Advice Tummy tuck and breast lift

[QuaintMauveCrow]

I am having a consultation soon to book a tummy tuck this year, very excited! It’s been a long 16 years of waiting to be able to afford it and finally keeping off 60lbs of excess weight!
I have found a surgeon who’s work and reviews are excellent (Prof Whittaker, based in wales & London)
I am 35 and have two children at home ages 17 and 3 and lots of support from friends and family to help during the recovery process but
i would love to hear people’s experiences,
good & bad and recommendations for items that help make the recovery easier please 😁

I am also considering have a breast lift at the same time so any experience of this greatly appreciated, thank you lovely ladies!
(posting in AIBU as I couldn’t find a suitable place to post)

Added to the list, thank you 🙂
same issues for me with the muscle separation and soo much loose skin, I hope I’m happier after too!

The Cadogan Clinic doesn’t have appropriate back up facilities if things go wrong, and several of my very experienced anaesthetic colleagues went there and decided never to go back because of safety concerns with theatre equipment (lack of) and back up arrangements. Have a look at The London Clinic - a big private hospital with an ICU.

ah ok, something I need to look into and consider.
more research to do, these are things I had not thought about… this thread has been very helpful thank you!

I'm just on to say how jealous I am of the tummy tuck! I am pretty slim (now) but have the old c section pouch.
It pisses me off so much dangling there on my slim waist and hips! It looks worse than it did when I was fat. Shapewear is a pisser in the summer!
But I cant afford a tuck so I will just have to content myself with jealousy!
Hope you get a great result.

I had tummy tuck & breast lift 3 years ago. I am 51yrs old now. It was the best thing I ever did. The recovery is tough, more for the tummy tuck than the breast lift, I found. But I live alone so had to do everything myself.

It was all worth it, I absolutely love my body now.
You seem to have everything covered with the support post surgery.
I will suggest buying a compression tummy board (cheap on amazon) it was an absolute game changer for the tummy tuck as well as a V shaped pillow to sleep on while you recover.

Be gentle with yourself, its a mental strain as well as physical, but please don't listen to those who question you...
you wont regret it!

Might be too personal a question but did you lose sensation in your nipppes? I've been considering a breast uplift but I cant seem to find an answer to this question and if the answer is yes then it's a non-starter for me. Thanks

Nothing too personal to ask on here!
No I didn’t lose sensation.

Hear hear, as well as the fact most of us can't snap our fingers and find the money for this sort of thing in a moment!

For what it's worth OP, although it must have been frustrating to wait and live with what you had, I think waiting was probably the right thing.

I am planning similar surgery in the next couple of years, and first I had to finish breastfeeding, then weight loss and maintaining a bit. And it's so much easier (and getting easier all the time as my son grows up) to make the lifestyle changes needed to support this in a way that sticks.

So waiting is almost certainly the right thing to do!

I had an abdominoplasty with muscle repair. It wasn't due to the way I looked, I looked fine, but my stomach muscles had completely torn so I struggled with every day tasks like sitting up from lying down, lifting my dcs etc

My memories, it hurts, really hurts. A tummy tuck is not for the faint hearted. You can't lie flat or stand up straight for 2 weeks, and it will feel tight for many months longer. You have to be careful when you wake up that you don't accidentally stretch. I didn't realise I did this, but I soon stopped because omg the pain.

The cut goes horizontally hip to hip and right through your lymphatic system. Do the recommended massage post surgery to aid drainage and healing. I didn't because I had small dcs and no time. I now have a bulge over the scar, a bit like a c section pouch where fluid builds up as my lymphatic system isn't draining properly. So I have gone from a relatively ok stomach but no core strength, to excellent core strength but a bulgy stomach. So that's something to consider. You may not get the flat stomach you want. But I'm ok with it, I wanted my strength back and I got that!

You may be left with areas with no feeling on your stomach, you may have to have your belly button moved, or you may be left with it in slightly the wrong place. Mine is about an inch too low. I decided this with the surgeon as a better option than the extra surgery and healing to move it.

I went to one of the best surgeons for this, based in the SE, PM if you want his name. The surgery was v smooth, as was the healing. My scar is pretty much invisible. But with any surgery bodies are all different so you can't predict what the scar will be like, or how your body will cope.

As for help, you will struggle for at least a week and will need to shower sitting down (one of those invalid stools with adjustable height is perfect). You won't be able to lift heavy cooking pans, or laundry baskets. You'll need help with basic household tasks and possibly help getting in and out of bed. Well you can manage but it will be easier with help. From 6 weeks you'll be absolutely fine to do anything, but give yourself 3 months until you feel normal.

Very normal to completely regret it initially as you struggle with recovery but change your mind once you have healed.

@ChewChewsBiscuitTin Might be too personal a question but did you lose sensation in your nipppes?

My mum had a breast reduction 15yrs ago, not just a lift, and she did lose sensation in at least 1 nipple. I can't recall if it was both or not. She had nearly 1kg removed from each breast, so it was a far more complex procedure to then reconstruct it to look like a normal breast again. I 'think' for a lift op only, they can leave the nipple attached and its less likely to lose sensation, but it would be a question for the surgeon.

