I was pretty fat when I was younger and I dropped from 280 to 160 (120lbs of weight loss) when I was 16, in a pretty short amount of time... I'd say less than 6 months. I was running and working out a lot, doing a bunch of crunches and sit-ups too. I could feel that I had pretty hard abs but because they were under loose skin you couldn't see them and I still looked fat. Of course I didn't really know about loose skin after losing weight at the time. But, I continued on a strict diet of only eating salads (lettuce/chicken/croutons/boiled eggs/ranch/
+bacon bits) and I kept the weight off for 7 years but the loose skin on my tummy never shrank back. When I did push-ups it'd droop down and look super gross. So, without seeing the results after so much work I gave up. I was disenfranchised by the whole thing and I was sick of eating salads. So, I stopped.
I'm back up to about 220 now (practically all belly fat) and I'm not even trying to watch what I eat but I'm okay with that because I know when I transition I want a nice big round butt and wide hips (which are actually outer thighs) and the more fat you have that can be transferred for augmentation, the better. Since it seems obvious to me now that I'm going to need a tummy tuck it makes sense that I could have all of my fat transferred to my butt when I have that done. So, I'm okay with that. If my tummy skin didn't shrink in 7 years I don't think it's going to, so both of those things work out fine I guess.
What I am worried about is scarring because big scars on a girl's tummy isn't exactly the most attractive thing in the world. I scar really easily too so I know it'll be bad.
I've done some research on scarring. Here's what I've learned: Scars are mainly made out of collagen which is a protein created by a type of cell found in the skin called a fibroblast. Skin doesn't have to heal with scarring, it just does. In fact, no matter what kind of incision a surgeon might make to a fetus in the womb the fetus will not scar and yet babies do once they're born.
This largely happens because of engrailed-positive fibroblasts (EPF) which are just a type of fibroblast that expresses a protein called engrailed. These "EPF" cells start out at less than 1% of the developing skin but by the time an animal is a month old it's 80% of the fibroblasts in the skin. These EPF cells express a protein called CD26 on their surface which are inhibited by drugs such as sitagliptin and vildagliptin that are marketed for treating low blood sugar levels in people with type-2 diabetes. Blocking CD26 also significantly reduces scarring. So, you take this medication before you go in for surgery and while recovery does take about 6 days longer, your scarring is reduced significantly.
It gets better though because researchers at Stanford University, Geoffrey Gurtner in particular, developed a special wound dressing that significantly reduces scar tissue caused by incisions. It essentially eliminates tension on the wound which is the primary reason why scar tissue forms - healing incisions being pulled different directions by the taut surrounding skin, which causes scar tissue to thicken and spread. It's basically just thin elastic silicone plastic that is stretched over the incision after sutures have been removed. It sticks to the skin with the help of adhesive and as it contracts it provides uniform compression across the wound.
Now, neither of these will take away scarring completely, but they should reduce it significantly enough that it may not be as bad. So, I'm hopeful. I don't know if doctors will even do it, but I'm still hopeful that they might.
Maybe the tummy tuck will leave a bad scar but screw it, y'know? I can just wear a corset and one-piece swimsuits. I'll be a heck of a lot happier in my own body than I am now either way, that's for sure.
