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    Anyone have cosmetic surgery?

    I am thinking of having a tummy tuck and lipo. I had 3 kids all within 5 years. Any woman who has had a couple kids knows what it does to our bodies.

    I want to get a treatment done in Chicago, but thinking it would be wiser to have cosmetic surgery first and heal from that because my immune system will be shot for a couple years after treatment.

    i would check with my neuro first, but has anyone has a big surgery and recovered ok without a relapse?
    Suspected MS 1985. dx 1994 still RRMS EDSS 1.0

    #2
    Not Yet... But great thread.

    I notice many less expensive options for face maintenance are not recommended for autoimmune patients. Looks like surgery may be the only option?

    Looking forward to others knowledge on this topic.

    Comment


      #3
      Major Surgery and MS

      You might say I have hit the medical jackpot. In addition to having RRMS I had breast cancer. As a result I had a mastectomy on the right side. That is most definitely "a big surgery" in my book. After all treatment was over I had 2 reconstruction surgeries on the right side of my chest and had the left side lifted/reduced to match. I am fortunate in that I have not had a relapse of any sort during either my active treatment phase or the reconstruction phase. If anyone was going to have a compromised immune system, it is going to be a person who was on chemotherapy. Chemo drugs purposely compromise the immune system in order to kill off the malignant cells.

      This type of question has been asked on this forum before and has gotten a number of responses. As I recall most people have done OK with major surgery and MS but some, of course, have issues. MS varies so widely that its effects vary widely, also. Just make sure that any and all plastic surgeons, neurologists, anesthesiologists, etc. know up front that you have MS. Good luck.

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        #4
        I've had laproscopic abdominal surgery -7 little cuts with umbilical hernia repair with no relapse.

        However, my gf had tummy tuck and had a really difficult time afterwards because she had no idea how much it would hurt. And she was throwing up from the anesthesia. I think it was her first major surgery. She lived alone too with no help.

        Abdominal surgery limits your ability to move, turn, get up and down with some pain at first. Maybe they cut you differently now. Just want you to know because you have children. Hopefully you have a hubby/family who will take over while you recouperate. It will take weeks, before you can drive, lift, push a cart etc.

        Good luck.. hope you get what you are hoping for!

        Jan
        I believe in miracles~!
        2004 Benign MS 2008 NOT MS
        Finally DX: RR MS 02.24.10

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by mjan View Post
          I've had laproscopic abdominal surgery -7 little cuts with umbilical hernia repair with no relapse.

          However, my gf had tummy tuck and had a really difficult time afterwards because she had no idea how much it would hurt. And she was throwing up from the anesthesia. I think it was her first major surgery. She lived alone too with no help.

          Abdominal surgery limits your ability to move, turn, get up and down with some pain at first. Maybe they cut you differently now. Just want you to know because you have children. Hopefully you have a hubby/family who will take over while you recouperate. It will take weeks, before you can drive, lift, push a cart etc.

          Good luck.. hope you get what you are hoping for!

          Jan

          yuk. lol I think I am relapsing again.... oh to dream of plastic surgery.

          maybe in 2 years.
          Suspected MS 1985. dx 1994 still RRMS EDSS 1.0

          Comment


            #6
            I had craniotomy 9 years ago - brain surgery where the neurosurgeon cut my head open to remove a tennis ball sized tumor - while I was on Copaxone. 4 days in intensive care, another two days in a regular hospital room then 2 more days in the hotel across the street from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN before I was safe to fly home to Seattle area. I thought that was very major surgery.

            I did not have any relapse or problems related to MS as a results of the craniotomy. At one point I thought I might be having a relapse of right leg weakness, so my neuro sent out the home health nurse for 3 days of IV Solumedrol, but it made no difference. The neuro said "Oh it must have been a pseudo-relapse. When you are not debilitated from recent brain surgery, you compensate better for the weak leg."

            Now Copaxone is an immune modulator, not an immune suppressant. I don't know if that matters. I healed up miraculously well from my flawlessly done craniotomy, and have been back at work in my usual job since 3 months after the surgery. That is the usual recovery time for such an operation.

            I also had 3 kids in 5 years. If a tummy tuck would help you feel better about your body, I'd say go for it!

            Comment


              #7
              ive had the smart lipo procedure done with no problems and they dont put you "under" with general anesthesia for it your awake and responsive the whole time under some kind of strong sedative with no pain at all...but i can tell you the healing process after a day or so out when your abdomen is beginning the healing phase was painful for me but a year and a half later i still like the results and am happy i did it.

              Comment


                #8
                After losing over 150 lbs. I had both a tummy tuck and a breast reduction/lift! And I managed to get both procedures covered by insurance! I did not have a relapse. I half expected it because I have relapsed after having a simple cold, but maybe my body was in too much shock over what I'd done to it to relapse! . But I can honestly say, it was so.......worth it, and I wish I'd done it sooner!

                I feel at peace with my body now, an inner calmness that I had never before experienced. I had been overweight since 7 years old, and suffered in so many ways throughout my life.

