RE: Loose and saggy upper abdomen after tummy tuck

To the various physicians who were kind enough to respond to my original posting, thank you very much! I'm afraid in my attempt to keep my question as brief as possible, I may not have been as clear as I could have been about the details of my experience. A couple of clarifications: 1. I am 43 years old and have had three full-term pregnancies. 2. I did not voice any opinion about the length of any scar or scarring around my bellybutton to my PS prior to my surgery. I knew what the results of a full TT would likely look like,including the attendant scarring, and that's what I asked for. 3. It seems that all of you agree that it appears as though only a mini-tummytuck was performed. My agreement with my PS was for a FULL tummytuck, and I paid for a full tummytuck (listed on invoice as 'abdominoplasty - $4,995.00'). Is it usual for a surgeon to unilaterally decide to change the type of surgery he performs DURING the actual procedure? He also continues to maintain that I had a 'full tummytuck', although when I asked him to show me how high up on my abdomen he had stitched (internally), he was very vague. 4. My surgeon never said my original belly button was 'too high.' Rather, he explained to me after the surgery that he hadn't needed to construct a new umbilicus for me because my original navel sat 'high' to begin with, thus allowing him to stretch it downward without it ending up TOO low. Does that make sense? When he told me that, I got the distinct impression that he wanted thanks for having had the creativity and foresight to preserve my original belly button. 5. I am not a few days post-revision. I am six months out from my original surgery and have not had any revision. My PS's assistant has performed one laser tightening treatment on my upper abdominal area, with another scheduled for late January. The 'revision' word has not been uttered by either of us, although it is rapidly becoming the proverbial elephant in the room as far as I'm concerned! So, those are a few of the details I wanted to clarify, although I apologize for the numbered list - it seems so confrontational in that format, somehow! I certainly do not intend it in that spirit. My question is, how do I proceed? I feel that he should perform a revision at no cost to me, and sooner rather than later so that a second summer isn't spent in swollen discomfort. Is this a ridiculous expectation, and if not, how do I ask for a revision without making him completely defensive? I have soft-pedaled my displeasure up until this point, not wanting to alienate him or make our relationship at all adversarial. My fear is that as soon as I ask to see my operative notes or pose any truly hard questions, he will shut down. Any and all thoughts, comments, or insights would be extremely appreciated, and again, my sincere thanks for the informative answers you provided previously!

I have just read everything you wrote and the answers that were given.. And my oh my.. I just had a TT done on Jan 2nd.09. I am in the same exact boat as you are. It looks to me like he did a mini, and did something with the belly button to kinda make it look like he did the full TT. I have my 1st Post op on friday and you better bet your bottom dollar that I am going to demand that he fix this.. I spent almost double what you did for mine, and will not settle for a crappy job. Did i mention, that in aug 07' the same surgeon performed a breast aug w/implants and he did a great job. So I'm sure if he's 1/2 the surgeon that I know he is, he will fix my issues. ~You absolutly need to confront your surgeon and I would suggest that you have someone(a friend/loved one) along with the surgeons assistant in teh room, while discussing your situation.. Best of luck to you and I hope to hear what happens with your situation...

I had a full tummy tuck a month ago and although my sking was stretch marked and wrinkled before the surgery the wrinkles are much worse now. The surgeon told me he seperated the skin from the muscle with his hand, removed the navel but it didn,t need repostioning as it was almost in the same place when he pulled the skin down as far as it would go. So as the wrinkly excess skin I had before the full tummy tuck is still there how is it going to becoem tight which was the whole point of the surgery. The bottom of my stomach is tighter but the sking is slightly sagging over the scar, is this likely to go? I have quite a lot of edema which the surgeon said can take up 3 or 4 months to go. I also had a brest lift and one breast is at least 2 cup sizes bigger than the other as it has a hematoma so is hard and I can,t see my niple over the top of it as its too swolen. The surgeon said this will take 3 to 4 motnhs to be reabsorbed, is this true? It had leaked old blood twice but that hasn,t made much difference to the size or harness lumpiness. Is this like to go or remain?Thanks Diplo

who was your doctor?

I am 4 weeks post op and still am swollen in my upper abdomen and also have alot of loose flabby skin. Does anyone know if this is normal? I am happy with all below my belly button and I too paid double what you did.

I am in North Texas - Are any of you so we can compare docs?

Just curious as to what your end result is?