It's been 6 weeks since surgery and I'm feeling great!  The doctor said that I'm officially a 'graduate' and I don't have to come back for another follow up for 4 1/2 months.  This is when he takes the 'after' pictures.  I stopped wearing the binder 4 days ago and I feel like I have some increased swelling, but that is supposed to take at least another 4 months to resolve itself.  So I have to continue to be patient, but the worst is over.  The biggest inconvenience is the numbness in my belly area.  I'm able to get into my jeans, but still not my khaki's, but the jeans are very uncomfortable.  I really think this is due to the numbness.  Believe it or not, it amplifies the rougher fabrics/zippers/buttons.  This is very uncomfortable -- so I think the solution is to just start wearing some of these that fit and just push through.  This is probably the only way to desensitize the area.  My belly button is swollen and I've been instructed to 'massage' it by pressing the fluid out of it several times a day.  I continue to have a lot of pulling and tingling all over the belly area -- I respond by rubbing it..... I'll be glad when this stops. (my husband asked me how many times I 'pet' my new belly!  ha ha!  I told him that we spent $6000 on this new 'pet' so I plan to pet it as often as I want!  :)

My activity level has improved.  I walked a 5K yesterday!  (54 minutes)  I plan to attempt running on the treadmill this week (easing into it)  and then in about 2 weeks I plan to start swimming laps at the local rec center.  However, I'm still not up to par......

Another annoying feature of this new belly is at times I will have an itch and where I feel the itch, it's numb.  So I can't scratch it or find it to scratch it.  Weird huh?  Sometimes I'll find relief by scratching in an area that I can feel..... this is really impossible to describe.  But it's strange and the doc said that this may take years to resolve itself.... argh.... the price we pay huh? 

I know I need to post some new pics..... I'll work on that..... thanks for following!  I hope this helps someone who is considering the surgery.... after going through this I would do it all over again......

Tomorrow it will be 4 weeks since my surgery.  Life slowly but surely gets easier although I think I've got a way to go.  I'm still pretty swollen, but that has improved!  I can pull my regular jeans up, I just can't button them yet..... still about 3 inches apart!  About 5 days ago, it felt like there was a major turn around for the better. 

Currently, my tummy has a mind of it's own. At times I can stand straight up and I almost feel normal again.  But then, it will start 'pulling' and almost feels like it's contracting.  I'll be glad when this stops.  

After my first week of work, I was exhausted.  I slept 11 hours Friday night!  I felt like crap on Saturday, but then renewed on Sunday.  This week has been much better.  The biggest lesson learned is: don't start wearing spanx too soon.  It pulled a small area of my incision apart.  So I'm just wearing my binder now and things are healing nicely.  That's all for now.  I really can't think of anything else worth mentioning!  Any questions? 

Here we are 2 weeks post surgery and I must say that I'm feeling great!  My endurance is lower -- I've been needing a nap in the afternoons of the days that I'm more active.  I return to work in just 2 days!  This may be challenging -- but I'll just have to make it work.  I just wanted to talk a little bit about how things went this last week since my last post.  I have to say that around day 8-9 post op, there was a major turn around in the pain department.  I was able to go longer between doses and that was something that I really focused on for a couple of reasons:  1.  I don't want to be addicted to pain meds, 2.  I wanted to find out how much pain there really is without meds.  So I started out at 4 hours between doses, then increased to 5 hours and then 6 all the way up to 15 hours!  As of today, I haven't had any pain medication since Thursday (2 days ago) .  That's also the same day that the surgeon removed the second drain.  That was so great to get rid of that little buddy! That friendship was getting really strained! ha ha! When he removed this one, it felt really wierd -- like a big worm was crawling around in my belly.  eww.... so glad that is gone!

