Tummy Tuck: Stories

I finally scheduled my tt for Oct 30th. I'm also having chin liposuction (on 9/5). I lost about 100 lbs three years ago and have a huge roll of skin around my abdomen. I would wear jeans several sizes smaller if it wasn't for the excess skin. I am irritated that I worked so hard to lose so much weight and still don't feel confident with how I look. So...my 40th bday present to myself is a tt and chin liposuction (losing weight didn't reduce my chin at all). I am so excited! I am having an extensive tt. The incision will go from the middle of each hip on my back and all the way around the front. Since it is so extensive, they are requiring an overnight hospital stay for pain control. I'm not too concerned about the pain afterwards - I've had several MAJOR surgeries in the past 8 years, so I'm familiar with postop pain. But I am concerned about the swelling and how long that will last. I'm also concerned about possible hematomas. But I'm more excited than anything :-)

Friday my surgeon's office called and rescheduled me from 10/30 to 10/2. It didn't seem as real when it was a couple months away. But now that's it's 4 weeks away, it feels more like reality. I watched a video of the procedure on YouTube yesterday. BIG mistake. I wish I hadn't seen it. I'm plowing ahead, though, and can't wait until this is all behind me! I know it will be worth it.

Just had my preop appointment. Today's appt was just supposed to be preop for my chin liposuction, but the decided to do my chin on Oct 2nd at the same time as my tummy tuck instead of in two separate procedures. Had to get my pictures taken in a pair of awful disposable panties that barely covered anything. That wasn't embarrassing , but the nurse was super nice and we were laughing and talking about other things. Dr gave me all my prescriptions (pain meds, antibiotics) and told me to start taking a multivitamin, B complex vitamin, vitamin C, and Calcium. He said that would promote healing and lessen bruising. He explained the entire procedure very thoroughly. Originally he wasnt going to do liposuction, but now he has decided to do some on the sides. Only 3 1/2 more weeks! I'm ready! It definitely feels more real now after today's appointment (and payment!!).

2 1/2 weeks until my tt and chin liposuction. Starting to have weird dreams about it. So nervous, but I can't wait to get it done. I've been reading a lot of reviews and looking at tons of before/after photos trying to keep the excitement level up so the fear doesn't take over. I'm going today to buy a bunch of cheap pillows to use to keep my legs elevated afterwards. I already have one of those pillows that props you up in a sitting position to use to keep my head elevated. Trying to keep a running list of things that I need to buy to have at home postop. So much to think about! Reading other reviews has been very helpful in coming up with ideas on how to make things easier!

Went on Amazon and found a leg wedge for $13 to keep my legs/knees elevated after the surgery. I also bought a second abdominal binder so I have an extra when I want to wash the one they send me home in. Picked up my postop meds from the pharmacy. Trying to get my bedroom organized so everything is easily accessible. Starting to nest a little bit! My emotions are a roller coaster. One minute I'm excited, the next minute I'm terrified, and the next minute I feel guilty about spending so much money on myself. But from what I've learned from my friends on the message boards, this is NORMAL so I am plowing ahead.

Two weeks from today I have my tt and chin liposuction! Sooooo ready! I've started taking all of my supplements (multivitamin, vit C, calcium, and B complex) today.

The last two nights I have gotten no sleep at all. Terrible nightmares. I hope I don't have this every night until my surgery!! I am exhausted and getting so nervous.

Going to try and post some before pics if I can get up the nerve!

Wow, what a roller coaster ride this experience has been so far. I keep going back and forth between extremely excited and can't wait to see the results to terrified and thinking I'm insane for voluntarily letting someone do this to me - and paying him thousands of dollars to do it! The excitement keeps winning in the end, though. I keep looking at other people's before/after photos and thinking that in a few days, that will be me! I need to do this for my own lack of confidence. I have some people trying to talk me out of it, some people who will barely talk to me about it because they're jealous, and then a few people who are being very supportive. I'm actually not telling a lot of people that I'm doing this - it's no one's business but mine. Everyone is on a "needs to know" basis as far as this is concerned. I just didn't expect the huge range of emotions that I would experience in the weeks waiting for the big day. I've had surgery before, but it was always either an emergency or I only had like a day's notice. I've known for weeks that this is coming up AND it's elective, so I've had almost too much time to think about it. I'm not turning back, though. I'm ready to get this done!!

