“EXCITED For March 23 TT - Ohio”

Had my first son at 17 and started pregnancy at 120 Lbs and ended at 199!! I am now 37 years old (yesterday) and this is my gift to my self! I have not wore a bikini or even been comfortable with my own body for my entire adult life. I recently lost 10 pounds and am at my "happy" weight but decided that the extra skin has to go. I am scheduled for 23 of march which is 3 days away!!! I have read sooo many postings on this site for months and decided to jump in. So far I'm not nervous just extremely excited!! T minus 3 days and counting!!

PS I have before photos and when I figure out how to upload them I def. will

Updated on 22 Mar 2011:
This is my last post before surgery!! Got my surgery time today and it's super early, gotta be there at 6 AM!! I am sooo excited. I am coming home tommorow afternoon cuz I don't want to spend the extra money for the hospital. I will post as soon as I'm feeling up to it, hopefully tomorrow night

Updated on 23 Mar 2011:
Ok had surgery at 7:45 this morning and got home at about 5 P.M. Would have been home earlier but couldn't pee. I first will star off with thank god surgery is done!! My best friend is an RN and my surgeon allowed her to sit in on the procedure, she said my stomach is sooo flat! Can't wait to see on Friday when I go for first post op. Now for the pain part, not gonna lie it hurts. Abs feel like I did too many sit ups but the most pain is getting in and out of bed and it's pretty much all at the drain sites (I have 2). My PS gave me vicodin last week at my pre op , I refused the percocet by the way. Well I quickly called him while i was still in recovery to say I think I'm gonna need the stronger meds but unfortunately he already left. The one good thing is I work for a doctor so he wrote me a percocet script ....he is my angel right now.

I noticed a small amount of blood wher one of the drains go in and just wondering if anyone can reassure me that this is normal.

Ok time for my pain meds and maybe a cat nap. Will chat again soon

Updated on 24 Mar 2011:
Day 2 and really sore today. Drains hurt the most, kinda stabbing pain (and bleeding a bit) when I move which I only really do every 2 - 3 hours when I have to go to the bathroom. And I am really surprised at how swollen my vaginal area is....WOW!!
I go for my first follow up tomorrow so I will update you all then.

Updated on 25 Mar 2011:
Had my post op appointment today and Doc said everything looks good, he took the drains out which seems to help with the discomfort. I got to see my belly for the first time today and was shocked at how flat it is and a little weirded out with how numb my stomach area is.
I'm gonna attemp a shower today with my boyfriends help but I'm nervous. I have a picture on my phone from my post op and as soon as I'm able to get to my computer I will post it ( on my Ipod now).
PS va-jay-jay is still really swollen!!!

Updated on 26 Mar 2011:
It's about 6 AM and I can't sleep. Only slept about half hour at a time all night. I'm exhausted and starting to swell I think but other than that I feel pretty good!

Updated on 26 Mar 2011:
So I had surgery on Wednesday and today is saturday I'm feeling much better, still sore and numb but no pain. I just got up to go to the bathroom and my boyfriend pointed out that I am walking almost straight up.... When did that happen??? I keep taking peaks at my belly but I just can't stand that when I touch my skin it doesn't even feel like it belongs on my body... Weird!! My belly button is really dark and I'm not sure if it's supposed to look like this but I go for a follow up on Monday so we will see.

Updated on 27 Mar 2011:
So I'm not having the best day, I feel really full even though I have barley eaten. I am super sore and can't wait til things get back to normal. To top it all off my son went back to college today from spring break so I'm a little cranky and sad!
I do go for another follow up tommorow so I guess we will see.

Updated on 28 Mar 2011:
Ok I'm 5 days post op and today has been great!! I showered and then me and my friend obsessed over my new body. I can't believe how flat my stomach is and I have NO muffin tops!! Then I actually put make up on and did my hair then went to see my PS then to lunch!! I am pretty tired now but I haven't had pain meds since last night and not in pain at all. I am sure I will have ups and downs still but today I am thankful I did this and it's all been worth it

PS I had surgery last Wednesday at 138 lbs and today I am 135 and that's with this swelling!!!

