No Belly Button???

My TT was on paper a panni/apronectomy but in reality was a full TT but not circumferential. It was the minimal the HMO allowed. I think due to my short stature it was easier to make a TT than the HMO approved apronectomy.
I asked to not have a BB as someone on this board had a complication on their bb. In the end I had a slough to gangrene where the T line is and bb would have been.
I still have itchiness under the bb area.
But I live in Israel and HMO approved procedures are done in public hospitals and we are told of the possible risks and what is hoped to be achieved but I never had a PS show me in his computer screen what I might look like. So for me, and also knowing I scar ugly and easily; every scar is an improvement for me and a badge of honor of what I have gone through.
Mikimi in Israel

I think belly buttons are important. I understand sometimes it is not possible for the surgeon to save them, but I would want one who is at least going to try. I had 2 square feet of skin removed after losing 200 pounds and my surgeon never even brought up the possibility of losing it. I knew I was in good hands. I love my belly button now.

I thought they removed them, and always put something back in.  I had a sagging one before, too.  They took off that skin area, but gave me a new fake belly button, too. 

From what I understand, they do not "remove" the belly button. They reposition the skin around it. It's like a stalk. When they remove the skin with a tummy tuck, they make a new opening for the belly button to poke back through and stitch around it.

I found this explanation online:

During an abdominoplasty, the surgeon makes a long incision extending from hip to hip just above the pubic area. He then makes a second incision completely around the belly button. This separates it from the surrounding skin and tissue. The skin is separated from he abdominal wall exposing the muscles beneath. Unwanted skin is cut away and the muscles are stitched into their new position. A new hole is cut in the remaining refitted skin for the belly button. It is then stitched into place.

Laura, this is very nice!!! 

WOWZERS!!  Look at that flat tummy!  It looks FAB!!  I suppose it's a great reminder to not get off track on your new way of eating. You don't want to ruin that!

Even with a panniculectomy, you can have a belly button. You want to look the best after all your efforts, so why not do a TT.

Belly button was very important to me. I am 4 days out from an LBL, hernia repair and looks like I have a brand new BB! I would feel very wierd without one...

I was told I would have no belly button after my panni/hernia repair. I kinda sighed and said "ugh finally will have semi normal body but won't be normal"...the PS said "you only needed your belly button once in your life and that was before you were born"...true. He explained that because my panni was so big and the belly button area was so stretched that the blood flow to it is already compromised and to keep it would just create another source for possible infection...and I was already high risk for infection, he pretty much told me there was 110% I would have some type of complication. 

So I wake up from surgery and his residents tell me the good news...I still had a belly button! They did nothing to preserve it during surgery yet at the time to close me up "she" was still viable so they'd have had to "kill" her to sew her into a new spot...and they sewed her into a new spot. Now post op I did have infection but the worse area was the T spot of the two incisions, there was some around the belly button but nothing too major. 

Many times when a general surgeon instead of a plastic surgeon(certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery) does the post-bariatric procedures, they will do a panniculectomy and not a full tummy tuck with plication or repair of the abdominal muscles because they are not trained or qualified to do this. You should insist on an abdominoplasty! It makes no sense to just have the skin removed without the other parts like liposuction if this is needed. However, with a panniculectomy, you can have a belly button formed or your belly button used.