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Ok, so I was 304lbs at my biggest, now down to 175lbs, yay me. Sadly I've been left with quite alot of loose skin. Today I had 11-Nov confirmed for a full 'inverted-T' abdominoplasty. I've been working toward this for over 2 years now, but getting a date has made it suddenly seem very real. I'll try to keep this thread updated with my experience and recovery for those who may need to go through a similar experience.

Wow!  That's so neat.  You'll be all tidied up there.  I dropped from 215 to 136, and have a bit of spare skin there, but it's no big deal.  I've seen others with your great weight loss (Congratulations!, It ain't easy, but you knew that.). Getting that much excess gone is certainly a big deal.

Thanks for sharing the news, and congratulations again!

Thanks Michelle, an amazing change from you too. 140lbs is my ideal target after HRT has helped me shift some muscle.

I dropped over 100 pounds and I too am looking for a tummy tuck.

This is common with extreme weight loss.

I'll plan to post some before images, and some after shots and info on my recovery over the next few weeks and months.

Yeah. Considering a tummy tuck also. In the past 18 months I have dropped about 95 pounds (245 at my heaviest 151 today). Seems like no matter what I do to try and tighten the tummy, it's just flappy. :-(

Anyone know if the skin will ever be taught again? Biggest problem is that shirts that should be the right size don't fit due to a muffin top that is mostly skin.

I was at the higher weight for prolly 2 years or so. Not a lifetime but not just a few months either.


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The skin can recover quite a bit, but I think if it's still loose 6 months after your weight has his it's new level then it won't recover any more.

So I'm in my gown ready to into the operation later this afternoon, bit nervous. I took some pictures yesterday which I'll post with some follow up ones when I'm back home.

Was in surgery for about 5 hours, and just spent the rest of the night dozing. Not in too much pain, but haven't tried moving yet.

Sleep is good! Let it heal.

I'm so glad you made it OK.

Gentle hugs!
- Michelle

Thanks Michelle, I'm shuffling about my hospital room now, and I can go home this afternoon 😊. I'll try to get some pictures up soon, for those who aren't too screamish!

OK here are some pictures, a couple before and a couple taken in the last few days back from the hospital. Mods please remove if these break TOS, I hope they're OK.

http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/megan_james7/slideshow/Tummy%20Tuck (http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/megan_james7/slideshow/Tummy%20Tuck)

I'm not going to leave these up forever, but always happy to share in future if someone wants to PM me.

Recovery is continuing well. I changed the dressings today without issue. Mobility is continuing to improve, and pain has been very manageable. At the hospital they gave me a mix of codeine and paracetamol. They sent me home with more codeine, but I've not had to use it, using only paracetamol and ibuprofen and I'm keeping those to a minimum. My Dad drove me home from the hospital and stayed one night, but I've been fine looking after myself since he went home.

I'll add further pictures and update this topic once the dressings are off.

I'm happy to answer any questions about my procedure for those considering the same.

Megan. X

Wow!  Megan, that looks like a great result.  That has got to make you feel good!  (Well, as long as it doesn't hurt, but the discomfort is temporary, the flat tummy is there to stay!)

Congratulations, again!

Thanks Michelle. No running for 6 weeks is going to be hard, and I've got to be very strict on my calorie intake, generally and certainly until I can be more physical again.

Quote from: meganjames2 on November 16, 2016, 10:40:24 AM
Thanks Michelle. No running for 6 weeks is going to be hard, and I've got to be very strict on my calorie intake, generally and certainly until I can be more physical again.

Amen to that!  I had another damn prostate surgery (TURP) this past summer, and being laid up with no exercise drove me bonkers.  Boredom, hunger, etc.  All very dangerous for the waistline.  I got some software, MyFitnessPal, on my phone and log everything I eat and drink.  Just the extra effort to log things makes me think twice about grabbing that cookie or handful of chips.  On my phone there's another app that monitors my activity, counting steps and such, and it feeds into MyFitnessPal.  More activity 'rewards' me with more calories I can eat that day, and less activity cuts it down.

The tracking really helps me hold my weight now that I'm at my goal after all these years.

Of course, you should do whatever works for you!  I just think its neat that you've worked hard to get to this point, and are able to take such positive steps.

Hugs
Michelle

I'll definitely second the MyFitnessPal. It helped me recalibrate my eating habits.

I think the other habits that have helped is removing temptation, staying out of the kitchen, and using gum throughout the day.

One trick that I have learned is find a diet that works for you, and your needs. For me this is a ketogenic diet. There are enough options open to me that I absolutely love. Having options that are actually good for you AND makes you feel like your cheating/indulging was the key to my success.

But yeah. No exercise! :-(
Can you do walking, or something very low impact like a stationery bike?


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Diet wise, I aim for 1500cals/day, and try to use protein, fibre, and low GI carbs to stay full and healthy.
After two weeks I can start to build up the walking, then I should be able to run again after six.

I'll definitely keep that timeline in mind if/when I get a tummy tuck.

I don't know if I could do more than two weeks not getting any exercise.

So funny how the draw to exercise changes so drastically from "I'll think about exercising " to "I should really get my exercise in today" to "I can't wait to get my exercise in"

Thanks for the update!


