ANA Discussion Forum
General Category => AN Issues => Topic started by: Melissa778 on July 18, 2008, 07:00:13 am
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Ok, I know this is vain and silly compared to all that we've all been through....but it really bugs me.....
I had translab in May, and they took fat from my stomach....and my scar is HORRIBLE on my stomach......crooked, sore, and i have skin rolling around it where it's all pulled funny.....I just hate it. I am slender and petite and it really bugs me that I now have this roll of skin that all of my shirts seem to cling too. I hate the appearance of it.....I'm young and I still want to wear a bikini and lay by the pool.....but my stomach is awful! I have two children and fairly minimal stretch marks ( i know I'm lucky) I know it's horrible to complain about such a thing considering things could be much worse. ANd I understand that these are neurosurgeons removing the fat, not plastic surgeons....it just really upsets me.
So now my question is, could I have reconstructive surgery to correct that? And would my insurance cover something like that?
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It's not vain at all. In my opinion, the belly scar is much worse looking than the translab scar (at least in my case). I am not sure about plastic surgery and insurance - my guess is that it won't cover it. However, there are some things you can do to minimize the hard ridge, which is scar tissue.
Believe it or not, massage will help. I bought an oil called Bio Oil at the local drug store a couple of weeks ago and use it twice a day, gently massaging it into the incision area. Amazingly, the scar has already faded somewhat, and I think the lump has gotten a bit smaller. My massge therapist also said that massaging scar tissue helps to break it down. You may just need to give it more tiem (I know, who wants to hear that!)
I'll be curious as to what others have to say on this.
Debbi
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Give your self time. I have had 2 abdominal fat incisions and the 2nd looked horrible and big and knotty. I figured it would never look better but now 2 years later it is slightly inverted in with no bumps at all and a silvery color. Looks just the first one. I was amazed. I did absolutely nothing to help it.
Maybe next year at the symposium we can have a contest in who has the best looking abdominal scar. Another contest for the largest and smallest. LOL! It would have to be a female only doing with no males present!
Cheryl R
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I feel the same way. I like the idea of bringing this subject up at the symposium. I really do feel that the docs need to talk with plastic surgeons on how to extract fact with minimal cutting and scarring. Everyone that I have shown my belly scar to have all thought that it was a bit excessive.
Thanks Debbie for the oil and massage tip.
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Another thing my Primary care doc suggested was to maybe wear shapewear...like spanx, maybe that would help minimize and "tighten" things so to speak. Not sure the guys would be into wearing the spanx....but it would be a funny sight!! :D
Melissa
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we always see our own imperfections ... and make more out of them that anyone see's ...
from a guys point of view ... a beautiful woman in a bikini .... we are not looking at a tiny belly scar !! ;) :o
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Joef- thanks for bringing a male perspective to our raging belly scar debate! And, according to my husband, you make a very good point. He thinks I've made much ado about nothing...
As for the oil - I think it really is working. And, it smells good. ;)
Debbi, in love with my Blinkeze and belly oil!
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Daydreamer-
I'm with you on this one!!
Thanks Debbi for the tip on massage.
And thank you joeF for pointing out that men aren't paying attention to a belly scar!!! You're right, though...women are "our own worst critics".
My belly scar wouldn't be so bad if the surgeons hadn't cut a gaping hole above it. I'm also slender with 3 kids. I lucked out with the stretch marks, though...all under my bellybutton! :) The "hole" scar is what bothers me.
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From another guy's point of view: I don't think it's vain for a relatively young woman with a decent figure to be concerned about a visible, ugly scar on her body. I can appreciate any woman's concern over visible scarring from the belly incision. My wife had some surgical scarring about 10 years ago and was fortunate that the scars eventually dissipated. She used lots of vitamin E oil, which helped. Had the scarring not resolved on it's own, I would have seriously considered plastic surgery for her if she had wanted it. I doubt our medical insurance would have covered it but we would have found a way to pay for it, even if that took some time.
Of course, minimizing the incision in the first place would be the best solution. I hope the doctors will start to recognize and address that issue, especially with younger female patients. The skull incision isn't any larger than necessary, so why should the belly incision not reflect that attempt at minimization?
I agree that this would be an excellent subject to raise at the AN symposium this year or next. My hope is that AN surgeons eventually abandon the 'belly fat approach', as mine did, and thus make this a moot point.
Jim
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Hi Daydreamer,
It is unfortunate that doctors do not seem to take this kind of thing into consideration when they operate on anyone. Some do, but they all should. After all, they wouldn't appreciate it if another doctor left them or a loved one with an ugly and unnecessarily large scar. I just came from my pre-op apointment with my doc and told him I would probably have more questions before next Fridayl. Luckily, he really doesn't mind since we keep in touch through e-mails. He actually told me as ask much more interesting questions than most of his patients. I wonder what he'll think of this one. I hope the massage and belly oil Debbi recommended work for you. How are you doing otherwise?
