Tummy Tuck after 115lb weight loss

Friends!! Goodness gracious time has escaped me. What a year it's been. Our family spent the first 6 months of 2016 living and serving in Haiti and we had the time of our lives. Our days were filled with helping in the medical clinic, the elderly home, the single moms' home, and loving on 75+ orphans at the orphanage. It was hot, difficult, amazing, challenging and so fulfilling. Our family is moving back again after Christmas this year. Our two daughters (age 8 and 5 at the time) had a blast and would absolutely kill us if we didn't go back. When we returned home to California this past summer, they cried every day, wanting to go back to Haiti. It changed them, it changed us, and our family will never be the same.

When we got home, I resumed teaching piano, including teaching my plastic surgeon lessons again (who is, by the way, a rock star at the piano now :). He so kindly offered to do a breast lift for me before we return to Haiti and how could I pass that up? My saggy, deflated breasts have bothered me for years, especially after I had lost 115 pounds. They looked just like my stomach did: little balls of sagging skin. I jumped at the chance to have them fixed. Plus...if I can do away with even one extra piece of clothing in a place that is hotter than hell, I will absolutely do it. I do believe I will fit in better this time around too because hardly any Haitian women wears bras :)

I had the surgery September 30, so I guess I'm about 6 weeks post op now. I am so sorry you guys that I didn't post a separate review on that...again-time escaped me...but I will definitely upload some photos so you can see what incredible work Dr. Kaufman does.

Call me crazy, but I opted not to go with implants....and I am so glad I did. I love how they look on other women, but I just had a feeling that I wouldn't personally like them on myself. Those that know me and have read my posts know that my body doesn't do too well with foreign objects. I once had an IUD put in and almost immediately had to have it removed because my body started doing all sorts of crazy [RS bleep].

With the breast lift, I did have several spitting stitches (which I know is pretty common) but I just put some essential oils on them and they sort of dissolved and disintegrated pretty quickly. My scars are going through the red phase currently, but I know they will heal up nicely and turn white in a couple months.

My husband had a wonderful time taking care of me again (not)...and made me promise that this would be my last surgery. About 3 hours after the surgery, I was home, and noticed the right breast starting to swell up far more than the left. It was incredibly painful, whereas I couldn't even feel the left breast. I knew something was wrong. I was starting to bleed out and soak through all my bandages on the right. I started that clammy, cold sweat thing and knew I was about to pass out...but I stayed strong and kept telling myself: "Sheena do not pass out...do not pass out...you will ruin all the work he just did!". I held it together. Dr. Kaufman's wife called me and my husband told her what was happening. She said to drive back to the office and that I was going back under. Hematoma. I felt so bad. I'm always so high maintenance, and I really don't intend to be. Hematomas are pretty rare when a patient forgoes implants and just does a lift...but nonetheless...there I was with one, ready to have my second surgery in one day. Dr. Kaufman cleaned it out, and put a drain in that stayed in for about 10 (that was a blast).

No, but in all seriousness, it was a bit stressful, and again my husband was thrilled about all the adventures of another surgery lol...but alas...it's all behind us. I am back to my hot yoga, running around doing errands, and admiring my newly shaped breasts. Cuz....really...that's what life is all about right?

Totally kidding guys. Ok, we are back to Haiti after Christmas. Anyone who wants to come down for a visit is more than welcome (unless you're crazy...maybe don't come down in you're a crazy person). I know one dear friend who I met here on realself will be coming down! She has become one of my closest friends, even though we live miles away from each other, and I'm so excited to have her come down and serve alongside us for a little while. Other friends from our town are moving down with us as well this time (little trend starters we are ;). No, it's so much fun. Haiti needs a ton of help and we are so glad to have people willing to come and serve...whether that's for a a few days, a week, a month, whatever.

Haiti is very tough...it's a very tough place to be and serve in. Your heart will break every day. But there's also such joy to be found there....joy that I have never experienced in my little Roseville, CA bubble. It's uncomfortable, stretching, and I say [RS bleep] way more than I should (I'm the worst missionary ever!)...but sometimes that's all you can say in a place as difficult as Haiti. But our girls...man...they get to see and experience things that they never will in a classroom. They may not know their multiplication tables very well or have the preamble memorized, but they know how to love others well. (And they are bi-lingual now...they should count for something, right?)

Alright guys...much love to you all. Shoot me a message if you have any questions. Here are some pics of 2016!

