Confused,

[Badgerpink]

After my second appointment with my gp she said they would fund weight loss but not a tummy tuck after as bmi has to be under 25 and this is near impossible to achieve due to the excess weight... Why I'm confused is ... Did she mean me? ... Or generally ???

 

[WobblyW]

I think thats generally. i think its a BMI under 25 and to maintain that for 2 years. You never know, by the time you have your op, and loose the weight, they may have changed their ideas about funding tummy tucks.

 

[lamornamiss]

I had to get my BMI below 25 from 52 for a tummy tuck (didn't need to maintain)
I did it within 18 months
I was told by my bariatric surgeon that I would only get my BMI to around 33
I think that your GP is telling you in a round about way not to get your hopes up.
I had no problem being referred by my GP for a tummy tuck but the plastic surgeon was a lot harder to get past.
HTH

 

[Lush121]

I believe it is a lot harder to get plastic surgery than weight loss surgery on the NHS. However there are criteria that should be considered if you ask to be referred - is the excess skin causing you psychological damage? Are you getting recurrent skin infections because of the skin? The NHS is tightening up on all sorts of funding so no one should get their hopes up though. Being obese is life threatening, having too much skin isn't, and that is probably why funding for plastic surgery is usually refused.

 

[Badgerpink]

It's definitely not a priority I hadn't even considered it u till it was mentioned . It was like she gave me a one or the other kind of ultimatum . The priority is too loose weight and be healthy I totally agree I'm by no means vain and very comfortable with the thought of excess skin there is some fantastic support wear around now.

 

[Lee 77]

I'm of the same mind set chic I can live with a little excess skin can't live with excess weight :-(

 

[girlygirl1]

I lost 140 pounds and maintained this loss for more than a decade. I have, of course, a loose skin problem. My GP was and is very supportive; he recommended a tummy tuck on the grounds of 'massive weight loss'. One week before my appointment I chickened out. Why? Because I had googled tummy tuck pix, before and after. I did not realise that a TT meant a circular. all-around-the-body scar at hip level. Nor did I realise that it would mean the creation of a fake belly button. The latter I wouldn't mind but that prominent scar... it looked to me as though the patients had been sawn in half and then stitched together again.

I hate my tummy overhang. I also hate my inner thigh sag, and my slack lower under-arms. I could use a chin lift, too... but can I live happily, at a normal weight, with such minor imperfections? I think so. I might later review the TT situation, but the recollection of that all-round scar still unsettles me!