Wendi Hammond:  After the birth of my two children, I was left with a rather distorted body. And after losing all my baby weight, it just never went away.

Nicki Des Roches:  I was just wanting to look a lot better. I had gone to one of my doctors, and she recommended that I see Dr. Zewert.

Plasha Will:  Dr. Zewert was recommended to me by my OB/GYN, because he does really great work with moms after they’ve had babies.

Dr. Zewert:  There are things that happen during pregnancy, namely the stretching of the rectus abdominis muscles that loosen the abdominal wall, that no amount of exercise can correct.

Natalie Knowlton:  Exactly. So I’m just curious on how to, you know, basically get rid of something like that.

Narrator:  A tummy tuck was primarily designed for women who have been pregnant one or more times. Though it is also useful for those who have had substantial weight loss, resulting in an excess of skin, or who want to get rid of a C-section scar or stretch marks.

Dr. Zewert:  Doing is basically we’re taking out all of this.

Natalie Knowlton:  Uhm hm.

Dr. Zewert:  And what we need to do is free up all this skin and fat and stretch it all the way down. And we basically isolate the belly-button. We pop it through after we’ve stretched the skin.

Natalie Knowlton:  Oh, wow.

Dr. Zewert:  Okay? You do have a diastases. You can see it. It’s actually very well pronounced. Where the muscle starts here, starts going in, and then zoop!

Natalie Knowlton:  Yeah.

Dr. Zewert:  It goes outward like this. So these are the-- this is the edge of your rectus abdominis muscles, and then we need to bring those in together as well.

Dr. Zewert:  The procedure does require, in general, an incision that goes across the lower portion of the abdomen. But that incision if done expertly and with care, heals very well. And it has a very thin scar typically.

Dr. Zewert:  We keep the incision inside a bikini line, and inside an underwear line.

Natalie Knowlton:  It’s a beautiful straight, beautiful line scar. Very minimal. It could have been much-- nothing like my appendix scar was. He knows what he’s doing.

Lisa Taylor:  I really wanted to make sure that this was the right thing for me, and they were very, I mean, step-by-step, “This is exactly what’s going to happen. This is exactly what to expect.”

Dr. Zewert:  Another aspect of a tummy tuck is that we perform a procedure called an umbilicalplasty. It’s a big word, but basically we make the belly button look better. And the vast majority of my patients have a much prettier belly button after tummy tuck than they had before one.

Natalie Knowlton:  <laughs> I feel great! I feel very sexy! Very happy, very proud. I’ve even lost additional weight since then.

Nicki Des Roches:  I have a lot more confidence. People compliment me. And I wear almost anything that I want now. And I feel great!

Narrator:  A tummy tuck is a procedure for women who are not planning to have any more children.

Dr. Zewert:  Now for some women, we can do something called a mini-tummy tuck. Where it’s actually a smaller procedure, and we can even combine this procedure with liposuction, where we make a smaller incision, and this is all that’s necessary to correct the problem that the patient has. Which is typically a small pooch of skin or fat underneath the belly button area.

Wendi Hammond:  It was exactly what I expected. I always could call and get information after the procedure was done. I wasn’t sure about things, “Please come in.” They always made time for me, and they were just always there.

Plasha Will:  I was really scared about having surgery, and also about plastic surgery. I’d never done anything like that before, so it felt a little uncomfortable. And they made me feel like it was okay. Whatever I needed to do it was okay.

Nicki Des Roches:  The healing process was very minimal, if I could say, but totally worth it. I felt great! For me it was like a mini-vacation for those couple of weeks.

Natalie Knowlton:  I didn’t realize he could make such a dramatic-- just by making those cuts, like a seamstress. I didn’t believe he could move my skin around. I actually have like a ripped ribs. I mean, I’m like cut! And I was very rollie before! And it’s really me underneath. You know, it’s still me. It’s not like we put in fake ribs! <laughs> Or fake muscles or anything. And then it even gave me more shape on my sides.

Dr. Zewert:  After a tummy tuck, the abdomen, the tummy, looks better than before the patient ever became pregnant. And they can actually have muscle definition in their abdomen. And the procedure lasts. As long as the patient doesn’t gain excessive weight, and takes good care of themselves, nothing is as long-lasting or natural in the rejuvenation of the abdominal region, or the tummy, than a true tummy tuck.

Nicki Des Roches:  Look at this! It’s awesome! Tummy’s gone! I feel great! I look great in my clothes. And Dr. Zewert, I owe it all to him! Do it! No doubt about it! He’s awesome!