Mommy Makeover: Stories

Well, I'm finally doing it. I'm having my breasts done and a mini TT. Woohoo!!

I am running a marathon in late March and trying to quickly get it done right after so that I can have 8-9 weeks of recovery before we head to a family vacation in Florida.

I have never had much up top (36A-B), but was a nice full C after babies, then deflated to barely a B. I've always wanted a perky, full C cup and I'm finally going to get it. I am a runner and cyclist and am a little worried about having them too large and heavy so that they bounce when running. I'm hoping this size will still give me the shape I want without too much interference during exercise. I really don't want to go much smaller. Who wants to go through all of the cost, time and recovery to not look like i had anything done? Um, not me!

I don't have much of a problem with my tummy, but some loose skin under my belly button, kind of a pooch, that I remember always having no matter what I did, even before kids. I'm so excited about getting that done too, but worried about the added recovery.

My best friend of 20 years is coming to stay with us for a couple of days so my husband isn't completely overwhelmed and grossed out by it all.
I'm so excited and so nervous! I just want to be on the other side of it and weeks into recovery!

I have found so much helpful information on here and looking forward to being able to share my story.

Pre-op is in two weeks and I'm sure my surgeon doesn't have a clue what he is in for with me. I'm a list maker and need LOTS of information.

I'll post pre-op pictures next week once I get them all taken.

Here are my stats:
44 years old
5'10" tall
145 pounds
Going from a barely 36B to full 36C
Chose 350cc Sientra moderate profile silicone implants placed under the muscle with crease incision
Having mini TT to firm up lower tummy (pooch reduction)

I know I still have a few weeks to go, but I'm totally obsessed with looking at pictures and reviews. I even had a dream about surgery last night and I woke up in a panic that after all of the pain, inconvenience and money, they still looked just the same! What a nightmare! Thank goodness it was just a dream.

Anybody else booby obsessed? Do you also have dreams about your surgery? I am just anxious to get this done. I wish my surgery was sooner...

4 week pre-op photos posted! I didn't realize until I actually saw my pictures how small I really am now. Wow! They've just shrunk up and gone away!

My surgeon will be out of town when my normal pre-op would have been, so I got to do it early. I am 4 weeks and 2 days from surgery.

We decided on 350cc Mentor, moderate plus profile, under muscle, crease incision implants, mini TT and some abdominal lipo with general anesthesia.

I don't have enough loose skin for a full TT, so I'm a candidate for a mini with lipo and some MR, but the top of my tummy may still be a little loose. My healing process will be much shorter, but I wish I was going to be able to get it totally flat! I'm ok with it though, have to work with what I have.

Surgery time is about 3.5 hours. He took some measurements and pictures too.

Got my prescriptions for Norco, Keflex and Soma.

Got all of my pre-op and post-op instructions and he spent some time going over my pages of questions. I feel very well informed and ready to go!

I then headed to the bank to pull out my final payment. I wanted to get the cash discount, so I paid in cash and now I'm ready to go!

I still have to get some blood work done, pick up some arnica and my compression garment, but that's about it.

I'm excited and nervous, but feel more prepared now.

What a whirlwind of a week! I had my pre-op early, since my surgeon will be out of town when it would normally have been scheduled, and now I am armed with lists galore!

I have picked up my prescriptions, ordered my compression garment, picked up sports bras in my new size, ordered my Arnica and Bromelain, shower seat, toilet seat riser and front button gown from Amazon.

Now I am making lists of food I will pre-make and portion so that I can have them ready to go for surgery day and beyond.

I am not a procrastinator and feel so much better when I have everything in order, so it feels good to just about have it all done and have 4 weeks to go until surgery.

The next few weeks will be very busy, so I didn't want to wait. I am running a marathon next weekend, then I need a few days of doing nothing to recover. I am replacing a bunch of areas of our landscaping bark with river rock, so I'm shoveling and lifting and driving the wheelbarrow, etc., I am also trying to get any other to-do list items done. I have a bike rack to hang in the garage and a few more things to list and sell on eBay.

As you can tell, I'm the "honey-do" in our house. Hubby goes to work and I work my ass off at home! I really do like it though, I like staying busy.

