Re: Post Panni by 12 days

[Guest guest]

Hi, I am 12 days out of panniculectomy and hernia repair. I do feel better

today but I admire you for going to a job interview! Wow, you are doing great!

I think the hernia repair has made my pain worse than the panniculectomy by

itself would have. Do you have a lot of swelling still? I am rather

disappointed at this point when I look down because there is NOTHING flat about

my

tummy! I look like a box with no waistline. Hope this gets better. How is

your

belly button doing? They moved mine 6 inches higher! I also lost 8 lbs of

flesh. My incision has given me no problems at all even though the two drains

fell out 3 days postop! I have a little jiggly " hoochie " which is depressing.

Hope that gets better!!! Hey, we can share anything here right? Truly,

mine reminds me of a water balloon. Will this get much better?

thanks

Marilyn

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I had an Abdominoplasty 6 months ago with no hernia repair. I have found and

was told that you wouldn't entirely get rid of the swelling for at least a

year. Now mind you it gets better and better and after 6 months you don't

care about any of the swelling left but there is an FYI.

Also the jiggle that you may be experiencing may be fluid collection and

that may need to be removed especially if you didn't have the JP tubes in

very long. It isn't any big deal but it will take a long time for the body

to get rid of that on its own. Go see your surgeon if you haven't already.

You will so happy you lost your " skin shirt " as we call it in our house.

Gloria

> Hi, I am 12 days out of panniculectomy and hernia repair. I do feel better

> today but I admire you for going to a job interview! Wow, you are doing

> great!

> I think the hernia repair has made my pain worse than the panniculectomy by

> itself would have. Do you have a lot of swelling still? I am rather

> disappointed at this point when I look down because there is NOTHING flat

> about my

> tummy! I look like a box with no waistline. Hope this gets better. How is

> your

> belly button doing? They moved mine 6 inches higher! I also lost 8 lbs of

> flesh. My incision has given me no problems at all even though the two drains

> fell out 3 days postop! I have a little jiggly " hoochie " which is depressing.

> Hope that gets better!!! Hey, we can share anything here right? Truly,

> mine reminds me of a water balloon. Will this get much better?

>

> thanks

>

> Marilyn

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, My panniculectomy was 16 days ago. In looking at my tummy, it is

way flatter than pre panni, but I too am not all that pleased with

it. For one I have the dreaded dog ears. The surgeon said in a few

months they can be addressed in an " in office " procedure.

I still have swelling, but not as much as I expected. My recovery

from the panni has been easy. I took the oxycodone for 1.5 days post

op then needed nothing for pain. I did protein load prior to surgery

like a good vitakid, lol and am in fact still doing more protein

shakes even now.

From what I can gather he did do a bit of muscle tightening. So I

guess I am doing well. ONe thing that bugs the heck outta me is

the " hoochie jiggle " ...he did not address the mons area at all and

yes it sags (it is almost like a " mons pannus " in and of itself,

lol). Still I do feel very lucky that I was able to get the surgery,

given that I am a medicaid patient.

My belly button was moved. I am going to have a circle scar around

it when it heals. This scar did get a bit infected, so am dealing

with that.

On my actual incision, I finally took off the rest of the steri

strips the other day and the scar itself looks really good. I might

buy some vitamin e softgels, puncture them and then rub the oil into

the scar though. I had a c-section scar there anyway, and the scar

is just longer now.

I have been struggling with now seeing the rest of my body

as " imperfect " now that the panni has been done. It is like " whoa I

never noticed how much skin I had on my thighs " I can honestly

hoenstly see how people can become addicted to PS in their quest for

the " perfect body " where I could never see that before. Of course,

short of the dog ears procedure, this is probably all the PS I will

ever have. Yes I do wish the breasts could be addressed, but I know

that I would need to save for that and maybe I will have it done in

5 years or so. But with 4 kids, it is not in my very forseeable

future LOL.

One last thing, with your drains coming out so soon, I would imagine

that the fluid has accumulated and may need to be aspirated, so you

may want to contact your surgeon regarding that.

~Kricket

> Hi, I am 12 days out of panniculectomy and hernia repair. I do

feel better

> today but I admire you for going to a job interview! Wow, you are

doing great!

> I think the hernia repair has made my pain worse than the

panniculectomy by

> itself would have. Do you have a lot of swelling still? I am

rather

> disappointed at this point when I look down because there is

NOTHING flat about my

> tummy! I look like a box with no waistline. Hope this gets

better. How is your

> belly button doing? They moved mine 6 inches higher! I also lost

8 lbs of

> flesh. My incision has given me no problems at all even though

the two drains

> fell out 3 days postop! I have a little jiggly " hoochie " which is

depressing.

> Hope that gets better!!! Hey, we can share anything here right?

Truly,

> mine reminds me of a water balloon. Will this get much better?

[Guest guest]

Marilyn:

My full panni was done on 2/14/03. I was in a full body (under breast to

knees) compression garment with JP tubes out of each hip for 3 months. I can

tell you, for those lurkers, I did NOT experience much pain at all, and I had

the

" fleur de leis " or " anchor " style incisions (hip to hip, pubic bone to breast

bone).

