Squishy

I have to share a funny story... I had a post-op today. I mentioned that my abdomen was still "really hard" and asked "should I be concerned?" He felt my belly and laughed and said "That's your abdominal muscles Mike". LOL! Who knew I had any? I've certainly never felt one before.

Hello Tink! Forgive my ignorance about the UK Health Care system, but is surgical removal an option for you? If you don't mind sharing... 1. Would you want the surgery? 2. If so, who would need to approve it? 3. Have you pursued it? If you would rather not answer, I understand. Here in the U.S., typically, private insurance is involved unless you can afford to pay for it yourself. Most insurance companies here deny these procedures unless/until you can prove the "medical necessity". That can be challenging. I tried to get insurance coverage, on and off, for

Sorry to hear that. For me it has been injuries rather than health conditions. About the time I get one fixed and healed, I injur something else. At least my issues are self-inflicted. I just need to realize, I'm not 20-30 years old anymore.

Just a quick update... I had my first post-op yesterday and everything is going well. I am still retaining a lot of fluid and have a lot of swelling, so the drains need to stay in and the surgeon tightened my compression garments to help squeeze it out. My chest area is obviously swollen and puffy. My abdomen is flat, but very hard. Tapping on it is very much like tapping on a ripe watermelon. I weighed myself this morning and, even with the excess fluid, I weigh 14 pounds less than before the surgery. We know that he removed just under 10 pounds of skin, and I have really been focus

Ha Ha! Sorry Aussiebear. Didn't mean to creep anyone out. I had my first post-op yesterday and, unfortunately, still too much fluid retention and drainage to remove the drains, so at least another week. Since this area of the forum does not get much traffic, I will share my experience in case it might be helpful to others. I have not found any great tricks to improve management of the drains, but I will say that, like most things, I am getting more used to them as time passes. If you can sleep on your back you can get into a fairly comfortable position. I am a side sleeper, which is

Good Morning! Reaching out to reconstructed TT Peeps who have had drains and anyone with experience with surgical drains. I have two surgical drains that will be in place for at least 5 more days and could be in place for 19 more days depending on drainage. From the attached, crude drawing you can see that the drains enter my body in a delicate area. I am seeking any advice on how to manage these tubes to be as comfortable as possible. This is not terrible, but if I can make this "better" I would like to do so. If you have anything you learned that made it easier, please sha

LOL! I had not thought about it that way. But... Yeah I guess I get a bonus of putting down that gallon of milk too! TammyP, Thank you and I an still doing great. Very little pain. I stopped the narcotic pain pills around noon on Wednesday (48 hours post) and am just taking Tylenol. That has prevented any pain and feels no different than I did with the narcotics. The only real discomfort is from the compression garments. I'm not used to them and they always feel like they are digging in somewhere and are itchy. I know some itching is from healing, but there is a lot that is ju

Thank you, and Yes!... Just under 10 pounds of skin went in the bucket!

Just a quick note here... I did not receive instructions to avoid standing upright, so I asked. He said that I could stand up as straight as I could comfortably. I actually have better posture without the excess baggage pulling me forward. One thing I am learning here is that, when it comes to this type of surgery, everyone's experience is very different.

48 Hours post-op. (I got to shower so I had my wife take a photo.) Not showing the stitches here, but I am very happy with the outcome so far. (I had a LOT of skin hanging. So I think this is amazing after only 48 hours.)

I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through this! I cannot imagine. I am not qualified to tell you what is normal, but I am fairly certain that what you are describing is not. I just had surgery yesterday and I can stand up straight with no problems. I know hematomas can happen and that part is not too disturbing. Messy, but generally easy to deal with. The pain, shortness of breath, and inability to stand up are very troubling. Forgive the ignorant question, but can you clarify the hiatal hernia situation? Did you have a gastric bypass? If so, there really would not b

Just thought I would check back in to let you all know that I had my surgery yesterday! Everything went well and I am home recovering. The surgeon said he removed just under 9 pounds of skin. He did a fleur de lis abdominiplasty and male breast reduction using the donut method. (The donut method leaves the nipple attached and removes a donut-shaped section of skin around it. The only scar is around the nipple, which should not be visible.) The fleur de lis abdominiplasty scars will mostly be covered by a swimsuit or underwear. The center-line scar will be visible, but I already had

Thank you. I was guessing that was the case, but was hoping someone would confirm. So, no jumping-jacks for a while. Ha Ha! Hey wait... "Jumping"... When I am healed up I will be able to jump without all this skin flapping! I had not thought about that. Not that I do a "lot" of jumping, but I might have to put on that House of Pain song and "Jump Around" in a few months just to celebrate! -Mike-

I've read several comments about people having back pain from having to be hunched over or unable to stand up straight following their tummy tucks, abdominoplasty, or panniculectomy. I am curious if this is simply because it is uncomfortable to do so, or if this is a post-op requirement that you do not do so while the incisions are healing. Of course, I know that my surgeon will provide the instructions that I will need to follow, but I have read those comments enough times, that I am very curious. Thanks in advance for any responses. -Mike-

Yes!! March 22nd, 7:45 AM. He is going to do it all at once. I am pleasantly surprised by that. No overnight stay. I have to make sure they have one of those smile to frown pain charts in the recovery room. I have a long, but funny, but also nearly Michael Jacksonesque, story about a double hernia surgery I had last year. The recovery nurse asked me how my pain was.. "severe... moderate... mild?" Moderate sounded like... " I have some pain, but nothing I can't handle." So I went with "moderate". Apparently, that means "a lot" of pain to them and they kept giving me pain meds. They ke