Now that I have made a final decision on my implant size, (350cc moderate + silicone) I really feel much better. I was wavering between that and the 375 but now that I have decided, I feel so much better. I don't bigger is for me with all the crazy stuff I do all the time, not to mention the running, yardwork, cycling, etc,

I paid for my surgery in full. I'm spending some of my retirement money. Guess I am enjoying it now as well as in retirement. Might as well enjoy that money for years to come! ha! Hubby is excited too!

I am also going tonight for permanent eyeliner. I am nervous, but I think I really want to do it. I'm not doing anything crazy, just a little at the base of the eyelashes that is called "eyelash enhancement". Makes your eyes look a little brighter without having any makeup on. I don't wear much makeup these days, so permanent will work well. I'lll let you know how that goes. Does anybody else have permanent makeup?

I also considered fat grafting with my PS during my surgery. I would love to fill in under my eyes to make the dark circles go away. It was an additional $1,800 with the multi-procedure discount, but I wasn't certain I wanted to pay for that right now. I'm certain I want it, but didn't want to pay for it. Has anyone done this?

This must be my mid-life crisis! Boobs, TT, eyeliner, fat grafting. What is going on?? I never wanted any of this before. All of a sudden, I want to look youthful and perky!

Hope everyone is well. I've been enjoying reading all the updates of the surgeries that are happening this week!

4 more weeks and counting...

For some reason today I am totally freaking out and wondering if I am doing the right thing. I keep thinking that I'm really in pretty good shape, should I even go through with this surgery? Are the rewards worth the risk?

I feel like I'm having a panic attack about it and wondering if I'm this nervous, should I even go through with this...

I worried that my boobs will be too big and I'll hate that they will be in my way since I am so used to not having any and don't even have to think about them. Will they hurt my back, will they make it hard to run. Ugh!

I know we are all on these boards because we are thinking about doing or are doing this surgery, but when I talk to others that aren't really into modifying what the good lord gave us, it really freaks me out.

I may feel different tomorrow, but for now, I'm just so confused...

Whew, so glad that anxiety attack I had came and went. I think it may have been started with a conversation I had with a friend who is really not into women doing anything to their bodies that isn't medically necessary. I knew better than to tell her I was having the surgery, but it just came up. It's all I think about these days so it was hard not to tell her. I am trying not to tell anyone, but we were hanging out and it came up. I completely broke down later that night and told my husband I was cancelling. Today is a new day and over the last couple of days I have become even more confident in my decision to have it done. The mini TT will give me the flat tummy I've always wanted and I want my boobs to be back to being full and pretty. I have however, decided that the size we chose at pre-op is too big. I think that was part of my anxiety. I just don't want all the extra weight and bounce when I work out and I think with lowering the cc's by 50 I will still get the fullness without the feeling of being big. So, 300cc it is. That is what my surgeon originally recommended, so I'm going back to it. Going to trust him that he felt that was the right size with my activity level, etc.

I have just over 3 weeks to go and I have purchased everything I need. Here's what I have so far

3 front zip sport bras
2 front button old-lady night gowns
foam wedge for sleeping at an incline
roll for under knees
arnica
bromelain
dulcolax
cough drops
shower seat
toilet seat riser

Gosh, I think that's it.

I am also starting to think about what meals I am going to be making for after. I'm a pretty good cook. I love making soups, especially pureed soups. I have pumpkin and butternut squash soup about to start today. I also will be making pea soup and grilling lots of chicken in a couple of weeks.

We have a HUGE industrial size tall freezer in our garage and I am planning on filling up a couple of shelves with pre-portioned meals for me especially, but also things for my son and husband to eat. I think the food/meals will be covered for a couple of weeks. I will just add fruits and veggies to the soup and not have to really even think about cooking for a while.

I'm sure I will have another ride on the emotional roller coaster, but as of now, I'm super excited!!

For all of you who have already made it to the other side of this process, I have a couple of questions.
1. Did you do the rice test?
2. Was it anywhere close to your final result?

I'm still going back and forth on size and am loving how the 300cc "rice sizer" looks and the weight of it. Just wondering how close it will actually be to the final result if I got a moderate profile 300cc implant under the muscle. I know all the things they say about losing volume under the muscle, etc., Just wondering what others have experienced. Thanks

Well, looks like we weren't able to escape the sequester... My husband came home today and told me that starting in May he will be furloughed one day a week. This is going to put a significant dent in our monthly spending budget and I just can't justify wiping out our savings to have an elective surgery done when we need to pay bills and buy food, etc.