Thank you @Ukefluke
the more weight I have lost the worse it looks too 😩 double edged sword!
i am holding a bit of guilt about spending this much money on myself, even after over a decade of prioritising home security, experiences for the children, career & education and a lot of therapy. The feelings I have about it never change!
hope it’s on the cards for you in the future 💐💐

I really appreciate your message 🙂 and thank you for the compression board recommendation!
did you have implants with your lift?
and did you have any help at all when you got home? After my last c section I was quite isolated due to my children’s father (not an issue anymore thank god) and did everything including all housework, childcare and even driving within a week on my own.. but of course there’s no guarantee that the recovery for a tummy tuck will be comparable to the c section I suppose… just trying to convince myself I will boss it 😂

Thank you @ghastlyghost for taking the time to write that out
Very comprehensive and very very helpful!

I completely agree @TheNinkyNonkyIsATardis 💛
being able to maintain the changes has taken a lot of working out, and when you add in all the emotional & physical elements of being a mum it considerably slows up the process (but Oc totally worth it) X

I had a tummy tuck with full muscle repair. At the same time I opted for breast implants as my 3 children sucked the life out of me. I was always slim between sizes 8-10 but during my pregnancy’s I got so large and my body just never snapped back as others did. I found it so hard so I decided to just go for it.
make sure you have great compression suit after and the tummy boards are amazing. When I tried to have one night without compression I was in so much pain I don’t know why I bothered to not wear it (though I remember being extremely hot and itchy)
it soon wears off/ you get used to it.
find someone to start you with lymphatic drainage massages. I had mine lined up so started a week after op and then 3x a week until around a month then 2x a week for a month and then once a week for the next year.
BEST.DECISION.EVER.
The lady was Brazilian it was at her home and in their culture this is the norm. I did have times when I was poorly and had to miss a week but I felt awful I visibly expanded and It hurt so much. My body got used to releasing drainage often and now I’m 5 years on no regrets I absolutely love my body. And as a member of a gym where I swim regularly with my children I do get compliments all the time. My stomach is completely flat it’s better than I could have imagined. No I don’t go gym I don’t have a healthy life style always binge eating. I never put myself first always was the house the kids or their dad and I just thought no I’m doing something for me and after years of wanting it I just booked it and had it done in 3 weeks 😂
crazy I know but I knew o wanted it and if I didn’t just go for it I never would have. (Massive overthinker)

also I think if you can afford to just do it then do. That’s what money if for and I can say it’s been life changing.

also reply to losing sensation in your nipples. I have and it since hasn’t returned. From oct 2021. No uplift nothing altered surgically around my nipples just a straight implant in above muscle.
also my nipples are just constantly erect. I mean my boobs look amazing but I have had side effects.

recovery was a road but worth it. I was up and about with my one year old my other 2 girls and hoovering at week 3.

Regarding scars everyone that’s had surgery has one but remember all our bodies scar differently. I’m mixed race and so I scar dark but I’ve had a few cosmetic treatments like laser and chemical peels and these have lightened them so much.
good luck and you always have a army of support on here 💕

Just read this back and my god my brain just flits to the next 😂 apologies. This is just how I’m wired 🫠
on the lead up just try make your life as easy as possible for yourself with pre cooking meals someone can chuck in the slow cooker or oven whatever. First two weeks your need help getting in and out of bed , on and off the toilet. You’ll feel really tight in your stomach but the compressions help with that feeling of holding you together.
try and rest as much as you can and let your body do the rest.
as another poster said completely normal to regret it and go through the mental process of it all but you will come out the other side and be so happy you went for it x

Not unreasonable at all, I wish I was a surgical candidate for a tummy tuck however I did have a breast reduction at 26 and was absolutely thrilled with it, I saved up for it since I was 10 (early developer) and wish I could have afforded it earlier.

When I got my breast reduction the nurse said many women are back within the year for a tummy tuck, as with the weight gone from their chest they see their tummy properly for the first time and/or find it more unsightly by comparison than they did before.

I didn't have the money and hadn't completed my family otherwise I'd have done the same.

Out of interest, how much would a tummy tuck set you back?

A “Whittaker waist” which usually includes a breast enlargement / lift as well as tummy tuck starts around £12k.

Quoted an approx price of £15996 for a abdominoplasty, lipo and breast lift from Prof Whittaker
And £11,600 from a different surgeon for abdominoplasty and lipo
eye watering I know 😳

I resonate so much with your post, THANK YOU 💛
while you had a 1 year old too, that’s hard core! Giving me hope of managing my spirited 3 year old after 😂

laser treatment for scaring could be a game changer for deciding wether or not to have the lift! Xx

@Charliede1182 great to hear your surgery made such a positive difference for you!
I have been wondering whether the tummy tuck would change the appearance/how I feel about my breasts! But I haven’t been able to find anyone else’s experience of this!

Thanks everyone for the prices. Once I finish losing weight, will consider this

I’m just over one week out from a breast lift/aug and an extended tummy tuck!

if you want it go for it! I have had four DC and lost 10st after a gastric sleeve. I looked like a melted candle.

recovery has been up and down, nothing major just the usual post surgery blues. I am already thrilled with my results.

Amazing @whatifs1 well done on your weight loss!!!
how are you feeling, emotionally as well as physically?
great that your already pleased with your results, It must be surreal?