Pleasantly Surprised- Fort Lauderdale, FL

I decided to have a tummy tuck because I'm getting married in December and wanted to make sure I went into my marriage and new chapter of my life feeling more confident and sexy since me and my absence have a strained relationship since giving birth to my 2 year old and as the 3 random dots on my abdomen might have given away, I had to have my gull bladder removed last year and due to the random placement of the marks I haven't felt comfortable exposing even the smallest amount of my midriff since.
Not to mention I'm still young and though I plan to get back into a new healthier fitness regimen anyway once cleared by the dr, I felt I needed a jump start both physically and mentally.
So I started researching some physicians in my area and found Dr John Michael thomassen who held one of the hight customer satisfaction reviews and ratings in the Fort Lauderdale area.
Long story short I saved up $ from bonuses and savings because I wanted to pay cash and I didn't want to this to be brought into my marriage as another financial burden sense it was ultimately a personal choice anyway.
So long story short I scheduled the procedure for the 12th of March.
The worst things about the days leading up to the surgery is the opportunity to start second guessing your decision, which was something I experienced because I personally know I want to lose more weight or tone up quite a bit and had read it was best to do this prior to the procedure. But after discussing this concern with my surgeon he advised me that I should worry about it since I had great skin elasticity and that a tummy tuck would most likely give me exactly the contour , flat stomach and curves I mainly desired in my midsection. After being given ideas of great questions I should ask in advance I made certain to ask about the process if a revision surgery ever became needed, discussed my specific expectations for the after product and even brought a pick and my favorite bikini operation day to ensure we are on the same page.
So here were are day 5 of recovery which is extremely early I totally understand that the recovery and transformation from this procedure can be upwards to a year when taking into account swelling, settling of tissue and maturity of your scar so I don't want to sound unrealistic but right now I guess it's too early to say I'm amazed or even pleased with my results at this point since they are so far from the picture I had in mind or the one I provided which was results of a previous patient, which is starting to effect me mentally and make me wonder if trying to take an easy route out May have actually caused me more damage than good? I go back this Thursday to have my drains removed so hopefully that will boost my spirits and I can talk my concerns over with my surgeon.

TodAy makes 10 days post op so I still have a long recovery ahead of me, but things are starting to look up a little. I got up and out of the house for the first time in a while the other day which was very refreshing This recovery process is a lot more mentally exhausting than I realized. However the swelling has begun to subside gradually and I'm
Able to see a bit more curve and definition as days go by. As of tight now my left side is still a bit larger than my which could be swelling but only time will tell. But as of my last appt this past Thursday I'm feeling a bit better about my decision as my surgeon was genuinely concerned about my worried and reassured me that if I'm still
Not satisfied with how things have settled by week 6 we can start discussing an In office revision. Dr. Thomassen's transparency and quality of care for his patients has really made this process much easier so I'm looking forward to the future end result. Now if only Tuesday would hurry up and come so I can have these god awful drains removed.

So I had to call my dr out of the blue this am (yes on a SUNDAY) at an after hours number I wAs provided because the area where my drains are inserted (right under my waist/surgical incision but just above the top of my vagina) has become uncomfortably swollen and hard and the opening of my drains continue to output a foul smelling puss. If you read my first post then you already know that my first train of thought was "what now, what else can go wrong?!" However I quickly reminded myself that this is a journey that I signed up for , for a reason so I am just reminding myself of the long term outcome that I was hoping for when i initially made this decision. So dr Thomassen answered right away and advised me to start taking my antibiotics again and come in first thing tomorrow Instead of Tuesday, so I'm praying that I don't run into any further complications and that things are smooth sailing from here. Wish me luck!