AIBU to want a tummy tuck?

[AllUmder]

I hate my stomach, I have an overhang/apron. It's on my mind constantly, I check it in the mirror hundreds of times a day.

It's caused by weight loss ten years ago, I lost 6 stone. I've spent years trying to love myself and accept it. Years in the gym, weight training. Spent up to 3 hours a day with personal trainers, targeted fat loss, ate a totally clean diet, etc.

Nothing has helped. The past few months I'm so depressed about it, I get a rage of hatred and punch it.

My BMI is 22, I'm very fit, I dress well to hide it so you can't hugely notice in clothes, size 8-10.

DH is VERY against me having a tummy tuck. He thinks it's beyond stupid to have surgery for something I don't need. He says it's body dysmorphia - but it's not, he just loves me, we were married when I was overweight and he treats me exactly the same, it's like he never even saw the weight.

We can afford it, I can get time off work, we have no kids.

WIBU to just go ahead?

Where have you booked?
If money is no object I highly recommend seeing more than one

If you want to do it, feel like you've found a good doctor and have seen that the results from that doctor are what you want to see, have the money and time, then you do what you want to do.

Everyone needs to mind their own business, you don't owe anyone an explanation for what you do. If you're not hurting anyone else, it's your life and your choice.

No matter WHAT you do, someone somewhere will say something nasty about it. I think you guys in the UK say "sod off"? That's what you tell them.

For myself, my goal is if I can ever get rid of this last 25 lbs (I need to stick to my diet, it's my own fault) and keep it off for a year, I'm getting a lower face lift. I think life is too short to feel bad about things you have the power to fix. 😁

I'm also BMI 22 and had done everything I could in the gym. BEST thing I ever did. Also had BA because I just had empty skin there

I had a 360 tummy tuck, no muscle repair needed.
I have a scar along my hip line that nearly goes all the way round my body bar about 2 inches over my spine.

It's honestly the best thing I've done. Multiple pregnancies and a 7 stone weight loss, no amount or exercise was shifting the saggy skin, which made me at least 2 dress sizes bigger than I should have been.

Recover was fine. Operation was 5hours. In about 3, out at 8pm.

Awake and walked to the loo around 12am.

Home the next day. Took it easy for a few days but wasn't ever in any pain.

Back to normal in about 2 weeks, but being careful.

Hopefully I've attached before and after photos.

Id love to see the photos please!

Also can you say where you had this done?

You should get booked in for MLD ASAP.
I'm a lymphoedema therapist, and I work cosmetic post op every day.

How does this get arranged after an operation, does the company or hospital you use arrange this?

I keep reading about it on threads now and then but cant seem to work out how the logistics would work

@SFRSmum would also love to see pics

@Twatdog, does it really work?? My surgeon has just been to a big conference and said that it's highly recommended
What should I expect in terms of cost / treatments?

@Twatdog just wondering how it works with dressings and a negative pressure pump in situ

Yellow top just about a month after
Bikini 2 months after

Photos before taken morning of surgery

Wow @SFRSmum that is amazing at 2m you must have been so pleased with the results

Depending on where you have the surgery, some MLD sessions can be bought as a package. Typically those have international procedures.

In the UK, generally arranging them yourself, although sometimes there is a therapist(s) the surgeon/surgical team may recommend

It definitely works, it'll help with the inflammation, and they can deal with any fibrosis development. I'm also a scar therapist, so I look after those too.

The trick is finding such specialist, as it's also looking out for seroma or infection developments.

It depends how the therapist works, but all faja and compression come off (patient just in knickers). The scar means the lymph has to be directed up to the armpits. I'm vodder trained, so my technique is a gentle skin stretching and pumping motion. I don't work where the pump is, but I'll clear as close as I can. I work with people from the day after surgery who still have drains in

I had one 3 years ago. I always had a weird body shape with this grotesque belly overhang/apron thing that no amount of diet or exercise would reduce or get rid of. I felt like a freak of nature.

Can’t lie, my recovery was horrendous. Reading some of the stories here amaze me, it took me about 3 weeks before I could even stand up straight and I remember on day 3 thinking I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. But now 3 years on my only regret is that I didn’t do it ten years earlier. I love my new shape, I feel like a totally different (normal) person. The rest of my body is by no means perfect but the mental change in me has been immense. I was nervous about the op but they’re so commonplace now, my surgeon did 2-3 of them every week.

Do it.

@Twatdog are there certain qualifications I need to be looking for in a therapist?
Can anyone call themselves a lymphatic drainage practitioner?

I imagine there are some many not as qualified as you

@MsLumley that was me this weekend, I felt like I had made a huge mistake and deserves it if I got ill / infected etc

As long as you don’t plan to go to Turkey or do it on the cheap.
Research it well OP.

The upshot here is that it is your body, and therefore it is your choice.

You get one life, do it if that's what you want.

If you’re on Instagram, look up Mellymaysworld - she had a tummy tuck last Thursday, I think, so you can see how the recovery is in real time. I say go for it, based on what you’ve written, and I’m not much of a cosmetic surgery advocate!

You can search on the MLDUK, Casley Smith or LTA (lymphoedema training) websites, as they have directories of therapists.

My good therapist friend is also a post op specialist. She had lymphatic drainage and post op certificates, before doing lymphoedema. She's an osteopath as well though, so highly qualified. Oncology therapists often do it too.

I'd stay away from beauty therapists, no offence, but they won't be qualified enough, and just won't have the anatomical knowledge. Have a Google for MLD near me, and you should get some suggestions. Failing that, the find a therapist tool on the website I mentioned

WOW!!

@Twatdog I've found one in my area, she's on the MLD as a member DLT
she's not on the lymph training academy list though

Does this matter?

Make sure you get a good surgeon. Yes you will have to pay a consultation fee.
I was the same,after DC, slim, exercised, dieted, but nothing gets rid of excess skin and overhangs except surgery.
My DP didn't want me to have surgery, loved me the way I was but after seeing the results and me so happy he was glad I had it.
It was the best thing I ever did.

@AllUmder I had one last year (august) in a hospital in London as part of a much bigger surgery. I have a hip to hip scar and as a result of other illnesses I didn't heal that well and have two holes (minor but visible)

I was wound vacced (I think it's called) whilst in hospital and was in two weeks although I did have a major infection day five and they had to reopen (that was fun with no anaesthesia)

I still am glad I had it done. It's been life changing for me and how I view myself.

They are 3 different organisations, so being on MLDUK is sufficient. DLT (decongestive lymph therapy) is the most advanced, so that's a good choice