Is This a Horrible Tummy Tuck Result?

It is apparent from how far down your gallbladder scar moved that quite a bit of tightening was done.  It could well be, as Dr. Rand points out, that factors such as the existing scar, which reduces blood supply, might have caused the doctor to be conservative.

In any event, thank your lucky stars that he was!  If he had been more aggressive as you wished, the amount of infection and wound healing problems you had would have been much greater.

Infections and poor wound healing can occur in any surgery.  Certain surgeries and certain patients are more prone to having problems, but that is the nature of surgery, problems can happen.

Patients often imagine a body they might have after surgery.  They are sometimes disappointed that the result they got was not perfect, or not what they expected.  Usually by looking at the before-after pictures, they are reminded of the significant difference between the before and the after picture.

Hard to evaluate the result from these photos alone.  A before picture showing the entire abdomen from different angles and an after photos from several angles are required.

Sorry to hear that you are not fully satisfied with your outcome, but here are a few things to consider.

Your specific outcome is determined by your starting weight and body shape.

Your result is best seen at 6-9 months following the surgery. At 5 weeks there is still significant swelling present and your shape is largely due to swelling. Any revisions should wait at least 6 months to accurately define any residual loose skin or excess fat.

You did not show "before" photos - many patients forget the extensive loose skin and fat that was present prior to surgery. You should be realistic and focus on the relative change that was achieved.

Finally, as mentioned by every other commenting surgeon, your abdominal scar poses large risks and really limits the ability of the surgeon to provide an optimal result safely.

Best Regards,

KC

 

The unanimous assessment of your result and the preexisting risks as noted by the other plastic surgeons speaks volumes of the reasonableness of your results. Your large scar on the right side of your abdomen, probably from a gall bladder removal, placed you at very high risk of healing problems including substantial loss of skin - neither of which you had. If much more skin was removed, you might have sustained significant loss of skin so what was done was prudent.

You are still very early in the healing process as well - so be patient. Wait at least around 6 months to see a more long term result. (It would have also been very helpful to view your pre-operative photos to see the extent of changes that you experienced.)

The large scar on your upper abdomen could have caused necrosis, or loss of abdominal tissue with a more aggressive tummy tuck.  You are fortunate that your surgeon was more conservative with tissue resection because of this.  You would have had a better result with your tummy tuck if you had lost weight before your surgery.  The skin would have 'hanged' more and more of it could have been removed.  At this time diet and exercise will improve your results and a revision should be done only after weight loss.