Four more days until my surgery. I'm so nervous. Hospital called me this morning and preregistered me. I think I have everything ready that I'm going to need. Just waiting...I think the waiting is the worst part :-(

I am taking zinc/Zicam in every form I can find. I have a slightly sore throat and am feeling a little stopped up. If I get a cold and have to postpone my surgery, I will die!!

I am so ready to just get this over with. I've had way too long to think about it. My nervousness seems to have shifted into restlessness. I cleaned like a crazy woman today. EVERYTHING is clean, polished, in it's place, etc etc. Took a ton of stuff to good will, reorganized my clothes closets/drawers (subconsciously making room for smaller clothes????), got all of my postmed items arranged where I'm going to need them (bandages, betadine, meds, ice packs, etc etc). Is this what people refer to as nesting?? Lol.

Just two more days and then my surgery!! Yay!! Just praying my symptoms go away and don't turn into a full-blown cold.

My first thought when I opened my eyes this morning was, "OMG, 48 hours from now I will be on the operating table." Still have a twinge of a sore throat and stuffy head. Still doing the Zicam and added more vitamin C. I think it's better than it was yesterday, though, so hopefully it will be completely gone by Tuesday.

Well, tomorrow at this time I will be in surgery. I'm actually feeling very calm about it at the moment. Of course, I'm sure I'll be terrified on the way to the hospital in the morning, but for now I just feel excited. I have everything ready. My nightstand is set up with bandages, tape, betadine, ice packs, all of my meds, and maxi pads to use between the incision and the binder to help absorb any leakage. I also have my iPad, phone/iPad chargers, hand lotion, GermX, DVDs to watch in my laptop, and anything else I can think of that I might want to be able to use WITHOUT having to get up. I have more bandages, tape, and pads in the bathroom for when I shower. I have a lanyard in the shower to hold my drains up while I'm showering. I have frozen peas in the freezer to use as ice packs (along with the instant use ice packs that don't need to be frozen that are on my nightstand). My leg wedge and extra pillows are waiting for me on my bed. I think I'm ready!!

At the hospital waiting to register. This is surreal. I keep thinking this is the last time I have to sit someplace feeling self-conscious about my stomach. I actually don't feel very nervous at the moment. My mom is with me do she's driving me crazy enough to distract me. My sister is coming after she gets her kids off to school. I'm ready for anesthesia. Just knock me out already!!

Out of surgery and in my room. Not in too much pain but I'm VERY drugged. Surgeon said it went excellent. Going to sleep now!

I still have a catheter so I haven't had to get up to go to the bathroom yet (hallelujah!!). I can't imagine how bad it's going to hurt when I try to stand up. The anesthesia is wearing off so the pain is really setting in. I coughed unexpectedly a while ago and it actually made me cry :*( I'm on Dilaudid via IV for pain PLUS oral Percocet. Dilaudid is a bit stronger than morphine (which I'm allergic to). The staff at the hospital has been amazing. So friendly and very helpful. I am already dreading the ride home tomorrow!

Day1PO
Today I will go home from the hospital. I had a pretty rough night last night. I wasn't so much in pain, just couldn't get comfortable. I maybe slept for 30 mins. My incision burns more than it actually hurts. The nurses are being really good about keeping in top of the pain meds. Pain meds are making me extremely itchy, especially under my binder.

I hope it's just swelling, but I'm really concerned when I look at my stomach (in the binder). I don't see much of a difference! Surely it's just swelling. I hope so. I don't see much of a difference in my chin either. I'm wondering if my expectations were too high??? Please just be swelling.

Got my catheter out and walked to the bathroom. First time I've stood up since the surgery. Getting up was painful, but once I stood up I didn't feel too bad. I'm actually pretty close to standing up straight. I have to walk around a couple more times and then they're releasing me to go home. Ps was in and changed my bandages. He took pics for me to post. I'll upload them when I get home. Also took pics of my chin without bandages. Ps said the results for the chin will show up gradually over time. It could take up to six months to see the full results of either the tummy or chin.

By the way...I am EXTREMELY happy with my ps, Dr. Chhatre. He has really been great and his bedside manner is wonderful. Anybody in the Kansas City area should definitely meet with him if you're considering plastic surgery.