Around day 9-10, I returned to sleeping in my bed instead of the recliner.  This was a little challenging at first, I elevated myself with pillows and kept 2 pillows under my knees to keep my body in a flexed position.  Laying straight was impossible at this point.  Today, I did lay pretty flat for about 15 minutes.  I'm not sure how much of this 'stretching' I'm supposed to do, but I figure that it needs to get started so I can resume standing straight up.  There is a constant pulling sensation in my torso where the muscle repair took place.  I asked my Doc how long this would last and he just said that everyone is different.  So, it's my goal to speed that process along! 

My biggest surprise is how much swelling I have in my torso and upper thighs.  I tried on a pair of my regular pants yesterday (the non stretchy kind! :)  and you would have thought I had gained 20 lbs!  They were NOT going up!  However the scale says I weigh 10 lbs less..... I'm trying very hard to eat healthy and not aggravate the outcome.  My doc says that most of the swelling should go down over the next 4 weeks with the remainder coming off by 6 months post.  So I'm anxious for this to happen and take some "after" pics in some of my regular pants.  (I took "before" pics that I'll post with the "after" pics when that happens) 

I have to continue wearing the binder for FOUR more weeks -- the one the surgeon provided is very uncomfortable and bulky and doesn't look right under my clothes.  I went to walmart and got a cheap version of spanx that just goes around my midsection.  It is wonderful!  It seems to me that is covers more area and it creates a smoother look under my clothes.  Granted, my husband had to help me hoist it up over my butt to get it on -- but worth the effort!  And by the way..... my husband is VERY pleased with the results!  That sure takes a lot of pressure off of me-- especially after spending 6 grand! He has been very supportive and has been a great nurse through this process.... this surgery has literally been a dream come true for me.....

The most painful activity now is coughing.  Wow! That's a killer!  So I'm trying avoid it..... I really hope that resolves itself soon..... 
That's enough info for now..... thanks for traveling with me!

D

It's been 6 days since my surgery and I've promised a couple of pictures so here they are.... this pic is just 3 days post op..... I know... my belly button looks HUGE..... but that's because my entire abdomen is swollen and the belly button is stretched out.  It won't stay that way.  However, it takes about 6 months + for all of the swelling to go down.

I thought of a couple of things that might be helpful post surgery.  Have some hard candy ready because your mouth will be super dry.  I tried to eat some crackers so I could take my pain meds and they just turned into a big dry tumbleweed in my mouth!  But to stave off nausea..... make sure you have food in your stomach!  And drink lots of liquids too. Also -- in the post op instructions it says to walk for 20 minutes, 4 times a day.  This is crucial!  I would also advise everyone to do ankle pumps as soon as you wake up and do at least 20 reps as often as you think to do it.  This activity is so important to prevent blood clots from forming in your legs and then traveling to your lungs or worse.  The breathing exercises also help prevent pneumonia.  The reason I'm stressing this is because a woman my doctor did the same procedure on just 2 days before mine did not follow these rules, went home and sat in her recliner and is currently in the hospital with blood clots in her lungs.  This is serious advise.  Ignoring it could be fatal.   A very helpful tip with the walking is to borrow or invest in a 4 wheeled walker to lean on during your walks.  The walking kills your back because you have to walk with a flexed posture which forces your back to hold up your entire torso -- this hurts alot. So having something to lean on is a great help..... I couldn't have done this without it.   I have also borrowed a reacher to help grab things just out of reach..... a life saver for sure!

 

This pic is 6 days post op.  I took this just prior to my doctor's appointment today.  Things went really well.  He removed one of the drains and the surgical tape that was over my incision.  My Plastic Surgeon doesn't use any stitches on the outside.  All of them are internal...... and I am very pleased with how the incision line looks!  Some after pics I've seen have a very jagged with a wide looking incision line.  Mine appears to be more smooth and thinner than others I've seen.  Of course I'm still swollen.  I'll be so glad when that goes down!  I still can't stand up straight, but I'm working on it.  I did sleep in my own bed last night!  ....Best nights sleep I've gotten since the surgery! But I had to prop up on pillows and prop my knees up on a pillow.  My torso just can't handle laying flat yet.  I think that's enough for now.....