Hopefully the government can get their act together soon (not holding my breath) and then I may be able to reschedule.

So for now, I hope you all do well with your surgeries and recovery, it's been great being able to follow the journey of so many on here...

So, after much consideration and talking to my husband about boobs and a tummy tuck much more than he would prefer, I have decided to keep pressing on and get the surgery done! I'm 24 days away and totally prepared with all of my stuff, now I just need to stop freaking out and having panic attacks and just go with it. I can't wait for the end result to be here. I know it's going to be a long process, but I'm looking ahead to the future.

Thanks to everyone for all the support during my craziness...

The furlough is still happening, but since I've already paid for the procedure, we will just have to make do without the big lump sum in the bank. Coupons and budgeting here we come!

So, I'm officially past the point of no return. Yesterday was my last day to back out if I was going to because now I'm really going to lose a significant amount of my surgery fee if I cancel. I told myself that if I didn't back out before this day, then I was definitely going through with it. I did however have a total panic attack yesterday. I've had two now since going off of my hormones. I guess they really keep me balanced and without them, I'm an emotional mess. Add in the stress of this entire process and I'm an anxiety attack waiting to happen. Thankfully I called my mom and asked her about if she could do it all over again, would she have had them done and she said YES! She was about the same size as me at this age and now has no breasts at all. That made me feel so much better.

I am dropping by the PS again today to try on sizers one last time before they order them. I know I'm probably driving them crazy, but this is a big decision for me and I have to be totally comfortable with my choice. I have been wearing my rice sizers and love this size, so I am going to wear one of my homemade sizers on one side and put the office sizer in the other and see if they are the same size. If so, 300 is it. I've been wearing them around in a sports bra and love this size.

Other than that, I'm ready. I have picked up everything on my list that I need for recovery and am already off of all anti-inflammatories and other meds that I need to D/C. (Although I'm running my marathon on Sunday and may need to pop a few Motrin before and after) I will be so happy to get back on my hormones when this is over. I need some balance.

My PS is out of town or I would be requesting another quick consult. I'm just not sure that the mini TT is really going to give me the flat tummy I want. The last thing I want is to go through all of this and still have jiggle. I want to see if there is an option that if he is in there and sees that he can go all the way to a full, then go for it. At my consult he told me I didn't need a full, don't have a lot of skin to pull down, but that means the top of my abs above my BB will still be soft and jiggly even though he is doing some lipo there, I don't know if the skin will firm up. There are so many variables during this process, ugh! Any input on the mini/full TT?

I'm so thankful for this site and all the support, you all rock!!

Happy Healing to all those that are going before me.

I seem to be evaluating the weeks these days with how many panic attacks I have. That's sad to say, but since I had to stop my HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) I am going bananas. The hormones really help to keep me balanced emotionally and sleep better. So without them I am an emotional wreck with insomnia. Great combination don't you think? NOT!

Some physicians only do 1-2 weeks to d/c the HRT, but I want to go with the drug protocol and do the full 4 weeks, so I have been off for 2 weeks. I'm almost more excited about going back on those as I am to see my new boobies and flat tummy!

Anyway, it's been an emotional week, but still making more plans. Got my Fruit of the look bras and the biggest prep of all is that I finished my marathon! I know that if I am able to do that, I can do anything! That was tough emotionally and physically as my knee and hip decided they didn't want to run beyond 18 miles, so I had to push through a lot of pain. But I'm one tough cookie and got it done. I'm so glad I did. Now, I am more emotionally ready than ever.

I also made a final decision on the implant size 300 mod+ silicone unders, crease incision. I was able to bring home a couple of implants to wear in my bra (my surgeon is out of town) and after wearing both, the 325 was just too big. I'm glad i got to play with them for a few days. It was fun!

Only one last thing to tackle. The final talk with my PS about doing a mini or a full. He said I didn't need a full, but I really have a lot more skin than he thinks. He has never really pulled or pushed on my skin and I notice that I ALWAYS hold in my stomach. When I relax it, it really hangs. I need to take a new pic with my tummy relaxed so you can see. I hope he agrees I need a full or at least a modified mini. I would have to go through all this and sit down and my upper abs are bulging. gross.

