken more time off in hindsight?

My boss is really cool about it, but the truth is, work for me is pretty full on, and I don't know how my work is going to be impacted if I'm away for the four weeks she reckons I should take.

The other thing I was hoping to find out is: how soon from your first appt with your PS before you actually got the surgery done? TBH, I'd like to get this done asap because as you say, as nice as it is to have lost the weight, the loose skin is a constant irritation. But for work, uni and family reasons I guess it's better for me to wait until mid year. How flexible are plastic surgeons?

Also how did you manage the pain?

Sorry about all the questions! It's coming up really quickly and I suddenly am getting very nervous about it all!

I think in hindsight a bit more time off would have been nice... but isnt it always ;). I worked shop front in a lunch bar at the time (4 x 4 hr shifts a week) as well as part time office work from home. At the shop I just let them know I wouldnt be lifting anything heavier than a pie for a while! Im guessing the recovery would be a bit like getting over a CS... but Ive never had one of those so not too sure. The cut is longer, from hip to hip, but then it doesnt go right down to your uterus. But there is a the tightening up of muscle to remember. But yes most of the discomfort was over in two weeks, and I was off the pain killers by then. But still had to go gently for a few more weeks.

What sort of work do you do? Is it full on in a mental or physical way... or both...?

Was only on panadeine once i got home, but in hosp it was morph drip for a couple days. Day 1-3 after surgery was awful, i was in pain and felt really sick from anasthetic too. Had a bit of "what have i done" moment. Why would I put myself through this agony just for vanity sake. But its not just about vanity. Its about self esteem. And that shapes who you are as person. Anyways, once i was up straight and the drains were out i felt alot better in head and body. I havent regretted it since.

Wait times for the surgeon probably dont relate between my case and yours. My guy was a travelling specialist. I had to wait for him to be in town next.( about 6 weeks i think) But I had the first consult, then the surg on the next visit. Not sure how long it would take if you are seeing him in his usual place of work????? sorry...

questions are fine... anything you want to ask, go right ahead.

AND....

the scar takes a bit to fade, but will prob still be always a little bit visible, depending on skin type. My scar is the classic "bikini" type.... comes up quite high on the hips. If you think you might be more of a "hipster" type girl then that might be something to consider.

I dont know if there are different positions for the scar available or if you just dont get a choice, but it might be something worth considering/discussing with the Doc if you think it would worry you....???

Myson, is your scar area flat (but visible) or do you have an overhang?

The area is all flat and the line of the scar is just a white faded scar. Barely noticeable visually but the texture is a little different from the skin around it. No overhang at all, he did a lovely job, but at now almost 23 weeks pg I am starting to get a bump.

At the time of the surgery there was really no hope of me having another baby, if I had of known I would be able to have this bub then maybe I would have waited.... who knows... so I am a little bit concerned as to what affect this pg will have on my tummy. But having said that, the joy of actually being pg with my son more than makes up for whatever may happen physically.

I read a lot of info from women who have bubs after TT's and also talked to my doc (before geting pg) and the probs to expect, if any, are purely cosmetic and fixable if desired, with no added risk.

My mum had a tummy tuck & lipo done in October this year. She had 2 weeks off, only because they were short staffed at her work.
The operation/healing itself went really well. She had other complications which made her stay in hospital to be 10 days.
Her scar is sitting on her bikini line. When she wears a 2 piece bikini, you can't see it. And the scar is completely flat, and almost invisible. She has the best looking stomach now, I'm very envious of it. She was about 105kg before her op, and is now down to 78kg.

My mum saw a plastic surgeon for the first time in August, was operated on in October.

I had my TT 5 yrs ago and it hurt more than childbirth - sorry, but just being honest.
I took a week off work but the day I went back I ended up going back home for another week because I just couldn't stand up straight because the skin was so tight again and I needed to get used to it so my back ached too. I was hunched over for at least 6 weeks.
My scar is barely visible and took at least 12 months to start fading away.
In saying all of this, the pain was so worth the end result because I had so much skin that it would get caught in my pant zipper all the time.
I recent pg suprisingly hasn't even affected all of the work and I still have a flat tummy - aside from the couple of spare tyres :redface:
Good luck with it all and let me know if I can answer any more questions mate.

Sue can I ask you a couple q's please....

Did you find that the muscles stretching hurt more (after the TT) as bubs grew?

Did you get stretcmarks cos the skin was pulled tighter?

myson - when I was around 28 weeks I started to panick because my tummy felt soooo tight I thought it was going to split but after a week or so it settled down. I put on about 16 kgs during the pg and had my baby at 38 weeks. I just started to see a tiny stretchie around my belly button the week before I had her so I think had I gone the extra 2 weeks I would have gotten heaps. Even better I didn't have jelly belly after the birth, it was pretty flat, aside from the spare tyre that already existed LOL.

Thanks Sue. I will prob be having this one early too (GD) so hopefully those last couple weeks wont count for me either. Dont feel real big yet.... its all holding in pretty tight still.

I am quite keen to know more about this.. I won't be doing anything till my youngest is 3 or 4.. get right out of that lifting stage..

myson - I found that wearing the really firm maternity pants with the big elastic belly helped me heaps. You could even wear a maternity belt from the physio which I did cause it kind of felt that I needed to hold myself up IYKWIM. Good luck, oh and keep up the bio oil, especially around the scar, I am so positive that this stuff helped keep away the stretchies because I am extremely prone to them and didn't get any at all. Good luck.

Aussienic - definately wait, I struggled for a very long time with lifting and still can only just manage a sit up - not that it hurts now or anything, it just doesn't feel right.

Nicambhar i notice that u are in brissy, is this where u had ur surgery, i am looking into surgeons, i was going to have it done this xmas, but we decided to have another baby, so i have put it off for a while.
Im looking for a really good surgeon in brisbane.

Mum-of-five - The surgeon's practice is on Wickham Tce and his name is David Theile, his wife is the news reader Marie Louise Theile that used to be on ten. He was brilliant. A friend of mine had hers done there too and was stoked with him.
The surgery took place at the PA. He was so funny, I kept telling him to put my belly button back on straight and he rang my DF when I was in recovery and told him that I would be pleased with my belly button LOL..
I have seen him about having my boobs done as well and can't wait to go ahead with it.

wow, david is on my list of surgeons that i liked, good to hear some positive feedback on him thanks.

You won't be disappointed at all. Oooh, good luck with the TTC.

do you mind if I ask what sort of costs are involved?

I emailed one place and right from first visit to last I was told a ball park figure of 10k.. Is that about right?

Mine was about 5 years ago and only cost around $4500, would have to check my stuff, but it was definately not over $5K. I did get a rebate from medicare for the anethatist fee and I only stayed 1 night in hossie but really should have stayed another 2, which would add another $1K per night I think. I didn't have private cover, not that they cover the op anyways.

Ok thanks.. might have to look at going to a bigger city hospital.. this was in a regional town..

My mum's total surgery was $16k, and just over $10k of that was the tummy tuck. The rest was lipo. She does have private cover, but didn't get a great deal back.

The price really varied when I started looking too.
Another friend of mine got sucked into a heap of lipo on one of those interest free loan things and it was sooooo expensive. She is a single mum and really got suckered badly and is still paying the stupid thing off.
Some places I called sounded so dodgy but the minute I saw this fellow I knew he was the one even though I hadn't had a visit with anyone else.