William J. Bicket, MD (retired)

I was overweight all of my life. In 2010, I made lifestyle changes and lost 80 lbs over 1.5-2 years and I've kept most of it off. In 2014, I had a breast reduction (covered by insurance). In May of this year, I had a 20 year dream come true and had a brachioplasty (arm lift), not covered by insurance. 10 days ago, I had a panniculectomy with hernia repair (covered by insurance). Ideally, I would've added liposuction, but I could not afford it. In an effort to get my money's worth, my surgeon performed an extended panniculectomy. Meaning, the incision goes all the way around my hips to my buttock area. Also, the hernia was mild enough that mesh wasn't necessary, so he tightened some muscle around it.

I expected this recovery to be the worst of my three procedures, and I was correct except it is way harder than I anticipated. I would not describe this recovery as painful, but just uncomfortable. I had virtually no pain the first week when still. I took the pain med (Percocet) as prescribed the first 2 days, then only once a day and at night for the 3rd and 4th days. After that, I only took the occasional Tylenol. My biggest complaint, if you want to call it that, is the drains. They have driven me absolutely crazy. One was removed at my follow up appointment and the other will be removed in a few days.

With the pictures, keep in mind that I did NOT have liposuction, so my result isn't as sculpted as most. Also, for the side shots, the binder I'm wearing puts pressure on my backside and the fluid build-up is kind of awkward and will smooth out over time.