Has anyone had a tummy tuck?

Of course it is not considered medically required just because you had a c/s. Like in my other posts, i've said that it could be from weight related probs, weightloss and/or c/s. For me, it is c/s.

Glamourcide - i don't why they would consider a tummy tuck required for those who have had c/s. I didn't even know. I went to my plastic surgeon asking if he would do a tummy tuck at the same time as my boobies but he wouldn't because the op is too long and so is the recovery and the risk of infection can be high and it may also cause more bruising and swelling in my boobies than normal. That's when he asked how i'd delivered my 2 kids and i said via c/s. He then said it would be medically required.
It might be due to the cut, don't know. I personally had thought that it was because of my weightloss.

Sushee - geez, that's a bit crud of the drs not giving people who have had a panni body contouring or tightening of the muscles. That totally sucks. How long has it been since your surgery? Have the scars faded? I agree, i'll have scars over an apron belly anyday.

The apron belly gets me really depressed, as i have about 5kgs to lose of my total 20kg, and i know that at least 3kg of it can be removed with the TT and some lipo around the flanks (love handles)

TD,

yeah it kinda sucks that you don't get tightening with your panni, but I guess there are some people who just don't need it. I saw a chick who'd lost over 50kgs but whose tummy is washboard flat. But she has this overhang on the front of her tummy that could probably do with a snip and remove. I guess a panni would be great for people like that.

As for me, I had my surgery April this year, so it's been about 5 months since I got the work done. My scars are fading nicely but they'll never go away completely, but that's okay. They've 'worn in' now which means they don't pull and look awkward anymore like 'new' scars do. They're soft and pliant, and with clothes on, they're so seamless you wouldn't know they were there.

What size are you now Sushee, if you don't mind me asking? How much weight have you lost. I love all these inspirational weightloss stories.

i'll be hoping to get a regular TT, but i found out there is an endoscopic TT too, where the incision is where a c/s cut is, so the scar is not visible. With the regular TT the scar is visible when you wear bikinis or low rise pants, but who cares as i know the scar will fade to a silvery line given time. I will find out how much price difference there is between a regular TT and an endoscopic TT, but overall if it's quite a difference, i'll just stick with the regular TT.

I bet you feel fantastic and your Dh would love it too :lol: It's amazing how one feels about themselves when they start liking what they see in the mirror.

I'm sitting on a size 8 now, down from a size 20. I lost 37kgs all up. Lapband surgery was a huge success for me. It isn't for everyone, so I was very lucky (plus I worked my butt off! Lol!)

My circumferential body lift scar is quite low down, in that I can wear low rise jeans and bikini bottoms without those scars showing. But I also have a vertical scar running up the front of my tummy so I'll never wear a bikini again. :) But a regular one-piece swimsuit covers everything.

As for DH, the weight loss actually hasn't changed anything for him tbh. Lol! Size 20 or size 8, he treats me exactly the same way, which is actually nice because I think if he started paying me more attention because I was thinner, I guess I would feel like he never really found me attractive when I was more voluptous. :) But he has always said he would love me no matter what I looked like, and he's true to his word!

So for me, not much as changed, except that I just found a whole new love for shopping!

Size 8 sushee, well done! What an amazing effort.:clap:

Wow, Sushee, what an amazing effort!! Congratulations :) I bet you feel fabulous when you look at the mirror and see all that hard work has paid off :) Good on you.
Thanks for the info you posted earlier, that cleared up a bit of confusion for me :)

...still going to see if I can convince my GP that it's 'medically required' hehehe :) Maybe I could qualify for the weight loss bit too, I've lost 25kg since I had DD1 (put a bit back on with DD2 but lost it again, thankfully) and obviously that's affected my body too. My 'wishlist' consists mainly of tummy tuck/lipo around the hips/waist, getting my 'bingo wings' cut off (I have awful, sagging upper arms and again, the muscles beneath are doing fine, it's excess skin and a small layer of fat that I'm still getting rid of), and maybe tucking that loose skin on my neck/chin up.

But thankyou for your experiences, I have no set date for all this in mind as yet but every bit of information I can get on the subject is going to be useful someday!!

I have had one about 5 years ago... will go and dig the file out of my cabinet and give you a guide on the costs...
It was the best thing I ever did, I will have to dig out my before and after pic's too, you just wouldn't believe it's the same person.
Pain, well, yep it was quite painful but as you would suspect with having all of the tummy muscles being yanked around and stitched up again. I vomitted heaps from the anesthetic too and really added to the pain.
In all, I stayed 1 night in hossie but I should have stayed another I think cause I was very sore and unable to look after myself. I had the drains in overnight and had them removed the next morning, same as a catheter..
Oh, do try and time it right with AF, :rolleyes: I got mine really badly the day before surgery and couln't go to the loo myself and then had a bit of trouble when I got home too.
I wore a corset kind of thing for 2 weeks and visited my surgeon each week and then a month after too.
I felt very comfortable with my surgeon and was recommened him by a friend who had the same procedure.
Ummm, that's all I can think of atm, will have to get the doc's out for the $$ and get back to you... feel free to ask any other questions too

It great to hear so many different stories, its nice to know im not the only one. Everyone in my family seem to thing im crazy for wanting to get a tummy tuck, but i know i will never be happy until i get one.:lol:

Sushee. OMG. That is fantastic and well done girl. You are amazing. I struggle to lose the last 5kgs. You have inspired and motivated me, so thanks for your story.:hug: Wow, what a big difference. Do you still have the lapband in place?

