Anyone who has questions about abdominoplasty after major weight loss

[WildBill0771]

Please ask me them.

I recently underwent a mini abdominoplasty surgery to remove the loose skin around my mid-section after losing 140lbs. I also had to repair a mild recti diastasis, which means my abdominals were sutured back together.

I still need to get my chest, sides, and lower back done.

If anyone has any questions, please ask them. I am currently in Week 7 of my recovery. Had surgery on March 22nd, 2011. I go for my next checkup this coming Thursday.

I am not a doctor and all my answers will be given off of my OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE of the surgery, the recovery and the post recovery. Always consult with your doctor, even if you take my advice, they know what is best for you.

[reagansquad]

How much did it cost?

Did your insurance cover it?

How bad was the scar?

How long is the recovery time?

How good did it turn out?

Were they able to remove stretch marks while they were at it?

I'm prob gonna need this in another 100lbs.

[WildBill0771]

How much did it cost?

Over 8,000 dollars, not sure of exact price.

Did your insurance cover it?

Yes, they did. Blue Cross Blue Shield. I still have to pay my deductible of $2,400 though. Well worth it, that's a quarter of the actual amount. Insurances are very, VERY fickle when it comes to this surgery and 9/10 won't cover it, being they deem it at as cosmetic. I was very lucky to have the insurance I do. ALWAYS have your surgeon take pictures and write a letter to your insurance company.

The criteria they used was (have to fit 3/4)
Did you lose over 100lbs?
Do you have lower back pain?
Is the skin flap covering your genitals?
Have any rashes developed under the flap causing skin irritation?

How bad was the scar?

Not bad at all. Being my sides weren't included in what the insurance would cover, the scar is actually "tucked" under my new stomach and the ones on my hips are barely visible. I heal very easily though, scarring depends on the person a lot of the time

How long is the recovery time?

Well, I'm 7 weeks into recovery and I'm back in the gym and doing light cardio and high rep with low weight lifting. My belly button area and my pubic area are still completely numb. I may not get feeling back for another 2-3 months, but they said after 4-6 months you should be back to your old self.

The hardest part now, is still extending completely because the scarring pulls a little bit and also sneezing. Heaven forbid you should sneeze the first 3 weeks after surgery. It almost hurts worse than the actual surgery.

How good did it turn out?

I am very happy with the results. I have a little belly now instead of this loose skin that stretches all the way down to my crotch. It sucks in a sense that it has put more emphasis on my chest and sides now, so there's no getting around that I need get those done next.

Mentally it has also helped a lot. It's a huge weight off my shoulder not seeing that in the mirror everyday.

Were they able to remove stretch marks while they were at it?

Yes. I currently have no stretch marks on my stomach at all with the amount of skin they removed. I also have a new belly button, haha.

I'm prob gonna need this in another 100lbs.

That sucks, man. I started out at 360lbs and just figured as I kept losing more weight the skin would snap back, but my skin was so far gone and stretched that there was no way it was snapping back anytime soon. I also need to get my arms and legs done but am going to try and fill those out being when I'm lifting every other day it's not as noticeable until I extend my arms and pull the skin out.

[yoyoyolilembryo]

congrats on your weightloss. do you have any before and after pics you could share?

[WildBill0771]

congrats on your weightloss. do you have any before and after pics you could share?

Yes I do and hope to post them soon, I just recently got a laptop, used to have a desktop. So I gotta plug the ol' boy back in and get the pictures off it.

I do have some clothed ones though.

Before: Yes, I was standing straight up, you can see the outlines of my tits and my stomach through the shirt. That shirt was a 4XL.


This was last Summer:


Clothed pics sucks though because you can't see the skin. Too hide it I would wear 2 layers of Under Armour shirts a sleeveless, and a sleeved one. ( as seen above), also if I wore my pants high enough I could tuck my sides and stomach in so it wasn't as noticeable.

[rea99]

Grats on the weight loss.

[WildBill0771]

Thanks, guys. I'm still a work in progress, but I am hoping my story and my trials can further someone elses motivation.

If it's one thing I've learned through all of this, is that once you lose the weight it doesn't stop there. It's so easy to back into your old eating habits. Keeping off the fat seems to be a full-time job now, haha.

[Malkira]

Can you post a pre surgery skin pic? Just curious because I have that insurance and have considered getting the surgery myself.

[WildBill0771]

Can you post a pre surgery skin pic? Just curious because I have that insurance and have considered getting the surgery myself.

Yes I can. I'm actually going to the doctors tomorrow and am going to see if he can copy the pic he took of me to send to the insurance company being right before I got it done it was at its worst.

