Panniculectomy

[sleeve 4 me 910]

I had both my knee surgeries and my breast biopsy done at Ontario...I have my panni class on the 27th so I will find out then and let you know. This will be my 10th surgery if I get it done, what the heck??? Lol

[Becca 108]

My stomach is horrible and my doctor is trying to get the panni covered. My skin hangs really low and is so gross. Let me know what you find out. Good luck!!!

[sleeve 4 me 910]

My stomach is horrible and my doctor is trying to get the panni covered. My skin hangs really low and is so gross. Let me know what you find out. Good luck!!!

I will let you know what I found out at my class on the 27th...it's a 2-3 hour class so I'm hoping it will cover lots of information

[Jinjin 21]

Sleeve 4me- iam also concerned about this area after I loose the 130lbs I need to lose. If you dont mind me asking how much weight have you lost?

[sleeve 4 me 910]

Sleeve 4me- iam also concerned about this area after I loose the 130lbs I need to lose. If you dont mind me asking how much weight have you lost?

When I finally stepped on a scale after many years and found out that I had reached 234 lbs. (2004). BUT I will tell you I lost a little before I actually went to that weight watcher meeting and stepped on that scale LOL! I believe I may have reached up to 240 but I will never really know for sure...So with that said I was 234 and now weigh 146 and have lost 88 lbs.

I started on this forum last June at 216, on the day of surgery (August 27, 2010) I was 204.

I'm extremely anxious to find out all the information I can concerning this panni since I have not spoken to anyone who has had it first hand. I want the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[LESLIEH 68]

After your meeting text me what you found out, I'm meeting with a plastic surgeon on the 9th of August. My insurance will pay for the panni if I can get my Dr on board but I'm thinking of just going with the Tummy Tuck seeing I had 2 c-sections and stuff

[lunarose 97]

Oh I looked at some of the google pictures and understand why you are feeling scurred Hopefully at the class they'll have some better pictures and tell you what you can expect.

[1MP4Life 2]

I just had a panni done on 30 June 11, and it was covered completly by my insurance (military Tricare). The surgery was to remove excess skin in my lower abdomen, there was no Lipo and no muscle stitching, just skin removal. Insurance covered it because it was considered medically necessary because of the amount of weight I had lost (122lbs) and because I successfully carried twins full term (11 years ago) and my skin streched because of that.

The doctor made a cut in the lower abdomen along the same line as my c-section scar, so it is very low and most panties/bikinis will cover the scar. I also had a lot of excess skin above the belly button so the doctor ask if I wanted to have that skin removed even if it would leave a visible bikini scar. I choose to have that done also since I have never worn a bikini in my life and will not start now and I just wanted the extra skin gone. I am very happy with the results even though I am only two weeks out and still have a lot of swelling and bruising. My belly button was moved and after 12 years of not really having a visible belly button because of the extra fat and skin on my stomach, I am thrilled with how it looks now, even with the frakenstien stiches still visible.

I was prepared for a lot of pain because I read a lot of stories about this surgery and have been suprised that

this surgery seems to have less pain than the sleeve did and MUCH less pain than my c-section recovery.

The surgery took three hours and was done under general anathesia (??spelling??). I had a foley cathader installed when I woke up so I was not able to get up and walk around until that was removed at about 700 pm the night of the surgery. After that I got up and walked around a little, but the anti nausea medicine made me dizzy so I had to rest often. I was given two percecet pills every four hours for pain until I was discharged from the hospital the next day at about 1:00pm. I slept on the couch the first two nights because it was eaiser to get up and down from then my bed, and my husband took off a couple of days work to take care of me so I did not have to cook for my self and he helped me shower and get dressed. I also had two drains placed in the pubic mound that had to be emptied and measured every couple of hours which were removed six days after the surgery.

After day three I was able to get around well by my self and stopped taking percecet (I had been taking one every six hours since leaving the hospital). There was minimal pain even getting up and down and bending over and have not needed pain medicine since the third day. There is of course some discomfortable but not a lot of pain and I have been able to sleep on my side since about day seven but of course still can't sleep on my stomach. I have a binder that I have to wear all the time for two weeks except for a half hour a day for showering. After two weeks my surgeon said that I will still need to wear something for 3-4 more weeks, but it can be something like spanks instead of this thick, bulky velcro thing I am wearing now. I had surgery on a Thursday and took the entire next week off of work and returned the next Monday and had no problems at work (I have an office job).

Well, sorry about the long post (and spelling errors), I hope that answers some of your questions about what to expect with the Panni surgery. Good luck!

[Tiffykins 673]

I just had a panni done on 30 June 11, and it was covered completly by my insurance (military Tricare). The surgery was to remove excess skin in my lower abdomen, there was no Lipo and no muscle stitching, just skin removal. Insurance covered it because it was considered medically necessary because of the amount of weight I had lost (122lbs) and because I successfully carried twins full term (11 years ago) and my skin streched because of that.

The doctor made a cut in the lower abdomen along the same line as my c-section scar, so it is very low and most panties/bikinis will cover the scar. I also had a lot of excess skin above the belly button so the doctor ask if I wanted to have that skin removed even if it would leave a visible bikini scar. I choose to have that done also since I have never worn a bikini in my life and will not start now and I just wanted the extra skin gone. I am very happy with the results even though I am only two weeks out and still have a lot of swelling and bruising. My belly button was moved and after 12 years of not really having a visible belly button because of the extra fat and skin on my stomach, I am thrilled with how it looks now, even with the frakenstien stiches still visible.

I was prepared for a lot of pain because I read a lot of stories about this surgery and have been suprised that

this surgery seems to have less pain than the sleeve did and MUCH less pain than my c-section recovery.

The surgery took three hours and was done under general anathesia (??spelling??). I had a foley cathader installed when I woke up so I was not able to get up and walk around until that was removed at about 700 pm the night of the surgery. After that I got up and walked around a little, but the anti nausea medicine made me dizzy so I had to rest often. I was given two percecet pills every four hours for pain until I was discharged from the hospital the next day at about 1:00pm. I slept on the couch the first two nights because it was eaiser to get up and down from then my bed, and my husband took off a couple of days work to take care of me so I did not have to cook for my self and he helped me shower and get dressed. I also had two drains placed in the pubic mound that had to be emptied and measured every couple of hours which were removed six days after the surgery.

After day three I was able to get around well by my self and stopped taking percecet (I had been taking one every six hours since leaving the hospital). There was minimal pain even getting up and down and bending over and have not needed pain medicine since the third day. There is of course some discomfortable but not a lot of pain and I have been able to sleep on my side since about day seven but of course still can't sleep on my stomach. I have a binder that I have to wear all the time for two weeks except for a half hour a day for showering. After two weeks my surgeon said that I will still need to wear something for 3-4 more weeks, but it can be something like spanks instead of this thick, bulky velcro thing I am wearing now. I had surgery on a Thursday and took the entire next week off of work and returned the next Monday and had no problems at work (I have an office job).

Well, sorry about the long post (and spelling errors), I hope that answers some of your questions about what to expect with the Panni surgery. Good luck!

SOoooooooooooooooooooooooooo awesome for you ! ! ! Would you mind sharing if you have Tricare Prime or Standard??? I have a friend that is having a full Tummy Tuck covered by Tricare Standard (her out of pocket is 15% for all allowable charges). She's been approved because she gained 100lbs with 3 pregnancies, 2 c-sections, and can't lose that lower abdominal fat/skin from having 3 big, big babies.

Thanks for your informative and inspiring post. I think I'm going to wait about 6 months after the c-section to have my plastics done.

[sleeve 4 me 910]

I just had a panni done on 30 June 11, and it was covered completly by my insurance (military Tricare). The surgery was to remove excess skin in my lower abdomen, there was no Lipo and no muscle stitching, just skin removal. Insurance covered it because it was considered medically necessary because of the amount of weight I had lost (122lbs) and because I successfully carried twins full term (11 years ago) and my skin streched because of that.

