Tummy Tuck: Stories

Hello, I have been reading all your stories and am grateful for your recommendations and updates. Here is a little about me. I am 49 years old, with 3 kids, 17, 15 and 9. I am 5'5 and 134 lbs. I work out every day and cannot get rid of my belly. It is mostly genetic for me, to be honest. I was 112 lbs in high school and had a jelly belly! I am nervous but very excited to have a flat tummy as I have never had one! I am gathering my supplies and have just purchased a BackMax per a reommendation from here. Will update periodically!

Thank you to all of you who are posting your experiences. I am on this site every day and it helps trememdously. I feel I know what to expect . I think the most difficult on this journey will be being patient. Patient for getting back to normal, to sleep well again, etc.

Had my preop today and feel nauseous now after hearing the whole spiel. Getting very nervous. Received prescriptions for Scopolamine Patch to be placed the night before, Percocet for pain, and Zofran for nausea. They gave me tow spanx type binders that sip on sides and hace corset hooks= LIke a brief panty that goes right below my boobs. I will not have lipo, as he said I don't need it, he doesn't know about MR till he gets i there, and I mostl likely will have JP drains. Trying to relax and deep breathe-telling myself this is all very doable.

Well, tomorrow is my big day-have been going crazy trying to get everything done! I think I am ready-hope I can sleep tonight! Will check in tomorrow after sx. Good Luck to all the girls this week!

Well,Here I am on then flat side. Ii have to be honest. For me the worst thing has been the nausea vomiting and dizziness from the general. Tummy tuck pain not really that bad. I took one Percocet since I got home yesterday at noon. Choosing Motrin and one muscle relaxer a day. Mainly because I do not want nausea and vomiting to get worse. Throwing up is awful with this surgery. I hope I didn't t tear any sutures. More later congrats to all my fellow TT this week.

Day 2. Took off binder for first time and so discouraged with the amt of swelling. My back, belly and hips are extremely swollen. Binder cutting into me. I am walking around a bit, hydrating well, taking arnica and bromelain. I look worse than preop. Anyone else experience this?

I was just wondering if anyone else had their BB untouched with a FTT? Everything I have read says that a new BB is made. He said I didn't need it because I didn't have a lot of skin, just a lot of MR needed. So when he pulled the skin down, my BB was in a perfect spot. I do agree that the spot is good. I am short waisted so I had a high BB before. Anyone have this happen?

Day 5 and I have to say yesterday was awful. The swelling was unbearable. I almost felt like the binder was too tight. I could hardly breathe. Only real discomfort is where MR done. Incision fine and drains just a little sore. Drained 12cc and 10 cc. Hopefully be removed at tomorrow's appt. hope everyone else doing well. We all need to hang in there together!

Day 5 and I have to say yesterday was awful. The swelling was unbearable. I almost felt like the binder was too tight. I could hardly breathe. Only real discomfort is where MR done. Incision fine and drains just a little sore. Drained 12cc and 10 cc. Hopefully be removed at tomorrow's appt. hope everyone else doing well. We all need to hang in there together!

Just got back from PS and it was the best day so far! Had drains removed! Omg this was huge. Those were so painful, the worse thing in the whole process. Did not feel one thing when removed. I am now in a spans binder. Another great thing! I still have mounds of swelling and am due for my period but all is very well! Posted a new pic, mind u I have more swelling and bruising than most quit this is only temporary.

