44 years old, 5'6”, 10 stone, female, 6 months post-op - is my tummy tuck botched? (Photos)

Dear Mum of 5,
I understand your concern. However, without a proper assessment, it would be difficult to determine what went wrong. It is best that you visit your plastic surgeon for further assessment or ask for a second opinion. Only after a thorough examination, you can get proper recommendations and advice.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

You need to go back to your surgeon or find another surgeon who will go back in and remove the thicken wall of your seroma. An ultrasound prior to surgery will be very helpful. I doubt it will resolve on its own.

I would get the opinion of another plastic surgeon. It appears that you will need additional surgery to correct your results. That is the good news.

I encourage you to visit with a board certified plastic surgeon near you. Your results are not acceptable and a revision is indicated. An examination is needed to better understand what is occurring with the abdominal contour. It could be a seroma is still present and that will need to be addressed.

I do not recommend anybody travel long distances for elective surgical procedures. Likewise I recommend patients have multiple in person consultations with local board-certified plastic surgeons in order to find the most talented and experience provider for their needs.
The process should begin by getting an accurate assessment and understanding of various treatment options so you know exactly what the procedure can and cannot deliver.
The second step is to find the right provider recognizing that results will differ depending on who does the operation.
A full tummy tuck is a major surgery that requires follow up. Fluid collections should be treated aggressively by either placing a drain or draining the fluid with a syringe or a catheter on a regular basis preferably daily until it no longer recurs. A drain and can be placed by an interventional radiologist early once the seroma is identified.
At this point you may have a chronic seroma which can only be treated by direct surgical excision and placement of a drain.
Your situation is complex and to make an assessment regarding improving on your outcome and determining if you have a chronic seroma requires an examination.
Ultimately your surgeon is responsible for the outcome of the procedure and you are responsible for choosing that surgeon.
To get a proper second opinion I suggest you schedule those as in person consultations with other providers.
Patients should come prepared for a second opinion consultations by bringing with them all before and after pictures and the copy of your operative report.
Those should all be available from your current providers office if requested.
My recommendation is for patient to schedule at least five consultations before committing to having surgery. During each consultation ask each provider to show their entire collection of before and after pictures especially showing previous patients that have similar body characteristics to your own.
Being shown a handful of preselected images representing the best results of a providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results will look like in the hands of each provider.
For reference and experience provider should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures of commonly performed procedures like a tummy tuck.
As providers to show you examples of excellent outcomes, average outcomes and outcomes that didn’t turn out as well as they had hoped for.
All plastic surgeons have a variety of outcomes and it’s fair game for patients to ask to see a variety of outcomes and enough supporting before and after pictures to get a clear understanding I would average results will look like on someone with your candidacy.
Patient should also discuss each provider‘s revision rate and revision policy.
These are all things that should ideally be done before people commit to having surgery.
At this point the process for finding the right provider for revision of work is more or less the same as for someone looking for a primary procedure.
The best surgeons for revision work are generally the surgeons who do the best primary procedure is.
The major exception is going to be the providers will not have nearly as many before and after pictures of the revision work as they will of primary tummy tucks.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD