going to plastic surgeon

[Guest guest]

Just to say I've got my appointment to see the plastic surgeon next week, the

17th. I thought it would take a couple of months the way the process is in

Denmark. When I had the dexascan, it took 6 months to get the original

appointment. The day I was supposed to go, I recieved a phone call that they

would have to make a new appt. That took another 3 months. I was tickled to get

my letter this morning in the mail.

I must say, I'm nervous about the whole thing. I'm so afraid for what ever

reason, that they'll deny my request. I know my reasons are good and many have

given suggestions which I'm grateful for. I really don't have much documentation

of problems I've had since my records are in the states. Think the scars from

rashes will prove that part?...lol. I do have some documentation of problems

with the bladder since here.

I want to say thank you to those who have posted pictures of their

plastics...tummy tucks mostly. It really gives me an idea of what to expect and

what to ask for. Please keep putting those pics and information out there. I

know a few of you are going through this same thing or have recently gone

through it. It really helps to hear your stories.

I know I'm not approved yet but I have to say I'm nervous about the healing

time. When I was younger, I think my pain tolerance was much higher. When I had

the RYN with gallbladder removal, I only took pain medicin once after going

home. That was in 93. I've had several minor and two major surgeries in my life.

Then last year, I had to have two root cannals. They don't send you home here

with anything stronger than Motrin. I wound up in the ER and got a shot of

moraphine. Am I a wimp or what??

Well, wish me luck next week and I'll let yall know how it goes. Thanks for

listening to me ramble.

Dawn

5-17-93

[Guest guest]

Dawn, you are not a whimp. When I had the root canal done they gave me

tylenol with codeine. I too had a high pain tolerance. The TT is really

not as painful as the wls was. I did take pain medication for a couple

of days after returning home. It was predominantly at night because I

had done to much for the day.

Lori Owen - Denton, Texas

CHF 4/14/01 479 lbs.

SRVG 7/16/01 401 lbs.

Current Weight 302 lbs.

Dr. Ritter/Dr. Bryce

On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 19:15:03 +0100 " Dawn Conner-Jeppesen "

frwhlngrl@...> writes:

> Just to say I've got my appointment to see the plastic surgeon next

> week, the 17th. I thought it would take a couple of months the way

> the process is in Denmark. When I had the dexascan, it took 6 months

> to get the original appointment. The day I was supposed to go, I

> recieved a phone call that they would have to make a new appt. That

> took another 3 months. I was tickled to get my letter this morning

> in the mail.

>

> I must say, I'm nervous about the whole thing. I'm so afraid for

> what ever reason, that they'll deny my request. I know my reasons

> are good and many have given suggestions which I'm grateful for. I

> really don't have much documentation of problems I've had since my

> records are in the states. Think the scars from rashes will prove

> that part?...lol. I do have some documentation of problems with the

> bladder since here.

>

> I want to say thank you to those who have posted pictures of their

> plastics...tummy tucks mostly. It really gives me an idea of what to

> expect and what to ask for. Please keep putting those pics and

> information out there. I know a few of you are going through this

> same thing or have recently gone through it. It really helps to hear

> your stories.

>

> I know I'm not approved yet but I have to say I'm nervous about the

> healing time. When I was younger, I think my pain tolerance was much

> higher. When I had the RYN with gallbladder removal, I only took

> pain medicin once after going home. That was in 93. I've had several

> minor and two major surgeries in my life. Then last year, I had to

> have two root cannals. They don't send you home here with anything

> stronger than Motrin. I wound up in the ER and got a shot of

> moraphine. Am I a wimp or what??

>

> Well, wish me luck next week and I'll let yall know how it goes.

> Thanks for listening to me ramble.

>

> 5-17-93

>

[Guest guest]

> Dawn, you are not a whimp. When I had the root canal done they gave me

> tylenol with codeine. I too had a high pain tolerance. The TT is really

> not as painful as the wls was. I did take pain medication for a couple

> of days after returning home. It was predominantly at night because I

> had done to much for the day.

