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My starting weight was 278, 1st goal was 145 (reached at 10 months post op) & current weight is 124 (reached about 3 weeks ago). This (125) was my "dream goal" that I never thought would be attainable but I've lost over 155 pounds, which is more than 1/2 my body weight in 20 months. You should check out my blog (linked below). I started it at my first pre-op appt (about 9 months pre-op) & update it still now. It will definitely answer your questions like was it worth it (a million time YES) & would you have the bypass instead (no). Hope that helps And YES!! You really can do this!

Thank you!

I am 20 months post op, lost 155 pounds, just had a TUmmy Tuck (paid by insurance), and am a marathon runner now (which I never would have dreamed). The pre-op & first couple weeks were hard for me emotionally, but I have never once regretted my decision. There 2 surgeries are the best things I've ever done for my self, health & well being. I've written a ton about my journey - the good & the bad - in my blog (linked in my signature). I started it at my very first pre-op appointment & updated it as recently as yesterday. Check it out. It may help with a lot of your questions Good luck on this amazing journey!!

Ha! Thank you! Yes I think we both look better with age :-). Hang in there! The weight will start flying off if you stick to the program.

Thank you!

Can you tell me how the pain was, honestly? How long did it last? I am still a newbie, I was just sleeved a week ago, but I think there is a good chance that I will need plastics, but I don't know anyone who has had a tummy tuck. I just want to know what I should expect realistically. I won't sugar-coat it. It was pretty difficult pain wise. First, it took way longer than it was supposed to because I had a lot more muscle repair (as I've mentioned) than expected. You might not have that. Everyone is different. I went to surgery at 12:00pm and got back to my room at 9:00pm. I'm almost 5 weeks post op (tomorrow I will be) and I am still sore. A this point it's a muscle soreness in my abs more than anything. Energy level and everything is pretty much back to normal. I was told I would be in the hospital 1, maybe 2 nights, but I ended up being there for 3 nights because for the first 2 days I could not even handle the thought of having to get out of bed so I had a catheter. At the end of the 2nd day they took it out and I got up and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've never had a lot of incision pain. It's pretty numb there. When I do incision massage 2x a day (you won't start that til about a month after) it is tender, but not painful. The worst part for me, honestly, was the drainage tubes, I had two tubes and 1 was removed at a week, and then the other one about a 1/2 week later. They were painful in and painful coming out. I mean, you have tubes coming out of your pelvis. It hurts. So I tried in those first 2 weeks to really move as little as possible. But once I got both drainage tubes out, things have gotten progressively better. Does it suck at first. YES. I found it to be WAY worse physically (but not emotionally) than the sleeve surgery. But, for me, once I got those tubes out it was not too bad. I did at about 2.5 weeks post op develop an infection and had to do a 2nd round of antibiotics and with that came a high fever, but the meds knocked it out of me and I felt better after that. I also had a terrible reaction to the percocet they sent me home with and ended up back in the ER. So I had probably more complications than most. Even with all of that said, knowing everything I know now, I would do it again in a heartbeat. No doubt. Hope that helps.

I worried about it a little bit at first, but knew that even if I never got rid of it, the sleeve surgery was still worth it, excess skin and all. Now that I'm rid of that tummy skin I feel like I've come full circle. Now if I can get my arms approved that would just be icing on the cake. :-)

I'm glad I could encourage you to move forward with it! The experience is different for everyone, but as long as you choose a good surgeon, I'm certain you'll be thrilled with your decision.

No problem. I'm all about "full disclosure" as far as this whole journey goes.

125.2

Yes. I have 2 policies: one thru my work & one thru my hubbies. They are both high mark bcbs. His policy does not cover it at all even if medically necessary. But my policy has a plastic/reconstructive surgery rider. It says exactly how many months post op you have to be etc. so yes, it discusses the coverage & requirements for reconstructive surgery after bariatrics. You just have to find out whether your policy has that rider or not.

As far as the "trick" I just got a copy of my policy requirements & made sure I had them all met & in organized before submitting the request

No. My surgeon submitted the request for both & they approved it within a week

I'm sorry yours was denied :-( Did you appeal? It's funny we submitted for my tummy & arms at the same time & my TT was approved but the arms were denied. I'm I'm the appeal process with that. Can I ask what kinda of things you are including in the appeal? I am going to try I think. I don't have a lot of rashes or anything... A few that honestly are truly more from running but I did take pictures of those and a few tears. I have had back/shoulder issues and seen doctors/pt/chiropractor. Wondering if those would help. Trying to resubmit arms/Tummy and maybe submit for mastopexy as well but they aren't removing enough up there and are in fact adding so not sure. I think they should cover abdominoplasty based on Rectus Diathesis (the separated muscles) from pregnancy but apparently they don't. If it happened to men they would! lOl My insurance requires at least 3 months of records of medical visits with your PCP recording problems that you had as a result of the excess skin and the treatments that were tried and failed. The main reason I think it was denied was my surgeon never submitted the records. So I had my PCP write a very convincing letting including everything he tried and why he thought it was medically necessary, I included the notes from each individual doctor's visit that was relevant, and I also wrote a personal note.

sorry but what's a panni? Panni is short for panniculectomy. The abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and panni are 2 different procedures. Some insurances will approve one and not the other. Mine, luckily approved both. The panni basically deals with simply removing the excess skin below the belly button. The abdominoplasty then goes in and does more indepth muscle repair, mine did a little lipo on the sides, pulls everything tights, and built me a new belly button. If you just have the panni there's a good chance you would still have like a little overhang around your belly button. I don't know if I would have just had the panni done, but everyone is different.

