Mini Tummy Tuck: Stories

Today is Post-op day 1. Minimal pain & I look amazing already! Everyone at my doctors office helped soooooo much!!! From the front office to the surgical team, everyone was amazing!! At 44, I decided it was time to get rid of the fat I had been carrying for the past 23 years since my daughter was born. I only occasionally exercise but I walk all day at work. I think having this procedure & seeing how much better my body looks will be a major motivation to exercise more. I signed up for Zumba classes & started two weeks before the surgery. Can't wait to resume when I've recovered. As far as the surgery itself, I can't remember anything from the moment I walked into the surgical suite. The anesthesiologist gave me something & I was out cold. Remember waking up in recovery in minimal pain. Had a lot of nausea though that lasted the first 30 minutes. Since then it's been smooth sailing.

It's been exactly 23 hours since the surgery & I've only had to take 3 pain pills. My JP drains have very little output - about 45 ccs together in 19 hours. I already feel like a new woman!!! Will post pics today. Well worth it!!!!

Post-op day 4. I've had minimal pain until yesterday. Ended up with some constipation & nausea. I started taking a stool softener the day after surgery but have been eating very little. Mostly surviving off Protein shakes & sandwich meat. Trying to consume as much protein as possible. However, I should have been adding some fruits & green veggies. As they say, hindsight is 20/20 vision. At this point, I am strictly taking Tylenol for pain. Havent experienced the burning yet that others have referred to at the Lipo sites. Just a lot of soreness. The hardest thing has been trying not to be to active. You will start feeling better & start over exerting yourself. But the body needs rest and relaxation to heal. My advice is to make sure you have a recliner in your living room & stay there during the first week. You can do range of motion exercises in the chair to help avoid getting blood clots. My daily exercise has consisted of walking to the mailbox. Still hasn't been as bad as I imagined...........

Post-op day 5. Today was my follow-up appointment and they pulled the drains. Yay!!!!!!! They were the most irritating little things but well worth the trouble. I have some swelling sue to the fact that I'm finding it hard to limit my activity. Started my fluid pill today so hopefully that will help. I also bought a replacement for my compression garment. Went to a site recommended by a fried called LoveFifi.com and bought their heavy duty corset. It's made of lycra, silicone, and other materials that provide EXTRA firm control. Still trying to fill up on Protein, fruits and veggies. Limiting my salt intake also. Don't want to mess up my great results by not being able to control my swelling. Posting pics today. They are from the first day Post-op. I'm a little larger now with the swelling but I'm working on that. Hope this helps someone.

Post op day 16 - Totally pain free now. However, I still have lots of swelling & have developed a seroma. Have to visit my doc twice weekly to have it drained. Have a little hardness in the center of my belly but my doc assures me that this is normal - especially in large volume Lipo. I've been massaging the area 3 times a day & that seems to help. Even with the swelling, I'm down 2 sizes from 10 to 6. Wearing clothes that had been hidden in the back of the closet. The most wonderful part is I can finally tuck a shirt in & wear a belt!
:-) No more oversized shirts to hide my tummy! Returning to work tomorrow after being off for two weeks. Anxious to see if anyone will notice that something is a little different. I walked around the house for 2 days last week wearing nothing but a bikini & my compression garment. Lol. Even with the compression garment, my hubby thought I looked pretty hot! Yep, its been totally worth it! :-)