Tummy Tuck and Kidney Donation

[bergstromtori]

I am donating a kidney to a friend on September 6th of this year.  I am also getting a tummy tuck during the donation.  The Kidney surgeon and the plastic surgeon worked with the hospital to get me a discount.  Anyway, have any of you out there done this?  If so, how was your recovery?
Thanks,
Tori (Utah)

[Fr Pat]

     I don't have any information or experience on that, but I thought I would mention that occasionally I have heard of organ donors who have paid from their own funds for a plastic surgeon to be present to do the final closing of the donation incision(s) using special methods to reduce the appearance of the scars. So if you are going to have a plastic surgeon there anyway, you might want to ask about the possibility of him/her doing the final closures after the transplant sirgeon is done.
     best wishes,
         Fr. Pat

[bergstromtori]

Hi Fr. Pat,
I am paying for the tummy tuck portion myself.  The plastic surgeon is coming in to help with the initial incisions.  The kidney surgeon will be making adjustments so that his incisions are all within the area of the abdomen that will be removed.  After the kidney is taken, then the plastic surgeon takes over and does the tummy tuck.  Sounds complicated, but it all happens during the same surgery.  I get the feeling the the kidney surgeon and the Plastic surgeon are looking forward to working together to see what they can do.  During my last appointment with the kidney surgeon he asked me if I had any questions and I ask embarrassingly how long I would have to wait to get a tummy tuck (three c-sections and it is pretty ugly).  He said that they could do the tummy tuck at the same time.  If doesn't happen often, but they have done it several times before.  I am looking forward to recovering one time and in a hospital.  With most tummy tucks they send you home right away.
Thanks,
Tori (Utah)

[Barbara S]

Its funny - I told the transplant team if they offered a tummy tuck with a kidney donation the donors would be much more willing to donate!!
I have since had an incisional hernia repair - so no tummy tuck in my future

[bergstromtori]

I was glad that they didn't tell me about this option until I had made it all the way through the screening process, because I would always wonder if I had done it for the tummy tuck.  I would have. 

[Orchidlady]

Wow! That is amazing! It will be interesting to hear how everything went for you when it is done. At least you can get it done all in one surgery!

[tjhurley]

Congratulations on your future tummy tuck and your donation!

I had a tummy tuck 9 years before my laparoscopic kidney donation in 2009.  The tummy tuck surgery recovery is much more painful, so the majority of the discomfort you'll feel moving post surgery is the tummy tuck    After my tummy tuck surgery I had to sleep in a recliner for 2 weeks and had to walk hunched over for a month. By contrast, on the second day post kidney donation I was climbing in and out of the hospital bed quite easily. I do think that having the tummy tuck surgery gave me an advantage. For one thing, I had been in a lot more pain post surgery 9 years earlier, and I was quite experienced at moving super slowly when changing positions. I can be a big baby about pain, so after helping me through my tummy tuck, my husband had been dreading my recovery post donation. He shouldn't have worried, it was a breeze.

I was thrilled with the results of my tummy tuck - during the kidney donation the surgeon made the long incision and a couple of the portals on my tummy tuck scar. So thoughtful of him, I hadn't even thought to ask about it ahead of time.  Best wishes to you, Janet

(I really enjoyed offering to show people my kidney donation scar  - the tiny one next to my belly button - always fun to have an opportunity to show off the tummy tuck results even 9 years later!)

[bergstromtori]

Nice to hear from someone that has done both.  I am dreading walking around my neighborhood with a walker.