I lost my belly button :(

I woke up  (Friday) from a panniculectomy and the surgeon said he could not fit my 17 inch stemmed belly button into my new body, even after trimming it down...so now I have none.  I am afraid of what I will look like when the bandages come off Thursday.  It'a aloso embarassing...and sad.   It connected me to my mom.   Has anyone else had this happen? 

you knw I never thought about this... I'm going to make sure I discuss this with the surgeon b4 surgery... I too feel like it's my connection with my mom..

There have been several people who have lost their belly buttons. Feelings have been mixed about that. Some don't care and don't miss it and others just get used to it after they go through their mourning phase. I never would have thought of it as a connection to my mom though but you do make an excellent point. Sometimes it just can't be helped and is most likely not the fault of the dr. I know some drs tell their patients that there is that possibility of losing it beforehand. I'm sorry that yours couldn't be saved. I know some women have even had a tattoo put in it's place instead and you can't even tell it's missing!

I am so sorry.  Sometimes it just can't be saved. 

I remember someone telling me a long time ago about a friend that had a TT and had the option of whether or not they wanted their belly button reconstructed or just go without one.  My intial thought was "how cool to not have a belly button."  It was right around the time I heard the following riddle:  Archeologists found the preserved remains of a female body and knew immediately that it was Eve.  How did they know?  

The answer was "because there was no belly button."  So I told myself then that if I ever had the option to not have one, I'd not have one.  Apparently back then I had (and still do) have a bit of an ego thinking how cool would it be to be as powerful as the first woman in the world.  LOL  of course that depends on one's beliefs.

I never really thought of it as a connection to my mom - but now that you mention it I can see the emotional connection to it.  Your PS should have discussed this with you prior to surgery.  Mine had told me that he would reconstruct the belly button.  I thought about telling him to not give me one (and I did think about it when he mentioned it) but I thought, well the rest of me is going to look normal so why not the belly button.

You know, once you're healed enough and if you don't want to go through surgery again to rebuild it, you could get a little tattoo of either something that meant something special to your mom or a little heart with "mom" in the middle.

maybe someday you can have one put back. speak to your surgeon. i rather have no belly button then the one i have. mine is right above my wha-hoo,lol! that looks funnier than having no belly button.  :)

I run the same risk since I've had laproscopy through my belly button.  I have come to terms..Id rather have no belly button than have the belly.

I had WLS surgery almost 13 years ago and lost over 200 lbs..11 years ago I lost my belly button after a tummy tuck and haven't missed it for one day...but then never thought of the connection to my mother.  Lisa I have thought about doing a tatoo there but not sure of the pain, What I did do is get a pieced non belly button...it looks great.  I'm back in the dating world after a long marriage and no partner I've been with has noticed it until I tell....then they think it's sexy.

I actually told them not to give me a belly button after my tummy tuck. As a surgeon's daughter, I knew that was the most common place for infection and I didn't want the risk. I also didn't really like how they look when they try to pull them through, so I'm very happy without one. I like how my stomach looks without it.

I also told them to "take the belly button". I knew from friends that the belly button was the slowest place to heal (usually) and I just didn't care to risk it. Also, I'm 65 years old and will NOT be wearing anything that shows that area to the world. I agree that I'd rather not have a BB and not have the flab any day.
Lana