A Long Time Coming... - Boston/Worcester, MA

Reading these reviews have been helpful for me in figuring out what to expect from the tummy tuck experience. I felt it was only fair that I add my experiences, especially since as a 25 year old male, African American (we tend to scar differently) my experience may be a little different from the norm.

I am three days post-op. I had both a tummy tuck and a gynecomastia repair (male chest reconstruction). I lost over 150lbs through diet and exercise starting when I was 16 years old. Initially I would walk up and down the steps during the Soap Operas I would watch after school.

I guess I'd first want to tell people not to give up. When I initially looked into cosmetic surgery, it was during a period in which I had gained a good deal of weight back. The Doctor encouraged me to go ahead with the surgery anyway because in his experience, people never lost the weight again. My insurance company also approved a panniculectomy (a more limited version of the tummy tuck) but I decided that I could lose the weight and put off the surgery for several years until I was back to a healthy body weight.

Unfortunately, I was on my mother's insurance plan and it had switched to one that had an exclusion for "procedures to remove fatty tissue, including panniculectomies..." Despite this I applied and was denied. In my appeal I argued that the exclusion did not apply because it was excess skin and not fatty tissue that I would be having removed. I also sent in a video showing them the loose skin, and wrote very personally about how it affected my life.

Long story short, it took nearly a year but the insurance company did approve the procedure. My doctor agreed to do a full tummy tuck for no extra cost, since people are generally unhappy with just having a panniculectomy.

I had my procedure November 19 and I'm still recovering. I was hoping that the experience would be painless but unfortunately there has been some discomfort. The hospital provided morphine which kept it from becoming unbearable. Even so at it's worse, the pain resembles having had a full body workout. There is a lot of muscle soreness but around the incision I feel almost no discomfort. I haven't had to take my pain meds that often and since I've been home have only used it once or twice a day.

Between the two procedures I am bound up pretty tightly. This makes getting off furniture especially difficult. If I use my arms too much, I can feel it pulling at the stitches from the gynecomastia repair. I have not yet seen my incisions. Several residents and nurses have remarked however, that it is the best work they've seen. I have a couple drains in me but they should be ready to come out on Friday. Moving around has been somewhat of an ordeal but I am walking much better today, I am not hunched over as much as I expected but it still makes for a sore back.

Without seeing the results, it's hard to believe that the body I've grown so used to is gone. I am trying to keep my expectations reasonable, especially since I don't know how I will scar. The surgery, however, could not have gone better and that gives me hope for the long term results.

I will add before and after photos as soon as I am able.