> Lori Owen - Denton, Texas

> CHF 4/14/01 479 lbs.

> SRVG 7/16/01 401 lbs.

> Current Weight 302 lbs.

> Dr. Ritter/Dr. Bryce

*******************************************************

Lori,

I know about doing to much after surgery. When I has WLS, I had 3 kids, ages

2, 5 and 7. I'm glad to hear it is not as painful. Is this even if they

tighten the muscles? Glad my kids are older now, maybe they'll wait on

me....lol...at least my daughter will who's 12. Thanks for your reply.

Dawn

[Guest guest]

Whoah, everyone, be careful here. Don't assume that abdominoplasty is

always less painful than open RNY. I am no wimp (I had both of my babies

with no drugs, second one almost 9 lbs and born at home and have sailed

through a number of other surgeries of varying unpleasantness) but the

plastics were MUCH harder on me than the RNY, which I breezed right

through. You will need to take it easy and have greatly reduced

responsibilities after your TT, at a minimum for four or five days.

I'm not trying to scare you, but I think it's important that everyone

always remember that YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY from that of others. How

awful it could be if someone kept hearing that plastics are a piece of

cake and then feel awful, horrible, and maybe even in agony for a few

days after surgery... They'd not only feel physically bad, but they'd

feel like a wimp or a failure too. Better (in my experience) to expect

big pain, to steel oneself for agony, and then have it hurt less than

you expected.

Ziobro

Open RNY 09/17/01

Plastics round 1 07/22/02

Plastics round 2 01/16/03

310/128/125

Re: going to plastic surgeon

> Dawn, you are not a whimp. When I had the root canal done they gave

> me tylenol with codeine. I too had a high pain tolerance. The TT is

> really not as painful as the wls was. I did take pain medication for

> a couple of days after returning home. It was predominantly at night

> because I had done to much for the day. Lori Owen - Denton, Texas

> CHF 4/14/01 479 lbs.

> SRVG 7/16/01 401 lbs.

> Current Weight 302 lbs.

> Dr. Ritter/Dr. Bryce

*******************************************************

Lori,

I know about doing to much after surgery. When I has WLS, I had 3 kids,

ages 2, 5 and 7. I'm glad to hear it is not as painful. Is this even if

they tighten the muscles? Glad my kids are older now, maybe they'll wait

on me....lol...at least my daughter will who's 12. Thanks for your

reply. Dawn

[Guest guest]

Dawn, I have about another 100 lbs before I can have the full treatment.

I didn't have the stomach done or muscles tightened. I just had the

panni removed. The surgeon did stich some of the muscles together.

Lori Owen - Denton, Texas

CHF 4/14/01 479 lbs.

SRVG 7/16/01 401 lbs.

Current Weight 302 lbs.

Dr. Ritter/Dr. Bryce

> Lori,

>

> I know about doing to much after surgery. When I has WLS, I had 3

> kids, ages

> 2, 5 and 7. I'm glad to hear it is not as painful. Is this even if

> they

> tighten the muscles? Glad my kids are older now, maybe they'll wait

> on

> me....lol...at least my daughter will who's 12. Thanks for your

> reply.

> Dawn

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/10/2002 9:17:11 PM Eastern Standard Time,

juliaz@... writes:

> but the plastics were MUCH harder on me than the RNY, which I breezed right

> through. You will need to take it easy and have greatly reduced

> responsibilities after your TT, at a minimum for four or five days.

>

********************************

I agree! The TT was far more painful, but very manageable once I realized I

had to take the percocet regularly to handle it...then, no problem. The

instructions were to take 1-2 perc every 4 hours as needed, and I took 1

every 2 hours. This worked just fine. The other benefit...if you remember

the thread a few months ago about sleeplessness? The perc took care of that,

too! LOL First time in a year I got a full nights sleep every night, and

woke up feeling rested...love that feeling.

in NJ

[Guest guest]

Interesting topic. The WLS made me tired for a month. The plastics didn't

hurt, but a few weeks of leaking, dripping, and a little soreness can get

you down. I think the worst part is not any pain, which I didn't really

experience except for the first day from lying in a funny position on the

table, but the let-down that follows a week later. After having so many, I

could sort of live through it, knowing it would pass. Your body gets all

revved up from the excitement and the big attack on it that surgery is, that

the adrenalin really flows, but dries up a week later, at least for me. One

can get depressed and not understand why. It passes.

