“I'm Took the Plunge and am still sooo Excited! :-D - Charleston, SC”

I'm a very busy mother of 4, ages 16, 13, 12 & 2! I work full time and teach aerobics 2 nights a week at my church. I have been doing and teaching aerobics since my oldest was about 1, so 15 years! I have a very athletic build...I'm 5' 9" and weight around 165. I wear between a size 8 to 10. I inherited the stretch mark gene from my mother...my tummy looks just like hers! They are the scars from having my beautiful babies, but I hate them as much as I love my children!

I'm pretty fit physically, but you would never be able to tell it with my tummy! My PS was astonished at how hard my abs are and said that it was sad that I cannot show off those rock hard abs because of all the saggy skin/belly. He said he would not have to do any ab repair work, so hopefully my recovery won't be as painful. Yay! :-)

My hubby has been so supportive through this decision to go ahead and get this done. I am having surgery on my foot to fix a bunion on Tuesday, October 25th, so I will be down with that till January, so I decided to go ahead and get my TT done a few weeks later. Hopefully I will be healed from both of these surgeries to go back to teaching aerobics in January.

Finding this site and reading all the real experiences women have had with TT, has just fueled my excitement! I can't wait til November 9th and a flat tummy!

Updated on 30 Oct 2011:
I go for my preop appointment in the morning (10/31/11). I bought my compression garmets this weekend so I'll take those in with me to make sure that is what I need. I had surgery on my foot on Tuesday and was in some pain with that, but it wasn't too bad. I'm hoping that with my TT the pain will be about the same. I'll post tomorrow how my preop appt goes.

Updated on 1 Nov 2011:
So I went for my preop yesterday. It all went well and he still says he doesn't need to do any ab repair! Yay me! :) He said my recovery won't be as painful. I got my prescriptions and all my preop instructions and the betadine that I will need to wash with for 2 days prior to my surgery. I also learned that my PS does a Foley catheter to make it easier the first 12 hours of recovery. I will be staying in his recovery suite for 2 nights, so this will be a relief for my husband. :) I bought a couple of girdle style compression garments over the weekend and I took them in for him to approve. He said they were perfect but we probably wouldn’t use them for the first week. He said we need to make sure the circulation of blood is good before we apply compression. I really like my doctor…he’s old, but that means he is very experienced. His nurses tell me he is a perfectionist…I think that is a good trait to have as a PS. I have lots to get done this week to get prepared: house cleaning, grocery shopping, PJ shopping (I need PJ’s that button up the front as they don’t want me putting anything on over my head), getting all that I need to stay away for 2 nights. And on top of this I’m still recovering from my foot surgery. But, I can do this….still so excited! :)

Updated on 3 Nov 2011:
OMGoodness!!! My doctors office just called and moved my surgery up to Monday! Yes, as in this Monday the 7th!!! Wow! I'm really feeling anxious right now! I have so much to do before
Monday. I really haven't thought about this til now! Can you say nerves!

Updated on 5 Nov 2011:
Ok...got my nerve up, so here's my before pics. Can't wait to see this gone! I'm under the 48 hour mark now! :)

Updated on 9 Nov 2011:
Wow! What a day! I'm 2 days post op and am having some circulation issues with my skin flap. I was in an oxygen tank for 2 hours today and will have to have at least 2 more treatments tomorrow. I'm still in my recovery suite and hopefully will go home tomorrow after my 2nd oxygen tank treatment. My PS says this type thing happens usually to smokers, but I'm a non-smoker. I'm still extremely sore and walk like a 90 year old woman all hunched over with a walker! This surgery is definitely thougher than I expected it to be. Still on pain meds...actually I have been alternating extra strength Tylenol with the pain meds. I'm so ready to be home to my babies though. Thanks for the continued prayers!

Updated on 16 Nov 2011:
This recovery thing is much slower than I would like. I am still walking a bit hunched over and I believe if I could walk normal, my back wouldn't kill me as bad. I've been using a heating pad for my back at night and that has been helping. I have ventured out of the house a couple of times on short outings. Saturday night I went to see my children perform in a comedy show at church, and that was pure torture. Sitting in a metal chair way too long made it very painful to get around afterward. I ended up leaving a little early just to get home to my bed.

I still haven't been released for a shower or driving. I had my 12 yo daughter help me yesterday take a bird bath in the tub. I was able to shave my legs and wash my body pretty good, but it still wasnt' a shower. Hopefully tomorrow at my appointment he will say I can shower.