Tummy Tuck: Stories

I'm 38, 120lbs and have 4 children, after talking about it for years i finally decided in August that i really need to do something about my loose saggy skin that makes me feel crappy in clothes. Surgery was scheduled for Jan. 9th, 2013.

Tues. Jan 8th
Anxiety has hit home really bad and i'm almost wanting to cancel surgery. I cleaned the house and cried, cleaned had anxiety and cried and continued to clean. I took a break and brought kids to movies but couldn't watch i was so nervous so i texted the whole time. Got home and continued to clean. At midnight i took an ativanto relax me and help me fall asleep.


Wedn. Jan 9th
Woke up at 6 a.m., took a shower, blow dried my hair. As i said good-bye to each one of my kids i was over whelmed with tears in my eyes. I arrived at the hospital at 9:00, the nurses were fantastic. They tried so hard to calm me down but nothing they said worked so finally i recieved my pretty white pill. Wow i was a different person within half hour. The docter came to get me at 11:00 and all i could ask him was "did you eat and drink i don't want you to be hungry?" lol..... he giggled and marked me up. I did remember to ask him to go as high as he can with M.R. . 5 minutes later i walked into O.R., layed on table and waited. When PS walked in the nurses asked him where he was and he said "my patient old me to eat and drink" lol.... everyone giggled. The mask went on and i was out. I woke up smiling, glad to be alive! Left hospital around 9:00pm in no pain just uncomfortable. I did get sick though and that wasn't fun. Couldn't sleep all night or the next day, Oxy's i guess keep me up. Took 1 oxy every 4-5 hours and wiened myself off by the evening of day 3. Still no major pain. I was also taking my surgery pack my natural path Dr gave me (arnica, bromelain etc..) I do think it helped the pain also.

3 day post-op
Sat Jan. 12
OMG......TMI........ but after 7 hours in labour an enima and suppository i finally had a bowel movement, what an awful day! Worst part of this whole surgery so far. Drained me out and didn't feel good the rest of the night. Again very little sleep.

4 day post-op
Sunday Jan. 13th
spent the whole day moving from recliner to couch, back to recliner. Watched movies all day. Sooooooo bored!!! Did i mention how bad my Butt hurts from sitting around everyday?

5 day post-op
Sun Jan 14th
Worst back pain ever! I can barely feel MR but man does this pain take my breath away. Had a clog in my drain and my husband milked the line. It felt so wierd. I only have one drain and it was removed the next day. I was so scared because i read so many people complain about it hurting when it gets pulled out. I didn't feel a thing, i was worried for nothing.

1 week post-op
Wed. Jan 16th
I was cleared to shower and did it ever feel great having the warm water hitting my back. The docter said i was able to start straightening up but its hard to do. My husband took me to Micheal's to get a few things and back home we went. I couldn't sit still so while my Mom vacuumed my main floor i dusted whatever i could reach, an hour later my body told me to sit. Tomorrow i'll be back to sitting around all day.

Swelling is really bad in the evening but i know it's normal and i know it's to early to complain about it. I'll try to post pictures. I am so happy with Dr and the way i look so far!

10 days post op
When do you really know if you own dog ears? I know i'm only 10 days in but i have a fatty spot ontop of my right hip and not sure if swelling needs to go down or if it's a dog ear.

12 days post op
Last night i took off my cg and noticed a wave in my lower stomach area, does this mean i have seroma? I'm seeing my ps tomorrow and will proably have to remove it, can anyone tell me if it hurts to have it drained?

Today i am 13 days p.o. and got the tape pulled off so i got to see my scar for the firt time today. It looks okay but my left side is alot higher then the right. Also i have a dog ear on my right side and I know i'm speaking to soon but i think i may still have loose skin in scar area, unless my stretch marks make it look that way. Not going to let it bring me down because i know it's way to soon to see final results. I will post some pictures a little later.

I forgot to post that i had some fluid build up i was worried about so he froze the area and drained half ounce of fluid. I think he wanted it to dissolve on its own but because i looked worried he did it. I did feel a pinch and little burning from freezing but didn't feel the draining at all. Glad it's out!

What does everyone think? I'm not sure what to think. I've been using vitamin e cream and messaging in circular motion, is this okay?

