Sheesh, my computer was awful-the spelling and sticking of the keys.

Surgeon found, booked, cardiology clearance and now to get my "comfy basket" prepared.

So yesterday I went to see my surgeon after another 2 week post-op. He feels the open wound is beginning to heal nicely. I can see it has gotten a bit small, so I am more hopeful. He said to continue to do what I'm doing, which is to change the dressing with bacitracin 2x daily. I've turned the pain corner of the incisions down the thigh.

We discussed the fixing of the extra skin, and I am much more hopeful with that issue as well. He believed I did not want a scar all the way down my thigh, which is true. But I believed he was doing it another way: pulling everything up. He said that would not have been possible, so he went down as far as he could go with the idea that the scar would not show in shorts or skirts higher than the knee. We are now on the same page, and he is going to go down to the knee to fix it. It is clear that I heal down the thigh very well and you can barely see the scar. He does not have to start anywhere near the groin, where the open wound is, but about 4 inches down, and said that the fix will be maybe 1/2 hour in the operating room, and will not be tight enough to pull at all while still getting my desired effect. He also said that the pain where he will be cutting will be much less painful than where the cutting was before. He said we can do it any time by October and beyond. I am SOOOOO relieved. He will also fix the breast at the same time, which is not staying put but moving to the side. He said that will be easy as well. So my stress level is way down, knowing that I'm not really going through all of this again. And I don't need my wallet.

Thank you everyone *****plied to my initial posting about this. It was much appreciated!!!!

Marla

Thank you. I will see what I can do about that. Surgery has been delayed a few weeks, so I have some time. My feet are huge. Even after surgery, I wear a size 15 5 E boot.

No it is for a 360 degree tummy tuck.. It was difficult to make sure we were talking about the same thing; the local doc calls it a mini tummy tuck because there is no muscle involvement. But in the consult, I made sure he was thinking and planning to take up all the loose skin all the way around. I'm not really sure he would do the exact same thing Dr S would do, but I just don't know enough about medical terms to know exactly what he meant. He called it a 360 Abdominoplasty. There was one thing that I had some concern about; he said he didn't like to do liposuction in the area where he does a tummy tuck as it can cause healing problems; it bruises the tissue enough that is can hinder healing. When I asked about how the excess fat I have in a few areas would be handled, he said they just take it out with the skin... Not sure what that really means.

When I was talking to Sr S, he called it a lower body lift. And I am not sure what if any different there is between those two procedures.

You shouldn't need a skin graft. Mine was open about 2 inches wide at the top tapering to about 1/2 wide down my thigh about 8 inches on one thigh and 2 inches on the other. What kind of wound care does your surgeon have you doing? Mine had me using wet to dry dressings - gauze dipped in Dakin's Solution packed into the wounds and changed when dry twice a day. After the area had started to heal, he switched me to medicinal honey. It was not a fast process by any means (8 weeks I think) and my worst opening on my hip LBL incision just finally closed last week (my surgery for both was May 8th). But they all closed without any surgical intervention. As to how they look, the groin scars are ugly. The rest I think will improve with time.