Panni removal by RNY Surgeon

Hi, I am currently 18 months (and 1 day) post op and went in for my first consult for panni removal on Friday with my RNY doctor as part of my follow up care.  He has been performing this surgery for many years (Dr. Chua) and part of my follow up care was this consult with him.  I have lost a total of 210 lbs to date and still VERY slowly loosing a few pounds a month but I'm to the point that I need this extra skin removed asap!  Has anyone else had their Gastric Bypass surgeon perform their panni removal?

He does work with another surgeon if the case is more extensive however he said I was a great candidate and my surgery would be pretty straight forward.  He showed me pictures of other people he did that had similar amounts of excess skin to remove and I was almost in tears thinking one day I will also look that good (fingers crossed).  He does fix the position of the belly button and will remove the excess skin in my "lady part" area as well.  

Just wondering if anyone else had their surgeon perform this surgery and any thoughts or concerns?

I am planning to go in for a 2nd consult with another surgeon his team works with that specializes in plastic surgery but for now I am almost leaning towards my RNY doc.

would you have let a plastic surgeon do your bypass?

i, personally would not let a general surgeon do plastic surgery on me.

Totally agree with your getting another opinion.  See 2 or 3 before you decide.  Wait until you meet with the other - and see pictures.  The PS showed me (before and after) pictures of women with problems and body type close to mine so I could see how my problems could be addressed.  The surgeon should make sure you understand what reasonable result will actually look like, not promise the moon.

I do not now what you mean "surgeon that specilaizes in plastic surgery." IMHO you want to get a PS advise - you might need more than the panni.  Get a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon - you already have seen a general surgeon, so now get an opinion from a real plastic surgeon.  If the second consult is not with a Board Cert PS, I would cancel and reschedule with one. 

I would definitely go with a PS if at all possible. This type of surgery is kind of form of art. Congratulations on your incredible success with your WLS this far. Please update your success.

Rich  

I have a consult scheduled with my surgeon next month.  He is a board certified plastic surgeon too.  He specializes in weight loss surgery and abdominoplasty with the muscle tightening.  He told me he will NOT do my arms though but he has other people he refers you to for that.  I have lots of questions for him when I go in for my consult.  They did check insurance for me and insurance will cover as long as we can prove medical necessity.  Wish me luck too!

If you just want the skin gone to feel better physically, then you should go with the (I assume) cheaper route of using your bariatric surgeon. However, if you want to feel better mentally, you need good results which means going with a plastic surgeon.

I love my bariatric surgeon but I would never in a million years let him perform plastic surgery on me. After losing 200 pounds, I wanted to feel "whole" again. For me this meant I wanted to look good. I went with the best plastic surgeon in my area and am so thankful I did.

I have seen too many people in tears after bad plastic surgery results after losing all of their weight. They feel worse than they did when they were obese or even when they had the excess skin. In many cases, the bad results cannot even be revised.

Do more research before making your decision.

Face it-- it is easier to go with someone we know and respect and already have a relationship with. I went for 5 plastic surgery consults. All of them were an education. Going for more consults helps in making the decision. After my 5 consults I knew I wanted someone who specialized in plastic surgery on people with massive weight loss. I would not go to my Weight loss surgeon, yours obviously has some experience but is he board certified in Plastic Surgery. I had my Plastic Surgeon fix my hernia, but he is also a Board certified general surgeon...