Hope everyone is doing well. Let these 14 days go by quickly so I can be on the other side!!

So, I saw my PS today for my final, final consult because I think at this point, I've seen him 4 times. We decided to go with 320cc saline Sientra under the muscle, crease incision and do a full TT. I really like the 300 implant, so going to the 320 to try to achieve that same size. I also was so concerned that when I sit down I was still going to have the roll over my pants that I have now, if we just did the mini. I told him that after this is all over, I want my stomach FLAT! So, it's a full TT for me! I'm actually relieved. I was getting nervous thinking that the mini just wasn't going to be enough and then it would keep me from every having a full because now there really wouldn't be enough skin to pull down. My scar will be slightly higher because of lack of skin because he really didn't want to do the vertical scar, but he said he would get it as low as possible. It will still be easily concealed in bikini bottoms and I am going to take some with me on surgery day just so we know what we are shooting for. He also does the incision that has the V in the middle, it's kind of weird looking, but I guess it keeps from having dog ears, so I'm all for that.

So, with all of those changes, it has increased the price another $4,000. Geesh, this is really getting crazy. But if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. I hope I've made the right decision with size of the implant. I want to be just medium sized, perky and not big at all. I know that my height is going to make them look smaller, but the boobs will be the same as they would be on a smaller person, just look different on me. I just hope they aren't too big and running becomes a chore and all about the boobs because of how much I have to strap them down. Ugh, so much to think about. I left the office with total anxiety feeling like I was going to have a panic attack.

Had another round of, should I really be doing this? OMG! I need to just get out of my head and let the next 10 days fly by so I can get this recovery over with. I want to be on the flat side with some perky boobs! (I think ;-))

I know we all freak out about size, I hope I'm doing the right thing... I even considered 275 at one point. Any thoughts??

All the decisions having to do with anything surgical have all been made and that really took a load off of my mind. Full TT with MR, 320cc silicone silimed unders, crease incision implants, no additional lipo on flanks or anywhere else I can think of.

I am still having moments of total panic. I think it's my hormones. I am counting the days until I can go back on my HRT, amazing what a difference hormone balance makes. I haven't had a period in over a year and wouldn't you know it, I started my cycle yesterday! Glad I will be over that before surgery though and after a few days, I can get back on my meds.

Now I just have to finish all of my to-do's! IT was a VERY lengthly list a couple of weeks ago and after spending the last two days moving my 8 year old into my older daughters room (she moved out last July), one major project is off the list. I'm trying to get things done that require upper body strength, so I'm not tempted to over do it after the surgery. I have one more project, mount a large 2x16 beam in the garage to hang bike mounts on so we can hang the bikes on the wall and get them off the garage floor! I may tackle this one on Monday.

Now my days are consisting of cleaning, grooming the dogs, laundry, mow the lawns, vacuum, and cooking lots of meals to freeze. I already have the guest room ready to go. Changed the sheets, have foam wedge and knee roll in the bed, lots of pillows, toilet seat riser, shower seat, arnica, bromelain, cough drops, button front gown, compression garments, 36c bras (I'm guessing that will be my size) and all my prescriptions are filled. I'm also starting to collect magazines and I bought a couple of card games to play with my BFF while she is here helping me recover. Husband will be on kid duty, so she is on nurse duty.

I'm not sleeping well. Been waking up around 4:30am each day in a pile of nerves. I even take Ambien and I'm waking up that's how bad it is. I'll be so glad to be on the other side so I can finally be over the panic of what to expect after surgery, I'll be experiencing it! I have had a couple more rounds of "why am I doing this? my tummy really isn't so bad..." rounds in the last couple of days. Then I sit down and purposely grab my rolls and I feel better, I remember why.... Can't wait for boobs and a flat tummy!

I hope you are all doing well and have a great day!

7 more days and counting!!

So, I wondered for those that have gone before me if I should go ahead and do the little bit if flab on my love handle and bra roll! I've heard that this can hurt more than the TT, but thinking that since ill be wearing the CG anyway, and going under, going through recovery, I might as well do it all. Any thoughts? I'm ready with everything else. Now just some house cleaning, yard work and some cooking. Easy stuff. So, the question is, to lipo or not to lipo? I will call Monday to see if I can even add it and how much it is.