I'm going to try and get my old comp up and running and get those pics off of there because I have pics from when I first started too.

I'm hoping within the next 2 days I can get that old piece of **** running long enough before crashing to copy the pictures to my flash drive.

[Malkira]

Yes, that would be perfect to see the actual picture sent to the insurance company. I really appreciate it. I just want to compare my own skin issues considering we have the same insurance. =)

[WildBill0771]

Found one on my external hard drive:



I lost an additional 40lbs between this picture and the surgery. My stomach was down to about the midline of the zipper on my pants, if that helps with how much looser it got until I can snag that picture from the doctor.

[xx1jpt5xx]

Ive lost 160lbs so far (360-200) and have been looking into surgery. It would be awesome if I could get my insurance to pay. Did you see a cosmetic surgeon?

[WildBill0771]

Yes, I went a cosmetic surgery. Dr. Christopher Kelly based out of Monroe, Michigan.

Here's a picture I took just now, sorry about the ****ty quality, was taken with my phone.



As you can see I still have quite a bit of swelling and bruising left over but that should subside in the next 3 months or so he said last time I seen him. I also may have some fluid retention that may need drained tomorrow.

[NeedANick]

I'm happy you decided to share.

I'm on my own weight-loss trail from 315lbs at it's worse, and I'm extremely worried about loose skin. I'm really hoping it doesn't become an issue for me, but I'm not quite sure. I'm pretty fat-looking, and really started ballooning some 3 years ago.

One of the few things I noticed after losing 45lbs is my manboob is less droopy and more "standing", now. In other words, it's not so big that it falls. It looks worse with a shirt on because it sticks out, whereas before it was kind of hanging.

My dad lost about 100lbs when he was younger and he has no loosing skin whatsoever, so I'm really hoping I got his genes in this sense (not a good time to tell me I'm adopted, dad!!). Stretch marks are the least of my concerns since they all fade out in my case.

I had a lot of stretch marks around my nipples but now there's no trace of it. I had some around the stomach area and they have faded a lot, although not completely. Not sure if they will, either, as they are not that dark red or pinkish color.

I'm anxious to see the pictures.

[WildBill0771]

I'm happy you decided to share.

I'm on my own weight-loss trail from 315lbs at it's worse, and I'm extremely worried about loose skin. I'm really hoping it doesn't become an issue for me, but I'm not quite sure. I'm pretty fat-looking, and really started ballooning some 3 years ago.

One of the few things I noticed after losing 45lbs is my manboob is less droopy and more "standing", now. In other words, it's not so big that it falls. It looks worse with a shirt on because it sticks out, whereas before it was kind of hanging.

My dad lost about 100lbs when he was younger and he has no loosing skin whatsoever, so I'm really hoping I got his genes in this sense (not a good time to tell me I'm adopted, dad!!). Stretch marks are the least of my concerns since they all fade out in my case.

I had a lot of stretch marks around my nipples but now there's no trace of it. I had some around the stomach area and they have faded a lot, although not completely. Not sure if they will, either, as they are not that dark red or pinkish color.

I'm anxious to see the pictures.

Good luck, man. It's very trying physically and mentally, but well, WELL worth it. I too hope you have your fathers genetics in that your skin elasticity will be much greater than mine was.

I did post some pics though, shirtless ones and clothed, until I can get better ones on here.

Also, I soooooooooo know what you're talking about in the hanging man-boobage. Especially with a shirt on those. Those ****ers are the next to go. Hopefully I get that picture tomorrow because there isn't much fat left at all in my chest, just skin hanging.

[NeedANick]

Did you doctor say anything about the age factor?

A doctor friend of the family told me not to worry. If I do end up with loose skin it should get much, much better in a year or two, and over the course of the next 10 years it would be completely gone.

Of course, family friends are family friends, I can't take his word completely serious, but I have read this in a few places.

Considering I'm 20 and you're 21, I'm interested in your doctor's opinion, if any, on the time factor.

[WildBill0771]

My doctor explained to me, in my case, that my skin was so stretched out, being I didn't give it any time to 'snap' back, I just kept losing, and losing, and losing, that the skin was so far gone it was going to require surgery weither it be now, or 10 years down the road.

He said while elasticity does depend on age in some cases, it also depends on outside circumstances that have nothing to do with age.

[NeedANick]

My doctor explained to me, in my case, that my skin was so stretched out, being I didn't give it any time to 'snap' back, I just kept losing, and losing, and losing, that the skin was so far gone it was going to require surgery weither it be now, or 10 years down the road.

