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.

As previous posters have stated, "Where's the before photo?" If only judging on the afters and your history than in my opinion your result is acceptable. But if you are sooooooo disappointed than you need to either post the before view or seek in person second opinions. 

You could have had a bad necrosis  if your surgeon was too aggressive. Your subcostal incision make your tummy tuck very risky and you should not be angry with your surgeon.

Your result is not horrible, and considering five pregnancies and abdominal scars, we bet you have come a long way. Aggressive is a word in cosmetic surgery mature surgeons learn to avoid. Admire his concern for your safety, and his willingness to revise skin and scar as might be needed after a full six months of healing. Revision under less tension is much preferable to longer scars, wound breakdown, infection, or worse.
Best of luck,
peterejohnsonmd

No. It is not.

I am truly sorry you are disappointed with your Tummy Tuck result. The only way to tell how far you have traveled is to keep track of where you started from. Without seeing your BEFORE photographs it is impossible to tell just how much of an improvement your AFTER figure really is.

Your severe disappointment suggests to me that you and your surgeon did not communicate on what would be a realistic result based on your BEFORE figure. With your history of 5 pregnancies, it is safe to assume you had a significant amount of muscle separation and laxity. These were corrected since you seem to have a nice waist. It would have been physically impossible for your surgeon to have created an "extra flank". What most likely happened was that the creation of a nice indented waist unveiled the amount of fat on the hips thereby accentuating them. If you critically look at your BEFORE pictures you will see excess fat above the belly button level and along the lower back. This is the fat which bothers you now.

The good news is that once you are completely healed, all of this can be corrected with liposuction.

Good Luck.

Dr. Peter A Aldea

You appear to have an acceptable TT result given the limitations I can see that your surgeon had to deal with and the fact that it has only been 5 weeks since your surgery.  Clearly there was a gap between your expectations and what the surgeon thought safely possible.  You have a subcostal scar that could have resulted in a much larger complication had he/she been more agressive.  At five weeks you are still quite swollen.  It will be at least six months and possibly 9 before all the swelling is gone.  Wait until the tissues have softened before getting a revision.  The tissues will be more responive to further tightening.  I would agree that your scar could have been extended and that possibility should have been discussed before the procedure was done.  Many women are very concerned about the length of the scar and want it as short as possible.  When your tissues are ready some liposuction in your hips and further skin excision would improve your result.  In the meantime think about the positives.  Your scar is in a good place and you have had no major complications.  Your surgeon has already offered to do more for you, Just be patient and work with him/her to make a good result a great one.