When I went for my pre-op appointment a month ago, I was given a lab slip to get some blood drawn. I figured while I was at the lab, I would get my other test for my primary care done too (I had a slightly elevated bilirubin at my physical that was being retested).

I had both done and as luck would have it, at 5pm as they were leaving the office, they dropped me an email that says, oh by the way, your potassium was 5.6 and your bilirubin is even higher at 2.0. We may want to look at your diet/supplements and re-test. WHAT? I know that high potassium is/can be an issue, so I called my PS on his cell since it was after hours.

He checked with the anesthesiologist and sure enough, I have to re-test first thing and if it's still high, no surgery.

I was first thing in the morning, which I love, because being NPO is tough for me and my anxiety builds the longer I wait.

So, the plan is to go to the lab in the morning and re-test. If things are fine, they move my surgery to last. If they are still elevated, surgery cancelled.

I'm so glad my primary care emailed me, even if it was late in the day. I'd hate to be having surgery with anything out of whack.

My anxiety is through the roof right now. I'm left with the question: Is this a test or a sign or just a little bump in the road?

Labs came back great. High potassium may have been from the marathon training. Had surgery at 12:30, was finished around 2:30 or 3. Had some recovery room problems and was there for 3 hours. Hypotensive and Bradycardic. Heart rate was 39 at one point. It's happened before. Dr. Mabourakh and his staff were amazing. He spent more than an hour at my side in recovery, even gave me a hug before surgery. I felt awesome that he was doing this procedure.

I didn't have much if any muscle separation, but he did say that they were very lax and he tightened them a lot from top to bottom!

I'm home now resting, getting in and out of bed is a challenge, but once I'm up I'm doing well, just feel faint quite a bit.

One issue that is freaking me out is that I have tingling in my fingers. Did anyone else go through this?

I'm all wrapped up in my CG so can't take pics, plus my CG is black so you can't see anything. I'll take pics at post op on Monday when I can see my incision.

Thank you so much for all the support from everyone today, I really felt everyone's energy and it helped me get through it. It was awesome.

I am just 6 hours or so post op,but eve since the surgery, my hands are very tingly. Like I slept on them wrong and they were asleep and now they are waking back up. Has anyone else had this? It's very nerve racking to say the least. The tingling is almost painful like pins and needs. Please let me know if anyone else had this.

Well, it's been an eventful day full of lots of ups and downs. I woke up feeling very good. I could tell the general anesthesia was finally wearing off and clearing my head, which was very nice. I hate the drugged feeling.

However, today is much worse with tightness and soreness of my abs. I hardly even think about my breasts, except to remove my bra and stare at them, they are firm, but don't hurt at all compared to the tummy.

I had quite a bit of oozing from my belly button, so I called my PS and they got me right in. They changed the dressing and said it looked great. I got to see my new belly button and after the swelling goes down, it's going to look great!

PS said I was right on track and things looked great. My abs are so sore because of all the muscle repair. Even though I had no muscle separation, they were very stretched. The assistant said I could bounce a quarter off of them now!

I've had some ups and downs today. I know it's early, but I"m tired of not being able to do anything except lay around and be sore. I feel really bad when the muscle relaxer is about out. That last hour is tough. After I take it, everything actually feels pretty good.

My tingling fingers are doing much better today. Still happening slightly, but I can tell it's going away. The strap over the boobs worsens the tingling, so it's on very loose.

I'm really looking forward to being a week from now!

My stomach is going to be FLAT! I took off my bra so hubby could see and he really likes them. They are a great size. I'm so happy I went with this size. Whew!

I'm drowsy from the muscle relaxers, so I must go, but wanted to check in. I've had times today where I was really in the dumps, tired of feeling yucky and then I have times where I'm so happy I did it. Can't wait to see the results.

I'm still having ups and downs but notice I'm getting stronger. Hate the pain meds, but need them so trying to take just 1/2 of one and 1 Tylenol. We will see how that goes. Was able to get up and move around more. I had a Bm today. Not once, but three times! The flood gates have opened. All the stool softener has caught up with me. Didn't hurt at all. Not hungry, but have to remember to eat more because I was getting light headed, I had forgotten to eat for hours. Oops. Been having some skin irritation near drains. Talked to PS and he suggested we change dressing. Went to take off the tape and yowza, that hurt. So, tape still on. I think it's the garment. Put on some bike shorts and a tank under it. Hope that's all it is and it gets better. Sure itches. I can see the improvements overall, but still having a tough time. This is no joke. I just know it will keep getting better from here. Happy healing to all of you. I'll update pics when I have some. Right now all taped up so nothing to see. Love the boobies though. :-)

I'm PO Day 4 and definitely getting better each day. Only taking 1/2 Norco every 3-4 hours for pain and 1 soma every 8-10 hours for muscle relaxer. Getting in and out of bed happens much easier now as does everything else. I even made my son a grilled cheese sandwich after school today, made me feel good to be able to do a little bit.

