Tummy tuck after gastric bypass

Hi everyone,

I had my TT on April 18, 2013, about 10-yrs after my gastric bypass. I kept a detailed journal of my experience beginning the night of my surgery so that I could share my first hand experience in great detail with other women considering the surgery. It is all the information that I wished I'd had before my surgery, like a list of things to buy, what to expect with pain and swelling, and what it is like in the O.R., recovery room, rehab, and the first few weeks after surgery. Written in blog style, the 18 short chapters (and counting) hopefully will be interesting and entertaining to you, as well as educational and informative. You can read it in its entirety on the HealthCentral Obesity site http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1L6aT7/www.healthcentral.com/o besity/c/276918/160586/bariatric-abdominoplasty-ch/

I hope this helps and if you read it, I would love to hear your comments -- you can post them here or on the HealthCentral site. Thanks very much!

Thank you! That was a very good, informative article! I'm not even a year out from my RNY but lately this excess skin is really bothering me. Not in a medically necessary way, but in every other way. I often wonder how much of my weight is just in excess skin. But anyways thank you for posting your experience :)

Thank you. I am glad that you found it informative and appreciate your kind words. The plastic surgery message board is a great place to connect with other women whom have had or are exploring body contouring after WLS. Some women look phenomenal. Good luck in your decsiion!

Thank you.  This is very, very, helpful.  

I am glad to hear it!!! Thank you for your feedback!

For whatever it is worth to those who are considering a tummy tuck, my experience (other than the considerable pain and back stress, and the swelling (although most of my swelling after the first two weeks was in my upper thighs)) was very different.

I didn't need to purchase anything special for it.,  I already had a pair of lightweight cotton pants with an elastic waist, and already had a foam wedge (although I only used it a couple of nights).  I slept in my LaZBoy for about 3 weeks (and it IS the kind that requires some exertion of abdominal muscles to recline, but the pain was fleeting so I didn't find it to be a problem (I had used the same chair after my open RNY)).  I also just increased my protein with normal foods (eating fewer veggies, etc.) before and after surgery and continue taking my normal vitamins with just some extra Zinc added in.

I also had my surgery done at a surgical facility (as opposed to a full-service hospital), but they had a limited number of overnight suites and it was planned for me to spend the night.  The surgeon made some preliminary markings on me in private, and then I was treated in the same manner as for every other surgery... I was wheeled into the OR on a gurney, was asked to slide myself over onto the OR table, and then the anesthesiologist started his work and I was out.  The surgeon had a resident assisting (or watching, don;t know for sure), but I was NOT asked to disrobe in front of anyone but the surgeon in the prep room. 

Since I stayed the night, I woke up in the room hooked up to a morphine pump (and with the On-Q pain pump I had paid extra for in place).  I did not have a binder or a drain, just a dressing on the incision. When the dressing was removed in the morning, I saw the incision, which was very thin and pretty but was unfortunately already showing signs of necrosis at one end.  Because I ended up with the entire incision turning necrotic, and having a large "crater" in my belly that had to be packed and cleaned twice daily (and took 5 months to heal up), my recovery was very different (and delayed). 

I went home with a script for 2 Vicodin 5/500s every 4 hours.  It wasn't enough for the pain involved.  (The tummy tuck was even more painful than my hernia repair (same incision line, same muscles) and my open RNY.  I had no idea it would hurt THAT much, or that I would walk hunched over for WEEKS!) The surgeon called in some Lortab, since we thought the liquid might absorb better.  The surgeon was over an hour away... otherwise, I would have taken him up on his offer for a script for Percocet (which he cannot call in, of course).  He gave me the verbal OK to take the Vicodin/Lortab every 3 hours instead of every 4 as long as I promised to be up and moving around between them (I have a history of DVTs).  Doing that made it bearable, but I took some narcotic pain meds for over 3 weeks.

I did not have any liposuction (I did not want to pay the extra $500+ dollars for it since coming up with the $7500 was difficult enough, and even then I had half of it sitting on a credit card for several years), but I do have a very small amount of fat around my belly button and two small pockets of fat just on the sides of my waist (not on the front or back, just the sides).  In retrospect, I should have had the lipo.

In the end, though, it was very much worth the pain for a flat tummy.  Was it worth the packing and cleaning for 5 months because of the necrosis?  Hmmm... not sure about that... but complications sometimes happen and you deal with them if you have to.

Anyway, I just wanted to let people know that the experience might be very different.

Thanks so much for sharing the details of your experience. I truly enjoyed reading it! Do I understand you correctly that you had swelling in your thighs from a tummy tuck? I ask because I have felt from time to time that my tighs were swollen -- but I thought maybe it was my imagination.

I am really glad that you healed and are happy that you had it done. 

Yes, my upper thighs remained swollen for quite a while after almost all of the swelling in my tummy was gone. My PS said it was completely normal, so I doubt you were imagining it!

Lora

Lora, there is a woman on the plastics forum who is having a tough time and posted about regrets. Maybe you could give her some advice or words of wisdom?

Sure... I will go out and look.

Lora