I'm so freakin' happy that's in the rear view mirror for me now. I wouldn't

trade any of it for the world, because I'm really happy the way things

turned out. Our lives and our bodies really need a lot of care after this

surgery. It's all good, but it's just our way of life for a while.

in Austin

RNY April 1998

> Whoah, everyone, be careful here. Don't assume that abdominoplasty is

> always less painful than open RNY. I am no wimp (I had both of my babies

> with no drugs, second one almost 9 lbs and born at home and have sailed

> through a number of other surgeries of varying unpleasantness) but the

> plastics were MUCH harder on me than the RNY, which I breezed right

> through. You will need to take it easy and have greatly reduced

> responsibilities after your TT, at a minimum for four or five days.

>

> I'm not trying to scare you, but I think it's important that everyone

> always remember that YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY from that of others. How

> awful it could be if someone kept hearing that plastics are a piece of

> cake and then feel awful, horrible, and maybe even in agony for a few

> days after surgery... They'd not only feel physically bad, but they'd

> feel like a wimp or a failure too. Better (in my experience) to expect

> big pain, to steel oneself for agony, and then have it hurt less than

> you expected.

>

> Ziobro

[Guest guest]

I wholeheartedly agree . This exact scenario seems to be happening in

my old local support group in NY (I still keep in touch and go back for

meetings every so often). A couple of the girls had their TT done, but had

no muscle work (young girls, no babies, etc.). They look great and kept

saying how easy the surgery was, especially compared to the RNY. Another

girl in the group just had her TT and she's still in pain 3 weeks later and

has had a really hard time. She just wasn't expecting it to be this hard

and now she's depressed. It's not the other girls' faults of course, they

were just relating their experiences. It's important though, that people

hear from lots of different people to get a true picture of the

possibilities.

I didn't expect my TT to be nearly as painful as it was. I've always

thought that I have a high tolerance for pain. I was up and showering, then

walking around right after giving birth to all three of my babies. I've had

5 surgeries other than the TT (some open, some lap) and was up and around

right after all of them and generally only took painkillers at night after

the first couple of days. With the TT though, I was in a LOT of pain, took

my Percoset and Valium regularly (as often as the bottles said I could) and

slept a lot for the first 2 weeks while I was with . I did get out

a little, but it usually exhausted me. When I got back to Florida, I spent

another week resting a lot and still took the painkillers, although not as

regularly. By 4 weeks out, I was only taking them at night and getting

around more. I'm now 2 1/2 months out and have very little pain, although

there's a little discomfort sometimes at the end of the day when things seem

to get tighter.

I think a big part of the difference in people's experience is whether or

not they have their muscles tightened a little or a lot (or not at all). My

muscles were tightened a LOT. Like said, expect the pain. If it

doesn't hurt that much, then consider yourself lucky. If it does hurt, then

take your painkillers and keep thinking of how great you're going to look in

your jeans when you can stand up straight again!

------------------------------------------------

Terry Mayers

5DollarHosting.comR

http://www.5dollarhosting.com

(877)-838-HOST /

.... because it shouldn't cost a fortune to make a fortune! R

RE: going to plastic surgeon

Whoah, everyone, be careful here. Don't assume that abdominoplasty is

always less painful than open RNY. I am no wimp (I had both of my babies

with no drugs, second one almost 9 lbs and born at home and have sailed

through a number of other surgeries of varying unpleasantness) but the

plastics were MUCH harder on me than the RNY, which I breezed right

through. You will need to take it easy and have greatly reduced

responsibilities after your TT, at a minimum for four or five days.