Yes! I was SO excited about my belly button! And yes I bought my first 2 bikinis ever! Thank you! I feel pretty good. It's been a painful recovery, I'm not gonna lie. But at 4.5 weeks post op, my energy has pretty much returned to normal. I had a lot more muscle repair with the abdominoplasty that I needed to be done than normal, so I sstill have a fair amount of soreness in my abs, and I still wear my ab binder for support and to keep the swelling down, but that 's no biggie.How long before you could return to work? I'm a nurse so this is a big factor for me. I'm not ready at all to do this as I'm only 8 months out and 18 lbs from goal. I will have more questions in the future. I'm really hoping my insurance will cover this. Your results are amazing and I'm glad you are returning to normal!I returned after 3.5 weeks. I felt pretty good. Probably could have used one more week but I had some complications like reactions to the Percocet & I developed an infection. The type of work you do matters I would think. I'm not sure I felt up to bending, turning, lifting until at least 4 weeks I could probably take off 4 weeks but that's about it. Can I ask you what was your starting weight and how much you lost?My starting weight was 278.4My weight at the time of my TT was 133 My weight now is 125 Wow! That's interesting, I am 135 now and wasn't expecting to lose much in this process. Has your clothing size changed? I knew I would lose a little because he took 3 pounds of skin. But I didn't expect to lose 8 pounds. I think mostly it's because I didn't feel like I could eat much during the first couple weeks so the weight came off unintentionally, and it's luckily stayed off.

Probably about a year.

Yes! I was SO excited about my belly button! And yes I bought my first 2 bikinis ever! Thank you! I feel pretty good. It's been a painful recovery, I'm not gonna lie. But at 4.5 weeks post op, my energy has pretty much returned to normal. I had a lot more muscle repair with the abdominoplasty that I needed to be done than normal, so I sstill have a fair amount of soreness in my abs, and I still wear my ab binder for support and to keep the swelling down, but that 's no biggie.How long before you could return to work? I'm a nurse so this is a big factor for me. I'm not ready at all to do this as I'm only 8 months out and 18 lbs from goal. I will have more questions in the future. I'm really hoping my insurance will cover this. Your results are amazing and I'm glad you are returning to normal!I returned after 3.5 weeks. I felt pretty good. Probably could have used one more week but I had some complications like reactions to the Percocet & I developed an infection. The type of work you do matters I would think. I'm not sure I felt up to bending, turning, lifting until at least 4 weeks I could probably take off 4 weeks but that's about it. Can I ask you what was your starting weight and how much you lost? My starting weight was 278.4 My weight at the time of my TT was 133 My weight now is 125

Thanks! Yes! He took his time (7 hours!!) and did a great job. Doing your research & picking the right surgeon is so key!

I had 4 very large babies (9-10+ pounds) plus with the 150 extra pounds my ab muscles got very thin & very stretched apart.

Don't be terrified!! Just do your research & know what to expect & what you'll need after. It's definitely worth it.

Thank you! I feel pretty good. It's been a painful recovery, I'm not gonna lie. But at 4.5 weeks post op, my energy has pretty much returned to normal. I had a lot more muscle repair with the abdominoplasty that I needed to be done than normal, so I sstill have a fair amount of soreness in my abs, and I still wear my ab binder for support and to keep the swelling down, but that 's no biggie.How long before you could return to work? I'm a nurse so this is a big factor for me. I'm not ready at all to do this as I'm only 8 months out and 18 lbs from goal. I will have more questions in the future. I'm really hoping my insurance will cover this. Your results are amazing and I'm glad you are returning to normal! I returned after 3.5 weeks. I felt pretty good. Probably could have used one more week but I had some complications like reactions to the Percocet & I developed an infection. The type of work you do matters I would think. I'm not sure I felt up to bending, turning, lifting until at least 4 weeks

I'm sorry yours was denied :-( Did you appeal? It's funny we submitted for my tummy & arms at the same time & my TT was approved but the arms were denied. I'm I'm the appeal process with that.

Don't be terrified. Just do your research & know what to expect. The more prepared you are the better it will be for you. Here are a couple tips I would pass on. Get a lanyard that you can wear hook your drainage "bulbs" to while showering or going to the bathroom. That was a lifesaver. Also the hospital will send you home with a binder but I ordered an extra from Amazon for under $20 & liked it way more. And I don't know if you have one, but my recliner was crucial. I slept in it until I had the drainage tubes removed.

thank you! Good luck with yours!