TT After 80lb Weight Loss, 30 Yrs Old- Bloomington, IL

I can’t believe I am finally ready to post here! I’ve been researching this site (and others) for months and months and now I am finally ready to ‘join’ the community ;) My tummy tuck is scheduled for Dec. 19th of this year- barely a month away!

I am a 30 year old female who, over the course of the last 4 years has lost 80lbs by changing my diet and exercise habits, and have kept it off. Ever since I was in high school, even at a much lower weight, I have always carried my weight in my stomach, especially that lower ‘pooch’ area. As I got serious about my weight loss I was ecstatic to see my hard work was paying off and my body was changing for the better- except when it came to my tummy. As I lost the weight, my stomach definitely shrank, but it also left behind this awful hanging skin. Of course, I feel SO much better about how I look and am proud of myself for the work I’ve put in, but, even though I know I look and feel so much better, I still agonize over that skin pouch, flap, whatever you want to call it, every time I look in the mirror.

I’ve been considering a tummy tuck for about the last 2 years. At first it was just a “Wow! Wouldn’t it be nice to get this done and get rid of that skin?” but it was really just a pipe dream, because of the cost and my own reservations. However, over those past 2 years, I’ve been thinking on it more and more, and doing more and more research, talking to my doctor, etc. For about the last 6 months I’ve been actively pursuing how to make a tummy tuck happen for me. I did a ton of research on the procedure and different surgeons in my area. I found my surgeon in late September and had a consultation to just see what my options were. She is great! After numerous ‘before’ photos, and letters from my general practitioner, who’s seen me go through this whole process, I got the phone call yesterday that my TT was thankfully deemed medically necessary by my insurance company and the cost is going to be mostly covered by them! It only took one more phone call, and now my surgery is on the books for over my Christmas break! I’m a teacher, so I have 2 weeks off at that time and I took an additional school week off as well (might as well use those sick days I NEVER use!) so I will end up with 24 days of recovery time before I have to go back to my third graders ;) Hopefully that will be enough….

One concern people always have for me when I’ve mentioned wanting a tummy tuck is the fact that I don’t have children yet. This is true- and I may still want kids in the future, and it’s something I’ve had to think long and hard about as well. However, I KNOW that I spent my entire twenties HATING the way I looked, especially my stomach. I do NOT want to spend my thirties feeling the same way simply because there is still a chance I may have a kid of two. This extra skin I have now is a complete hindrance to my ability to work out as best I could, has caused me to have uncomfortable issues with sweating and rashes in that area, and so on. I’ve decided the benefits to my self-esteem and just over all well-being are greater than the fact that I could end up with some other skin issues in the future if I have children. That being said, I’d be very interested in hearing from anyone who may have had a TT and then had another child, just to get that perspective.

SO- after that kind of long winded introduction, I’m just so excited to get this ball rolling! ? I know there will be a long recovery, pain, and some depression in my future after the surgery, but reading so many stories here on this site has really helped me to feel more prepared for that and know that there is hope on the other side and it will get better! My surgeon thinks I will only need maybe a stitch or two in one small section of my ab muscles to tighten up that littler area where I have a small hernia, but other than that, it should be strictly skin removal, so I’m hoping that will shorten some of the discomfort time during my recovery.

My next pre-op appointment with my surgeon isn’t until Dec. 3rd, so I won’t know much more until then- I’ve already got a new list of questions to be sure to ask when I see her, ha!

**I’ll be posting pics of my ‘before’ stomach in a few days. NO ONE ever sees that part of me so this is a huge, uncomfortable step for me, but I feel like I need to do it!

Of course they took before pictures at my first consultation a while back, but I didn't actually see those. I feel like if I am going to really document this, I need to document all of it- I know looking at other people's "before and afters" really helped me! Plus, hopefully in a few months I'll get to look back on these and feel the relief that comes with being happy with my new tummy! :)

I can't believe I have less than a month to wait before my TT! 25 days! It seems like plenty of time, but not nearly enough at the same time ;) I feel like I have so much to do to get ready and not nearly enough time to do it- I'm coaching cheerleading for the middle school in my district this year, as well as performing in a Christmas play on Dec. 13th and 14th, so between the cheer practices/games and the play practices and performances, I feel like I'm so busy and running out of time! I know I'll need to get my house cleaned, make all my sub plans for my school absence, grocery shop for fresh, non-salty/bloaty foods, get myself some big cotton panties and comfy sweats, and seemingly a million other things before the big day! Yikes! How do you people with young kids do all this? ;)

I had a question for anyone else getting their TT around the same time as me- with the holidays being so close to my surgery, I'm worried that I'll still be super sore and "gross" at Christmas time, which kind of bums me out. I'll only be about 6 days post op on Christmas Day and about 12 days post op for New Years. Anyone else having anxiety about that? I'm assuming I'll still have my drains in at Christmas and possibly even still at New Years, and I think that's the part that's freaking me out the most. Nothing would ever make me change my mind about the surgery- I still think despite it all, it will be my best Christmas gift ever, but I'm still anxious about spending the holidays in pain :( Does anyone else have any advice about how they are dealing with their surgery being over the holidays???