I had my pani removed (all 16 lbs of it) Friday morning. It was not nearly as traumatic as I had anticipated. I left the hospital the next morning walking upright and went to my DS' house overnight (he lives closer to civilazation than I do).

The worst part of it so far has been the constipation caused by the meds. But my son made an emergency run to Walgreen's at midnight last night and I was cured by sunup. MOM is a miracle drug for sure!

I'm in my own home now with nothing but steri-strips on my incision (I had anticipated drain tubes, compression garments, a body cast, and full-time RN on duty!).

The amputation feels very strange.......I'll have to get used to not having a bag of fat flapping against my legs when I walk. I still weigh what I did when I check into the hospital.......this swelling better go down and so had the scale or I'm going to be very upset!! I also have a round purple belly above my stitches.....just call me Barney!

Seriously, the nurses all really praised my sugeon....if any of you plan to have their PS in the Dallas area, Dr. Pollock must be the man. And the Texas Institute for Surgery is like a visit to a Hilton Hotel.....wonderful place (part of the Presbyterian system). Most of their surgeries are day surgeries but they do have 9 overnight rooms. The night I was there, there were 2 patients - with 2 RN's, a CNT, and a security guard all at your beck and call (and a wonderful dining room that prepared your food according to your instructions---too bad I can't eat much!).

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes!!

What is a pani?

I thought I knew but after further reading, I clearly do not know!

So what is it?

<p>It is the fat apron that hangs down from the belly, hat wondrous object that no amount of dieting or exercise will affect for most of us. The surgical removal is called a paniculectomy.</p>

How exciting. I would love to have mine taken off. I tried to get my insurance to pay but the turned me down. I told my husband maybe I will get that done for my 40th birthday or something. I am still paying for my breast aug. from a few months ago. Well congrats to you and I hope you have a quick recovery. Keep us posted on how your doing.

the couselor I met with today made note of things like "occassional infection/rash under skin folds" and I'm pre-op! She said it's good to document all of this in case I need to have my "apron" removed later on...

......................so insurance will cover it..... wheee!

Gayle in TX... I am so happy for you!!! : )

katie

EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats

Gayle,

Congrats!

i think we've chatted before about insurance. were you able to get yours covered?

WOW! Congrats Gayle! :confused: I bet you feel like a new woman! I hope that I am as lucky as you are and loose that much from what I call my muffin top.

losingjusme.........yes, BCBS-TX covered nearly all of it.....$200 out of pocket to the doctor; $1100 to the hospital. ...I have an 80/20 policy. They approved it right away. I had no issues with rashes, etc but with back aches and balance.

GayleTX, you've done amazing! Congratulations, you must feel great!

I've always thought people should get this surgery for free, being SKIN donors and all....

k

Hey Gayle, Congrats on the surgery.

I guess I am a bit surprised to hear you say that you had a flap of skin flapping against your legs. Maybe b/c I haven't thought about my loose skin dropping that far! ...Oh great, just another thing for me to have to worry about! lol

Congrats Gale!! I never would have thought of that as an 'amputation' but you are absolutely right!

Congrats, Gayle, I'll keep that dr's name if need arises, I've still got lots to go. From your chart, did you have this surgery prior to reaching your weight loss goal? I thought that it was suggested to wait until a year after goal was reached...?

Cindi.........my LB surgeon recommended that I go ahead and get the pani removed...no amount of weight loss or exercise is going to take it away and it was impeding my exercise ability and giving me backaches and balance problems....and it won't grow back> PS agreed, said he did that all the time. But afer I get to goal, I will probably go back and get some more work up above that area....but not until I've lost all I'm going to.