Had my post-op today. Well, my official one anyway. I've already been in twice because of drainage around my BB I wanted him to check on and over the weekend, I've developed some type of rash on my hips where the CG sits. I put on cotton bike shorts underneath, taking Benadryl and he is changing my antibiotics, but incision all looked good. I was cleared to remove the rest of the gauze and just place a taped bandage with some antibiotic ointment over the drain sites and shower. I was so excited. However, after we got home and I emptied my drains and stripped them (cleared them), it created quite a bit of discomfort, so no shower just yet. I'll tackle that in the morning. I am feeling better this evening, but can't dare think about taking the CG when I'm in swell hell all evening. I'm thinking morning is going to be best to take it off, shower, and get it right back on before I blow up like a puffer fish.

For all of you ladies that have had a TT, when do you think your swelling peaked? I was thinking day 3, but day 4 has been right up there. I start off pretty good in the morning and by the evening, I"m a stuffed sausage!

Still quite a bit of numbness both from my tummy and under my breasts. I know that's normal, so not freaking out about it. I'm trying very hard not to freak out about things, but my anxiety gets the best of me at times and boom, a panic attack starts. They suck. I'm hoping that it is also because I am still not back on my hormones, hope to be soon, and when I get back on them, I'll even out and not be so crazy anymore.

So, when was the worst swelling for you?

I will take pics when I shower in the morning, incision looks nice and smooth.

Well, I'm day 7 today. Going in for a quick post op to remove 1 drain as it has done essentially nothing in 2 days. It is the drain that drains the top, so he said it would be lighter, but it's hardly done anything. Glad I will have at least one out. I haven't been on here much the last few days as I've been having EXTREME anxiety. Had a full blown anxiety attack yesterday, not fun. Hyperventilating, light headed, nausea, fear, everything just felt like it was too much. I had to nearly cut the compression garment off of me, I wanted it OFF! Thankfully I have another one which seems to be slightly more stretched out as the one I had changed into after my shower was far more snug (I am wearing a full body briefer with attached bra, not a binder). I think the length of time this is taking to recover was really getting to me. I also think that I figured out the main culprit, the chest tightness. It's making me feel like I can't breathe and I'm claustrophobic, bad combo. Once I came to that conclusion and talked to the office about the muscle relaxers, I was told that even if you feel ok, take them anyway, it will help the muscles relax. I took a muscle relaxer and pain pill at bed time and was able to get 4-5 hours of sleep. This is far more than the 1-2 I had previously been having. Now that I know what's freaking me out, I actually feel much better today. Not much anxiety so far. I think the muscle relaxers also helped me wake up with less tightness, thus lessen the trapped feelings I was having in my compression garment.

It's only been 1 week, but I can already tell how much muscle I've lost. :-( The skin on my legs and arms looks saggy. I think I also could be drinking/eating more. I just haven't felt much like anything in particular, so I just snack on turkey meat, protein shake a day and some greek yogurt and stuff. It's not the best and I need to eat more. I'm already down lower than my pre-op weight and I wasn't using this as a weight loss period of time. I know I need my strength for recovery, so I'm going to start doing better today.

I'll let you know how drain removal goes and hopefully start posting some better pics. It's just hard to take good pictures with all my drains and things...

Happy Healing to all my RS friends!

I had a 1 week post op today. Removed the tape over my breasts, that relieved some of the chest pressure, which is nice. He also removed one drain that wasn't doing much of anything. Felt like an alien coming out of my tummy Mao weird, but not painful at all. Was over in 2 seconds. He said things are looking good.