He said while elasticity does depend on age in some cases, it also depends on outside circumstances that have nothing to do with age.

How fast were the pounds dropping? I'm overly interested in the subject.

[WildBill0771]

Also, the whole "should go away in 2 years" didn't apply to my case.

I lost the 140lbs from October 2008 - June 2010. I then spent the last 8 months trying to build up the skin and it only got worse as time went on.

Also, I needed to have my abdominals sutured back together being they were pulling apart. So that part of the surgery was inevitable.

The reason I got it done now, is because I have so much more life to live, and I didn't want to share the rest of my life with this nasty loose hanging belly. Next year I'll probably do my chest and sides, which the insurance will not cover under any circumstance.

[NeedANick]

Also, the whole "should go away in 2 years" didn't apply to my case.

I lost the 140lbs from October 2008 - June 2010. I then spent the last 8 months trying to build up the skin and it only got worse as time went on.

Also, I needed to have my abdominals sutured back together being they were pulling apart. So that part of the surgery was inevitable.

The reason I got it done now, is because I have so much more life to live, and I didn't want to share the rest of my life with this nasty loose hanging belly. Next year I'll probably do my chest and sides, which the insurance will not cover under any circumstance.

Ah, I see.

Well, all I can do is hope for the best. I'm hoping my skin wasn't too far stretched, but I'm not quite sure.

It's a huge bummer to get rid of so much weight and still have to deal with this issue. It scares me ****less when I think about it, to be honest. Embarrassed to take my shirt off as fat and then embarrassed to take it off as thin. That wouldn't help my already low self esteem the least bit...

People say a lot around here "98% of the time you got your clothe on", but the fact is that those 2% are critical, and I'm sure you understand it better than me.

Good luck on your surgeries!

[WildBill0771]

Well, in doing the math

It took me 1 year and 8 months to lose 140lbs.

So take 140lbs/20 months = 7lbs a month.

Number doesn't mean much though, because there were times I would lose 15lbs a month, then lose 5. It just depended.

[WildBill0771]

Ah, I see.

Well, all I can do is hope for the best. I'm hoping my skin wasn't too far stretched, but I'm not quite sure.

It's a huge bummer to get rid of so much weight and still have to deal with this issue. It scares me ****less when I think about it, to be honest. Embarrassed to take my shirt off as fat and then embarrassed to take it off as thin. That wouldn't help my already low self esteem the least bit...

People say a lot around here "98% of the time you got your clothe on", but the fact is that those 2% are critical, and I'm sure you understand it better than me.

Good luck on your surgeries!

I understand completely, man. I still don't like having my shirt off because of my chest even though my stomach looks fine now.

You still 'feel fat' when you have all that skin, especially mentally. It takes such a ****ing toll mentally, this was really a last resort for me, and I don't regret my decision for a second.

Good luck to you, man. I hope you don't need the surgery, but if you do, feel free anytime to send me a PM if you need advice, or just someone to talk to to get you through your current issue.

[sarasayshi]

Congrats on your loss and I hope you have a speedy recover! You look great!

[KingOfChaos]

Haha, welcome to the club man.

[WildBill0771]

Haha, welcome to the club man.

Holy ****, man. You weighed 796lbs?! How many surgeries did you need?

CONGRATS! Wish I would have known of you sooner, talk about inspiration.

[KingOfChaos]

Holy ****, man. You weighed 796lbs?! How many surgeries did you need?

CONGRATS! Wish I would have known of you sooner, talk about inspiration.

I had 6 in total. Kinda irritated about it, though. Apparently the stress of them caused some hormonal issues in my body.

[alex2363]

REPS to you......what was your diet like and work outs, also can you do smart lipo on ur chest

[arnold7521]

are you ****ing kidding me your the man, Thats some good inspiration right u look like a different person. My question to you is about the muscle u seem to have put on you look like u have gained a considerable amount of muscle while losing the weight did u use a form of steroids or what supplements did u use i know ur diet and workout regimen mustvs been great but just wondering what brought it over the top for ya if anything

[NeedANick]

I had 6 in total. Kinda irritated about it, though. Apparently the stress of them caused some hormonal issues in my body.

Any chance we get to see some pictures?

I'm always curious of how the surgery comes out. I saw a few pictures and some of them looked flawless, others looked strange at best. Both being used for marketing tools, so it's hard to know wherein lies the truth.

[WildBill0771]

Alex - That is something we've discussed but the main factor is that my chest/nipple needs to be 're-put" where it needs to be.

Arnold - Nah, I've never used any steroids. I used a lot of Muscle Pharm Assault during the phase and did carb cycle and it worked well for me.