I have been approved for panni and am looking for real world advice re time off work, pain levels etc. anyone?

Congrats! My advice would be that if you have the option and the ability to pay the price difference to convert the panni to an abdominoplasty, you should go for it. I've seen others talking about it and it's usually about 2K to get the better procedure and your insurance covers the remainder. I had an abdominoplasty and while I didn't notice the difference that stitching my abs together made, other people really did. You will LOVE your new flat stomach though...it is something I still like to look at in the mirror, 8 months after the procedure.

In terms of time off from work, if you have a desk job and you can take a week, go for it. I was back to working at a desk for 8-12 hours days on 4 days after the procedure, but that was out of neccessity. I would have preferred to have at least a week, but pain wise it isn't hard.

In terms of pain, if you have a good surgeon, the pain is minimal. I took Percocet for the first three days and then nothing after that. The pain is more about discomfort, because it's a little hard to move around and it's irritating to try to walk when you can't stand up straight. Without the ab-stitching component, you may not have the issues I did which involved not being able to really use my ab muscles for a few weeks.

Good luck!

Subscribing to follow along as I'm sure I'm going to need this at some point as I carried most of my weight in my stomach. It gives me hope that someone got it approved because I normally have people tell me that insurance won't cover it.

@AvaFern. Thanks for the response. I do work a desk job and was hoping to take only a week as I did for the bypass. I live in Canada. Panni Is covered by our provincial health system. Anything else isn't. So panni it is. I am considering additional surgery later on my dime. Like arms and thighs. We will see.

@@jacileggs congrats to you! May I ask what your process was to be able to get this approved? Thanks!

Our system in Canada is different than USA. I went to the surgeon he said it should be done. Here it is up to the surgeon to determine if it is necessary. So that's all it took. Just waiting for a date.

Our system in Canada is different than USA. I went to the surgeon he said it should be done. Here it is up to the surgeon to determine if it is necessary. So that's all it took. Just waiting for a date.

Is the wait expected to be long? I ask because that's what I have always heard about The Canadian health system - the wait times for surgery can be horrendous.

Will let you know. I expect probably July.