Hi everyone! I'm 3 weeks po today and feeling great! Scar is looking a little better but i know it will take time. Yesterday i met with someone that got her tt done 12 years ago and you can't even see a line anymore. It literally disappeared. I have only lost 2 lbs but thats okay i'll take that. I am also excited to finally get into a pair of jeans this morning, now mind you they were already 1 size to big when i bought them but they are a little loose on me now too. I was expecting for them to be to tight. I'll try my tighter ones on next week, don't want to get depressed if they don't fit yet. I am back to work part-time and its working out well. My swelling isn't to bad but i still see a little wave in my lower tummy. All in all i'm feeling great! It's amazing how different you feel as each week passes. Still wearing my cg 24\7 i think it helps the swelling but it also helps me feel all together. I took it off for an hour yesterday and i started to walk hunched over again. I'll post some pictures from last week and this morning. Thank you all for your comments it really helped me out last week when i saw my scar for first time. So glad i found this website when i was ready to get it done! Happy healing to you all!

So excited that i'm 4 weeks po today!!! I feel great like me again. I do have times during the day that i might swell but nothing crazy. Funny thing is when i swell i'm afraid of getting my old stomach back lol...... All in my head! Scar is looking a little better and just a little itchy but nothing i can't handle. I think i'm going to lightly start walking on treadmill for an hour everyday so i can start shedding 5 lbs. I know it's only 5 lbs but damn its so hard to do. My problem is i need to lay off the junk food. I am so happy i did this! For all those girls out there reading reviews everyone is different in pain levels, i didn't have any pain but was uncomfortable because of the muscle repair. As long as my hubby helped me up from recliner i was fine just stiff and oh boy back pain was probably the worst part but thats because we are hunched for a week. I would probably say pain is very equal to c-section but then again c-section didn't really hurt me either. Love my belly button! I can be picky about a few things with tt scar but all in all i'm so glad i did this. Happy healing everyone!!!

So excited! I bought two new bathing suits yesterday, lower then i've ever worn but higher to cover scar. Certain bathing suits were way to low for scar but i'm okay with the ones i bought because i haven't shown my belly button in 14 years. In the last picture i'm a litlle swollen. I put silicon strips on this morning..Can anyone tell me how many weeks i need to use them for? Hope everyone is feeling good and happy healing!!!

I am 5 weeks and scar is looking better and is already fading. I think the silicon strips and alternating creams evey night has helped. I just wish the swelling would go away. 4 days ago my muscles were hurting when i moved, it lasted a couple days but swelling this weeks doesn't want to go away. Urggggg. I hate it because i just want to wear my jeans all day long but thats not possible right now. I even had muffin top today wtf...... Don't get me wrong i am sooooo happy i did this. My only regret is that i didn't do it a few years ago! Happy healing my friends, so glad i found you all!!!

I enjoyed a relaxing pedicure tonight. I also got laser done on my underarms. 1 more time and i probably won't need to shave anymore, so excited about that. I am feeling like me again, i just wish i could get motivated and start working out! Going to see PS tomorrow for 6 week check up, i want to make sure everything is looking good. Happy healing to everyone!!!

So tomorrow i will be 6 weeks po and i had my ps appt. today. He couldn't believe how well my scar looks because he said from 6 to 10 weeks is when scar usually looks its worse. My muscles are good and i just need to continue what i am doing. He looked pretty happy with his work which made me feel great! I asked him about tanning and he told me to cover up a little longer and thats okay with me because i don't want to mess anything up. I will post pictures tomorrow to see difference in scar since using silicon strips.
Love this site and how honest everyone. Hope everyone out there is healing well!!!

6 weeks yesterday and everything is great except for the swelling. OMG the swelling, i feel like i'm getting bigger and bigger by the day. Anyone else have this issue after 6 weeks?

I'm 9 weeks and other then a bit of swelling at night i'm feeling great. Scar is fading a bit and smoothing out more. My biggest issue right now is not being motivated and i still haven't gone back to the gym. I do this every year around this time and once spring rolls around i am back to my exercise routine. Can't wait for some warmer weather. I don't have much to say about TT other then i am so happy i did this!!! I posted some pictures. Dog ears have smoothed out and now are flat. The little spot over scar that looks like my old button will be revised after 6 months if it doesn't fade. For everyone new on here give it time because scar looks better and better every week that goes by. Good luck to those that are having TT soon and for those that are already done HAPPY HEALING!!!

3 month p.o.
What can i say not much has changed since my last post. I'll have a couple good weeks and then i have a week of swelling. Swelling gets really bad during my period. It's funny cause just in last week i have been getting a popping feeling in my right muscle everytime i breath in deep. It's a really funny feeling, maybe everything is now waking up in there? Anyone else have this? I've gained 4 lbs cause of my poor eating habits and no motivation to work out, so to feel better i started tanning but have been putting a towel over my belly. I'm so happy i did this!!! Now i just need to get some motivation to get back to gym and lose 5 lbs. I keep looking at my before pictures and think why didn't i do this 7 years ago!