Mommy Makeover: Stories

Here we go! My motivation for wanting this MM (mastoplexy, tt, lipo flanks and inner thighs) is to feel and look better. I'm 46, 5' 130 lbs. 3 sons, 12,14, 21 and have a very supportive Husband.

I work out 6 days a week, love me some "Hot Yoga" and"Barre Class" Most of my life, I've been happy with my body, never minded looking naked in the mirror, actually would tell myself, yea, you look dang good!! I gained 60-80lbs each baby.. lolol, I know, 5' tall!! It was frightening!! I truly understood what heavier people went through emotionally and physically. Lucky me, I always lost the weight, back to my little hot self at 113 lbs. Then I turned "40". I loved being 40, felt like a grown woman... except the first 5lbs that came with it!? At 43, 8lbs.. now 46 and 16lbs heavier!!!! Oh heck NO! And all stuck to the middle! Backing up I had implants at 31, YAY!! 34 D, what fun!! :))

At 46, 36 DDD..?? Seriously!? Oh, let's not forget this protruding Gut! I look like my Sicilian nana!! (whom I loved dearly, js'n)
I just wanted to be back to my normal self. So, scared to death, off to find the PS for me. I had quite a few to choose from... so I thought. Come to find out, because my implants are large on top of the muscle, and sagging, I needed a PS who specializes in this area, not so easy.. but after a lot of research and trust, I found one. I like him. I've had 4 consults with him, he drained the saline from my existing implants (freak out) to see what was left to work with, omg. Very strange at first glance, to say the least, I sent my friend flying out of the room!! But, ladies, after the shock wore off, about 15 minutes, I felt FREE!! I still couldn't see my toes, because my gut was still right there, but just the thought of fitting into normal clothes.. I'm serious it was such a relief!
My emotions have gone from shear excitement to utter distraught! I'm so grateful for all the blogs on this site! I've got pretty much everything I've seen on here to get.

I'll say, It's been a process, but for me it has gone fast. I had made up my mind, so I took the first opening he had, about 4 weeks out. (That's tomorrow), I'm so glad I did, because I can't sit and obsess any longer. It was enough time to get kids ready for back to school, sports figured out, rides coordinated. My Hubs and Sister will be here to help, and my 21 year old is home to help with anything!

Tips.. What I haven't seen on here is.. Make your hair, nail, pedi appointment the day before your procedure... this way it will last. :)) Wish me luck!
p.s. I will add photos.. later! I took them, but then deleted them, lolol!

Ok, It's done! I'm now 6 days post op and barely peeking around the corner! I really didn't want to be a "debbie downer", that's why I haven't shared here for a bit. Am I glad I did it, Yes! Am I glad it's over, Yes! I seriously have to thank my husband, who has fed, bathed, waited on, listened to me cry, scream, yell, half the time at him... I'm to hot, to cold damn it! Scrambled, I said Please!?! Ouch, Ouch, OMG OUCH!! "Did you just pull that drain tube on purpose??, because, I think you did!" This Man has put up with so much in 1 week that I'm already waiting for my payback, :). Oh, and my sweet Sons are NO where in sight! Shocker, not really. lolol! And my sister said, "I forgot my phone at the restaurant last night, I swear.. I'm on the way.."lololol!! I owe my family the world! I'm just glad we can all laugh a lot in between my (episodes) for lack of a better word :).
No joke, there is nothing easy about this (these) procedures. Remember to praise those who actually sign on to help you through this!! I have to go now, my other sister has come by to chat, (it's apparently her shift), lolol, what ever, I'll take it!! :))

Hi all!! Well, I'm 13 days post op, and uploaded new pictures. So far my experience has been quite normal from what I can tell. Some ups and some downs, but mostly all positive. I'm very happy with my results, especially being only 13 days out and with all I had done!! A full tt, a lot of lipo, and my bl/reduction with fat grafting... I love my little c's and my stomach is flat. The results from the lipo should be evident soon, so all in all, I'm thrilled :))! I understand that laying low for the first weeks is crucial for me, so thats what I am and will continue to do. My hopes are that I'll come out of this a new and improved version of myself, I'll definitely be rested, lolol! I'm so grateful for this site, all of you who seem to genuinely care for everyone else on here, it has and does make all the difference in the world! Also, I must say that my kids have really been heros through this! My oldest has been a taxi for bros, and bros have cooked for me, cleaned and pretty much done everything I've asked of them. I even took a pic of the dinner my 14 year old made me last night, they are such great young men.. so grateful for them :)! Also, the piano is in this room so they come and play beautiful songs for me. Ok, I don't want to start crying, so I'm gonna go for now, but I'll keep posting on your walls, hopefully encouraging messages!!