I've gotten through day 3 and the pain is letting up quite a bit, although I tried to go longer without pain medication and that was a mistake.  I'll give it a couple of days and try again.  I return to the doctors on Thursday and he is supposed to get one of the drains out. I've been working at standing up straighter when I'm walking.  This is going to take a while I think.  My abdominal area is very tight and I've read that this is worse with a full tummy tuck.  I'd say that the additional hernia repair is also contributing to this tightness. One area I think is developing into a problem is that I haven't had a BM since the morning of surgery.  I've been taking stool softeners daily starting 2 days prior to surgery.  I'm getting a little concerned -- so I took a laxative today.  If this doesn't resolve itself, I will call my doctor in the morning.  I also (knowing I shouldn't) weighed myself today. I'm just curious how much the skin that he removed weighed.... but it showed that I've gained about 6 pounds.  It's typical to develop swelling with the TT and I can tell that I'm pretty swollen in my abdominal area, my coochie area and my upper thighs.  I removed my binder today to take a peek and took a picture..... I'll post that soon.  Another thing that I've noticed that's new is I'm experiencing some heartburn.  I've read that when you have the muscle tightening, it puts pressure on the stomach which would explain that.  Even though I've been given instructions that I can shower after 48 hours, I've been chicken to do that yet.  I've just been "sponge bathing" and my husband washed my hair in the kitchen sink!  My drainage is good, and the right color.... still red, but mixed now with a wheat colored fluid -- this is how it's supposed to be.  So that's a good thing.  My daughter was sent home from school today with the stomach flu.... oooh! I really hope I don't catch that from her! I can't imagine vomiting with this!  This is probably boring stuff...... but if you're considering having the surgery -- perhaps you'll benefit from my experience..... thank you for sharing in my journey.

I'm home!  My surgery went well.  The surgeon discovered I had a hernia in my abdominal wall during surgery so he fixed that too!  I feel like Humpty Dumpty put back together again.  The pain is mostly a burning sensation type pain and for me it is just in my abdominals.  The surgery lasted 4 hours -- the staff at Dr. Tkash's were so nice and really added to making the experience positive.  Just prior to surgery I had to stand in front of the doc naked so he could draw lines on my belly.      He got on the floor, sat on his butt and looked like Picasso painting a painting!    This is also when they took their "before" pics.  I told the nurse that I preferred that my 'girls' weren't in the picture -- if he posts them on his website I don't want that out there! ha ha!   When I woke up after surgery it was pretty uncomfortable -- the burning sensation was intense. They gave me some medication to ease that and then my husband had gone to the pharmacy to fill my script for the meds I'm to take from then on. I've been very faithfully taking the medication as it isn't taking the pain away -- just making it tolerable and I don't want to know what that feels like with out some help.  I have 2 drains in that I have to empty a few times a day and record how much drainage there is.  I go back to the doc on Thursday and he will remove one of the drains. I will try to take some pics to ad to this, as I know that's the most interesting part.  But even under the binder, the change appears to be dramatic!  Part of my post Op instructions say I'm supposed to walk 3 times a day for 20 minutes at a time.  These first few days I have to walk with a flexed posture and this really strains my back.  So I've been using a 4 wheeled walker. And let me say that the walking feels really good.  I just can't tolerate much more than that at a time.  I am also pleased that getting on/off the toilet is not excruciating like I thought it would be,  it's not so bad..... I have to sleep in the recliner, as I can't lay flat and on my side hurts too much.  That's all for now.... I'm very sleepy and having a difficult time writing this..... good night!

Oh my gosh!!! I can't believe I'm really getting a tummy tuck TOMORROW!! I've talked about wanting this for over 20 years and it's really happening...... it's very surreal for me......
 I took lots of gross pics of my belly this morning for insurance in the future...... to insure that when I say, "what did I do this for?!"  I can go back and look at those awful pics and remind myself why...... I don't think I can do anything more to prepare myself..... So I'll try to post tomorrow sometime after it's over.......