The doctor made a cut in the lower abdomen along the same line as my c-section scar, so it is very low and most panties/bikinis will cover the scar. I also had a lot of excess skin above the belly button so the doctor ask if I wanted to have that skin removed even if it would leave a visible bikini scar. I choose to have that done also since I have never worn a bikini in my life and will not start now and I just wanted the extra skin gone. I am very happy with the results even though I am only two weeks out and still have a lot of swelling and bruising. My belly button was moved and after 12 years of not really having a visible belly button because of the extra fat and skin on my stomach, I am thrilled with how it looks now, even with the frakenstien stiches still visible.

I was prepared for a lot of pain because I read a lot of stories about this surgery and have been suprised that

this surgery seems to have less pain than the sleeve did and MUCH less pain than my c-section recovery.

The surgery took three hours and was done under general anathesia (??spelling??). I had a foley cathader installed when I woke up so I was not able to get up and walk around until that was removed at about 700 pm the night of the surgery. After that I got up and walked around a little, but the anti nausea medicine made me dizzy so I had to rest often. I was given two percecet pills every four hours for pain until I was discharged from the hospital the next day at about 1:00pm. I slept on the couch the first two nights because it was eaiser to get up and down from then my bed, and my husband took off a couple of days work to take care of me so I did not have to cook for my self and he helped me shower and get dressed. I also had two drains placed in the pubic mound that had to be emptied and measured every couple of hours which were removed six days after the surgery.

After day three I was able to get around well by my self and stopped taking percecet (I had been taking one every six hours since leaving the hospital). There was minimal pain even getting up and down and bending over and have not needed pain medicine since the third day. There is of course some discomfortable but not a lot of pain and I have been able to sleep on my side since about day seven but of course still can't sleep on my stomach. I have a binder that I have to wear all the time for two weeks except for a half hour a day for showering. After two weeks my surgeon said that I will still need to wear something for 3-4 more weeks, but it can be something like spanks instead of this thick, bulky velcro thing I am wearing now. I had surgery on a Thursday and took the entire next week off of work and returned the next Monday and had no problems at work (I have an office job).

Well, sorry about the long post (and spelling errors), I hope that answers some of your questions about what to expect with the Panni surgery. Good luck!

Thank you for all the information. And I'm so glad you are happy with your results . I can't wait for my class on the 27th...thanks again!!!

[mb20mom 9]

Wow, thanks so much for all that information. You must be so happy to have all that hanging skin gone. Keep us posted on your healing progress!

[PlannerGirl 3]

I've had a panniculectomy so here's my story. When I had my sleeve done on Nov 18th 2010 the surgeon found my fibroid tumor was way way bigger than we knew. Luckily he was able to do my sleeve and now we knew I needed a hysterectomy sooner rather than later. My original goal was to wait until this fall and hopefully most of my weight would be gone and I could get a Tummy Tuck at the same time. Unfortunately, the fibroid was making my life miserable.....back pain, shortness of breath (my diaphragm couldn't fully open) having to pee all the time......so we decided to do it March 1. I knew my abs would be cut for the hysterectomy so I talked to the plastic surgeon.

I had stomach that overhung to my pubic area (so gross) and even my girly areas drooped. (grosser) I decided to have the panni done when I had my hysterectomy. The gyno cut vertically to get the tumor out, and the plastics cut on either side of the incision and pulled it together. My panniculectomy incision runs from nearly the back of one hip to nearly the back of the other. My belly button was moved. When I figured out he had cut it out of the skin that was removed and cut a hole where it is now and sewed it in I was sort of disgusted...but it looks pretty good. Sometimes I feel like Frankenstein.

There are some pros and cons to what I did and I'll share them with you.

Pros:

• Not having that overhang was a huge motivator to me.
• No more rashes there
• I can move so much more freely (ie...when I ride my bike, my knees don't hit my stomach)
• I have a lap again
• My clothes fit so much better and the overhang used to be visible under clothes
• TMI alert (sex is soooo much better without that between us)

BTW.....he removed 15 pounds of skin and fat. So if you've ever grabbed your stomach and said 'I wish I could cut this off" Well, it turns out you can.