Wanted to update since I haven't for a while. The reason being is that not too much has changed since my last update. I wanted to update to give support to the girls who still have tons and swelling and to say, I'm right there with you! And for the newbies who are just starting this journey. However frustrating it is, and it IS frustrating, and I totally underestimated this surgery, I still would do this again in a heartbeat and can definitely see the light at the end of probably a very long tunnel. The positives first: I love that my BB is unchanged. I had the Modified TT with extensive MR. SInce my BB was so high, he didn't have to detach it from the stalk, just pulled it down. Another positive-my scar is low, straight, thin and pretty short. Not as short as a mini, but not as long as a standard. All good things.
Now the not so positives: Day 20 and my muscles are still so sore. I can sleep on my right side in a modified position but not really on my left because of soreness. Pain pills or Motrin or muscle relaxers don't really even work so I don't even take anything. Just time. I am so swollen that my incision is pulled tight and it burns from time to time. I also have a good amount of scar tissue from where my left drain was. This drain was very painful for me the entire time. It was finally pulled on Day 9, and on Day 12 I was in the shower and heard a pop and blood and fluid just started pouring out. I held pressure for an hour and it wouldn't stop bleeding. Finally my husband (he is a physician) ran to his office and brought back suture material and put 2 stitches in. I didn't even call my PS. My husband deals with drains all the time and he actually was surprised they didn't steristrip it when they removed them. Also, he said I have so much fluid in there, the fluid took the path of least resistance (the tunnel is still open inside from where the tube was placed). No biggie, he took them out 5 days later. That's about it, for me , I believe time is my best friend with this recovery. I really have no control on how my body works. I was also thinking it may be because of my age (I will be 50 in a few months) and my body just takes a little longer to respond! I am hydrated well, avoiding salty foods, not doing too much, resting appropriately. I am ok with all of this. I am staying positive and telling myself this is what I need right now-to be patient. This is a hughe accomplishment for someone that worked out every day! Although a bit jealous when I see the girls here who are in bikinis and looking awesome pretty quickly. You go girls! I'll be there soon too! I posted a pic, not too much different although bruising is better.

Saw my PS today for my 1 mo check. All looks good. We are both extremely pleased with scar. Still have mod amt of swelling and his advice was not to dwell on it. It will go away, as will the puckers and uneven skin. He assured no seroma or bad outcome. I will look great. I got the OK for gentle lymphatic massage which I am going to do. Posted some pics.

Hello everyone! This is for the ladies who feel their swelling is slow to dissipate. I am 5 wks postop and have been trying to keep my chin up and stay positive with the swelling but it has been difficult. I realize everyone's recoveries are different and am truly happy for the many ladies who are flat in a week or two. I wanted to share my experience. I started exercising this week reluctantly. I thought to myself, I don't know if I am mentally able to handle the increased amt of swelling that will sure happen when I exercise. But then thought I am already swollen what does it matter? If I am going to be swollen I may as well be fit and swollen. I did my cardio on the Stairmill for 20 m, nothing crazy but def a little challenging for sure. Then I stretched for 30 m. I have been wearing my spanx binder 24/7 anyway, and was prepared for more swelling the next day. Lo and behold I had the significantly less swelling when I removed my binder! Then I decided to do a little experiment and did some of my usual body wt training. Nothing crazy but def more challenging than the previous day. I worked out for 45 min. You can guess what I am going to say. My swelling went down even more! So I wanted to suggest it to ladies who are going thru what I am.. Maybe the exercise mobilizes the fluid and helps with absorption.. I am so happy to finally see a difference. I was reading the revision pages and thought please no, I don't want to go thru this again. I posted a pic. Please let me know if this helps anybody else.

Also wanted to clarify. I had a full tummy tuck with extensive MR per my PS. He did not move my BB because if at all possible he likes to keep the original. He said mine was high and after all my swelling gone and it looks normal again it will take a superb eye to notice anything unusual.

6 weeks and getting better every week. Had my first lymphatic massage to try and mobilize my swelling. The next couple of days me belly looked worse, looser and not as good but then I think it helped. Will go back next week. Other than that, still doing cardio and stretching and a little strength training, that is going well. My ab tightness getting better. Still tight in upper abs where muscle repair done.

Today is my 9 week mark. Pretty much the same from 6 weeks regarding swelling, maybe actually a little more. I actually am back in my Stage 1 CG for the past 2 days. I did read another reviewers update and she mentioned wks 8 to 10 she had an increase in swelling. My belly button still puckered but scar has less puckering. My scar looks good. I haven't done any treatments at all. I slept on my tummy last night! Yeah! A milestone for sure. Getting back to my workouts slowly but coming along nicely. Still have mod amt of pain where MR done. Sneezing coughing and elongating stop me in my tracks! Updated new photos. Hope everyone doing well.