Plastic Surgery

I've gone to the plastics board and see where many people had TT's or panniculectomies where the belly button had to be recreated......The belly button just doesn't seem to look normal at all and I don't know if I'd rather have the excess skin or that thing.......Does it ever get to looking normal? Anyone have pics of their bellybutton a good time out after having it replaced? Thanks for the help MH

I work in the OR as a scrub nurse and have done probably 40-50 TT. Your belly button will be on the same general area as it is now. What we do is make an incision around it and slip a suture just through the skin of it. After we lop off the excess skin and pull down the new "belly" we make another little slice in the new "belly" where the old belly button was and pull that suture through. So your belly button doesn't move up or down per say. It'll look like it did because of the new abdomen around it. The post ops I have seen all look pretty close to normal. Remember too that if you have a TT you'll get a nicer looking job because it is cosmetic. Time is taken to make sure things are perfect because you are paying for it. Most panniculectomies are medically nessesary (sp) so it truley is just a cut and stitch job. No finess in it really.

MH, I've had a number of "adjustments" along the way. First- Left wide open for 6 months, No naval, no abdominal area, just guts and gauze.. Then covered with the skin from my leg...no naval, no ab muscles... Then, finally closed up muscles and all And my doc (not a Plastic surgeon) "fabricated" a naval from my skin- It looked real as could be. Then, this summer, a panneculectomy by a plastic surgeon Who left the fake naval in place. It looks fine, But no photos.... Cute naval of not, The Plastic Surgery to remove excess skin was the greatest. I was and am completely shocked at what a difference it makes in how I feel overall. And the process removes excess skin on the pubic bone as well, So the results are doubly "Worth it!" "Huge Difference!" Best Wishes- Dx

I've heard that excessive weight loss increases the relative size of that area because you lose the fat surrounding it, thereby giving you more to effectively work with. Are you saying that the surgery also helps by removing escess skin that might be getting in the way? Dear Lord, I've been hiding a monster!