I had a Tummy Tuck, Liposuction & Muscle repair. AMA

[FlamingoAtTheBingo]

As the title really

Considering a tummy tuck or a spot of lipo? Or want to know about abdominal muscle repair? I had all procedures 13 weeks, so feel free to ask me anything

I had lipo about 9 years ago to remove saddle bags. That worked, but as soon as I put on weight it gives me a wobbly misshapen inner thigh area. Once it's done you really need to watch you don't gain weight.

@Ithinkim the scar is now fading nicely as I'm coming up to 3 months post op. At first it's brutal and I had an infection in it at week 3 which resulted in it opening up in places.

The surgeon asks you to wear the knickers you'd like to wear going forward and he guarantees he will place the scar below the knicker line. You want a low scar but obviously not stupidly low as that can cause issues

Here's a pic of it at 5 weeks post op - it's fainter and more uniform now

You look fantastic
I’ve a few stone to shift but I know my overhang won’t go. It’s reassuring to see what results you can get. Better start saving!

@chillibeansauce yes you're totally right. My weight will now go to other places which could lead to me looking top or bottom heavy

What surgeon did you use and where please.

@Seeleyboo I went to Eterno360 and my surgeon is Fulvio Urso-Baiarda.

It's REALLY important to go direct to your surgeon, no using any 'Transform' type clinics via a rep. You should be able to book directly with the surgeon and chat to him or her as much as you want beforehand. You should get a good feel for him or her on your consultations

What clothes are you excited to buy and wear now that you wouldn't have worn before the surgery ?

Did you have to do any prep before hand?
I considered lipo and a tummy tuck after the birth of my kids, but an exercise routine and diet worked for me because I was too scared of the scar it would leave.
You look absolutely amazing! Did any of your family judge you for your surgery? I had a boob job and got a lot of gossip from family members.

@FilledSoda ah I had so many plans for the things I would wear! The truth is ... I'm wearing the same sort of stuff so I've accepted that I'm a very lounge wear / sports luxe kind of person.

I have made one concession though ... I now wear short hoodies or sweatshirts instead of hip length ones. I can't go too mad with the cropped stuff and the family hoot at me ... I am kinda ancient though!

So yeah - not feeling self conscious in something cropped

@MiddleClassMother the only prep i did was making sure I was loading up on good food and walking 10k a day to try and ensure I had some semblance of fitness. I didn't go mad with supplements, just took my usual Vitamin D but added in vit C for healing and drank kefir - again for healing

No judgement at all. My husband very supportive. I honestly couldn't care less anyway what people might think. I really did do it for me and it makes such a difference not having a huge stomach - and if you have seen the pics, that's not an exaggeration. All my weight just hung there and it was awful

You look amazing. I’d never be brave enough to do it but I think for the result the price is pretty good. Do you think you would have anymore work done? People often say once you do one thing you start to notice other things you’d like to improve.

How open about it are you with family and friends, and what have they said?

@FlamingoAtTheBingo
Wow that's great! I'm proud of you!

@Daisy829 wellll.... I had a breast reduction 19 years ago and then kinda ruined that result by having another baby! I do have Botox and the odd spot of fillers but I've done that for a few years now

In terms of plastic surgery the answer would have to be 'no.' I told myself I'd be happy with the tummy tuck and not start looking for faults elsewhere. My upper arms are ugh and my inner thighs are but I am at a point where I don't care about that. I couldn't put myself through it again as I found the first week so so hard. I found the lack of mobility awful. And getting up from bed for 3 or so weeks was a mission.

I had a drain in for a week too and that was cumbersome and I snapped it twice. So I can't do it again as recovery is tough.

I've bounced back though and was all good from week 7 really.

@Strike000 totally open with family. They've been very supportive. And laughed of course

Less open with friends. I didn't document the journey on Facebook or anything My close friends all know and again, either very supportive or just rolled their eyes - depending on the friend!

I work in social media and could have shared it all on my various platforms but chose not to. I don't fear any judgement at all as I don't care about that but I'm not sure how many people would care?

I did this AMA because I know how useful I'd have found it beforehand and on a site filled with women who've had babies etc, I was sure someone else would be out there considering it too

And as for the point about not being brave enough to do it ... I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go through with it myself at first. My main worry was a life changing complication and my age. I'm not in my dotage or anything but I'm not particularly young either.

But I trusted my surgeon and my body and just went for it. From my first consultation in August to the operation itself was 12 weeks so I didn't give myself too long to dwell!

That’s great that your family have been supportive!

[quote FlamingoAtTheBingo]@Horehound the good news is I can't put weight on my stomach anymore! Not an ounce. This is because the fat cells have been removed

The bad news is ... it'll just go everywhere else of course! And you can end up looking most oddly shaped!

I'm just being careful with what I eat and I'm able to exercise now I'm all healed. Err not that I've done much of that tbf[/quote]
I didn't think it worked like that?

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.plasticsurgery.org/news/blog/can-fat-return-after-liposuction%3famp=1

@GwendolineMarysLaces I'm talking about just the tummy tuck for fat returning.. the surgeon removes the fat cells so it cannot come back - although it can come back in spots of course

Lipo - yes. It can return as your linked article says

Hi OP.
Thank you for sharing the details and photos.
Great results!
Well done

How old are you OP?

@FlamingoAtTheBingo
Wow, those before and after pics are great, and I think at £8.4k, really good value.
You look great. 👍🏻

Your results look amazing! My sister is booked in to do this in eastern europe. I was wondering if you considered going abroad for the surgery as it is so much cheaper? I will definitely be doing it when I can save the money up but was thinking of going to Turkey.

You look amazing thank you for showing us, I think about this too, do you think you would need many weeks off work for the recovery? I have a full time desk job and I wonder would I need more than a couple of weeks at home?

@sweetpickerlily I'd never ever consider going abroad. The risks felt too high to me. Plus I'd not want to pay for a procedure, come home, become ill and have to rely on the NHS to assist me

Having said that though, I know people do it becomes it's a lot cheaper. But you can't put a price on your health and you owe it to yourself to choose the best surgeon you can afford. Going abroad is high risk in my opinion so do your research ... join FB groups and when googling a surgeon's name from turkey/ Poland/ etc make sure you add the word 'botched' to see what comes up. Also beware of surgery tourism reps