Wendy
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Hate to say it, but I don't think insurance would cover a surgery to "fix" the scar.
They'd probably view it as not medically necessary.
Jan
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I know they most likely won't cover it, but I may still go forth with it. My incision is almsot four inches total....under my belly button......it's all scrunched and somewhat "gathered" looking....think elastic waist band....I knwo it's silly to be worried about such a thing, but I had a nice stomach prior to this :) Oh, well....it is, what it is.....I jsut wondered if anyoen felt the way I do. Nice to see I'm nto alone :) It's nto so much the scar itself that bothers me, just the way my skin gathers and pinches, and is "bunched" around the scar.....AS I said, I may invest in some spanx to flatten it all out :D I will definentley be trying to oil too.
Melissa
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Not silly at all, Melissa. I personally think my belly scar is much more bothersome than the head scar. Mine was hideously bunched up for the first couple of months, but it does definitely seem to be getting smoother and flatter now. It feels a little freaky to massage it, but I know it helps in terms of breaking down some of the scar tissue. Hang in there - it will get better, and if you aren't happy with the end result, there is always plastic surgery.
Debbi, oil at the ready...
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Melissa -
I don't think you're silly at all.
If I were your age and had a nice looking belly, I'd definitely look into doing something about the scar if it bothered me that much. You're talking to a woman who had a rhinoplasty (fancy word for nose job) at the age of 17 :)
My scar isn't bad at all, plus I'm long past the age of having a nice, flat belly - let's not forget I had twins! So at this stage of my life, my scar is irrelevant to me, but if I were in your shoes, I'd pursue it.
Jan
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Melissa,
You scar sounds large and unsightly but hopefully it will even out with time. I mentioned this to my neurotologist since I am having my surgery on Friday. I have had several other operations and already have a fairly scarred abdomen, 5 operations and a drain due to perotinitus, so far not including this one but only three separate scars. One of my doctors used the same incision line for three operations) According to my neurotologist he and oher doctors of his ilk do have a fair amount of training in plastic surgery so there is really no excuse at all for crooked scars. I think pretty much everything else sorts itself out during the healing process. I was also thankful to learn that my incsion will only be about 2 1/2 - 3 inches. I'm pretty confident I can count on him to give me a decent looking scar, but like Jan, I'm past worrying too much about it. Wishing you good luck in whatever you decide to do.
Wendy
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Lets see daydreamer.................yep my scar is still there :D
the massage deal will work and you can do that as well. that micro abrasion stuff or pumice rock will ease its "roughness"
My scar is 3 or 4 inches long . i had 13 staples there. the line is fairly shallow now and the red marks from the staples just barely visible......
my surgery was 8 months ago on the 3rd of Aug. and my bikini wax didnt help much but then im a 57 yr old guy LOL ;D
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Hi, my name is carla. I have the same horrible scar on my belly im also slender and have that huge scar next to my belly piercing. I used to wear bikini and only wear it now when there is not many ppl around. My surgeon told me i can get a plastic surgery on it, you know is already enough by having half of my face paralized. :-\
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I'm with Jan - I'm all for one piece bathing suits and cover ups!
However, IF I was slender and young and all those other long-gone things... I would be bothered by the scar. I'm 4 kids past being slender and young, so it's not an issue for me. I'm sure there's something that can be done for you young, hot bikini wearers. :D
Man sized Spanx.....I think I see a good money-maker here!
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Lori~
Can we add a line of "MANdex" to our garage business??
I always thought that scars were SEXY! That is what we always say at our house. Goodness knows I have enough of them! Even though I AM the YONGEST of the multiple birth sisters, I just say NO to bikinis!
K
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Now this is a thread that cracks me up! I, too am pretty skinny, and I hesitated to ask about the stomach, putting it in perspective with the brain, but I found the courage and inquired about whether or not they bring in a plastic surgeon for that aspect and I got the "we're better than those guys" which I am still having trouble figuring out if he was trying to make me laugh to check my facial score b4 surgery, or completely serious. Then, when I ended up with an ulcerated scar below the incision "because I have no bady fat", which was meant to make me feel flattered, I was going to say "what gives ?" but the other one owned up to it like George Washington cutting down the apple tree and I forgave him. Still, they should bring in somone who specializes on that and not heads. Insurance is so crazy that I think my Drs. got paid relatively little in the scheme of things, to cut in another surgeon is not lucative and Ins. does't want to ante up b4 never mind after. If you have the means, ask your doctors to involve someone who does this or atleast have them look at your belly and discuss how it is going to happen. I would have directed them to my belly fat! I think that it is fair when you compound the things that result from surgery that the belly scarring is the icing on the self-esteem cake. I got over it, but I'm secretly thinking of covering it with my first tatoo! Doen't tell anyone...
Scar management is important - bikini's are out for the first year or mega sun screen at the incision area. Massage gently lifting the skin away from muscle below it and roll between fingers.
