Not sure what to think about LBL results...

No I didn't have any stiches in my belly button. Actually I didn't have any stiches anywhere unless they were internal. My belly button seemed to heal from the inside out (the edges are still more like a scar) and its certainly much smaller than it used to be. For a while it just looked like a healing cut on my body, which is why I'm thinking it was indeed moved.

Yes, you have internal stitches.  Mostly dissolvable.  A few permanent. 

I'd talk to the doc before I sent the last payment in, but there's no harm in giving your body a little while longer to heal.  The shape/result will shift a bit over time.

Well..the good news is your scar looks great, thin and light (much better than mine and I am 3 months out)

The bad news...I do see the lumpiness in the middle, and looks like a bit of loose skin on one side. Not sure if that resolves further along for you. Mine is uneven looking, when I swell but not lumpy or loose at all. I still have a small seroma on one side though. You may need a revision unfortunately.

In my case, an LBL did not remove everything.  The best way I can describe it, is that I'm pulled down as far as it will go but my skin elasity seems to be from the sides.  So basically I can pinch very little up and down but pinch alot from the sides. I will need a fleur-de-lis cut to remove the rest of it.  It could not be done all at once for fear that my back incision would rip open while trying to remove the front or ripping the front while doing the back.  So the surgery would need to be done in 2 stages.  For most people docs can remove skin with the LBL but some they need that fleur-de-lis to be able to get all of it.  Good luck to you!

Hi Patricia - who did your surgery? Will you go back for the FDL?

I went through the University of Maryland's plastic surgery resident clinic.  So yes, I had a student do my work.  They rotate every 3 months.  So the doctor that operated on me is no longer there.  I had my LBL and arm lift done May 2012 for $8,500.  She did screw up my arm lift by clearly not removing enough on my left arm so I had that revised here in August.  She remove a dog ear on my right arm as well.  Me going back and having the FDL done is not considered a revision as they did the LBL successfully.  The LBL did what it was suppose to do.....I'm just built differently, I guess.  I'm not the first person who needed a FDL after the LBL and I opted for the LBL because I wanted as much skin removed as possible in one surgery.  I will have the FDL done when I have the money.  They gave me a ballpark figure of $4,000-$5,000 because they basically will be doing the abdominalplasty over again.  I'm still paying off my other surgery.  I opted for the resident clinic as it is less expensive to start with and I do not have to pay hospital fees or anesthesia if I have a revision.  So for my arm lift revision, I didn't pay one red cent to anybody which is good because I didn't have the money to do so. 

That is great that they waive the OR and anesthesia fees. I would have to cover those in my revision except that I am getting my revision done with other surgeries so in essence there is no extra charge. The really nice thing is that my surgeon will revise me at no cost for any reason I have. 

BTW some surgeons cut down the sides of your body to remove the fat/skin versus run up the center like the FDL. Just thought I'd mention it in case you are interested. Good luck.

Hmmm, down the sides.  That's interesting and I'll look into it when the time comes.  Either way the scars will show and well I already got a scar on my back that would show in a bikini so I know I will not ever be wearing one of those.  The scar placement at this point would not matter to me.  I wonder if there is any benefit though to having been cut down the sides of the body versus the center of the tummy.  I would assume being cut down the sides would give someone an extra incision.  Left side, right side and of course across the tummy (as in reopening my LBL scar.)  So instead of an upside T incision, it would be a U shaped incision?????

My assumption is that if cut down the middle and you are trying to correct something further away (the left and right sides of your body) might produce less optimal results than cutting directly into the problem areas. Also, I would think that the scars on the sides of your body would be less noticeable than the scar running down the middle of your body. But these are just my assumptions and you need to discuss with a surgeon. 

 

Good point about the better result. In regards to the scar, i already have a 5 inch bowel resection scar going down the middle of my tummy so the fdl would only make my scar longer. Thanks for the info.