Draining tubes??

I am scheduled to have a panni in November, My DR had never mention draining tubes.  Any one out there have a panni and didn't have draining tubes. Also what was your recovery time for this procedure? Thank for any advice.

I would say almost with 100 percent certainty you will have jp drains. Probably 2 but as many as 6. They are a pain in the butt, but really not that bad. You need drains so the fluid doesn't build up and cause a seroma. Believe me you do NOT want a seroma. They will pull the drains one at a time as they are no longer outputting a lot of drainage. If you are only having a panni with no muscle tightening I would say by 3-4 weeks you should be almost back to normal. Of course this depends on many factors, your health,age, size of panni, complications if any etc. By the end of the first week you should be feeling really good and going out. I was back to running by week 5, but I had a extended tummy tuck with muscle tightening and brachioplasty, all at the same time. I could run 5 miles, but couldn't do a sit up to save my life!

Thanks, not what i wanted to hear, but thanks.

Honestly everyone complains about drains, but in reality they are not that bad really. When you shower just wear like a lanyard or string around your neck and hook em up to that. They don't hurt, they keep the fluid drained off, they are easy to empty usually only twice a day. My best guess is you will have 2. One usually comes out within a few days, the other hangs around longer. Trust me, without drains the complication of a seroma is way higher. With a seroma you get a huge ass neede poked in you to drain the fluid, then chances are you get to repeat this a few times. Or they just leave a huge knot of fluid and hope your body absorbs it. Secondly, if you are scheduled for a panni already why not see how much extra a full tummy tuck with muscle tightening would be. You wouldn't have to pay a lot of the fees as they are already operating in that area. Best of luck whatever you do, any questions just ask me, my brother is a plastic surgeon too, and my other bro an anesthesiologist. Take care! Anne

Thanks for the idea of the tummy tuck, but the surgery is covered under my insurance. They won't pay for a tummy tuck, so this will have to do for the time being. Something is better than nothing. Thanks for the response and info.

 I had a full tummy tuck with a hip to hip incision and had no drains.

My surgeon uses progressive tension suturing and it was a drain,ess procedure.

I had surgery on a Thursday and took the following week off from work.

So, at 11days post op I returned to my desk job at home.

If I had to go to a job away from home I would want another week off, or to work 1/2 days for the first week.  I was able to take naps every day for the first week.

 I had an abdominoplasty 6 weeks ago. I ended up with a third drain due to a nick in my intestine because of an unexpected hernia. That being said, this is the second time I have dealt with drains, and once you get over the ick factor, they aren't that bad. Like others said, just use a hook in shower or around your neck during showering, and I just safety pinned them to my clothes when I went out. I wore really loose shirts and nobody was the wiser. This week is the first that I haven't had major swelling, but the pain and recovery factor was so much easier than I expected. I took two weeks off of work, and only missed one more after I went back. I used my compression band from the surgeon to head off end of day swell hell, and am doing great now.