Post op day 20. I finally posted a few pre op pics, I got them from the nurse at my appt yesterday, also got my last Drain Out!!!! YAY!!! What a relief!!! (no, it didn't hurt a bit!!) Now I feel like I can really start moving around freely and really begin my journey to the other side of healing! For me, it was a ball and chain not just physically, but mentally, because it was always sore. Oh so Happy!! Happy Healing girls!!

Post op day 20. I finally posted a few pre op pics, I got them from the nurse at my appt yesterday, also got my last Drain Out!!!! YAY!!! What a relief!!! (no, it didn't hurt a bit!!) Now I feel like I can really start moving around freely and really begin my journey to the other side of healing! For me, it was a ball and chain not just physically, but mentally, because it was always sore. Oh so Happy!! Happy Healing girls!!

Oops, I am 17 days post op... Not 20 yet, wth?

Po 5 weeks 2 days. I'll start by saying that this update is about a few bumps in the road, and my growing patience through it all. Also, my PS has been great and his nurses have really been there for me. This journey started off very normal, and calm. it was 1 week po when they took the tape off my incision, below bb was blood red, so we treated it with neosporin and dressings. I had 3 of 4 drains removed which was wonderful. PS wants me back in 4 days to check incision. Changed to silver cream and dressings. 4 more days, now a 5 inch thick dark scab formed along that area. PS debrided, and the next visit as well. Now, It's an open wound and I was taught how to dress (pack) it. Btw, all through this, they are pleased with the progress this wound is making.. still confused, I finally made them tell me exactly what this is... I know they were telling us (hubs and me) enough to calm our fears and keep nursing the wound. What I didn't understand was that it is called a nercrosis. For those who don't know what that is, like myself, it's horrid, plain and simple!! Not uncommon with a MM, but OMG It is a total game changer in the healing process both emotionally and physically! Having an open wound 3"x1"and 1"deep directly below bb seriously messes with your head! Not to mention it can take months to heal closed, this is why you don't see my incision in my pics yet.

Now the story of the breast lift "w/o" aug... "Thanks be to God" because if I had any foreign object in there, this part would be a real huge problem! Each time I've gone for my wound care, my PS has carefully examined my left breast and left hip. This is where lots of blood is collecting and the only way to get rid of it is to open an area at the bottom of the incision and mash/pull out all the yuk. The last few days have been exceptionally hard due to having to cut through the blockage of tissue, (HELL) and today PS put a drain through incision of nipple then out the bottom incision of breast for drainage. Everything has been done in the examining room so far, can I say thank heavens for lidocaine! This is a lot of trauma for my body, so i've been laying real low. Sometimes I'm chatty Kathy, and others, depression and fear set in. My situation has been a lack of blood flowing to the right places to heal. So I have 3 issues that I'm dealing with, and I'm not sure, but there must be some reason for it. My Husband has come to every appt because I won't go without him.. sorry, but that extra set of eyes and ears are extremely important in times like this! Honestly, he can't believe I can handle this and he's is one tough man, but said there is no way in hell he could go through this. Tonight was the first time I had to "irrigate" my boob with solution and I was a nervous wreck! Hubs watched as I pushed the syringe in there and flushed it out.. He had a few beers at the Titans game, so the truth serum had set in, and he just starred, and then started laughing with tears rolling.. I asked him, WTH are you laughing at?? He could barely speak, and said "I don't know why, It's a bleeping train wreck!!! Needless to say, I was thankful for the comic relief (sitting in the bath). He kept saying, just give me the thing, I'll do it!.. yea right! His job was to sit there and laugh, that was all I
needed :)
Well, so hopefully this is under control and I'll be up and running soon. I know I typed a lot, and not a lot of humor in my tone, sorry for that, it's late and I'm tired but I just really wanted to get this out and hopefully not scare but help anyone going through anything like this! There are a few reasons why this can happen.. 1 is smoking and 2nd hand smoke, another diabetes and a few others which I have none, so you never know!!
Peace and happy healing :) I will add pics prob tomorrow.

