Anyone had a Tummy Tuck

[Anonymous]

Has Anyone had a tummytuck in DC, MD, or VA? What were your experiences? Would you recommend any surgeons

[Anonymous]

Franklin Richards--offices in both MD and VA. Excellent surgeon. I am so glad I had my TT. I had this awful flap of skin after having a c-section. I do not regret the surgery at all, but the first week of recovery is a bitch.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who had one done and it looks great. She went to AUstin-Weston. She was in more pain than she expected but I think she feels it was worth it.

[Anonymous]

I also went to Dr. Richards for a TT, lipo to the flanks, and breast augmentation. My TT results are amazing. It was totally worth it.

The first week to 10 days of recovery is very hard. I was back at work at 17 days post op.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the recommendations! Do you have any scars from the surgery?

[Anonymous]

My sister had this done. She lost about 100 lbs and had excess skin. She was in more pain than she expected - couldn't stand up straight for several days. She had to wear her compression suit for several weeks, and she had drains in for at least a week (don't remember if it was longer or not). I think she was off work for 3 weeks, and then started going in a few hours a day until she was able to be there for a full day.

[Anonymous]

Thin white scar that runs from hip bone to hip bone and scar around belly button. Was able to move around easily after 1 week.

[Anonymous]

NP here. Please forgive me if this is an ignorant question, but for those that had it done, how did you explain the time off from work? I get a couple weeks'vacation a year, which I supposed I wouldn't have to explain if I just took it as a vacation.

[Anonymous]

I am happy with mine and went to George Bitar (drbitar.com). I explained my sick leave as abdominal muscle (i.e. hernia) repair after kids, since technically I did have one which he repaired in two minutes as part of the TT. Recovery was tough but I took 2 weeks off work. The incision was right on my c-section line but pulling down my tummy skin made the scar be a bit higher than I thought, i.e. low-rise will never be an option for me. But I'm very happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the recommendations! Do you have any scars from the surgery?

I'm one of the pp's. I had sort of a hybrid TT where they floated my belly button down instead of cutting around, so not belly button scar. I do have a scar at the bikini line from hip to hip, probably 10 inches or so. 11 months out it is still purple in some parts. I haven't really made an effort to minimize it with scar treatments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Please forgive me if this is an ignorant question, but for those that had it done, how did you explain the time off from work? I get a couple weeks'vacation a year, which I supposed I wouldn't have to explain if I just took it as a vacation.

I work in a small outpost of a larger company, and I told the other 4 people in my office what I was doing. I had the surgery on a Friday, took off the whole next week, and then worked from home some the following week. I'm fortunate because we're pretty informal about time off in our office. It would be hard to do this surgery of you can only take off 2 weeks a year. Unless you only need a tummy tuck with no muscle tightening and no lipo, you would most likely burn your 2 weeks on recovery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am happy with mine and went to George Bitar (drbitar.com). I explained my sick leave as abdominal muscle (i.e. hernia) repair after kids, since technically I did have one which he repaired in two minutes as part of the TT. Recovery was tough but I took 2 weeks off work. The incision was right on my c-section line but pulling down my tummy skin made the scar be a bit higher than I thought, i.e. low-rise will never be an option for me. But I'm very happy.

My scar is low enough that it would be covered by anything I would ever wear in public, including a bikini. But as this PP notes, depending on the type of procedure and how much skin you have, the scar can wind up higher, or involve a vertical incision as well. All something to discuss with your surgeon.