Does anyone have before/afters of their panniculectomy?

I'm scheduled to go in next week for mine and curious as to other's experiences and results!  Thanks in advance

Yes. I had a panniculectomy with umbilical repositioning on April 1, 2013.  

You will likely stay in the hospital for a 2-3 days. During this time, make sure that you not in any pain and that you can ambulate and able to void. For me, the procedure was not painful as I was given IV pain medications during my  hospitalization.  The surgeon will likely insert small drains to the side of your stomach in order to drain the abdominal fluid. It is very important to keep the drains intact even after you have been discharged from the hospital. My drains were accidentally dislodged and I started to have fluid build up in my abdomen. I had to return to the hospital for an outpatient procedure to have interventional radiologist insert a durable and bigger tube to drain the stomach fluid. I had this drain with a small small bag fastened to my leg for a week.  Moreover, you will likely wear a binder around your stomach for 4-6 weeks. This is to maintain compression around your stomach to provide support and relive some discomfort when walking. Additional benefit of this is to help with drainage of stomach fluid and help fuse any stomach flaps. You should not do anything for at least a 1-4 weeks, or until you feel stable enough to engage in very light activities. Be sure sure that you doctor gives you some pain meds during your healing period. At some point you should walk as tolerable. No lifting or strenuous activities for 4-6 weeks. Your stomach will not immediately give you the desired shape for at least 4-8 weeks, dependent upon how you heal. One of the adverse side effect of wearing the binder is that it will restrict your lungs and blood vessels. The worse outcome would be embolism (DVT) or  pneumonia due to restrictive air flow to your lungs. One of the signs of pneumonia is coughing, difficulty breathing and general respiratory distress. If you developed these symptoms before you are discharged, be sure to bring it to the attention of doctors or nurses. Don't hold back when you are experiencing lightest of these symptoms. The doctors could do a chest x-ray and other air test to rule out pneumonia while you are still in the hospital. After you are discharged from the hospital, if you experience any of these symptoms or difficulty breathing, call you doctor immediately or go to a nearest ER. I acquired pneumonia and started coughing the day before my discharge from the hospital. I reported this to the nurses and doctors, they did not take the coughing very seriously. Three days after my discharge, I was hospitalized again for IV treatment of very strong antibiotics for few days. So, just be aware of these issues and arm yourself with knowledge and a worst case scenario plan. 

Another point I will make is about access to your surgeon post-operatively. Make sure to ask the doctor how to reach him after hours, week-ends, ect.  You may want to get his cell or after hours answering service. Also after the surgery, your appetite will decease somewhat. Be sure to drink your protein shakes and take all your vitamins. In the end, you will be happy with your decision to have this penniculatomy or abdominoplasty. I understand that in peniculatomy the surgeon cut the extra skin and fat from the middle of your stomach. Abdominoplasty, the incesion is in the lower part of your stomach and follows the contour or fold of your skin just above you pubic area. This is a better surgical outcome as the incision will be totally covered by underwear or swimsuit. Have the surgeon mark the area where they intend to cut during pre-operative appointment. The surgeons are lot more responsive to your requests, special needs or arrangements before the surgery then they are after the surgery. These are just my opinions and not to be construed as a medical advice. You doctor is the only one that can address these concerns. Be a proactive patient. I hope I did not scare you by sharing my experience and opinions. I wish you a very successful and unremarkable surgery.

Joshi, I had a similar problem with my drains. They clogged and I could not get them unclogged, so I pulled the bulbs off the tubes and pushed the clots out into the sink. One was like 12 inches long. When I reattached the drains they would not capture much fluid. They just were not working correctly or my body was healing / clotting quickly. Prior to that I had been emptying them pretty often. I had the drains removed that same day. I was seven days post op. already I could see my lower abdomen bulging with fluid on the left side but the PA told me it was just normal swelling. I have always felt tht my swelling is not normal but my surgeon is 700 miles away. I went for an ultrasound here and it showed a seroma that the radiologist said was too small to drain. Later I went for a CAT scan and was told no seroma. Now I am beginning to read about secondar lymphodemia http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Lymphoedema/Pages/Introduction.aspx and disorders of the lymph system after bdominal surgery http://bja.oxfordjournals.org/content/91/2/265.full. So my question for you is what you had drained with the more durable and bigger tube, was this a seroma or something else? Thanks so much for your help.

Jamie,
I had my tummy tuck on April 18th. My experience was very different from the other poster's experience. I wrote a detailed account of my experience on HealthCentral. It answers everything you have asked here and more. You may read it here http://www.healthcentral.com/obesity/c/276918/160586/bariatric-abdominoplasty-ch I hope this helps!

Good luck with your procedure!
MBL

I read your blog yesterday because I felt bad about your getting those stretch marks on your new tummy.  I honestly hope you find another plastic surgeon and never go back to that one.  He obviously isn't all you think he is, sounds more to me like he is clueless then a high end doctor.  The fact he told you basically to get over the stretch marks would be enough for me to tell him to go **** himself, but I don't think your care was very good.  I had no problems so I don't know what my doctors care might have been like, but I had no problems.  That to me is more important then how they handle them, the fact they don't have them in the first place.  The no compression thing I totally disagree with.  That would have been my first red flag.  The swelling is bad.  It can change everything if you let it.  Why on earth would he let you swell with no compression garment.  I swelled for years after my tt during that time of the month.  Swelling doesn't go away over night, it generally takes a year.

Good Luck.

i agree with you. Really

I was reading it and couldn't find the name of you plastic surgeon, who is it please?  I am researching them now....

I had a panniculectomy on April 11, I am 5 weeks out today.  The pain wasn't too bad for me except I had numbness and pain in my left leg. Walking helped with range of motion and pain, but I still have the numbness around the incision, my hips and thighs. I am back at work just working a slightly shorter work day, but feeling more like my normal self daily. I am still sleeping in the recliner, however, the bed isn't comfortable due to the numbness. I used an old lady walker the first few days just until I felt steadier on my feet. I also have been taking zinc and vitamin C to promote healing and I have an open wound in my incision line due to a drain being removed too early, but it is healing nicely and without infection. I am pleased with my results so far.