66 Year Old Male with Excess Skin......LOTS of Excess Skin......lol. Las Vegas, NV

Dr. Sohn had done a mini face lift (a previous review) and I was totally thrilled with the results. Next I was gonna do a fat transfer just to fill things out. I changed my mind and went for the Extended Tummy Tuck. At first he kinda thought I didn't need it till I took my shirt off and saw what I was hiding under my shirts. We talked about it and I needed time to really come to terms. Dr. Sohn has become someone I consider a friend and never felt any pressure and could tell he really does care. I personally am a bull in a china shop type of guy and he's like a dose of Valium...... calms me down. We finally set the date in early May. I haven't looked back! For someone thinking about a TT, plan out your next couple months. A week to get up and about. Don't sit around thinking of anything but getting healed and up. You will feel strange sensations in you abdomen and twisting can be an issue till about 4-6 weeks. Have a recliner.... that will be your bed for a month or so. Once you get back to a regular bed getting up will still be a challenge. There will be a routine you develop to ease the discomfort . One thing I did to prepare for the recovery was Planks about 3-4 times a day and learned to stand from a seated position from any chair I was seated in without using my arms for assistance. It strengthened my abdomen muscles and my leg muscles and took the load off while in recovery. You will feel a sort of abrasive feeling in your abdomen and a tightness for quite some time...... I expect it will last for about 8-10 months. I use an anti-histamine to control it. Nothing incapacitating, just an annoyance. You will have little bottles (drains) with tubes which will collect fluid from your body. Again nothing but an annoyance. You will have to empty them twice a day and eventually as the fluid diminishes they'll pull the tubes out, about 2 weeks but everyone is different. The tubes are in your abdomen horizontally on both sides running from left to right and the other right to left. When they pull them out they actually tickle......I liked the feeling! Showering with the tubes and bandages can be a hassle but we overcame it by wrapping my self with plastic wrap, about three times. It kept 90% of the water out. After the shower I just cut it off with scissors. I had a lanyard which I pinned my drains to as I showered. You will also be come friends with your binder. I wore mine for about 2 months. Sometimes I wore it over my T-shirt other times I wore it under my shirt. The only issue I had was an infection right front and center. Shortly after we removed the bandages I put the binder on and didn't notice it created a fold in my stomach just below my belly button and rode in the fold and caused an infection. That set me back about 2 weeks in recovery. I got creative by placing a Telfa pad and a prescribed anti-biotic over the area. By the way Dr Sohn did a fantastic job making me a new belly button!! It's like the real thing! No kidding. Check it out in the picture.
There are things I have forgotten...... like for the first week..... keep milk of magnesia handy...... daily. Life is good with it. And other things I just can't think of right now. If you have a question, feel free to ask. If you are healthy enough GO FOR IT!
Remember don't become a burden for your other half ...... get up and move about often even on day one. The quicker you do the faster you'll recover. Less than 6 weeks after my procedure I was in Palm Springs and just returned from a week in the Canary Islands with my new look. No one believes I'm pushing 70.
One last word..... scars...... I used both Scar-Away strips and Mederma Advanced Scar Gel. Neither is cheap but worth it. The scar strips you can also buy in a roll form and is much cheaper. They are reusable. I used the strips if I was in a pool and therefore hid the scar and wasn't offensive. The scar has lightened quite a bit.
It's also great for self esteem.