Survived the car trip home! Actually, it wasn't bad at all. They gave me extra pain meds and muscle relaxers since I live over an hour from the hospital. Came home and laid down for a while. Actually slept for a couple of hours. That's the first I've slept since I woke up in the recovery room! Heading back to bed pretty soon. Emptied 50 ccs total from both drains today. PS said my drains will probably come out on Monday. The fluid was very dark red yesterday, but is getting lighter today. I am getting around pretty easily. The worst thing is getting from a lying down to sitting up position. After that, it's really not bad. Walked around in the yard a little bit when I woke up from my nap. I'm actually pretty amazed at how good I'm feeling right now. PS warned me, though, that the next few days I may be more sore as bruising starts to develop. Maybe I'll get lucky and won't bruise much.

Well, Day 2 PO is already here. I'm feeling pretty good. Getting around isn't too bad. Getting into a sitting-up position from lying down is still the hardest/most painful thing. Other than that, I'm walking really good and not having much pain in a sitting position. I think my chin is more tender than my tummy right now. I'm staying on top of my pain meds/muscle relaxers, though. I don't want to let the pain get ahead of me or I might not be able to catch up. My stomach is a little upset today, but nothing too bad. I'm breathing into an incentive spirometer every hour to help me push stuff out of my lungs. For some reason I've had a "wet" cough since I woke up from the surgery. Using the spirometer to help keep that from turning into pneumonia or bronchitis. Got very brave last night and showed my mom and sister my "before" pictures and the "after" shots in my binder. They were both stunned at my before pictures. They said they never realized I was that big - I guess my clothing choices hid it well. But they both said they are amazed at how different I already look. I still don't see much of a difference - maybe because I can tell how swollen I am? I don't know. We'll see. I am definitely very swollen, though. DO NOT weigh or measure yourself when you get home. You will get depressed. I have to keep reminding myself that it is just swelling and it will go away!

Dr. Chhatre's nurse called me at home last night at about 9:30 just to check in and see how I was feeling. I was pretty impressed. I go in to the office for my first postop visit on Monday. Hopefully they'll remove the drains then. Yesterday I had 110 cc's total from both drains combined. The fluid is still pretty red.

PO Day 2 - 7pm

Suddenly I'm having more pain. I guess either the anesthesia is wearing off or I've been doing too much. Probably a combination of both. The muscles across my upper abdomen feel pulled. The incision hurts worse, too. It still doesn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would, but this is the most pain that I've had so far. Still bearable, but definitely more intense.

PO Day 3

Moving a little slower this morning. Just sore all over. Probably from the lipo. I'm not allowed to open my binder until my appt with the ps on Tuesday, so I can't look to see if I'm very bruised. Took a sponge bath this morning. I wish I could wash under my binder. I think it would help with the itching. I'm standing almost completely straight already, which really surprises me. I'll be happy to get this binder off and see how I look. It's hard to see much of a difference with this big bulky thing on. I'm also really swollen still.

I started going to the bathroom constantly last night. I think I've peed 30 times in the last 12 hours! That's annoying just because it's so hard to get up and down. Probably also contributing to how sore I am today. Putting out about 55 ccs of fluid in each drain. Color is also still dark red. They won't take the drains out until its a lighter color and I'm down to about 25 ccs in each drain per day. The nurse said to keep packing ice on my incision. She said that will help get the fluid pushed out so they can pull the drains.

My chin is still very sore, but no bruising yet. Hopefully the preop vitamins he had me taking will keep it from bruising.

I'm very happy with my ps. His nurse has called every day to check on me and will call over the weekend as well. All in all, the recovery has been much easier so far than I anticipated.

3 days PO - 7pm

I just added a few pics so you can see how I looked before and how I look 3 days PO. The side view doesn't show much difference for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm very swollen; 2) I have a hernia that has to be fixed later. The hernia is approximately the size of a volleyball, so my upper abdomen is still going to stick out until I get that fixed. Hopefully I can get that done in a few months. My ps says it will be a lot flatter when the swelling goes down, but it won't be completely flat until the hernia is repaired. I also added a pic that shows my incision and where he placed the drains.

PO DAY 3

I just weighed myself. I'm down 6 pounds from the morning I left for the hospital. That was weighing myself while wearing all of the bandages, binder, and drains, so I'm actually down probably 8-9 pounds. Plus I'm still really swollen. Yay to pounds gone!!