Updated on 30 Mar 2011:
I'm doing really good today, it is getting easier but everytime I get up I feel this stabbing pain and I can't tell if it coming from my incision or from where the drain site was?? But it also feels like maybe it's coming from my pubic area. Other than that it's been a good few days.
Today is 1 week and I have pretty much taken it easy so tomorrow I'm gonna attempt grocery shopping. I hope it doesn't make me swell to much more!! I have some pics to post and I promise I will do it tommorrow , I hate that this site doesn't allow me to post from my I pod

Updated on 31 Mar 2011:
I went to lunch then grocery shopping today and must say I'm feeling pretty good but pretty swollen..took an advil. Before my adventure out hopin it would help, but not so sure if it did or not. And I posted after pics , the one with the incision visible was 2 days post OP when they took the drains out and the other picture was taken this past Monday which was 5 days post OP.

Updated on 31 Mar 2011:
I went to lunch then grocery shopping today and must say I'm feeling pretty good but pretty swollen..took an advil. Before my adventure out hopin it would help, but not so sure if it did or not. And I posted after pics , the one with the incision visible was 2 days post OP when they took the drains out and the other picture was taken this past Monday which was 5 days post OP.

Updated on 31 Mar 2011:
Went out to lunch then grocery shopping and I must say I am feeling pretty good! I took an advil before my adventure out to maybe help the swelling so I guess I will wait til later tonight to see if it worked or not.
I posted 2 after pics today, the one with the incision visible is 2 days post op when I was at the PS office getting the drains out and the other picture was this past monday which was 5 days post op.

Updated on 31 Mar 2011:
Ooops for the triple post...LOL couldn't get the pictures to post !

Updated on 1 Apr 2011:
Ok the advil before shopping didn't really work! I'm still swollen but I feel good other than that. I think I'm even gonna do some shopping for some new stretchy type pants tommorrow

Updated on 3 Apr 2011:
I went to the mall yesterday and bought a new garment to try...it's kinda like a spanx but a different brand. I tried a spanx on and it was too hard to get on so I went with the high undies control garment. I'm trying them today to run a couple errands and then out to dinner. I will let you know how they work.

Updated on 4 Apr 2011:
Went for another follow up with the PS today.. He thought maybe I was a little too swollen and wanted to see if I had some fluid building up so he put what I think is the longest needle I have ever seen into my abdomen!! But turned out I have no seroma...thank god! But I'm still pretty swollen so he wants me to lay super low for awhile and take it easy. I will be 2 weeks in 2 days and I'm thinking it's gonna be a much longer road to recovery than I thought!
I asked him about scar therapy And he said I could try the silicone sheets or vitamin d oil but he actually prefers Palmers cocoa butter...said it has the best results that he has seen on his patients.
So guess I'm off to hang out on the couch for the night, my poor doggie is wondering where his runs have been for the past couple weeks.

Updated on 7 Apr 2011:
So I'm 16 days post op and the time is flying! I have been super bummed about all the swelling lately but today has been ok in that area. I'm not sure what is different, I raised the amount of water I'm drinking and started wearing a new compression garment I bought at a dept. Store so I'm not really sure which one helped?? I just hope that my whole mid section continues to loose some of the swelling.

Updated on 20 Apr 2011:
So today is 4 weeks post op and i have to say i am still sick to death of the swelling!! And to top it off i woke up today to a red spot on my incision so im hoping i am not getting an infection!! dont go to the docs for 5 more days but if it gets any more red then i may have to call him. i did post new pics!! all of them were taken in the morning and you can see the swelling even then!

Updated on 25 Apr 2011:
So I have been complaining for almost a week about this Hard red spot on my incision line and yesterday it started hurting and today it was soooo sore I was miserable all day at work but had a follow up appointment with PS after work so I suffered. I get to his office and he was like that's no big deal looks like a stitch trying to come out. After making a tiny cut and digging around he pulled out a stitch ball!!! Not gonna lie it hurt like hell but now I feel like a new woman!! Amazing that a tiny stitch can hurt worse than the whole damn surgery.

Updated on 4 May 2011:
Today is 6 weeks post op and i cant believe it has been this long. I am getting flatter everday but still a puff ball by the night! i am not gonna complain cuz i am 100% percent better than before surgery. I loooove my belly and belly button now!! I have not looked this way since i was 16 and am so happy with my decision to do it, was worth every penny!!