Jules
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Insurance is so crazy that I think my Drs. got paid relatively little in the scheme of things, to cut in another surgeon is not lucative and Ins. does't want to ante up b4 never mind after.
All in all, I have no complaints about my belly scar. It's very faint and as I mentioned before, I'm well past the age of bikinis - and those who swim and sun with me are more than thankful that I no longer wear one :D
As far as this quote, Julie - I totally agree. It IS crazy what doctors don't get paid for. By the time my insurance company got done discounting all the doctors' bills, IMO my neurosurgeon and neurotologist both got ripped off. They each received less money than the anesthesiologist did :o I'll be the first to admit that the guy who puts you to sleep has an important job, but I think the two doctors who were literally working inside of my head were equally important.
While I'm thankful my insurance company footed the entire bill for my AN surgery and everything but my $400 deductible for my BAHA surgery, to this day I still feel bad that my doctors got "the short end of the stick" :(
Jan
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THanks for all the support ladies, and it has only been 10 weeks, i kep hoping that in the coming months it will start to look better. And I know it's silly to compalin about considering things could be sooooo much worse.
I am very thankful I had the docs I had and the ins. coverage that I have. I guess I just start saving my pennies for future changes if I want them :) I think I need to get into the garage business of Mandex with Lori and K......
Melissa
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MANDEX! Yes! It's all coming together now! I think we'll all be rolling in the dough pretty soon! We should have enough to pay for scar repair, extra liposuction (for those of us that need it), hearing aid batteries and maybe we can even throw in a few bucks for Steve to purchase more yarn!
What a bunch of great minds around here! :D
Lori
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We could also follow up on George's (Signfield) idea of the "Bro"...
K
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I am glad to see that others are bothered by this too. Yes, this incision is WORSE than the scalp incision (and Dr. Bojrab doesn't use external sutures on the scalp which helped a lot). I am thin, so they had a hard time finding enough fat and had to do a lot of "dissection." Which means the incision is longer and I had a very unsighlty 'seroma' (fluid build up around the incision) 2 weeks post op. EWWWW!! That resolved on its own and didn't need any drains (one doc thought I might need that). One doc wanted to do a CT SCAN!! talk about overkill.
thanks for the tip about Bio Oil. I'm going out to get eye drops anyway, will get that too! LOL about MANDEX!!
Pol
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All the more reason they should allow those of us who have some fat to spare to donate it to you skinny-minnies out there! :D
Lori
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ditto.. what Lori said... line forms behind my big behind! :)
Phyl
All the more reason they should allow those of us who have some fat to spare to donate it to you skinny-minnies out there! :D
Lori
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Hey Melissa and the rest of you ladies
I'm getting in on this late -- I noticed it before but I never got back to it. This is from a guy's perspective. I've been married to, dated and have known a lot of woman who have had C-Sections. If I ever noticed their scar, I'd think, hmmm she had a C-Section -- and never give it another thought. The truth is, if anyone were ever offended by a scar, why would you want to know them in the first place? I know when you're younger there's a lot of emphasis placed on perfection (especially here). But to a guy, a scar on your stomach is not a big deal. A tattoo of a knife might be a little scarey. But not a scar.
David
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David~
How did you know about my knife tattoo???? ???
K ;D
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Kay
Dave posted a picture on one of his updates when you were having your T3.
;D
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K -
good question!
David -
great answer!
And thanks for a man's perspective. Your scar theory sounds a lot like my BAHA theory. When I was first contemplating getting the BAHA my mom was really freaked out. It seems that she and my dad were very concerned that I would never find someone to date, and subsequently marry, once I had a titanium fixture in my head. (Never mind the fact that I have no intention of ever marrying again) I told her that if my BAHA "bothered" someone, he wouldn't be the kind of person I would consider dating anyway. We are what we are - "warts" and all :D
Although, I must say, Lori I'm second in the donor line behind Phyl ;D
Jan
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When I was first contemplating getting the BAHA my mom was really freaked out. It seems that she and my dad were very concerned that I would never find someone to date, and subsequently marry, once I had a titanium fixture in my head.
Sorry, just can't follow that logic. They clearly don't understand the magnetism, the electricity, the excitement, the aura of awesomeness that accompanies anyone who has a titanium fixture installed in their head, onto which they can snap an electronic device. What were they thinking? ???
Steve ;D
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K -
And thanks for a man's perspective. Your scar theory sounds a lot like my BAHA theory. When I was first contemplating getting the BAHA my mom was really freaked out. It seems that she and my dad were very concerned that I would never find someone to date, and subsequently marry, once I had a titanium fixture in my head. Jan
If I were 18 again ...(I wish!) .. I would NOT of gotten the BAHA .. I would be concerned with the looks .. ( I was geeky enough! , but I would be a big hit at star-trek conv with a borg implant ;) ) .
today .. if I was single again and someone turned me down .. that would be ok .. because it they were that shallow .. I would not date them anyway !!!