Well, as I discussed in my blog about my 6th 7th fill my doc said that he felt I was ready for tummy tuck. As you may recall I was shocked. At the time I was 307lbs. I am 293 2 weeks later and still what I feel is way to heavy for an adominoplasty. But I went to the consultation and my doc said that I'm an ideal candidate. He said I would be a bit happier with the results if I lost another 20 lbs of so but that either way I would be very happy. He is going to start the process of gathering all the paperwork for insurance approval which he beleives will cover it. My doc said that insurance covers panniculectomy and not abdominoplasty - he says he does not do just a panniculectomy he always does an abdominoplasty because its about the looks for him and he wouldn't do that to a patient. He will bill for a panniculectomy and do an abdominoplasty. He said the surgery should take out about 10 -15 lbs worth of skin and fat! Yay!

I expressed to him my concern about scarring ( I keloid) - he said that he will put quite a bit of focus on making sure the skin heals properly and though he can not guarantee that it will not scar he will take great efforts including special cortizone tape and different creams that he feels will substantially control the scarring. So I'm a happy camper.

He said we're gonna shoot for about 3-4 months from now because I have different business trips I need to take in April and May so we're gonna go for late May, early June! I hope late MAY! That will give me 3-4 months to lose about 20 lbs. In 3 months I hope to be able to lose closer to 30 or even 40. Every little bit helps. We'll get together and set the date in about a month!

I'm excited and keep trying to imagine my body without this pannus! I need to start saving up now - the insurance won't cover the whole new wardrobe I'll need! :thumbup::biggrin:

Can you tell us the difference between the two procedures?

Awesome! My insurance will also cover panniculectomy, but not abdominoplasty. I hope that I can find a doctor like yours that will do the abdominoplasty, but just bill insurance for the panniculectomy (or can just charge me the difference). From what I understand, the difference is just that additional shaping and repair to the stomach muscles is done w/abdominoplasty. Most people are not happy w/the results of just panniculectomy because I think that means they just cut off the excess skin and sew you together... no cosmetic tuning which is really essential for a good looking result.

Am I reading that right? You're down 14 pounds in 2 weeks? OMG!!! By the time you get your surgery in 3 months you'll won't have an ounce of fat left! WTG!!!!!