PO DAY 4

I couldn't stand the itching anymore last night and took off my cg. I took some pics while I had the cg off and posted them. There is still a lot of swelling, but I can definitely see a big difference. I'm getting a rash from the cg, so when I took it off I just wiped my skin off with a wet washcloth, applied some hydrocortisone, and then put on a thin tank top so I would have something between my skin and the elastic on the cg. I have bandages over my incisions and I left those in place. But the rest of my abdomen and back were exposed directly to the elastic. My ps had told me not to take off the cg until I see him next Tuesday, but there was no way I could stand the itching for that long without doing something. The tank top has definitely helped. Since I took the cg off, I was able to look for bruising from the lipo. So far I don't have any bruising at all. I'm almost wondering if my ps decided not to do lipo when he got in there? I need to ask him, because I would have expected some bruising. If he didn't do any lipo, then I need to be refunded some money, because the cost included it.

As of 10am this morning (Saturday), I'm down 9 pounds from what I weighed when I left for the hospital Tuesday morning. That is with the bandages, binder, drains, and swelling. So I'm hoping my final weight will be down more than that. I went straight back onto my Weight Watchers eating plan when I got home from the hospital. I'm hoping to drop about 30 more pounds total. I asked my ps if that would affect my tt negatively, and he said if I lost 20-30 pounds it would just make it look even better. He said to lose any more than about 50 pounds would start to result in sagging skin again, which I definitely do not want to do!! I'm going to try to lose 30. Sticking to WW is pretty easy right now because I haven't had much of an appetite since the surgery.

My drains put out about 25 ccs of fluid each overnight. It doesn't seem like it's getting any lighter in color, either. It's going to have to get lighter and put out about half the amount that it is right now for me to get them out when I see the ps on Tuesday. I hope I can get them out, because they seem to be causing me more discomfort than anything.

4 days po

Okay...so I'm obsessing about my results. I took my cg off AGAIN this morning. I am soooo glad that I did because there is a really big difference from yesterday to today. I was kind of upset that my upper abdomen didn't look any different and afraid there wouldn't be any change, but it looks MUCH better today. My belly button looks horrible today (I spared you any pics). It's also really sore around it today. It almost feels like it's pulling. Ugh.

PO DAY 5

I didn't sleep very well last night. The incisions that the drains come out of were really hurting me and my pain meds didn't seem to be helping. Finally went into a sound sleep early this morning for a couple of hours. I'm walking around without much trouble. The drains seem to be causing the most discomfort when I'm up. I'm anxious to get those out (hopefully Tuesday). I'm getting a cold (taking Zicam and vitamin C to try and head it off!). I have to cough every once in a while and that is definitely painful - it pulls across my entire incision. I try to grab a pillow and hold it tight against me while I cough, but sometimes the cough surprises me and I'm not prepared :*( Really hoping this doesn't turn into a full-blown cold because I think sneezing would actually kill me! Lol.

I'm nervous about going to my first postop appointment with the ps. I've had my binder off, but haven't gotten a good look at my incision because of the tape they have covering it. He used dissolvable stitches, so I don't have to worry about him taking stitches or staples out. I'm just worried that maybe one of my coughing fits or something has pulled my incision apart. Probably worrying about nothing, but it sure pulls when I cough.

I keep reading other reviews who say they stopped taking their pain meds and switched to Tylenol asap. All I can think is...are you crazy??? Take the pain meds! As long as I have any tinges of pain, I am taking the narcotics. I don't want to think I can get by with just Tylenol, and then have the pain get away from me. The reason I worry about that is because I have times where I feel great and have hardly any pain at all, and then suddenly it starts hurting really bad. I'm trying to keep the pain meds at a consistent level in my system so maybe the pain levels won't spike as bad. I don't want to have only Tylenol in me and then suddenly get bad pain and have to wait for the narcotics to take effect.

All in all, though, I feel much better than I thought I would. In 2005 I had to have my stomach reconstructed and a full abdominal exploratory surgery because my stomach perforated (due to the surgeon nicking my stomach during a botched gallbladder removal). I was in ICU for 3 weeks and then in a regular unit for 3 weeks. In 2008, I had another full abdominal exploratory surgery and an incisional hernia repair (hernia was volleyball-sized). Those were such difficult surgeries and painful recoveries, maybe that's why this doesn't seem as big a deal to me? The only surgeries I have to compare this with were incredibly invasive, complicated surgeries. My ps said that with the surgeries I've had in the past, a tt should be a cake walk for me. So far, that has been the case. I have pain, but not near the level of pain that I had with my previous surgeries. Anyway, I am sitting up with my laptop trying to catch up on some work (I'm a freelance writer/editor) so I don't have a ton of work backed up and waiting for me when I'm fully recovered. I would have never been able to do any work 5 days po from my other surgeries.