I don't think this will surprise any of you who have followed my journey over the last couple of years. For those that remember, I first went to Haiti a year and a half ago, January 2014. Over the course of that week in Haiti a miraculous transformation happened in me that began with a hesitation to go on the trip, to being overwhelmed and wanting to come home after the first day, to being willing to tough it out for a few days, to not wanting to leave when the time came, to the first words out of my mouth when my husband welcomed me home being “I want to move there.” My husband is familiar with that sort of "high" that accompanies your first 3rd world experience-as he's done several trips. But in the months following, that desire to move did not wane and so sweet husband said he would go on the next trip with me to explore the idea of going to live and serve down there. My husband went with me in January 2015 on a trip with about 10 others. He fell in love with the country and the people. We then decided to take our two girls with us three months later in May to see if their hearts connected in the same way. When the time came, they too did not want to leave. So we have decided to take a leap of faith and move our family down there this coming January 2016. We will be going down to assist in a somewhat young organization in that it is only a few years old. It is in a rural community, Carries, which is about an hour north of Port-au-Prince. We will be assisting in the day to day operations of an orphanage that currently has 54 children. My husband will also be helping get a men's new vocational home up and running, and I will be working in the community medical clinic. I am SO excited about working in the medical clinic. Last time I was down there, I got to spend a day in there helping the doctor, making patient charts and ID cards (out of old business cards and masking tape!), and taking inventory of their meds. There is always a line out the door at the clinic, mostly children who need to be seen and treated. Medical care is very expensive in Haiti (well, everything is expensive in Haiti because it is an island), but the organization that we are working with provides FREE medical care to the entire community of Carries. Families walk for miles through the rocky hills, without shoes, in the hellish humidity to come get the care they need. I am so excited to be helping there. Back in the spring of this year, I started teaching my plastic surgeon (who performed my tummy tuck) piano lessons. I come to his office pretty regularly now and in an unusual set of circumstances we have built a pretty good relationship with one another. As I was telling him of our plans to move to Haiti, he was genuinely excited for us. But his enthusiasm didn't just end with words: he offered to teach me how to suture properly, get us set up with the right sterile instruments and equipment we will need, and offered to be a sounding board for anything that I come across that I don't know how to handle or what to do. I cry every time I think about it. One of our nation's top surgeons, as a personal reference point for me. I look back over the last couple years, and what started out as a simple tummy tuck has evolved into something much greater. That is not something I could have set up or made happen. I believe in my heart that only God could set this up. I am grateful beyond words to him and his amazing staff. He doesn't do it for any credit. He is simply a good man. Our current plan is to move to Haiti January 8th, 2016 and stay and serve for 6 months. Come back to the states for 6 months, and then head back to Haiti in January 2017. After this first year we are hoping we will have more clarity if a back and forth 6 month rhythm is beneficial, or if a longer term will be more fruitful. I like the idea of raising our girls in both countries. For school (our children are 7 and 5), they will start the school year out at their current school, and then after Christmas we will just take the curriculum with us and homeschool for the remainder of the year. After talking with their school and several homeschool families, and considering their ages and grade levels at this point, the amount of school work per day will be about 2 hours total. I think I can handle that. I hope I can ;) I will also likely be teaching English and Music at the Haitian community school so our girls will get to join in on that.I will still be on realself of course because I love this community and ONE DAY will get a boob job lol. But for now, Haiti is our future and for that I am so excited and grateful :)

Good morning friends! How are you all doing? I am sitting here, heart full of gratitude as we prepare to leave for another week in Haiti. I cannot wait. I'm sure you guys remember how much it impacted me last year. My husband is going with me this time. We leave next Monday, January 26th so if you feel inclined, please pray for us-for safe travels and that our team isn't plagued by any weird sicknesses. We have a loads of projects to accomplish down there and don't want any sicknesses slowing us down. It's times like these I wish I had went to medical school-or at the very least took some nursing classes in college, so I could be of even more assistance than just swinging a hammer or playing with the orphans. But I do watch a lot of Grey's Anatomy, so that basically makes me a doctor.

;)

Speaking of doctors, my incredible plastic surgeon sent us funds for a portion of our trip. What a sweet sweet man he is, I just love him. Next time I shall bring him with me and we shall do breast lifts and tummy tucks down there. Wait. No. 3rd world. We shall do cleft pallets and lean towards the life saving procedures. Ahhh, I really wish I had gone to medical school.

Ok tummy related...all is well. I started working out again after the holidays (more consistently). I am back to every other day. I had stopped exercising for a few months, but knew Haiti was coming up and that I needed some muscle back. So I've been very consistent for the last few weeks. Of course working out again does send my tummy into all sorts of weird muscle aches and twitches, and I've been getting this weird sensation from the right side (where my surgeon pulled that stitch out) shooting all the way up to my rib cage. But I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned about-just my body adjusting back to exercising again.

Speaking of concern though, my friend (and gal on here), has had a rough go every since her mommy makeover last week. Head over to her page and send some encouragement her way. Her profile name is FitmomOf4four.

Hope you all are doing well and have had a wonderful start to 2015 xx