PlannerGirl

YIPEE!!!!

I've had a panniculectomy so here's my story. When I had my sleeve done on Nov 18th 2010 the surgeon found my fibroid tumor was way way bigger than we knew. Luckily he was able to do my sleeve and now we knew I needed a hysterectomy sooner rather than later. My original goal was to wait until this fall and hopefully most of my weight would be gone and I could get a Tummy Tuck at the same time. Unfortunately, the fibroid was making my life miserable.....back pain, shortness of breath (my diaphragm couldn't fully open) having to pee all the time......so we decided to do it March 1. I knew my abs would be cut for the hysterectomy so I talked to the plastic surgeon.
I had stomach that overhung to my pubic area (so gross) and even my girly areas drooped. (grosser) I decided to have the panni done when I had my hysterectomy. The gyno cut vertically to get the tumor out, and the plastics cut on either side of the incision and pulled it together. My panniculectomy incision runs from nearly the back of one hip to nearly the back of the other. My belly button was moved. When I figured out he had cut it out of the skin that was removed and cut a hole where it is now and sewed it in I was sort of disgusted...but it looks pretty good. Sometimes I feel like Frankenstein.
There are some pros and cons to what I did and I'll share them with you.
Pros:

Not having that overhang was a huge motivator to me. No more rashes there I can move so much more freely (ie...when I ride my bike, my knees don't hit my stomach) I have a lap again My clothes fit so much better and the overhang used to be visible under clothes TMI alert (sex is soooo much better without that between us)
BTW.....he removed 15 pounds of skin and fat. So if you've ever grabbed your stomach and said 'I wish I could cut this off" Well, it turns out you can.
Cons:

It hurt soooooo much. Please understand a lot of that pain came from the removal of a fibroid tumor that weighed in at over 10 pounds and the cutting of my abdominal muscles. The scar is big and ugly, but as bad as it is, it's better than the overhang. Because I had my surgery with A LOT of weight left to lose, I may still want to have a tummy tuck later. I'm going to wait and see on that. I paid for it out of pocket and it wasn't cheap, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat
My doc explained that the panniculectomy was like a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) without the tightening of the stomach muscles. If you're at your goal weight now, my suggestion (unsolicited so tell me to shut up if you want) would be to have the tummy tuck. With the tummy tuck they will remove the excess skin like they would in a panniculectomy, but they will also tighten up your muscles, giving you a more toned look.
Sept 1 I'm having my girls reduced and lifted. If you have questions about that, I'll let you know after. Insurance is footing the bill for that one and I'm psyched.
If you want to know anything else, please feel free to PM me.
Good luck with your decision.

I've had a panniculectomy so here's my story. When I had my sleeve done on Nov 18th 2010 the surgeon found my fibroid tumor was way way bigger than we knew. Luckily he was able to do my sleeve and now we knew I needed a hysterectomy sooner rather than later. My original goal was to wait until this fall and hopefully most of my weight would be gone and I could get a Tummy Tuck at the same time. Unfortunately, the fibroid was making my life miserable.....back pain, shortness of breath (my diaphragm couldn't fully open) having to pee all the time......so we decided to do it March 1. I knew my abs would be cut for the hysterectomy so I talked to the plastic surgeon.
I had stomach that overhung to my pubic area (so gross) and even my girly areas drooped. (grosser) I decided to have the panni done when I had my hysterectomy. The gyno cut vertically to get the tumor out, and the plastics cut on either side of the incision and pulled it together. My panniculectomy incision runs from nearly the back of one hip to nearly the back of the other. My belly button was moved. When I figured out he had cut it out of the skin that was removed and cut a hole where it is now and sewed it in I was sort of disgusted...but it looks pretty good. Sometimes I feel like Frankenstein.
There are some pros and cons to what I did and I'll share them with you.
Pros:

Not having that overhang was a huge motivator to me. No more rashes there I can move so much more freely (ie...when I ride my bike, my knees don't hit my stomach) I have a lap again My clothes fit so much better and the overhang used to be visible under clothes TMI alert (sex is soooo much better without that between us)
BTW.....he removed 15 pounds of skin and fat. So if you've ever grabbed your stomach and said 'I wish I could cut this off" Well, it turns out you can.
Cons:

It hurt soooooo much. Please understand a lot of that pain came from the removal of a fibroid tumor that weighed in at over 10 pounds and the cutting of my abdominal muscles. The scar is big and ugly, but as bad as it is, it's better than the overhang. Because I had my surgery with A LOT of weight left to lose, I may still want to have a tummy tuck later. I'm going to wait and see on that. I paid for it out of pocket and it wasn't cheap, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat
My doc explained that the panniculectomy was like a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) without the tightening of the stomach muscles. If you're at your goal weight now, my suggestion (unsolicited so tell me to shut up if you want) would be to have the tummy tuck. With the tummy tuck they will remove the excess skin like they would in a panniculectomy, but they will also tighten up your muscles, giving you a more toned look.
Sept 1 I'm having my girls reduced and lifted. If you have questions about that, I'll let you know after. Insurance is footing the bill for that one and I'm psyched.
If you want to know anything else, please feel free to PM me.
Good luck with your decision.