I am terrified to get a tummy tuck, but also not sure I can handle having all the extra skin. What has your experience been with extra skin? I am due for surgery soon, but hesitant due to this issue. I would love advice, pictures, the realities of it all after the weight loss. Any insight you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I am terrified to get a tummy tuck, but also not sure I can handle having all the extra skin. What has your experience been with extra skin? I am due for surgery soon, but hesitant due to this issue. I would love advice, pictures, the realities of it all after the weight loss. Any insight you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I've had a tummy tuck with muscle repair, and let me just say - it ain't for sissies!! Would I do it again? Yes! Absolutely! My highest weight was 240 when I was pregnant. I lost to 150 & got a mommy makeover. You will have 2 drains for 2 weeks after. The muscle cramps are very painful and last quite a while... For me, I was still having small cramps about 3 months post op. I went back to work a week after, which was STUPID!! I would say 2-3 weeks would be ideal if you have that much time to take.

I had three plastic surgeries, largely because my first one (tummy tuck and boobs) was SO AWESOME. Yes, that did deserve capital letters, lol. I had no major issues with this surgery- you're sore for a few days but in 6-8 weeks you are back to normal, the swelling is gone, and you have this fantastic flat tummy. Over the course of about 7 months I had my arms, thighs, boobs, stomach, and back/butt done and while I love all of my results, the tummy tuck is far and away the one I still love everytime I look in the mirror. It is 100% worth it to have the plastics procedures done after weight loss.

I had a TT & panni 8 weeks ago. It was extremely painful, BUT with that being said I absolutely would do it all over again.

I had an excessive amount of muscle repair to be done. The surgery is major & ended up taking 7 hours & 3 nights in the hospital. The drainage tubes suck, and my abs will likely hurt for a good 6 months. BUT. The results are freaking phenomenal & the worst of it is all a memory now. I'd do it all over in a heartbeat!

I'll put my before/after pics here. If you want more details there is some info from my experience in my blog (linked in signature).

I don't know to much about this process. For those of you mentioning muscle repair... what causes the need for muscle repair? Is that pretty common in excess skin removal? I just got my sleeve so this isn't something I know much about so I was curious! Thanks!

The panniculectomy alone is just skin removal- basically the pannis hanging below the belly button. It doesn't really deal with anything above the belly button, lipo, tightening, or muscle repair. It is JUST skin removal.

Luckily my ins covered both the tummy tuck & panni. So the TT pulls the upper skin down, a little fat removal on the sides if you need it & sewing together (repair) of the ab muscles. It also involved a new cute little belly button for me :-) I think the amount of muscle repair varies. For me it was extensive, but I had four babies all over 9 pounds and that combined with carrying around 155 excess pounds left me with very weak, thin, stretched out ab muscles.

It still hurts in there, but it's so worth it. I don't know if I would have just gotten the panni without the TT