Plastics Question

Hey everyone! Just have a couple questions about skin removal. 

What was the recovery time of a panni for far post op were you from your wls, and was it worth it? Thanks!

Best wishes!

Vanessa 

I had a tummy tuck with muscle tightening in 2006 when I was 18 months out and it was the best money I ever spent on anything ever.  A perfectly flat stomach was always my dream and the fact I can wear a skimpy thong and no support garments to hold in my skin is amazing.  I love it.  My body isn't perfect but my flat stomach makes me feel so much more confident and happy, and I can wear some very hot  boyfriend approved outfits and get some amusing looks from other womyn. I.E skintight jeans and thigh high boots sure fire way to get attetion. lol 

Healing and recovery time is different for everyone. I am a pretty good healer. I had a lower body lift (one of 3 procedures) and it was about 7 weeks till I was feeling close to 100% again. I could walk around a store at 2 weeks but it took a lot out of me. It's a way harder recovery then WLS... pain is managed with some of the good stuff ;) but no sugar coating it it's no picnic. Absolutely worth it though. The excess skin was a physical and emotional issue for me and had to go. I had surgery at 16 months. Wait as long as you can and be sure you are weight wise where you want to be, losing more weight will affect the ps outcome.

Best wishes in your research Vanessa. There is a plastics board on OH too (hit the forums tab above.)

~Michelle "Shelly"

I had a panni covered by my insurance due to medical necessity (documented tx of rashes which only got worse after weight loss).  I had an uneventful recovery.  No excess skin - no more rashes. Clothes fit better too with that hunk-a-flab gone.  You bet I'm glad I had it!

While on this topic could anyone share how much of additional weight they lost with their loose skin gone? Just trying to put an estimate to the flabby skin that is left behind.

As a broad generalization, don't count on plastics to lose weight.  A lot of what is removed is fluid and lymphatic system, and that will re-establi****self.  Skin, by itself, weighs very little.  So 10 pounds removed will not equal a 10 pound weight loss.  Some people lose weight, some people gain, and some stay exactly the same.  Get down to your goal weight first, then worry about plastics.

I had a lower body lift at 2 years out.  It I hadn't had the muscle repair, it would have been a walk in the park - no problem at all with the skin removal.  The muscle repair was painful....really, really painful.  Since a panni is skin removal, recovery shouldn't be too bad, but it's still major surgery, and you still need time to recover.

My panni was large and hung down a couple of inches onto the top of my thighs but was almost all skin and weighed just under six pounds. Skin only, with just a thin layer of tissue but no fat attached weighs very little.  

Many people seem to have plastic surgery, though, when they still have fat under the skin.  In that case, the weight loss would be more (but the aesthetic outcome is probably less pleasing).

Lora

I went back to work after 2 weeks.  I still had one drain in for the first week at work, though, which was kind of a PITA.  I had mine about a year and a half after my RNY.  

Yes, it was definitely worth it (although insurance paid for it, not me), BUT once I had a flat lower belly, it made the excess skin, the lax abdominal muscles sticking out, and the sagging mons look so much worse.  (Nothing screams weight loss surgery more than someone with a flat lower belly but excess skin bulging out above the waistband of their pants!)  

I hated the way I looked after the panniculectomy (especially the mons area, which the surgeon refused to fix at the same time even if I paid for it myself) more than before, so six weeks later I ended up paying for the mons lift (and my arms) and then a year after that I paid for a tummy tuck with muscle tightening to fix the top half of my belly, so if the is any way you can afford to do it, I would suggest having the full tummy tuck rather than just the panniculectomy if you also have a lot of skin above your belly button.

Lora

I am about 2.5 weeks post op lower body lift and several procedures. I already love what I see in the mirror. I now look. Like a a normal size woman,in every way. 

I know I still will have several weeks of recovery,my stitches aren't even out yet. I believe a plain panniculectomy would have a lot less recovery time,since it is the simple removal of a flap of skin.

gl