Will I Look Weird?

Hi everyone! July 15 is my 10-year surgiversary and I want to celebrate by finally getting my "tummy tucked." It sounds so quaint to call it that. Anyway, I've lost about 180 pounds and the only plastics I've had was a brachioplasty three years ago (which turned out great but I had about a month of "what-have-I-done"-itis).

I'm having trouble deciding what I want done. I have an appointment with a surgeon at the end of the month and I'm sure he'll give me all my options, but I worry a little that his opinion will lean towards a financial motive. I'm trying to decide on an abdominoplasty vs lower body lift. I know I could have a LBL and he would find plenty of "material" to work with, so I'm sure it'll be his recommendation for me. But the LBL freaks me out a little bit. I'm no weenie, but I'm not exactly a fan of pain and it just looks painful. I worry though, that by just having the front done and not a circumferential lift, I'll look weird. Right now I look in the mirror and yes, I have big hips, but they don't look abnormally large because of my darn belly. I'm wondering if I'll look weird to have my belly fixed and then my hips/butt are going to look gigantic in comparison.

Weighing 357 pounds by the time I was 24 years old has given me some perspective on what "big" is, and I'm not really the type to care if my hips/butt are large (I can't see back there so it doesn't bother me!). I don't really care about being "slim" or fitting in a size 8, I just want to smooth out some of my jiggly bits. But I also don't want to shell out $20K and realize I should have just went through with a LBL.

Anyway, any help and/or insight anyone has, I would greatly appreciate it!

Jen

I had a LBL last year and for me it was not that painful. Ask for a painball to go home with, that helped. But I took minimal other pain meds. I was uncomfortable and stiff but not I. A lot of pain. And it made a big difference for me so TOTALLY WORTH IT!  

Everyone has has a difference experience of course, but don't let the fear of pain drive your decision. Pain  can be managed and is only temporary. 

 

Good luck to you!

 

I thought it was totally painful, but the painful part was the muscle repair, which you get with the tummy tuck anyway.  I was freaked too about the idea of having an incision all the way around, but the butt part was an absolute non-issue as far as healing/pain was concerned.  It's the old problem - fix the front and it'll make the back look even worse.  If you can go for the whole enchilada, then do it!

I am really happy with my LBL. I think if I had gotten just the tummy tuck I would have always wondered if my results would have been better with the LBL. This way I don't have to wonder. If you have the possibility to do the LBL I would go for it. The pain and all that is not so bad. As Emelar said, the back does not hurt much at all, it is the muscle tightening that is painful but again, relative. I thought it was perfectly OK as long as I did not have to cough or sneeze or laugh. But even then, it passes. 

I normally do an extended abdominoplasty or "TT" to help more than a plain TT. I also normally do a pubic lift for that is an often ignored area that most after tremendous weight loss will benefit from.

In Israel and my PS Dr.Josef Haik, a mons lift is part of a TT and for me even though I was granted by HMO insurance the panni in reality I had TT with muscle tightening and hernia of bikini c-scar.
I am short and I wonder if that is why my TT was with muscle tightening or if the PS threw it in without caring what HMO insurance cares.
I then had slough to gangrene at the at-T junction which was debrided and WoundVac for several weeks.
Mikimi in Israel

You would need to ask him but a panniculectomy is a much easier operation. You were lucky that your system covers these procedures. I am still fighting for insurance coverage here in the US for my patients!

Each HMO has their criteria for plastic surgery. I was denied and appealed for TT and a year later for BL/BR also denied and appealed. But in Israel one'a stay in a public hospital is days and not in and out or just overnight.
Mikimi

I got an extended tt, but wish I had the money and had done the lbl. I was borderline case according to most PS I talked to. But I then again I had tough recovery, so maybe it was good to only deal with front side. I am getting a revised tt this month.

$20k for a tummy tuck is the most expensive quote I have ever heard of. If you do not have your heart set on that surgeon then you may want to look around. You likely can get a body lift from a good PS for $12k.

I had a tummy tuck and very shortly thereafter realized I had made a mistake and should have gotten the body lift. So I had it converted in my stage 2 surgery. To me, it looked like there was a mismatch from the front to the back of my body.

The abdominoplasty is the painful part of an LBL, not the butt lift. So you are going to experience significantly more pain by having an LBL instead of a body lift. Good luck!