My appt was so fast, I forgot to mention that I'm still having some nerve stuff inside my right bicep and some tingling in fingers. I'm hoping its just nerves healing. I left a message after hours for them to all me about it so I don't forget again. Just want to know if there is anything special I should be doing to help it along. I did quite a bit today. Even went to the grocery store. Felt good to be dressed and out in the world. I really feel like I turned a corner today. Felt like I had much more energy. Now if I could get this nerve stuff handled, I wouldn't have so much to stress about since things are going well.

Anyone else have tingling and inside arm/armpit pain? It's more achy than sharp shooting pain. I'm thinking that it's just healing. Any ideas?

So, I have finally figured out what is going on the last couple of days. I thought maybe I was having nerve tingling all over because I was having some numbness under my right arm and maybe the nerve regeneration was causing some symptoms all over, I don't know, was just trying to rationalize it. Then last night while I was sleeping, my entire body tensed and felt like an electrical shock went through it and I was on fire. Did I get struck by lightning? Probably not.

I fell asleep on the sofa this evening and wham! It happened again. I woke up with my face on fire and pins and needles everywhere and that strange tensed up muscle thing (like restless leg syndrome) happened again too.

I am in perimenopause, or so my blood test said a couple of years ago and went on a low dose HRT. I went off of it prior to surgery to reduce DVT risk and went back on about 3 days ago. I would think going back ON HRT would keep this from happening.

I went online to read about hot flashes after surgery and it seems to be something that does happen.

My question is this: Is anyone else going through this too? If so, how long did it last? I am going to talk to my PS about it next week and I also send an email to my primary care too to see if I should retest my hormone levels to see if there is something we can pinpoint or increase my dosages or something. These episodes are absolutely crazy.

I was standing on the tile in the kitchen for a minute in socks and totally left a sweaty footprint on the floor! gross

The hot flash then kicks off a cycle of anxiety and I then have to take the next hour to come down from all of my anxiety driven irrational thought processes that happen during an anxiety attack. Oh joy, doesn't this sound like fun? NO!

Anything that anyone wants to share about this would be great. I would especially want to know how long they lasted.

Today was my second post-op. Everything went well. The best part was removing my last drain!! It was so nice to get that out. I came straight home and took a shower, put my second stage garment on and feel like a normal human being again. Woohoo!!

I also had the remaining sutures in my belly button removed and can now start using scar therapy. They have me using a silicone scar treatment called biocorneum.

I still feel like my boobs are HUGE! I asked if it is was because i was swollen and he said "no." , well maybe 5% he said. So, I just have to wait and see how they are when they drop and soften up. It may be just because they are such a change from what was there. I hope they end up a little smaller...

Hope everyone is doing well!

So I had my post op as I stated earlier, everything went well. I was released to get a second stage garment and wear a separate super soft bra as my garment had everything all in one.

I got a girdle type garment for the bottom and a super soft bra for the top. Now that I've taken off the garment, I notice that it was really digging into the bottom of my breasts. Not all the way into the crease where the incision is, but on the bottom of my breast. It's the only place on my entire body that hurts right now. I am thinking this is from the garment, but don't know if this is just a normal place that they hurt since the implants went under the muscle.

For you ladies with unders, where did you have the most discomfort?

I had most of it intially across my chest with tightness, but the muscles have relaxed and now its' the bottom of my breast only.

I freak out at the little things, so some input would be great. Thanks!

I'm two weeks post op tomorrow. Wow, how time flies! I will take pics in the morning when I'm not so swollen and it will be interesting to see all the changes. The most that I'm dealing with at this point is the nerve/burning pain in my armpit that causes my arm to ache. I know i have talked about this before and some of you have stated that you also had this. My PS is surprised since that nerve is so deep in the armpit, but didn't offer me any kind of "what to do" or "how long it would last" type of advice.

So, I'm asking all of you ladies. Did you have this? How long did it last? Is there anything that you did that made it better?

Thanks!

Wow, what a difference a drain makes! I have felt 1000 times better since getting the second drain out. I now have full mobility of my tummy and can get up and down, use my abs to cough and blow my nose and get around like normal all after having the drain out. Of course, I'm still having typical numbness and aching, but man, I feel great.

Went on a walk this morning, took a shower, put on my scar cream and took some pics.

Hope you are all doing well...

