For a "manly man," my husband is oddly self-conscious about his body. He was unusually tall and extremely skinny as a kid, a teen and a young man (and teased about it terribly), and then in his 30s-40s went from 130 to 250 lbs on his 6'+ frame.
When I had my DS, he simultaneous discovered that he could tolerate Coke Zero to feed his Coke habit (3 or more Big Gulps/day). He dropped 30 lbs in almost the same time I did, just from that change. Jerk.
He stayed around 210-220 most of the time after that, carrying essentially ALL of his excess weight intraabdominally (not good for someone with a family history of diabetes).
Charles has had an umbilical hernia for several years. Last summer, he was doing sit ups with our trainer when he was horrified to see that he had a huge ridge of belly just off center and above his belly button sticking up like a mountain range when he tightened his stomach muscles - it was a diastasis recti (the same thing that pregnant women get from the overstretching of the stomach wall).
He saw the general surgeon last summer, who said the umbilical hernia needs to be fixed, but the diastasis is considered cosmetic. He decided he wanted it fixed anyway - and I said I didn't have a problem paying for that, but the surgeon said he would not get a good cosmetic outcome unless he lost some of the belly.
That advice, combined with some dire warnings about diabetes and sleep apnea I made sure he heard, and a bad bout of post-upper respiratory infection asthma that lasted for months, apparently motivated him to actually buckle down and lose almost 30 lbs over the last several months and - hallelujah! - to quit smoking.
Also over the last several months, an inguinal hernia repair with mesh he had about 11 years ago was bothering him, and he decided he wanted it revised - and, perhaps, while the doctor was in the neighborhood, some FUPA-suction.
So, back to the surgeon we went, armed with some additional information - that sometimes, if you repair a diastasis at the same time as an umbilical hernia, you can avoid putting mesh in the umbilical hernia, and thus it MIGHT be covered by insurance. Amazingly (to me), the general surgeon somewhat agreed that that was a good idea - but deferred to sending Charles to a plastic surgeon, who would be the one to do the diastasis repair.
We then switched to discussing the inguinal hernia scar revision - and got a bit of a rude surprise - it was hurting him not because of scar tissue, but because he had torn a new hernia just under the edge of the mesh - and it REALLY needs to be repaired. Again, with respect to the simultaneous FUPA-suction, she deferred to the PS. She also wasn't sure about doing that much surgery at once (mostly because it is in two different places, and the inguinal repair is done lap, but of course the umbilical and diastasis repair means lifting up the entire skin of the abdomen.
Monday, we saw the PS. He too thought it was a good idea to fix the diastasis and umbilical hernia together, and took a look at the inguinal hernia and then the FUPA - and he said no way Jose - FUPA-suction in the presence of mesh in the area is a prescription for infected mesh.
SO - my husband may get his tummy "tucked," and covered by insurance, while I keep my saggy belly. Due to the way they do the diastasis repair, he might end up with a little bit of a FUPA lift in the process anyway
We won't know for a while, because I told the insurance person to NOT submit the procedures separately (which they were about to do) in order to make it clear the PS procedure (diastasis) was part and parcel of the umbilical hernia repair; I also told them to let me read what they are submitting before they do, so I can "fix" it if necessary. He doesn't see the general surgeon again until September 3rd, when she will put in her part (the two hernias) - but I want both procedures to be submitted to the insurance company TOGETHER, so we won't know if this worked for a while. He's already scheduled for surgery for Sept. 23rd.
And dontcha know, incidental to a CT scan I had last month, it turns out I have an incisional hernia that may need repair too - but I am in no shape for any plastics weight-wise - not worth it, so I'm going to try to put it off if it's safe to do so. I guess I'm going to have to catch up to how good looking my hubby is going to be after he gets his internal corset! I wonder if that will motivate me (including that he now most annoyingly weighs less than me again).
When I had my DS, he simultaneous discovered that he could tolerate Coke Zero to feed his Coke habit (3 or more Big Gulps/day). He dropped 30 lbs in almost the same time I did, just from that change. Jerk.
He stayed around 210-220 most of the time after that, carrying essentially ALL of his excess weight intraabdominally (not good for someone with a family history of diabetes).
Charles has had an umbilical hernia for several years. Last summer, he was doing sit ups with our trainer when he was horrified to see that he had a huge ridge of belly just off center and above his belly button sticking up like a mountain range when he tightened his stomach muscles - it was a diastasis recti (the same thing that pregnant women get from the overstretching of the stomach wall).
He saw the general surgeon last summer, who said the umbilical hernia needs to be fixed, but the diastasis is considered cosmetic. He decided he wanted it fixed anyway - and I said I didn't have a problem paying for that, but the surgeon said he would not get a good cosmetic outcome unless he lost some of the belly.
That advice, combined with some dire warnings about diabetes and sleep apnea I made sure he heard, and a bad bout of post-upper respiratory infection asthma that lasted for months, apparently motivated him to actually buckle down and lose almost 30 lbs over the last several months and - hallelujah! - to quit smoking.
Also over the last several months, an inguinal hernia repair with mesh he had about 11 years ago was bothering him, and he decided he wanted it revised - and, perhaps, while the doctor was in the neighborhood, some FUPA-suction.
So, back to the surgeon we went, armed with some additional information - that sometimes, if you repair a diastasis at the same time as an umbilical hernia, you can avoid putting mesh in the umbilical hernia, and thus it MIGHT be covered by insurance. Amazingly (to me), the general surgeon somewhat agreed that that was a good idea - but deferred to sending Charles to a plastic surgeon, who would be the one to do the diastasis repair.
We then switched to discussing the inguinal hernia scar revision - and got a bit of a rude surprise - it was hurting him not because of scar tissue, but because he had torn a new hernia just under the edge of the mesh - and it REALLY needs to be repaired. Again, with respect to the simultaneous FUPA-suction, she deferred to the PS. She also wasn't sure about doing that much surgery at once (mostly because it is in two different places, and the inguinal repair is done lap, but of course the umbilical and diastasis repair means lifting up the entire skin of the abdomen.
Monday, we saw the PS. He too thought it was a good idea to fix the diastasis and umbilical hernia together, and took a look at the inguinal hernia and then the FUPA - and he said no way Jose - FUPA-suction in the presence of mesh in the area is a prescription for infected mesh.
SO - my husband may get his tummy "tucked," and covered by insurance, while I keep my saggy belly. Due to the way they do the diastasis repair, he might end up with a little bit of a FUPA lift in the process anyway
We won't know for a while, because I told the insurance person to NOT submit the procedures separately (which they were about to do) in order to make it clear the PS procedure (diastasis) was part and parcel of the umbilical hernia repair; I also told them to let me read what they are submitting before they do, so I can "fix" it if necessary. He doesn't see the general surgeon again until September 3rd, when she will put in her part (the two hernias) - but I want both procedures to be submitted to the insurance company TOGETHER, so we won't know if this worked for a while. He's already scheduled for surgery for Sept. 23rd.
And dontcha know, incidental to a CT scan I had last month, it turns out I have an incisional hernia that may need repair too - but I am in no shape for any plastics weight-wise - not worth it, so I'm going to try to put it off if it's safe to do so. I guess I'm going to have to catch up to how good looking my hubby is going to be after he gets his internal corset! I wonder if that will motivate me (including that he now most annoyingly weighs less than me again).
