Ewww....

I am 6 weeks out today and have lost 62 pounds with 80 more to go to my goal weight.  Anyway, I was looking down at my hanging belly that now looks like a partially deflated balloon and thinking today.  My belly looks totally disgusting now.  Now, don't get me wrong I am not complaining and I would do the surgery over and over and over.  I am just wondering since I still have 80 pounds to lose how much worse it will look then.  I was told that my insurance will cover a pannelectomy (I know I've spelled that wrong) because I have a rather large hernia, but I am wondering if they look pretty decent compared to a tummy tuck or should I start saving money now for a tummy tuck in a year or so?  If you've had either procedure and don't mind posting a before and after pic to give me some idea I would greatly appreciate it.  Also some advice if you've had either procedure would you do it differently now?  Are you happy with your results etc?  Thank you so much :)

No before pics for this gal -- but post panniculectomy pictures are on my profile. 

I'm only 12 days out of surgery.  I also had a hernia repair at the time of surgery.  My plastic surgeon charged $5,000 to upgrade to tummy tuck but thought that I would be happy with the results either way -- so I went with just the panniculectomy. 

There was a thread on this yesterday.  http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/rny/4359641/anyone-brave-e nough-to-post-a-pic-of-their-panniculectomy/

I posted my post op pic on it.  I don't have any pre op pics.  I wish I did.  Glad I did it but I had a little less then you have to lose.

Ladytazz and Laura, thank you both.  You both look great.  I could be happy with a panni if mine turned out as good as yours both did :)

I wish that I could afford to get  panniculectomy but being on a fixed income thats not going to happen. So I wonder is there something like a corset or something to wear?

I don't know Patti.  I haven't tried, but some that sound like they may be worth a try are that Kimora's body shaper and also Spanx.  Good luck :)  

What kind of results you will get from just a panniculectomy really depends on how much fat you have left on your lower tummy when you have it and how much extra skin you have ABOVE your waist.  You will have a lot better result from the panni removal if you wait until you have lost all the weight you are going to lose AND you make sure that your PS plans to do a curved cut rather than a straight cut (because the curved cut gives a much more natural look).  (If you look at panniculectomy pics on the internet, you can see that some of the ones where people still had fat left to lsoe or had a straigh horizontal incision can look pretty bad.)  Also, if you have a lot of extra skin above your waist, or have a noticable abdominal "pooch" from teh muscles being stretched, you ill likely not be happy with just the panni removal because the flat lower belly then tends to emphasize the flaws of the upper belly (which was what happened to me).

All of my pics are full nude shots, so unfortuntely, I dont; have any I can share!

Lora

Lora, thank you.  I know I have a long way to go before PS will become an option.  I was just thinking of the future.  My stomach already looks bad and I still want to lose another 80 lbs.  My stomach is where I carry(carried) the majority of my extra weight.  Mostly my lower stomach it seems is what looks bad.  Also I should've included that I've had 3 c-sections.  I do unfortunately have a "pooch" so I am beginning to think I better start setting aside some funds for a tt.