Not much going on between weeks 2 and 3 other than things continuing to get easier and easier. Swelling is less and less and you can see that in the pictures, especially the side view. In the morning, my tummy is flat! By the evening though, I'm bloated again, but it's getting better. I've been walking and walking and walking. When I was released to start walking 10 days ago, I started with 1/2 a mile and have increased it steadily since then and today walked 4 miles. Being a runner, this is really helping with missing my workouts. It was amazing how hard the first 1/2 mile was. I couldn't believe that I just ran a marathon in March and then could hardly walk 1/2 mile! Getting easier every day.

It's hard to believe it's been 4 weeks! It's hard to believe all that my body has been through until I sit and look at the pictures from pre op until now. It feels great to be 4 weeks out and feeling so well. I've been to my 4 week post op and everything is healing great. I've been released to do more cardio, but no running or cycling yet (6 weeks ). So, I've been walking and walking and walking. I walked 23 miles last week and already at 7 miles of hills this week. It makes me feel somewhat normal to get out and get my heartrate up and work up a sweat.

Arm update: I went through some crazy anxiety and panic over what was going on with my arm. I had bad numbness for several days immediately post op in both arms. Felt like I had been sleeping on them, but they weren't waking up. Left arm started coming back and was fine after a few days, right arm is only now feeling more normal. The forearm pain that was nonstop is really letting up. The numbness and tingling is much less and the burning in my armpit is really better. All in all, I'm feeling like I'm finally healing. I saw my primary care and she agreed that the brachial plexus was injured and that I also had a reaction to the anesthesia that caused my entire system to go crazy. I hope I don't have to have any general anesthesia again anytime soon. But if I do, I know now to let them know how I'm going to react and to keep my arms by my side and not outstretched. Don't want to go through that again!

Breasts are dropping and I've started doing massage. I only have one little area on the left that they want to have a little lower and then I think I'm on to underwire bras to keep everything up and perky. I know I still have upper pole fullness, but I kind of like it.

Tummy feels great. I'm completely mobile and only think about my tummy once in a while when leaning on the sofa or getting in and out of bed. Doesn't hurt, but I still try and be careful. No ab work until after 6 weeks, but I can't imagine doing it yet. Everything still feels tight, but I can't wait to see how the muscles will look once I start doing ab work again. Hello 6 pack!

I still have numbness under my breasts near the incision and on parts of my stomach under my belly button and in the bikini line area of my left leg. It's weird, but getting better. Worst part is having an itch sensation and scratching or rubbing and can't feel it because it's numb! Thankfully the itch sensation eventually goes away.

So, there is my update. Not much going on. But I really like to say that boring is good. I enjoy not having anything crazy going on. So, I am headed out for my morning walk. Going to tackle 5-6 miles of hills around my house today with my husband. 6 miles of walking will feel like 10 miles of running so it will be a great workout!

Have a great day!

5 weeks post op and all of my surgical areas are healing nicely. I've had quite a tough week emotionally as I'm still dealing with nerve pain in my arms. I decided to see a neurologist and she agreed that I have an injury to the nerves under my arm in the armpit and is most likely from the garment that was way too tight or from having my arms outstretched during surgery for so long. Either way, it's going to be a while before it heals. She thinks it should heal, although nerve stretch injuries can be tough to heal, she thinks that mine is not so bad that it shouldn't and will just take some time. She put me on Neurontin for nerve pain and Ativan for my anxiety as that is probably making things worse. I have days where I question whether or not I should have even done this because I have caused damage to my body. My husband isn't really being much help, he just tells me I'm not being patient enough and give myself longer. I'm just tired of my arms aching and tingling and wondering if it will ever go away.

On a positive note, my incision looks good, my breasts are softening and dropping and all the weird sensitivity issues under and around my breasts seems to be getting much better.

So, I'm on nerve meds for a month and hopefully when I am done with that, I'll be good as new. Hope so. I guess I'm not off that roller coaster yet. Hopefully soon.

I also think the anesthesia really did a number on my system. I'm sensitive to meds and wonder if I just had too much medication for my system. I just don't feel quite right yet.

I'm able to get back out and exercise. Been walking like crazy. Try to do 4-5 miles a day and looking forward to being able to start running next week. However, the swinging of my arms when walking is not good as it seems to make my hands tingle even more, so I walk with one arm swinging and the other tucked in my waistband to give it some support.

I just want to be normal again...

I hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for the rant, just having those kinds of days lately...