As horrible as it may sound, i'd love to have lapband too. I can't maintain the weight which is my problem. I was telling a friend that i was a size 6 before i got married through diet and exercise but i couldn't maintain it as i am a "fat" girl. I felt like a fat girl stuck inside a skinny person's body.

Your DH sounds like a gem. My Dh is like that too, he's seen me in all shapes and sizes over the past 10 years. But i do think he still prefers the skinny me and so do i, but i can't maintain it :wall:

Glamourcide - i watched on Dr 90210 a lady who had lost a considerable amount of weight and she had really saggy arms due to excess skin and the surgery was great but she was left with a long scar on the inside of her arms where they cut off the skin.

Thanks Sue ;)

My lapband will stay in me forever, or until it stops working (as it does for some people). If it ever stops working, I will revise to another weight loss surgery because my history clearly demonstrates that my problem has always been with portion control, not lack of exercise nor because I pig out on fatty foods (as a lot of people seem to think 'fat' people do: that all we do is eat chips and ice cream). I always ate well and exercised, but I ate too much, because I was always hungry. The lapband stops the hunger, so the weight fell off.

Losing weight was never an issue for me, it was keeping it off that was something I couldn't do. Because to keep it off, you need to fight your hunger every day, and I couldn't do that for the rest of my life. And it isn't like smoking - you stop smoking and that's it, you never have to go near a cigarette again. You can't stop eating - 3 times a day you have to eat, so it's easy to be tempted to eat too much. No wonder so many people fail at dieting! You're exepected to overcome your 'addiction' despite having to partake in it 3 times a day!

But the lapband is no magic bullet trust me. You're only expected to lose 50% of your excess weight on it. I was lucky and lost 120% of my excess weight (taking me under the goal weight my dr set for me). But I exercised like a demon for the whole time, and ate VERY well. I worked my lapband to make it work for me.

But the thing the band does that no diet has done is helped me keep it off. I don't exercise much these day (only for fun) and I eat a relatively varied diet (including the occasional ice-cream :) ) and am not putting any weight on. That's because I only eat about 3 cups of food for the entire day. It's all I can fit in. :)

Sounds like me. I can never maintain it. Losing it is the easy bit. i am hungry and i just love eating. I love the taste and texture of food in my mouth.

My DS has the same problem. The paediatrician told us yesterday he needs to shed 10kgs. He loves eating and is always hungry.

You've done well Soosh.

my problem is too many coffees and snacking on choclates when im in front of the tv. I lack motivation for exercise, im alway making excuses that i dont have time. Its great that you have been able to shed so much. I used to have motivation but ive just given up.

Hi everyone,

Am finding this thread very interesting. I have an overhang that has gotten worse with each pg and each subsequent weight loss. I am currently in weight loss mode yet again and aiming to loose between 30-35kg. My plan is to have a tummy tuck in about 12mths time (let me loose the weight and finish breastfeeding DS2 first). I don't care about having a washboard flat tummy (but won't knock that back) but rather just get rid of the overhang so I can wear dresses again, or wear undies and be able to see them without having to tuck myself in.

I am willing to pay whatever the cost might be, but I do have q's in regards to medicare rebate and also private health insurance. I am not covered by private health insurance and am wondering if it is worth it, does it cover much of the cost of this proceedure?? Also, how long is it to be expected to stay in hospital for after a tummy tuck?? and is this cost subsidised by medicare or private health insurance??

Does anyone have the answers to these things or know where i can get them?

Whether medicare will cover it will depend on whether the surgery is classed as medically necessary. If it is, medicare will cover part of the cost of the surgery, the anaesthetist and medication. PHI (if your policy covers it) will cover for the hospital stay and theatre fees.

A tummy tuck is around $6000 - $8000 out-of-pocket AFTER medicare rebate (if you are assessed as of medical need and get item numbers) and you can expect to stay 1-3 days in hospital - more if there are complications. Without PHI, you will need to pay for the hospital stay and theatre yourself. Without item numbers, you'll pay for everything yourself.

Also be aware that sometimes surgery doesn't go perfectly to plan. If you get a great result first time, wonderful. But always make sure you speak to your doctor about revision surgery if you need it, and who bears the cost of that.

So all and all, there isn't a good way of finding out what it's going to cost you without consulting with a plastic surgeon. My surgeon is a plastic/reconstructive surgeon, and my surgery was classed as reconstructive (if you saw my 'before' pictures, you'd understand why!)

thanks for that. :)

I am pretty sure that my problem is severe enough to be classed as reconstructive, but am willing to pay the extra cost if not.

So now I should perhaps start researching PHI. Who were you with??

I'm with HBF (WA-based PHI company, I believe), but they recently stopped covering hospital and theatre fees for purely cosmetic procedures (i.e. surgery without item numbers). It's worth noting when doing research JIC it turns out your surgery doesn't end up having item number(s) allocated to it.

Also be aware that if you are losing weight, many surgoens will insist on you getting to goal and maintaining for 6 - 12 months prior to performing surgery. This isn't always the case (esp if you're self pay) but if you're wanting item numbers, you may find that they will put conditions on it.

This is mainly to ensure that you don't regain right after surgery and 'wreck' the effect of the work done and/or it may be that if you're still in weight loss mode when you get initial surgery and then go on to lose more, then revision surgery may be needed.

Just something to keep in mind.