I'm not trying to scare you, but I think it's important that everyone

always remember that YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY from that of others. How

awful it could be if someone kept hearing that plastics are a piece of

cake and then feel awful, horrible, and maybe even in agony for a few

days after surgery... They'd not only feel physically bad, but they'd

feel like a wimp or a failure too. Better (in my experience) to expect

big pain, to steel oneself for agony, and then have it hurt less than

you expected.

Ziobro

Open RNY 09/17/01

Plastics round 1 07/22/02

Plastics round 2 01/16/03

310/128/125

[Guest guest]

Plastics can't be easier than RNY in my case. RNY was painless and

virtually zero recovery time. I would be tickled ten shades of pink

if plastics were that easy!!!

Vicki A.

> Whoah, everyone, be careful here. Don't assume that abdominoplasty

is

> always less painful than open RNY. I am no wimp (I had both of my

babies

> with no drugs, second one almost 9 lbs and born at home and have

sailed

> through a number of other surgeries of varying unpleasantness) but

the

> plastics were MUCH harder on me than the RNY, which I breezed right

> through. You will need to take it easy and have greatly reduced

> responsibilities after your TT, at a minimum for four or five days.

>

> I'm not trying to scare you, but I think it's important that

everyone

> always remember that YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY from that of others. How

> awful it could be if someone kept hearing that plastics are a piece

of

> cake and then feel awful, horrible, and maybe even in agony for a

few

> days after surgery... They'd not only feel physically bad, but

they'd

> feel like a wimp or a failure too. Better (in my experience) to

expect

> big pain, to steel oneself for agony, and then have it hurt less

than

> you expected.

>

> Ziobro

> Open RNY 09/17/01

> Plastics round 1 07/22/02

> Plastics round 2 01/16/03

> 310/128/125

>

> Re: going to plastic surgeon

>

>

> > Dawn, you are not a whimp. When I had the root canal done they

gave

> > me tylenol with codeine. I too had a high pain tolerance. The

TT is

> > really not as painful as the wls was. I did take pain medication

for

> > a couple of days after returning home. It was predominantly at

night

> > because I had done to much for the day. Lori Owen - Denton, Texas

> > CHF 4/14/01 479 lbs.

> > SRVG 7/16/01 401 lbs.

> > Current Weight 302 lbs.

> > Dr. Ritter/Dr. Bryce

> *******************************************************

> Lori,

>

> I know about doing to much after surgery. When I has WLS, I had 3

kids,

> ages 2, 5 and 7. I'm glad to hear it is not as painful. Is this

even if

> they tighten the muscles? Glad my kids are older now, maybe they'll

wait

> on me....lol...at least my daughter will who's 12. Thanks for your

> reply. Dawn

[Guest guest]

Thank you everyone on all the input on having abdominoplasty and pain

associated with it. I haven't even been approved yet but am concerned. After

the RYN, I said I only took pain medicine once after going home. I was

tendor for about 3 months...walking bent over and such. Just the pain alone,

without stressing the wound, I was fine. I guess time will tell. I don't

expect to go into this pain free. All I really am focusing on is the after

results. I do hope they have percocet here!

Many of you have been talking about the insurance companies. Back when I had

RYN, I had Champus through the Navy. I was approved within a week. I tried

to get a tummy tuck later, after 2 years. They denied me without seeing me

because their policy at the time was that it had to be done within a year

after the original surgery. I talked to a plastic surgeon at one of our

support meetings. He said it was best to wait 2 years.

I want to tell yall, I should know one way or the other Tuesday. In Europe,

medical is free (50% tax on everything in Denmark, not exactly free!). This

is considered cosmetic unless one can show that it is medically neccesary.

The plastic surgeon is the one to decide. I don't know if he does that day

or if he will mail the answer. I am hoping he will understand. They have not

done WLS here in 20 years, so I don't know how aware he is with my needs. I

have already written a long list for myself of everything I want to mention

along with 's letter.

I recieved a form to fill out for them in the mail today. It was full of

questions about my current health, previous health, histories on

hospitalizations, operations and on and on.

Thanks again everyone,

Dawn