Question:
Anyone UNhappy with results from their Tumm tuck ?

Not only am I here to get some input, I just need to vent a little. Aug 5th I had a Full Abdominoplasty-anchor incision-I'll back up a little. I lost nearly 175lbs with WLS. I carried most of my weight in my belly, so there was ALOT of extra skin left over. I consulted with a plastic surgeon- He told me he'd remove about 12pounds of skin and said I'd be "flat as a board"....The first thing I asked when I woke up in the recovery room, was how much skin they took off- The nurse looked on the chart and said 4lbs- The surgeon came to visit me the next day- I was all drugged up so I didnt get all he said to me, but something about he could only remove like 4 pounds "safely"....what does "SAFELY" mean? I am aware that I will have some swelling, but I am sooooooooo very unhappy with my tummy tuck- below my belly button isn't too bad- I still have a little panni, but not hanging- Above my belly button it looks like nothing was done, I now have a huge scar to my breast bone, and still LOTS of saggy skin- Insurance paid 100% so it's not that I'm not grateful- I'm VERY thankful, but I kinda feel like a salesman sold me a brand new shiney mercadez, and after waiting nearly 2 years, I'm delivered a Used For Taurus- Know what I mean ? I'm sure if I self paid, I could run to my surgeon and complain, but because I'm disabled and get Medicare, I don't think I have any say- From a medically necessary point of view I think he did what he had to do to barely help me- but cosmetically I'm still a MESS- (and of course insurance only covers if medically necessary)......Was anyone else unhappy with their Tummy tuck ? I took some pics of the ugly results if anyone wants to see............    — WABBIT F. (posted on August 20, 2004)

August 20, 2004
Hi, sorry about Your situation I would say I would be throwing a bi*% fit!! First I would call medicare and tell them You are not satisfied, That the surgeon only did half of what he said, or I would atleast tell my surgeon I was gonna do this and he should redo what he should have done to begin with and throw in lipo for free !! or a breast lift or something to compensate the Wrong doing. I don't care whoo pays it is the fact that he is being paid, You went through A LOT for you to accept this in return. He should never have told You he could do it if he couldn't talk to a free attorney ask there advice there is a guy on this site I think it is joe bartley or something like that from tn ( peer search - bartley ) and email him ask his appinion what You could do legaly. He is an attorney and offers advice and if need services he offers those cheap.!! Don't shrug this off just because medicare paid for You the fact is the surgeon was PAID !!
   — Shell G

August 20, 2004
I would ask him what he meant by 'safely" did he find a medical reason for NOT doing it??? Mine was done "safly' and my surgeon took off 11 pounds.. If he cant give you a good reason, I too would talk to medicare; tell him to fix it or you'll file malpractice - you can do that too doesnt matter if you have medicare. I did NOT get the muscle tightening; but the loose skin from the breast to belly button was removed (now its a little soft) but I excpected that and didnt pay for the muscles tightening. BUT the botton and such are still FLAT. sorry your didnt go well :( but medicare or NOT you dont deserve less. Private or medicare the 'surgery' is the same!
   — star .

August 20, 2004
what are you kidding! I would surely complain! No way around it! Self Pay or not! I would not let him get away with that one- if i were you I would persue it! liz
   — ELIZABETH C.

August 20, 2004
I am 4 days post-op from a full abdominoplasty/hernia repair, w/o anchor incision. I asked for one originally, along with lipo, and my Dr. sat me down for a long explanation. He is related, so I trust his word. I went to him because I had not seen any PS work on my post-op peers that made me say, "I gotta go to that guy". He had nothing to gain by the discussion. He told me that he does not like to do anchor incisions as a rule unless absolutely necessary, or lipo for that matter because both of these procedures disrupt blood flow to the skin in that area. As it turned out, the part of my incision that is below my new navel is discovered, and of slight concern. I might be that when he went to do the procedure he was not satisfied that the skin would regrow a substantial blood supply to the area above the horizontal incision. This could cause the skin to die, then you would be in major trouble. He also told me that many of us WLS post-ops are not aware of the limitations of certain procedures. Our skin is extremely stretched out, without elasticity in many cases. As a matter of fact, he told me that as he was pulling me, he could see me continue to stretch. He did not measure the skin he removed in weight, but told me that it was the width of his palm plus 2 fingers. I also carry most of my weight in my abdomen. I was covered by my insurance after a long fight and 2 denials, and for sure wanted the most for my money. Being an insurance case of a self-pay would have nothing to do with it. Ask your Dr. for a full explanation. Believe me, I wanted washboard abs too, but the fact that they won't get caught in the zipper of my jeans is enough for me. Good luck, and remember that it can take 3 to 6 months to see the true result.
   — Fixnmyself

August 20, 2004
The simple answer -- YES! I am going to have to have a "re-do" and am dreading it because of my first experience. I'm also waiting awhile because I just need a mental recovery period.
   — jen41766

August 20, 2004
Are you wearing your long line girdle and/or binder? that would certainly help the swelling. that you give you the smooth lean look. its still early and you needtime to heal more.im glad you took photos. i would wait a few more weeks and see if there is any improvment. All the Best! Tracey
   — traceybubbles

August 21, 2004
I would say you need to give it some time. I had a friend who lost close to 200lbs. She had "about a pound" removed. She looks fine and is happy with the results. I had my abdominoplasty on 8/2, and was most concerned about getting rid of my spare tire above where my waist should be. I only had the hip to hip incision, but, even with the swelling, and removal of 5-6 lbs, I think I am going to look okay. My PS says I am going to look "fantastic", but I will settle for looking "not as bad as I used to"! LOL! I think we are sort of ingrained to expect instant results after surgery - after removal of a gallbladder, the pain is gone, after weight loss surgery, the pounds begin to drop off. Plastic and reconstructive surgery is different. There is a lot of healing and changes that need to take place. I think you would be best to voice your concerns to your surgeon and make sure they are documented, so that, if you are not satisfied with how you look several months down the road, you can have some documentation to back up your request for a redo on the surgery (or a "correction", if you will). Remember, someone who has a face lift or a rhinoplasty doesn't look so good for a while after surgery, and the abdominoplasty involves a LOT of skin and muscle.
   — koogy

August 22, 2004
Was wondering if you looked at his other pre and post op pics before your surgery? I've found that talking about pounds and inches and how many of these or how much of that I will remove does little to help patients understand what they will actually look like after surgery. So I show photos of somebody similiar to them and say "You will look like this." My advice is for all preops to insist on this.
   — DrL