Wishing all of you who are having surgery this week good luck!! Soon it will be over and you will wonder what you were so worried about!! AND you will look FABULOUS!!!

PO DAY 5

I'm starting to think I will never poop again. Oy vei.

PO 5 DAYS

I'm finally seeing a difference in my chin. Uploaded a couple of photos. The difference is more obvious from the front. The dark marks under my chin and on the side of my face are where the incisions/stitches are.

I'm having a lot of pain around my new belly button this evening. So much that I took an extra pain pill. I have a feeling I've been moving around too much. Tomorrow I'm staying in bed and just doing my leg exercises rather than doing a lot of walking around.

PO DAY 7

Well, the last two days have been a little eventful. Despite faithfully taking my stool softener, the pain meds made me constipated like you cannot even imagine. I ended up having to call my primary care doc and getting a prescription for what he called "liquid dynamite." I drank the whole bottle (as directed) and it still took it about 8 hours to take effect. It was awful. Needless to say, I stopped taking my pain meds. Not worth it. Anyway, the pain has really decreased so I'm fine without it, anyway.

Today I had my first postop appointment with my ps. Got my drains pulled out - yay!! It is so much more comfortable without those drains. They didn't hurt that much, but they were constantly in the way. I am SO glad they are gone. He also gave me a new binder that is much more comfortable. I go back in 1 week and then I will get the girdle binder that goes down to the thighs instead of this stupid velcro thing I have now. I'm looking forward to changing to the girdle - it's not near as bulky. Then maybe I can get a better sense of what my results are going to be.

So, here is the first postop experience I've had that I did not expect...one of the holes that a drain was pulled out of is leaking. Leaking bad. Like, running down my leg in a steady stream leaking out bloody fluid. Just noticed this about an hour ago. Called my ps. He said that happens sometimes (it's never happened to me before with all of my surgeries). He said not to worry about it and just put a bunch of pads on top of it to absorb it. He said it should stop by tomorrow. If it doesn't, I'm supposed to call him. It doesn't hurt or anything - it's just really annoying. The hole that the other drain was coming out of has already sealed over and started to heal. I hope this one has started to heal by the time I get up tomorrow. I really don't want to get stitches.

The most exciting part of today was this morning when I was getting ready to go to my dr appt. I decided to step on the scale. Last Tuesday morning I weighed myself before I left for the hospital for my surgery. Drumroll, please....I've dropped 15 pounds in the last week! Plus, I am still really swollen and, gauging by the amount of fluid running down my leg, I also have a lot of fluid in me. So, it should drop below that. I am so excited! I went straight back on Weight Watchers after I got home from the hospital, and apparently that has paid off along with getting part of my fat just cut off! So my goal was to lose about 20 more pounds after my TT. I only have 5 more to go! Yay!! Definitely the best part of my day today :-)

PO DAY 8

Well, 8 days out and the pain is almost completely gone. Right now it only hurts if I bend over too far or if I try to turn too far at the waist. But, just sitting isn't bad. In fact, people came over this evening and I sat in the living room laughing and talking for about four hours and it never bothered me. I'm only taking Tylenol right now.

I do have one incredibly annoying thing going on, though. Yesterday my ps pulled my drains. One of the holes in my lower abdomen that a drain was coming out of closed almost immediately. The other hole is STILL wide open (almost 36 hours later) with bloody draining coming out of it. And I don't mean a slight drip - I mean, if I stand up it runs down my legs. I am wearing several maxi pads stacked together crossways across the drain hole along with a couple of abdomen surgical pads to absorb the fluid. I have to change the pads every couple of hours because they are soaked. I'm trying to keep the area as clean as possible. Every time I change the pads, I clean the hole with Betadine and then cover it with Neosporin (per ps's instructions). I called my ps and he said this is normal and will ease up. I honestly wish I still just had a drain in. It's a lot easier to empty the drain once a day than constantly be changing disgusting pads and hoping they haven't shifted to the drainage doesn't run all over your clothes (or bed, or couch, or floor, etc etc). There is a lot coming out, so I'm doubting it will be stopped by tomorrow. I guess the good thing is that the draining is coming out of my body instead of just making me swell. It's just unbelievably gross and uncomfortable.