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Brooke, I spent years looking at runners with pity thinking they were crazy, and only started to help with my diet, but one day realised I did in fact really enjoy it, and even more, I now need it, so I'm now one of the crazy people too 😁.

Just as a follow up, although I never looked on this surgery as a weight loss thing (1.9 kg was removed during the Op), it was for me about improving the look and shape of my body. An interesting outcome has been a serious drop in my appetite and space for food before I feel full. I read that this is common as a result of the tightening of the muscle wall reducing space for the stomach. As things stretch back to a more normal state my appetite may come back, but for me this has been a positive unexpected benefit of the Op.

I totally get that pity unto runners. One of best friends is extremely athletic, into the endurance and extreme sides of fitness. She has held world records in weight lifting, her idea of a low activity day is 15k steps. Her idea of a good time at the Grand Canyon a rim, to rim, to rim in one day.

We both me crazy but I still think she's insane!

I'll keep the appetite in mind. Like you I'm just trying to get a more appeal physical appearance. And that floppy skin makes more intense activities not very comfortable.

I was also wondering about how much skin would weigh once removed. I was guessing just a few lbs.

Hope your back on your feet soon!


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Update: 10 days post - measured my waist, and found it's actually increased by a couple of inches 😞, I have to assume that this is fluid and swelling as in contrast my weight has continued to fall since the Op, and I have lost a total of 15 pounds since the day of the Op, though I'm eating healthily.
One other item is the (hopefully temporary) impact on my feminine voice, the recovery has reduced my strength and control of my diaphragm, chest voice has been less impacted, but head voice was almost gone and is only slowly coming back.

Update: 13 days post - Saw the nurse this morning to have the final lot of dressings removed, she said my recovery and healing is one of the best she's seen 😊. The surgeon also gave me the thumbs up, so all good. I'll post some new photos tmrw after I've finally had a shower, I can't wait for that!
I was 171 lbs this morning, I'd like to be 160 ideally, but if I lose too much more weight I could end up with more extra skin, so I'll have to find a good compromise.

Wow, Megan!  You're healing fast, and what a nice bonus to be closing in on your goal weight!

Congratulations again!

As promised, I have now added a couple of additional '2-week' images to the timeline below:

http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/megan_james7/slideshow/Tummy%20Tuck (http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/megan_james7/slideshow/Tummy%20Tuck)

You can see a few red patches where I had some blistering from the original set of post-surgical dressings, likely a mild allergy to something in the adhesive, these should clear up in time. I used a different brand of dressings following this problem without any further issue.
I'm moisturizing the entire area twice a day, and today I plan to start using some kelo-cote silicone gel to also aid the scar recovery and appearance.

Overall fairly happy so far. To my eyes I don't feel the surgeon made the center line very straight, but it's early days and as skin and muscle relax back over the next few weeks/months I'll see how I feel about things.

Megan. X

Quick update: Finally got out for gentle 2 mille run last week, and twice again this week. The hernia repair I had done in tandem with my tummy tuck felt a bit tight on the first run, but is easing up. It feels great to be able to hit the road again, even spoiled myself with new pair of running shoes.
I continue to clean and moisturize the scars daily and apply silicon gel twice daily. A few more sutures have been spit out, I just used some tweezers to cleanly remove them.

Following. I've lost about 100 pounds with about 45 pounds to go. I also plan for a pannulectomy, rectus diastasis repair, and hernia repair (I refuse to call it a "tummy tuck," which I feel trivializes my medical issues and makes it sound like a minor cosmetic procedure). I have a grade 2 panniculus, which hangs past my pubic bone, not just loose skin. The doc estimates I'll lose 10-15 pounds of skin and subq fat. However, it may be a long time before I can do this, thanks to money woes.

Callan,  congrats on the weight loss so far,  and best of luck. I'm all healed up nicely now. Some of the scaring towards my ribs is a bit keloid,  but I'm otherwise happy. The hernia repair still gives the odd twinge when I go for a longer run,  but I've done a couple of triathlons in the last few months without any issue. X

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It's been almost 11 months since my Op (seems longer wierdly). I thought I'd post a final image on this thread, as HRT is starting (slowly)  to do its thing I'm getting a bit more concious about sharing pictures publicly. I'm overall very happy and glad I had the operation.
The scaring towards my rib cage is worst still a bit red and keloid,  and my belly button is a little on the wonky side,  but I actually kinda like that.
The swimming I've been doing seems to have helped with the hernia repair I had done at the same time,  this now gives me no bother at all.
You'll also notice my butterfly tattoo, a 40th birthday treat to myself a few months back.
Please PM me if you have any questions about my procedure or recovery. X
(https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/susans/Tummy_30-sep-2017.jpg)


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Well done Hon!

I like the tattoo as well, very pretty.

What I hadn't realised was your incredible weight loss and strength and fortitude. Well done indeed.

I can beat your belly button though. I know have two as they put a PEG tube into me to feed me when my throat was burned out. When it was pulled out it left another belly button mark :laugh:

I'm going to show it off this summer on my bikini flaunts.

Congratulations and well done.

Ty Cindy. I'll never be a bikini model,  but I'm happy [emoji4],  though now feeling slightly inadequate with only my single belly button [emoji853].

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megan,

I had a tummy tuck also. When I need a swim suit, I like a good snug Speedo one piece. It works for me! 8)