                Even the MS does not affect me negatively anymore (emotionally). There's just something about finally achieving a lifelong goal, and the sense of being calm, and peaceful with my body. It's hard to explain, but maybe it's that the weight issue was a bigger challenge for me than MS? I have a feeling now that I can deal with and conquer anything. I had to make significant changes internally, emotionally, in the way I perceive myself and life.....to not just lose the weight but keep it off. I dealt with many difficult emotions, and that helped me grow leaps and bounds.

                While MS is serious, and I feel concern, it no longer dominates my life or my emotional well-being, and I think it has a lot to do with the process I went through in losing weight, and in the 6 years I have maintained it.
                Crystal

                Success is a journey, not a destination

                Comment


                  #9
                  I had the full facial option over ten years ago. Three plus hours of general anesthesia. No problems with MS. I have also had all manner of the "less expensive maintenance" procedures done, to no ill effect. My daughter is a dermatologist and I am the willing participant to every new thing that comes out. All of this with my neuro's blessing. I have had all sorts of injectibles over the years, various lasers, including Fraxel. That one hurts. None of them have had any effect on my MS, as far as I can tell.

                  Hope this helps.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Great thread!!

                    I've had 3 C-sections and 2 other abdominal surgeries..but worse gained and lost 75 lb 3 times.. these were before my official dx but I can trace my sx back 40 years.

                    I have often dreamed of having a tummy tuck and wondered the same thing. I have been 'goal weight' on Weight Watchers 18mo so feel it would be a reward for 2 yrs+. I'm curious to know how to get Ins to pay .
                    Susan......... Beta Babe since 1994....I did improve "What you see depends on where you're standing" from American Prayer by Dave Stewart

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Camsue View Post
                      I've had 3 C-sections and 2 other abdominal surgeries..but worse gained and lost 75 lb 3 times.. these were before my official dx but I can trace my sx back 40 years.

                      I have often dreamed of having a tummy tuck and wondered the same thing. I have been 'goal weight' on Weight Watchers 18mo so feel it would be a reward for 2 yrs+. I'm curious to know how to get Ins to pay .

                      We should go together, maybe a discount! We can take pain pills and heal together. lol
                      Suspected MS 1985. dx 1994 still RRMS EDSS 1.0

                      Comment


                        #12
                        How to get ins. To pay!

                        First, I called my insurance company and asked for a printed form that detailed their exact requirements/criteria to have the surgery covered by insurance. Then I had 3 different doctors write letters explaining why I needed each procedure. I gave each doctor the bullet points the insurance was looking for, and they wrote their letters based on those.

                        Of course, every doctor supported me in my desire to have the surgeries, and were confident in me because I had maintained my weight for 18 months.

                        I interviewed plastic surgeons, found the right one for me, and she too wrote a letter promoting the necessity of each procedure.

                        I guess when you have 4 doctors in your corner, it's pretty tough for the insurance company to turn you down! And that's how I got the job done! When I woke up afterwards the first thing I asked was, "is my stomach flat"? They all smiled, and my surgeon said, "baby, it's not just flat, it's CONCAVE"! Then I felt my chest, smiled at my little bubbies, and fell back to sleep with a smile on my face!
                        Crystal

                        Success is a journey, not a destination

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Debby View Post
                          First, I called my insurance company and asked for a printed form that detailed their exact requirements/criteria to have the surgery covered by insurance. Then I had 3 different doctors write letters explaining why I needed each procedure. I gave each doctor the bullet points the insurance was looking for, and they wrote their letters based on those.

                          Of course, every doctor supported me in my desire to have the surgeries, and were confident in me because I had maintained my weight for 18 months.

                          I interviewed plastic surgeons, found the right one for me, and she too wrote a letter promoting the necessity of each procedure.

                          I guess when you have 4 doctors in your corner, it's pretty tough for the insurance company to turn you down! And that's how I got the job done! When I woke up afterwards the first thing I asked was, "is my stomach flat"? They all smiled, and my surgeon said, "baby, it's not just flat, it's CONCAVE"! Then I felt my chest, smiled at my little bubbies, and fell back to sleep with a smile on my face!
                          lol until you woke up and the pain kicked in.
                          Suspected MS 1985. dx 1994 still RRMS EDSS 1.0

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Oh yeah Katje! The pain wasn't fun, and the icky drainage tubes I absolutely hated....but it was short-term misery for lifetime benefits!

                            You have to remember I was overweight since I was 7, and I carried a LOT of weight in my stomach. After being overweight almost 40 yrs and having 2 kids, I was also a 48DDD, and those puppies had fallen so far south they were in Mexico! In fact, I developed mild scoliosis because I spent a lifetime hunched over trying to minimize them.

                            I'd do it a hundred times over! Why I didn't have a relapse I'll never know....maybe my body had enough to worry about with healing, who knows? My relapses are sometimes predictable, but at times there's no rhyme or reason for them.
                            Crystal

                            Success is a journey, not a destination

                            Comment


                              #15
                              strict diet, exercise and time > Lipo

                              Takes time and work!!!

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