Great Belly Button – Chattanooga, TN

Would I wear a half shirt and flaunt the belly, ever? Nope-not at all, not currently.
But I can wear a bikini and stay a good distance away from people while swimming, or get in the hot tub when it's dark, no problem.
Oh-yes- and I'm completely flat when I lay down to go to sleep at night. Standing up changes all that. Lower tummy just pooches right back out.
Belly button is a little dark, the vertical scar is just plain strange, the revisioned dog ear is still a dog ear, and there is a shelf above the incision. The upper shelf hangs over the top of full brief bikini bottoms quite nicely. I could cover it by pulling up the bottoms, but I've found that it is either shelf, or camel toe. Would an inch lower for the scar planning have been that much more difficult? The answer is "nope".
On a high note, there is no more pain, and I can fully stretch and move. No more swelling.
Would I do this again? Only after meeting about 5 different docs. But even then nobody really knows what is going to happen after you pay thousands and get knocked out to be cut on by the doctor you chose. Good luck.

Still have a step off above my scar. Stretch marks from my scar straight up to my new belly button. I suppose if I'd known more about what kind of procedures were available, I would have gotten spacers/skin stretchers first, then gotten the tummy tuck. I also would have expected that a doctor would have foreseen a difference in the fat under the skin above the scar and would have evened that out to match the skin below the scar, so there wouldn't be a ledge. I'm not a doctor, so of course I wouldn't have have known that might be an issue. But I guess thousands of dollars don't pay for little details like that. This plastic surgery crap is for the birds- since my adventures into it, I have noticed it is absolutely hit or miss with outcomes for anyone and by any doctor. Just a huge gamble each time, apparently. These people know the scar needs to be low regardless of whether a t-scar is longer than usual. Anybody would rather have a t-scar barely showing than an entire ledged horizontal scar riding an inch above any underwear or bathing suit. They can foresee the outcomes before we can. They know what they are doing.

I'll be going to a medical doctor in a couple of weeks to see how my muscle tightening looks at this point. I don't like how my stomach is flat when I'm laying down, but pooching when I'm standing. Plus- I feel staples or something under my scar, and so this is a discovery mission for me to figure out precisely what is going on under my skin before a year passes.

There is also more fat under the skin above the incision than under the skin below the incision. This causes a protrusion along the entire length of the scar above the scar. Nice little ridge that rests right over the top of any panties or swim suits I own. It's just wonderful. I swear to god- something has to be done about this scar, because I'll be damned if I have to give myself a camel toe every time I go to hide it. The actual scar would be bearable if the skin that comes together to make the scar line wasn't uneven.

Here's the thing though- if I have to get lipo to fix that, I've already been down that road once, and it is disfiguring. Last thing I want is more holes and gouges under my skin because of lipo.