I had LAP-BAND®® surgery 3 years ago this month. I have lost about 95 pounds. I am very unhappy with the excess skin around my tummy area. I am considering plastic surgery. Has anyone had a tummy tuck after LAP-BAND®® surgery? I am about 15 pounds from my goal weight but am happy now other than my tummy....any advice would be greatly appreciated! :thumbup:

I also have stretch marks and some scars from other surgeries on my lower abdomen...would a tummy tuck take care of the stretch marks and other scars?:laugh:

I would check out the plastic surgery section here at lap band talk. Many people have done it, but I'm kind of scared to have another surgery. I'm losing too many brain cells lol.

I had LAP-BAND®®® surgery 3 years ago this month. I have lost about 95 pounds. I am very unhappy with the excess skin around my tummy area. I am considering plastic surgery. Has anyone had a tummy tuck after LAP-BAND®®® surgery? I am about 15 pounds from my goal weight but am happy now other than my tummy....any advice would be greatly appreciated! :tt2:

I also have stretch marks and some scars from other surgeries on my lower abdomen...would a tummy tuck take care of the stretch marks and other scars?:smile2:

Nettie,

There is a wonderful blog called The world according to eggface about weight loss surgery and more. Eggface (Shelly) had plastic surgury so she might have some info for you. She's also on Twitter under the name eggface.

You write that you are 15 pounds from your goal.

Keep in mind that the excess skin also weighs a lot.

It is not uncommon for people who have a lot of extra skin after significant weight loss to have anywhere between 10 and 20 pounds of skin removed during a tummy tuck.

You may want to check out the plastic surgery forum here. I (oddly) can't wait to have a TT though I know I have a ways to go before I have the guts to do it.

Either way it's a very common surgery after weight-loss, especially with 100lbs+ lost. The stretch marks that are below your belly button will mostly be gone and the ones above will move down to a lower position. I can invite you to a helpful tummy tuck site if you'd like, just PM me.

Not to discourage anyone who wants a TT (because I can't WAIT until I have to make that decision), I have a friend who had her WLS 2 years ago and has been at her goal for almost a year. She had a TT 6 months ago and they had to move her port. Her port became infected and she's struggled with it for months, but finally her doc decided it had to come out. She continued to run a fever and had to have her entire band removed this past Sunday!!! OMG! This scares the crap out of me!!!

Although this is an uncommon thing that can happen, it can happen.

Just make sure you know all of the pros and cons before making a decision. An informed decision in a good decision!!

Best of luck!

Not to discourage anyone who wants a TT (because I can't WAIT until I have to make that decision), I have a friend who had her WLS 2 years ago and has been at her goal for almost a year. She had a TT 6 months ago and they had to move her port. Her port became infected and she's struggled with it for months, but finally her doc decided it had to come out. She continued to run a fever and had to have her entire band removed this past Sunday!!! OMG! This scares the crap out of me!!!

Although this is an uncommon thing that can happen, it can happen.

Just make sure you know all of the pros and cons before making a decision. An informed decision in a good decision!!

Best of luck!

This is why it is important to find a plastic surgeon who specializes with lapband patients.

The surgeon should make sure the port is placed properly and re-secure it at the time of the surgery.

I just had a mini tummy tuck on Oct 9th.

After years of being overweight, losing weight, gaining weight etc my stomach was not my favorite part of my body.

Luckily my band doc is also a plastic surgeon so I wasn't worried about my band being affected. Due to my port sticking out of my skin, my doc actually moved my port and right now I am not sure where it is exactly I can't feel it at all.

As for your scars and stretch marks, it depends on what kind of tummy tuck you have (full or mini) to whether it will take away a lot of your scars and stretch marks. The tuck would stretch your skin down and take away some of your skin meaning some of the stretch marks might be cut away. I have seen some people before photos of a tummy tuck who had stretch marks and they look so good after the tuck and a lot of their stretch marks are gone.

Do some research about tummy tucks and stretch marks to see what some other peoples results have been.

well..thank you all for your posts...Do any of you know Dr. Christopher W. Chase? My Lapband Doc's office referred me to him...

I can't wait to have my tummy tuck but I have to get closer to my goal weight first.

It's entirely possible that having all that skin removed will actually put you at goal. As for the scars I was told if you do a full TT it will take care of any scars and marks that are below the belly button.