Cons:

• It hurt soooooo much. Please understand a lot of that pain came from the removal of a fibroid tumor that weighed in at over 10 pounds and the cutting of my abdominal muscles.
• The scar is big and ugly, but as bad as it is, it's better than the overhang.
• Because I had my surgery with A LOT of weight left to lose, I may still want to have a tummy tuck later. I'm going to wait and see on that.
• I paid for it out of pocket and it wasn't cheap, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat

My doc explained that the panniculectomy was like a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) without the tightening of the stomach muscles. If you're at your goal weight now, my suggestion (unsolicited so tell me to shut up if you want) would be to have the tummy tuck. With the tummy tuck they will remove the excess skin like they would in a panniculectomy, but they will also tighten up your muscles, giving you a more toned look.

Sept 1 I'm having my girls reduced and lifted. If you have questions about that, I'll let you know after. Insurance is footing the bill for that one and I'm psyched.

If you want to know anything else, please feel free to PM me.

Good luck with your decision.

[LESLIEH 68]

Thx for the info PlannerGirl, I'm trying to get my PCP to get onboard with the panni seeing my insurance will pay for it. That part is difficult. But for now I'm meeting with a plastic surgeon on Aug 9th, maybe i can get the surgeon to send a letter to my PCP stating its medically necessary.

[sleeve 4 me 910]

I've had a panniculectomy so here's my story. When I had my sleeve done on Nov 18th 2010 the surgeon found my fibroid tumor was way way bigger than we knew. Luckily he was able to do my sleeve and now we knew I needed a hysterectomy sooner rather than later. My original goal was to wait until this fall and hopefully most of my weight would be gone and I could get a Tummy Tuck at the same time. Unfortunately, the fibroid was making my life miserable.....back pain, shortness of breath (my diaphragm couldn't fully open) having to pee all the time......so we decided to do it March 1. I knew my abs would be cut for the hysterectomy so I talked to the plastic surgeon.

I had stomach that overhung to my pubic area (so gross) and even my girly areas drooped. (grosser) I decided to have the panni done when I had my hysterectomy. The gyno cut vertically to get the tumor out, and the plastics cut on either side of the incision and pulled it together. My panniculectomy incision runs from nearly the back of one hip to nearly the back of the other. My belly button was moved. When I figured out he had cut it out of the skin that was removed and cut a hole where it is now and sewed it in I was sort of disgusted...but it looks pretty good. Sometimes I feel like Frankenstein.

There are some pros and cons to what I did and I'll share them with you.

Pros:

• Not having that overhang was a huge motivator to me.
• No more rashes there
• I can move so much more freely (ie...when I ride my bike, my knees don't hit my stomach)
• I have a lap again
• My clothes fit so much better and the overhang used to be visible under clothes
• TMI alert (sex is soooo much better without that between us)

BTW.....he removed 15 pounds of skin and fat. So if you've ever grabbed your stomach and said 'I wish I could cut this off" Well, it turns out you can.

Cons:

• It hurt soooooo much. Please understand a lot of that pain came from the removal of a fibroid tumor that weighed in at over 10 pounds and the cutting of my abdominal muscles.
• The scar is big and ugly, but as bad as it is, it's better than the overhang.
• Because I had my surgery with A LOT of weight left to lose, I may still want to have a tummy tuck later. I'm going to wait and see on that.
• I paid for it out of pocket and it wasn't cheap, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat

My doc explained that the panniculectomy was like a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) without the tightening of the stomach muscles. If you're at your goal weight now, my suggestion (unsolicited so tell me to shut up if you want) would be to have the tummy tuck. With the tummy tuck they will remove the excess skin like they would in a panniculectomy, but they will also tighten up your muscles, giving you a more toned look.

Sept 1 I'm having my girls reduced and lifted. If you have questions about that, I'll let you know after. Insurance is footing the bill for that one and I'm psyched.

If you want to know anything else, please feel free to PM me.

Good luck with your decision.

THANK YOU so much for the 411. I'm sooooo anxious for my appointment next Wednesday. I really can not afford to pay out of pocket for anything, so we'll have to see what it is exactly they cover, and pray it all works out for me. Shoot if I could get one thing done it would be a back lift. Wishful thinking (sigh).

[jacob bensen 1]

Keep posting your information with us, its good that you have lose few pounds.