8 weeks!! What a ride this has been! So much has happened and yet, in slow motion. I'm happy to say my wounds are healing just like my Dr said they would! S-l-o-w-l-y, (OMG) but surely. Still dressing, not so much packing it. It's down to about the size of my pointer finger. 6 weeks so far with this, Crazy!! I'm so curious as to see how it will actually close and how it will look! Everything else looks really good. My left boob issue is also doing much better.
I'm cleared to exercise, YAY!! My butt and thighs were awesome before all this! Boy, I've got some work to do :)! Just thrilled to get up and begin! My swelling started at about 6 weeks, I think that's normal, also my abs are "oh my" so sore, even to the touch in places, normally late in the day. My pants are snug, but my waist is small and my boobs are 1/2 the size they were (that's a good thing)! So I guess I'm where I'm supposed to be :).

Wow! July 18th was a long time ago, and looking through all my freaky pictures I've taken these months has brought me to a new perspective. I look much better than before my surgery!
I guess my healing process has been a bit tainted knowing that I'll have to go through some of it again. I'm not sure exactly what, but my tt incision scar where the necrosis was for sure, (which is the most frightening memory... no words) and my inner thighs, where I had lipo, they're still big. Actually my thighs and butt are larger. I do work out, and realize that fat is gonna land somewhere, just not on my thighs, that's why i had lipo there, ugh. Now..., I can hide all the scars, but I'm barely 5 feet tall, so these big a$$ thighs are what has really held me back from feeling sexy on the outside... (And that just sucks)!
Today I took a few picks to compare and I look pretty good. But clearly, I didn't sign up for that, so another fear is having my thighs re-lipo'd. I haven't heard a lot of positives on this and I just want to have non dimply/fat thighs. I'm only 46, I had planned on wearing a cute bathing suit this summer, but right now, I wouldn't wear shorts.
It's amazing how a brain works, one day yay, the next, wth!! My swelling has calmed for the most part and that's great news for you girls. I see the beautiful shape my ps had in mind, he's truly an artist. Neither one of us signed on for this, but here we are knowing that in a week or so, we'll have that conversation for real. What to fix, and what to just let be. I'm sure I've left a bunch out, but hopefully next time I won't be not as heavy in my words

Hi ladies!! Today was my 6 month po appt, and it went really well. My tt incision scar revision can be done easily. With further discussion, I explained my thigh issue. So putting into perspective, these areas were were not done, and should be to make my body more in proportion. This makes sense to me now because I had a lot of stuff done, so lipo-ing outter and behind wasn't addressed, at the time, it wasn't an issue before. So part revision and part new lipo to finish this up! Scheduled for end of Feburary :)! I feel so much better! Now just let the Sun Shine!!!!

8 months po-
Hi Ladies! Well I'm 2 weeks 2 days po from my revision of tt incision and additional lipo and feeling back to normal, YAY!! Much different from the first go around. Just about 8 months total...still worth it? Yes, still worth it! I had my first lymphatic massage 2 days ago, and i'm gonna say OUCH!! And she went easy, loll! I hope next week my body is healed much more, because I know this helps. I honestly can't believe how different this recovery is from last, don't get me wrong.. 4 liters is a lot and the first 3 days was a living hell... sorry, no better word for it. But starting the 4 day, it was better every day :))! I haven't done much other than teens sports this week, and that's been enough. I am looking forward to Hot Yoga in the next few days, just to be warm, sweat and stretch some.. No Power Vinyasa for a few more weeks, but I'm ready to start gently :)! Thank you all for the encouragement and kind words to keep my chin up through this process. It is, and has been a wild ride for sure, but it's worth it in the end to get it all right :)) Never give up!