Hi! Has anyone had a panniculectomy while still being quite overweight? I was sleeved in 2012. I was 368 lbs when I had my surgery and have maintained a 130 pound loss. In spite of trying relentlessly I was never able to get even close to my goal weight (menopause, knee replacement, etc.). But my life is about 10,000 times better!!

I have lots of skin and have been approved for a breast reduction and panniculectomy, but in between those two areas I have that damn menopausal spare tire. I never had that even at 368! I tried to get a plastic surgeon to do an abdominoplasty but my BMI is too high.

So I’m kind of freaking out, imagining that I’m going to have a smaller bust, no belly, but some big floppy spare tire hanging over my waist band. The surgeon doing the panniculectomy is a weight loss and general surgeon, so he’s not going to spend any time trying to make it look good.

Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

7 hours ago, Writergirl said:

In spite of trying relentlessly I was never able to get even close to my goal weight

I unfortunately don't have any input to your question, but I just want to say it sounds like your body already decided this was the right weight for you. Don't feel like you don't deserve your plastics, you've done great to keep such a large loss off!

16 hours ago, Writergirl said:

The surgeon doing the panniculectomy is a weight loss and general surgeon, so he’s not going to spend any time trying to make it look good.

Well phooey. I want a vascular surgeon for my RNY Revision, but i'd want a plastic surgeon for plastic surgery.

Best wish, I hope it turns out well for you.

11 hours ago, MiniGastricBypassDude said:

I unfortunately don't have any input to your question, but I just want to say it sounds like your body already decided this was the right weight for you. Don't feel like you don't deserve your plastics, you've done great to keep such a large loss off!

Thanks for the encouragement! I think my body would be quite happy to gain everything back! I’m pretty much on a diet every day without ever losing anything, but it’s far better than gaining it back!

2 hours ago, Sunnyway said:

Well phooey. I want a vascular surgeon for my RNY Revision, but i'd want a plastic surgeon for plastic surgery.

Best wish, I hope it turns out well for you.

Me, too!! But if insurance will pay and a plastic surgeon won’t tough me, I guess I have no choice if I want it done! Thanks!

I had a 150 pound loss with my Lap Band, but never got to goal. And now I'm contemplating revision to RNY. I did have a tummy tuck 2 years ago.

My surgeon was wonderful. She submitted to my insurance for a panniculectomy, but she said what I needed was a fleur de lis tummy tuck. So insurance approved the panniculectomy, but my surgeon did the fleur de lis, hernia repair and diastasis recti repair, and she didn't charge me extra. She is amazing. ❤️

One other note that I will add is I have a friend who was never a bariatric patient, but she had 4 kids and needed a tummy tuck, and her ob/gyn did the tummy tuck. She did not have good results at all and now regrets the decision. I would highly recommend having a plastic surgeon do your surgery.

I think it's just a matter of finding the right surgeon in these situations.

28 minutes ago, WhispersOfAngel said:

I had a 150 pound loss with my Lap Band, but never got to goal. And now I'm contemplating revision to RNY. I did have a Tummy Tuck 2 years ago.

My surgeon was wonderful. She submitted to my insurance for a panniculectomy, but she said what I needed was a fleur de lis tummy tuck. So insurance approved the panniculectomy, but my surgeon did the fleur de lis, hernia repair and diastasis recti repair, and she didn't charge me extra. She is amazing. ❤️

One other note that I will add is I have a friend who was never a bariatric patient, but she had 4 kids and needed a tummy tuck, and her ob/gyn did the tummy tuck. She did not have good results at all and now regrets the decision. I would highly recommend having a plastic surgeon do your surgery.

I think it's just a matter of finding the right surgeon in these situations.

Thank you! I would love to have a plastic surgeon do it, but my BMI is still 42 and they won’t touch it. She said a panniculectomy is less risky with less risk of blood clots at this size. They all recommended I get the gastric bypass, but that means another two years of approval/weight loss/weight stabilization before I could have it done. I’m already 65. I just don’t want to wait that long, nor do I want the bypass. I have constant neck and back pain and know this would help, but I don’t want to look also don’t want to look odd. I’m so torn!

My PS wanted me to try to lose more weight, but I was stuck for years as far as weight went. I was having reflux at that time and within the past two years after the tummy tuck, it got worse , I think due to all of the muscles being tightened, it put more pressure on my stomach, so I had to have the band removed. Now, I'm 8 months out of band removal and haven't gained any weight... yet. But I feel like it's only a matter of time, so I'm probably going to revise to RNY. At least when I do get to goal, I can finally do all of the plastics that I was planning to do right when Covid hit. But I understand about your age and the risks involved, and it will be a relief to get the excess skin removed.

Best of luck to you!

On 12/20/2021 at 5:04 PM, WhispersOfAngel said:

My PS wanted me to try to lose more weight, but I was stuck for years as far as weight went. I was having reflux at that time and within the past two years after the Tummy Tuck, it got worse , I think due to all of the muscles being tightened, it put more pressure on my stomach, so I had to have the band removed. Now, I'm 8 months out of band removal and haven't gained any weight... yet. But I feel like it's only a matter of time, so I'm probably going to revise to RNY. At least when I do get to goal, I can finally do all of the plastics that I was planning to do right when Covid hit. But I understand about your age and the risks involved, and it will be a relief to get the excess skin removed.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks! You should be so proud that you’ve kept your weight off!

On 12/19/2021 at 6:21 PM, Writergirl said:

Hi! Has anyone had a panniculectomy while still being quite overweight? I was sleeved in 2012. I was 368 lbs when I had my surgery and have maintained a 130 pound loss. In spite of trying relentlessly I was never able to get even close to my goal weight (menopause, knee replacement, etc.). But my life is about 10,000 times better!!

I have lots of skin and have been approved for a breast reduction and panniculectomy, but in between those two areas I have that damn menopausal spare tire. I never had that even at 368! I tried to get a plastic surgeon to do an Abdominoplasty but my BMI is too high.

So I’m kind of freaking out, imagining that I’m going to have a smaller bust, no belly, but some big floppy spare tire hanging over my waist band. The surgeon doing the panniculectomy is a weight loss and general surgeon, so he’s not going to spend any time trying to make it look good.

Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

Did you ever decide what you were going to do? Did you have the surgery? I'm thinking of having a panniculectomy once I'm able (mostly because my insurance will cover it) and while I know it won't tighten any muscles, I'm hoping it will be flatter and my clothes will fit better (I'll be having my surgery on May 3rd at age 43 and looking to hopefully have my surgery about a year and a half later). I've already had 2 kids, I'm a grandma of 1, and I'm not going to be wearing any bikinis or crop tops lol So I don't care so much about tummy tucks but I do want my excess skin removed and my stomach flatter. I hope it'll happen with the panniculectomy.