Other than that...so far this has been a GREAT experience. I've had such an easy time so far, I am truly amazed. My family who saw me tonight was shocked at how "skinny" I look, and I know there is still a lot of swelling to go down! So, I'm very excited to see my end result.

My chin is looking better every day. The skin keeps getting tighter and my jawline more pronounced. I am very happy with my results so far!!

PO DAY 8

Oh yeah...I finally pooped today. Sorry to be so blunt, but I don't know how else to put it. This was the first time I had been able to do that since October 1st (the day before my surgery). For those of you who have been through the constipation that can follow a tt, you know what a happy accomplishment this is and the great sense of relief that follows. :-) Everyone in my house cheered. I was doing my best to make EVERYBODY as miserable as I was! Lol. For those of you who haven't had your tt yet, you will soon know what I mean. I took the stool softeners just like they said, then I took over the counter laxatives, then my primary care dr called me in a script for the strongest "liquid dynamite" he could think of PLUS what he called a "roto-rooter" effect suppository. TWO DAYS after taking all of those laxatives, I was finally able to go to the bathroom, and even then it was quite the ordeal. I know this is really gross and probably way more information than you want, but trust me, you will want to have plenty of laxative-type things on-hand: prunes (start eating them IMMEDIATELY when you get home), stool softener, laxatives, suppositories, etc etc etc. It was definitely the worst part of the surgery so far. I can't believe I just wrote an entire paragraph to a bunch of strangers about being constipated, but I just cannot reiterate enough how important it is to try and prevent this from happening. I thought I was going to die...

PO 9 DAYS

I think, I think, I think maybe my drain has stopped leaking. Or at least it has slowed way down. Thank you, God!

Added a few new pics today. Starting to get flatter :-)

PO 11 DAYS

Physically, I'm feeling pretty good. Tired of wearing binders already (I have one on my tummy AND my chin). But I look at my after photos and I don't see the big difference that I see on everybody else's before and after photos. I realize we all heal at different rates, but I'm really unhappy with how I am looking from the belly button up. I am concerned that maybe I didn't receive lipo on my flanks like I was supposed to? I keep reading the Q&A section on liposuction with a tt, and all the dr responses say that you should have quite a bit of bruising and pain in the liposuctioned areas. I have not had one single bruise or any pain on my flanks, whatsoever. AND I still see a fat roll extending across my belly button and to the sides. When I put my pants on, it makes a big "muffin top" across the top of my pants. That is EXACTLY what I was trying to get rid of. I hope it's swelling, but what if it isn't? Then I've wasted $7000 and STILL look awful. I'm really, really upset about my results. Am I expecting too much too soon??? I just don't understand why I don't have any bruises or pain in the area that was supposed to be lipo'd. I could hardly touch the area of my chin that had liposuction, but my sides never had that pain.

I have a meeting Monday night that I absolutely have to attend. So, today I decided I had better try on some clothes and make sure I had something comfortable enough that wouldn't irritate my incision. I could not get ANY of my jeans on. I had to go buy a pair of jeans a SIZE BIGGER to wear to my meeting. What the HELL??? I am really unhappy right now. I hope this is just a combination of PMS and postop depression and that I am suddenly going to come to my senses and convince myself again that it's just swelling. But right now I'm just sad and doubtful. :-(

PO 2 Weeks

Saw Dr Chhatre today. He assured me its just swelling and that everything was done properly. Some people just don't experience much bruising or pain. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. :-) I feel stupid. Watch out for the postop crazies, ladies!!

I go back in two weeks and then I can get rid of this enormous binder and switch to Spanx. Yay!!

They removed the stitches from my belly button today. It still looks gross.

PO 16 DAYS

Well, I'm back to laying in bed with my upper and lower abdomen packed in ice. I am incredibly swollen and having more discomfort than I've had since just a few days after surgery. There are a couple of reasons for the new swelling/pain:

1. Dr says I am doing way too much and need to get more rest. He's probably right about that.

2. The last four or five days I've had terrible chest congestion and have coughed nonstop. DEEP coughing that hurts my stomach REALLY bad. Dr gave me an antibiotic to try and keep it from turning into pneumonia (I'm coughing up really gross stuff).

