22 Year Old Male - Tummy Tuck After 130lb Weight Loss

I have been feeling great ever since the surgery. I have had three relatively minor surgeries in my life, including wisdom teeth extraction, and this is by far the easiest surgery I have had to recover from. On a scale from 1-10, the most pain I have felt the entire time has been a 4. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone to rent a recliner if you don't have one already to sleep in after the procedure. The recliner mimics the position they have you in on the table and reduces the tension on the incision, rather than laying flat.
Today was my first post-op appointment. Dr. Swail removed the pain pump from the muscle repair. Your ab's nerves are separated down the middle on the left and right side, so there are two small catheters spanning the length of each side that slowly release pain meds directly into the muscle. Having those catheters removed didn't hurt as much as it just felt strange.
There was very little leakage onto the gauze from the incision. I was closed up very nicely. I still have the one drain in that spans the width of the incision. Dr. Swail said that if the discharge falls below 30 CC's by Friday that he would remove it then, but doesn't expect it to dry up that quickly. He's estimating drain removal will take place early next week.
Having done a ton of research on RealSelf and other websites, I knew what a good tummy tuck looked like and also what a not so good tummy tuck looked like. Because I was not allowed to see anything the day of my procedure, I had tried feeling around the bandages the last few days to find where the scar ended up being. From doing this I became very discouraged because I thought I felt my scar up pretty high. I was pretty upset, but thankfully I was reminded by my support system to remain positive.
Today, I was finally able to see everything and I am so happy with my results. The scar ended up being way lower than it felt and will easily be covered by any lower article of clothing. I have been obese my entire life, so its the strangest thing to see my belly button so high on my abdomen. Will definitely take some getting used to. THE ONLY small complaint I have is a small roll on each side of my love handles. Dr. Swail agreed that there may be some tissue in that area that will need to be revised, but we will wait to do it in 3-4 months when all the swelling goes down and we can get an accurate idea of what needs to be removed. This will be a minor procedure and will occur with just a local anesthetic. This revision is included in my initial cost.
Everyone at Boulder Valley Plastic Surgery has been simply incredible. Dr. Swail is a phenomenal doctor and I would recommend him to anyone seeking any type of cosmetic procedure. Please see the descriptions on the pictures. I will update with standing photos later in the week.

I arrived at Dr. Swail's office at 8:30 this morning. I was greeted and had a bit of information to fill out. After about 15 minutes I was taken back into the preop and recovery room to be prepped. My nurse was incredibly kind and answered any question I had. She placed my IV and then Dr. Swail came in and marked where the incisions would be. After that, I was taken to the OR and the staff was very kind and considerate. Woke up in recovery feeling great. I was freezing st first but they said that was to be expected. I was discharged about an hour after. I've been home for about 6 hours now and feel incredible. I didn't expect to feel as good as I am. Dr did end up doing a minor abdominal muscle repair, so I do have a pain pump along with the pain prescription, anti inflammatory and nausea medication.


I rented a recliner as I read many reviews saying this was the easiest way to sleep and it's been awesome so far.

I am taking the pain medication as prescribed. The follow up appointment is Wednesday and hopefully I get to see the results as I am completely bandaged now and can't see anything.

Looking forward to see how I look!

When you are tipping the scale at over three-hundred pounds like I was, you have this idea of the body you're going to have when and if you lose the weight. Unfortunately, the ideal of what you think you will look like and the reality of what you look like are two different things. Thankfully there are online communities like RealSelf that help to set the expectation and walk you through the process. For me, I was left with quite a bit of loose skin in my abdominal region after losing 130lbs. Because of this, I have chosen to undergo an abdominoplasty with Dr. Swail. My first consultation with Dr. Swail was on 05/19/17. The Dr. was very kind and went through all of the options with me. Mini, Full, Extended Tummy Tuck and even body lift. Initially, from reviewing RealSelf and several other sources online, I was convinced I needed a body lift, But after meeting with Dr. Swail and identifying all of my problem areas, he felt that a full tummy tuck would cover the issues I was wanting to be fixed. With that being said, I am extremely excited of July 10th and cannot wait to check in and share the results. I will posting updates periodically throughout the process as needed. Stay Tuned. 48 DAYS!