Compression garment stayed on for 6 months. Surgeon is very proactive with

fluids as she said this could stretch out the skin more.

My " hoochie " as you mentioned was very " water balloonie " for six months and

is still not what you'd call flat by any means. This can't occur without lipo.

I mentioned before I went in to surgery (thanks to this list) that I wanted

my surgeon to tighten up the " hootchie " area as well. She said she would

" pull it up " as much as she could, but could only go so far as I'd be " peeing

straight out " if she pulled too high. Thus, its' better, but still a loose area

that is jiggly. Not as bad as before, but I was prepared since I didn't choose

to pay for additional lipo. It will get better, though, and I agree with the

member who spoke of fluids.

The belly will get better, but again, you must get that excess fluid out,

whether it be by aspiration or compression or peeing it out. Like I said, my

surgeon would not remove those JP tubes for a long time because of my fluid

counts (I measured DAILY the amounts I removed hourly or quarterly in the day).

When the numbers got down into the acceptable areas of fluid drainage, THEN the

tubes were removed.

Actually, one tube was removed too early (because of discomfort). It's been

almost a year, and I will be going in for a revision of my panni (in addition

to a few other things) this Tuesday. The side that the tube was removed early

on, never flattened up as the other side. Also had a bit of a hump, small,

but noticeable.

I'm not saying this will happen to you, just be aware and discuss tubes or

aspiration with your surgeon.

You will, however, see remarkable results. It took me many months. My belly

was swollen, hard and tight, but the results were way worth it.

Take care. You will look terrific, just address the fluid issue.

Bobbie

Anchorage

>

> <<Hi, I am 12 days out of panniculectomy and hernia repair. ... I am

> rather

> disappointed at this point when I look down because there is NOTHING flat

> about my tummy! I look like a box with no waistline. Hope this gets better.

>

> >

>

> thanks

>

> Marilyn

>

>

[Guest guest]

> <<Doc said " you will be exposing your vaginal area to area and other things

> that it should not be exposed to. " . >>

>

> I can understand what the doctor is saying. Since mine was somewhat lifted,

> it now is somewhat, ever slightly, more " open, " and certain parts actually

> are more exposed to the air when undressed. Where I was complete closed

> around the clitoris, can now, at times, feel air. Kinda hard to explain, but

if

> my mons were pulled " up " anymore without lipo, yes, I would be " peeing

> straight out. " I now understand what my surgeon was trying to explain to me.

>

> <<I am NOT a doctor, but I cannot see any medical reason to NOT pull up the

area.>>

Sorry Beth, but I could'n't DISAGREE more, for reasons stated above. The

more you pull, the more open the labia becomes and the higher up the clitois and

urethra become. You can only pull so much " upward, " and the rest of the

fatty, jiggly outter " mons " area tjat os left must be lipoed for the best

results.

Mine was pulled upward as a part of my full panni (courtesy of my surgeon).

Anything further would not have falled under the insurance codes, thus

requiring an additional procedure. I appreciate my surgeon's honesty and

experience

and my surgeon is a female.

Of coure, everyone's " mons " area is different. Mine was indeed jiggly and I

was concerned (from discussion from this list) that I'd be left with a

" boylike " area in the front if this was not addressed. I did discuss this fully

with

my surgeon and, again, she did what she could, with all honesty, that fell

into the category of my full panni with the fleur de lies procedure.

Bobbie

Anchorage

[Guest guest]

<<I should wear my binder every day then?  My surgeon says it is up to me.>>

My doctor's instructions were to wear it 24/7. I wore it for 6 months, and

only at 3-4 months, did I take it off for an hour or so at a stretch or to

launder it. I felt better with it on, but mine was a full compression garment

and

was actually quite comfortable, albeit restrictive. Honestly, it was in my

best interest to do so. There is something to be said for compression

garments. This, however, was the instruction from MY doctor. You should do

what

yours advises you.

<<The additional work that you need won't be under general anesthesia? >>

My surgeon also said that she would do simple " touchups " as in office

procedures. However, I am having a FULL revision (at my request) to address

stretched skin at the rib area, and " nerf footballs " on each hip. Surgeon said

my

butt has fallen, and will revise with mid-butt left around front to mid-butt

right, then up, again, to breastbone. Additionally, I will be having a

brachioplasty on both arms done as well as childhood scars being reconstructed

on my

outter thighs.

This will all require an 8-hour surgical procedure. If it were a simple

revision, again, yes, dogears, my surgeons performs them with a local and

inoffice.

<<Doc said " you will be exposing your vaginal area to area and other things

that it should not be exposed to. " .  Ob/gyn said that in order to do that,

she'd have to have a serious problem with infections etc in the " girlie " area>>

I agree with this statement for reasons I stated in a previous post. The

more you lift (without lipo), the more " open " the vaginal area becomes. I can

attest personally to this. If lifted anymore, there could have been problems.

I trusted my surgeon's expertise and SHE did not stear me wrong. She lifted

what she could, the rest would have called for lipo.

It will all get better, Marilyn, give it time. You should have a better

picture by 6 months.

Good luck.

Bobbie

Anchorage