Skin issues anyone

I'm 7 months postop (down 150 pounds from 367# to 217#) and I work out religiously 2 hours everyday - except for Sunday - day of rest for myself and the good Lord, and to reinforce what people have said, there is only so much you can do to get the skin tight.  You can fill skin with muscle on pretty much every part of your body except for the extreme lower stomach area.  Yes you can develop abs - six pack / eight pack abs, but that extra skin still hangs no matter what you do.  I wrestled, power lifted, and played college ball and there just doesn't seem to be any help for my stomach except getting the lower abdominal surgery to have that excess skin removed.  I am in the process of going through the hoops to get the surgery approved for my plastics procedure.  I was recently quoted yesterday by a plastic surgeon - $5800 for a panniculectomy (tummy tuck) with abdominal muscle tightening.  The stomach skin really isn't too bad for me, but more than anything else, it is bothering me when I work out for long periods because it constantly gets rubbed when I squat or run for long periods of time = pain and rashes.  It affects activities of daily living.  It really just ends up being a necessary evil, but one I would put up with again and again and again to have lost the amount of weight that I have and be given a second chance to live life to the fullest of my abilities.  

Take care, Taz

PS - send me a friend invite Unidos and I can keep you updated on the plastics process and how that goes for me.     

Hey Taz,

Is the $5,800.00 just for the plastic surgeon, or does this include hospital, anesthesia etc?

It seems lower than I would have expected also.

Jim

5.8k really doesn't sound to bad. I was expecting well over 10k for some greedy plastic surgeon reason.

solution: Plastic surgery....sorry nothing else will get rid of excess skin.

The $5800 is for eveything.  It would be done at an outpatient surgical center and yes that includes eveything = surgeon fees, hospital fees, anesthesia fees, labs, radiology, etc.

The reason the cost is lower is because it is being done on an outpatient basis - as are many surgical procedures these days.  Now, if I were to choose to have the procedure done in the main hospital, which I may very well do depending on what my insurance will cover, the cost can actually almost double = anywhere from $8500-$10,000.

Hope this helps and as I go through this process I will keep you guys posted.

Taz

how bad is the scaring from it? anyone know?

It ain't a pretty sight but better than the floppy skin by a country mile. The scars fade with time and mine are all below beltline.

Boner