All in all, I'm not very happy at the moment. Being swollen SUCKS because when I look at myself my "flatness" has turned back into "fatness." Even though I know it is swelling, it is still incredibly frustrating and depressing. *sigh*

Sorry...I wish I had something more uplifting to share. But I feel like hell.

PO 24 DAYS
Hi everybody! So sorry I haven't posted in a while. My brother passed away yesterday after fighting cancer for two years. I've spent the last week sitting by his bed while he died. It's definitely been a very difficult time, but there is some comfort in knowing he is no longer in pain.

Since I've been sitting up pretty much round the clock for the last week, I have quite a bit of swelling. I've posted some new pics. You can see in the day 24 po pic that my lower abdomen looks a lot flatter, but the upper abdomen looks larger than it did in my last pic. The swelling seems to be concentrated there. The new pic that I've added is the last pic so you'll have to click through the rest of them to get to it.

My chin is very sore right now. Sometimes I get a pain that almost feels like a muscle cramp. The skin feels tighter. The results haven't changed any since the last pic, but my ps says it takes several months for the results of chin lipo to really appear, so I'm not too worried about it.

PO 1 MONTH

Hi everyone. First, thank you for all of the kind messages that I received after my brother's death. I really appreciate it. He fought cancer that was already throughout his entire body when he was diagnosed two years ago. His doctors were astonished that he survived two years and maintained a quality of life with the extent of the cancer and level of pain that he was always in. They said he should have died a long time ago - he was just stronger than the cancer. In my mind, he beat cancer.

Today is exactly one month since my tt. It seems like it has been much longer, but I'm assuming that's just because so much happened in my life in that one month. I have a new complication...I have pneumonia. I have been fighting a "wet" cough since I woke up from surgery. I've had several rounds of antibiotics, but they weren't able to prevent it from going into pneumonia. I am miserably sick. I cough constantly, which has really irritated my stomach. My muscles feel extremely tight and pulled, and I'm very swollen again. I'm on high doses of antibiotics again, along with pain meds to try and help control the cough and ease the new pain in my tummy. It's so frustrating to take a big step backward, but I'm not going to complain about it since holding my brother's hand while he died of something that caused constant excrutiating pain and that he knew would never go away. Kind of puts it all in perspective, doesn't it?

ALMOST 5 WEEKS PO

Well, I'm still sick. I don't think I've ever been this sick in my life. The coughing is making my stomach swell huge and hurt really bad. Back on pain meds and muscle relaxers. Hopefully this will end soon so I can continue with my recovery.

I'm starting to notice a difference in my chin again. My ps says it takes 4-5 months to see a real difference in your chin after lipo, so I still have a long way to go and hopefully more improvement! But I'm happy with the result so far :-)

ALMOST 5 WEEKS PO

Well, I'm still sick. I don't think I've ever been this sick in my life. The coughing is making my stomach swell huge and hurt really bad. Back on pain meds and muscle relaxers. Hopefully this will end soon so I can continue with my recovery.

I'm starting to notice a difference in my chin again. My ps says it takes 4-5 months to see a real difference in your chin after lipo, so I still have a long way to go and hopefully more improvement! But I'm happy with the result so far :-)

Well, it has been a long road. The last six months have been horrendous. NOT because of my surgery. That may be the one good thing that happened the last six months! I healed very quickly, I think, compared with a lot of others. I had a few episodes of bad pain, but nothing that wasn't tolerable. I did, however, develop pneumonia in December and was very sick that entire month. Not sure if that had anything to do with the surgery. I also have also intestinal problems and have been hospitalized several times since January.

Some of you remember my brother passed away from cancer late October. I think that was the last time I posted. Well, my niece was in a terrible head-on collision the week before November. She coded several times that first week, but is doing better now.

I think the combination of being sick and family tragedy has had a serious affect on me mentally. I have been terribly depressed and have gained 20 pounds since my surgery!! I am so irritated and frustrated with myself. My stomach still definitely looks better than it did before the surgery, but I should have LOST 20 pounds! Not gained!!

Anyway...I just wanted to post an update so you girls would know I am still alive and kicking. I have started Weight Watchers again to take off this new weight so I can get back to being excited about my tt!! No new photos until I take this weight back off!!

Hope you are all doing FANTASTIC since your tts!!