Tummy Tuck: Stories

I have had two children and my first was 10 pounds. I had a very tiny frame at the time and it caused a lot of stretching to my skin. I have the classic mommy belly and after diet and exercise could not get my stomach back to where I wanted it. My stomach really bothers me a lot. I cant find clothes to fit properly and after wanting this for 12 years I'm finally doing it.

Currently I am 5 3".5 and I weigh about 145 which is 20 pounds more than I would like to be. I am scheduled to have my procedure on June 15th. I am very excited. I'll keep you posted on how things go.

I'm finally adding my pre-op pictures. I am getting really excited since my surgery is only a week away. I'm excited to see the results afterwards. I still need to get a few things for the house and some comfy clothes to wear home after sugery. I'm dreading my 5 hour drive home after surgery. Gonna bring a big bucket with a cover in case I'm sick. Also I'm wondering how I'll use the bathroom on that long a drive. Should be interesting. Any advice? Would love tips if anyone has any. :-)

I also meant to say that I'm 36 and a half now and my kids are 11 and 13 so I've really wanted to have this done for a long time. I have found it helpful to know a persons age and height, weight before surgery so when I see results I can compare what my results might be like so thats why I wanted to include this. I have found this forum SO helpful going through this. People have been very encouraging because I have a lot of guilt and feel selfish doing this for myself to a degree. IT's been nice to see I'm not alone in a lot of my feelings. :-)

It's the morning of my surgery and I'm up and ready to go...freaking out a bit now. Good luck to all my June 15th surgery buddies today. I'm going to be at the surgery facility in about a half hour. Looking forward to telling you how it all went. YIKES!!! :-)

HI everybody. Well I'm 5 days post op. I survived the surgery. Everyone was amazing at the surgical center. They took before pics of me, then I saw the doctor and he drew on me for surgery and then I met the anesthesiologist who was also really nice. They put me to sleep as soon as I went in through my IV and it was so amazing to then wake up and it be done just like that. When I first woke up I felt like I couldnt breath well but the nurse said it was normal after that surgery and sure enough my oxygen was fine and soon I felt well.They gave me meds for nausea and I honestly was not sick at all. I did have one scarey thing happen. The evening I had my surgery I was sleeping and woke up dizzy and sick feeling and the nurse checked me and I had a big swollen area above my belly button that looked like a fist poking up. She told me that sometimes this happens and it was bleeding underneath. They called in the surgeon and were prepared to put me under again and do another surgery to stop the bleeding. So that whole night they keep a very close eye on me and almost did the surgery but thankfully it cleared up on it's own. They said that that happens about once a year at the center and usually they do have to do surgery to correct it so I was lucky that didnt have to happen.

I am feeling really good over all. Sore of course but the pain has always been manageable. I find already I can get in and out of bed easier. I get my drains out on thursday this week and then my stitches out on June 29th. I cant believe I had this done still. I still havent been able to see my belly because they keep the bandages on until the drains come out. So I'm excited to see it for the first time. So I'm anxious to hear from my surgery buddies who also had it done on the 15th. Hope your all doing well. I'll try and get picks up soon of my belly. Thanks for everyone being so supportive. Im thankful I found this site. :-) Happy healing everyone!

Well I took out the drains today. My doc told me how to do it myself since it was 6 hours away and it went totally fine. I just cut the stitches and made sure there was no suction in the drains and pulled them out no problem at all. I was so relieved to have them out. I am very swollen today and continue to be. Any advice on what I should eat? Is salad dressing really bad? I am not eating anything with salt at all and the only thing with any sodium I've had is the dressing but might be enough. Anyway, It's been so nice to hear how others are doing that had surgery close to mine. IT's very exciting. It's still hard to believe I had it done. I look forward to seeing the results with time.

Today is day 10. I have found this recovery to be hard. I have had other major surgeries before and this has been a tough recovery. I feel like when I take the binder off, I feel like everything is so swollen and that my muscles all just bulge out and I need that binder support to not feel almost nauseated or something. I definitely cant stand up straight yet because of that feeling. I still feel in a fair amount of pain. I'm lucky that I dont work all summer because I cant even imagine having to go back yet. I cant do house work at all and thats frustrating because I hate everyone I love having to take up the slack because I cant. Yesterday I found a spot between my incision and where my drains came out that actually really stings to touch. There's not extra swelling there or anything but it just stings and that where my binder lays on it there. I was scared something was wrong or getting infected there. I've been trying to eat really well and not too much but I still feel really bloated all the time. So I'm looking forward to time passing the getting better with time. I have so appreciated everyone's posts, comments, encouragement and I love reading everyone else's journey's so much and seeing the pictures. IT really helps so much to know your not alone. Happy recovering everyone!!

Tomorrow will be week three for me. I still have a lot of swelling and bruising but I'm finally seeing improvements and realize that yes I am going to get there. I know I'm going to be thrilled in a few months time with my results and I am getting more excited every day knowing I'm finally going to not have all that extra sagging skin. IT's a new beginning for me in my life all the way around. Part of a much bigger healing process for me. My belly still looks almost pregnant but I know it's just swelling so I know I have to be patient. My PS did a lot of muscle repair inside and the bruising and swelling on me is a little worse than most people I think. I always bruised easily so this is no surprise really. But I'm feeling good. I can walk around easier every day. I'm finally getting out of the house some and doing light housework too and some cooking. So I'm getting there. Seeing the amazing light at the end of the tunnel. This has been quite a journey already and it so nice to see other ladies results and stories. I love this forum. Happy healing everybody!!

Today is day 18 and I can see improvements all the time in my ability to get around. I went for my first real walk yesterday and that was nice. I still have to take it slower than usual but I just pace myself and listen to my body. One bad thing that happened when I got my stitches removed from my belly botton was the nurse changed my steri strips on my incision and when she did on my right side on my hip bone area I think likely 3 sutures got ripped out. When I got home I was bleeding a lot. I called and asked about it and they said it was normal. So Now it's been over a week since then, thankfully that spot is not bleeding anymore but it's open and looks like raw hamburger, not to be gross but it's true. I know it's not infected. I keep cleaning it and putting new steri strips on to keep it closed shut but while the rest of my incision would be mostly healed it's still that open and raw. I'm hoping it'll heal ok on it's own and wont take too long. I got a gel zone wrap for my incision that is a compression garment but has a silicone lining for the scar but I cant wear it until the wound is healed. So I'm guessing another 2 weeks anyway before it's healed. This TT process is not for wimps thats for sure. It take a lot of patience and perseverance as silly as that might sound to get well. I am hoping to be able to put on better pictures really soon. I'm still very swollen, not seeing a lot of difference there, but again it's hard to remember 6 months to a year for full results considering I had some lipo and muscle repair done too. :-)

Well I'm now at 5 weeks and three days. I can see improvements in most things now. I can walk with no problems, exercise for the most part. I still have tons of swelling. It's nice in the morning but as soon as I've been up for even a half hour the swelling starts and by the end of the day I really have a lot. But I know this is normal and again I have to be patient. I still am really happy with my results overall. It's not perfect by any means and I of course see how fat my legs and thighs are now and the other parts of my body that need work. But it gives me motivation to do better with exercising and eating better too. :-)