Tummy Tuck: Stories

I'm 33, mother of 3, 125 pounds, 5'8". For me this hasn't been exactly a no brainer. I'm a fit size 2 and so with clothes on my friends and family say it's ridiculous for me to want a TT. What they don't understand is that after several rounds of p90X, I feel like I've given it my best shot and I really never had the chance to look hot in my 20's in a bikini because I always had loose skin, stretch marks, and a pooch.

I have looked like this for 13 years. My husband says he'll support whatever I want to do but I don't need it. The recuperation is my biggest fear. I don't want any of the "nay sayers" taking care of me any longer than they have to. I'm terrified of the scar but plan to have it covered with a tattoo a couple of years from now.

My BA scars done by the same doctor have almost completely disappeared and having that done was the best thing I ever did for myself. I'm committed now. It's on September 4th and although I don't think I'll regret having the extra skin and stretch marks cut off, I do think I'll regret the 14 inch scar for a while. Stay tuned...

8/7/12
I scheduled another pre-op visit with my doctor on August 21st. My husband will be going to this one. He still thinks a few more crunches will fix everything. I think he'll be turned off no matter what the doc says. Probably because he insists it's their job to convince you to spend money with them. I think I'll feel better one way or another once I have all of my questions answered. I usually go 110% on everything I decide to do. Why is this so different? Is my gut telling me not to do it?

So after another meeting with the doctor - today the husband came - we are a go! I had discussed putting off the surgery until January so my husband could have more help with the business, kids, cleaning, etc. since my sister would be able to stay longer then, but when we left the doctor, he said "so you're doing it and you're doing it in 2 weeks right." I was so excited. I think he just needed to hear it from the doctor that what was left on my tummy was not going to be fixed with more exercise. I no longer feel anxious or 50/50 about moving forward. I think it's going to be great!!!

As far as the new picture goes, it works likes this...
The very bottom line is where I want my incision. The problem is if I go that low then the top part of the incision can only go as high as the 2nd set of dotted lines (meaning my old belly button would have to be sewn into a small vertical scar and the top of my stretch marks will remain.

I'm ok with this option because I don't want to trade one deformity (stretch marks) for another (a scar that's really visible.) And when my stretch marks are pulled tight, they're not nearly as visible. My muscle repair is very minor and I will have no drains and no lipo.

So that's the plan. 2 weeks to go.

Final consult yesterday and we went over the supplies, prescriptions, what not to take, what vitamins to take, etc.

Taking a multi vitamin - twice a day
500 mg of vitamin c - twice a day

Here's how the drainless tummy tuck works - they quilt the skin back to the underlying stuff like a mattress. so every inch or so, the doc sutures you back together. This leaves a lot less space for fluid to fill in. Therefore, no drains needed. I'm happy to be going drainless b/c a lot of comments on this sight talk about that being a part that makes people feel poorly until they have them removed. Also they can cause dog ears or additional scars if places outside of the incision.

Prescriptions are:
norco - hydrocodone (this is not a very strong pain reliever in my opinion so maybe that's a good sign that the pain is not too bad)
phenagrin - anti nausea
so kind of anti biotic
and valium

I had lipo from my neck to my knees with a BA about 4 years ago and the nurse who took care of me told me yesterday that that was WAY more painful then this tummy tuck procedure. I hope she's right.

Im not nervous. I should be but I usually don't get nervous about anything. I have an extremely physical job so we'll see how long recovery takes. They are my companies so luckily no one can force me to come back to work. Haha. Hoping the best....

Day 1 - lots of vomiting even with several anti-nausea meds
Awake for 30-40 minute spurts
No pain unless moving a lot or getting up to walk
Catheter was annoying but at least I didn't have to get up to potty
Slept ok in my recliner but woke up every hour or so just because I'd been sleeping all day long
Kept nothing down, not even water

Day 2 - not as sleepy
Can barely walk but can sit with no pain
Went to doc today to have catheter removed and CG adjusted. Almost fainted because of removal of CG. I saw the covered incision and uncovered BB for the 1st time. No stretch marks and hard as a rock. I think it looks super sexy so far. My hubby liked it to.
I'm back to eatting now and hoping to be able to walk (if even not up right) at least without being in super pain.

Attached 1st post op pic

My sister is leaving today so me and the hubby are on our own. I took a shower by myself with no problem. My back hurts worse than anything because I'm walking hunched over so now I'm laying in my bed with legs elevated and on a heating pad. This seems to help a lot. I may even sleep in bed tonight no I'm not curled into the recliner. I'm walking a lot. I drink a pint of water per hour so I have to get up to pee that out. Overall I'd say my walking more up right is getting better hour by hour and I expect to be walking upright completely by Saturday. I have really strong arms so I try to use them to not put any pressure on my core when getting in and out of bed. I find myself falling asleep mid typing when I'm on the computer which is from the meds and kind of funny. I weigh 3 more pounds today than I did surgery morning and the doc took 12 ounces of skin off. I'm eating ridiculously healthy so once the swelling goes away I am hoping to be a size zero and that my final scar falls below my lowest cut bikini bottom. TBD......

Day 4 - my back hurts the worst by far. I'm almost standing up straight. I bought 3 different kinds of Spanx online today. Free shipping and 10% off your entire order if you sign up for their email. I lost 1 pound since yesterday. Probably fluid. Was 125.2 surgery morning, 128.4 yesterday and 127.0 today. The heating pad is my best friend because of the backaches. I saw someone on this message board had a massage for their back pain. I'd be scared to but I guess if they don't go near the incision sight, then that could be a good thing. Once I can drive on my own I will look into it. Good circulation is a positive either way I guess. My doc says switch to Spanx at 2 weeks PO, then wear them for like EVER after that. I'm being silly but they do say that swelling can persist for up to 6 months so wear the Spanx as long as you can. I definitely could not get my pre-op jeans buttoned now if I tried but I expected that. I am looking forward to seeing my incision once the steri-strips are removed and b/c I was high at my last appointment I can't recall if they said they'd change them at the 1 week appt. or wait until they fall off on their own, or what. I do remember the nurse saying she'd remove the sutures from my BB. It's a pretty cute BB but it seems really small compared to what I've been looking at for the previous 13 years. Back to my ritual of drinking water, eating soup, taking meds, and web surfing.

So swollen its not even funny. I posted pics anyway. My belly button's going to need some TLC, but honestly right now all i care about is not feeling so swollen like I'm going to burst and like I'm not as big as this makes me looks.

Post Op Day 5 - TODAY IS GREAT. I can stand up straight so my back doesn't hurt anymore. I can pick up my house a little so I don't feel as helpless, and I could probably drive but my husband won't let me on Hydro so I guess he can chauffeur me around. I need a pedi and we need groceries. I'm so going to sit on the little rascal at Target and rock the grocery shopping. And you know people are going to give me the evil eye because I don't look handicapped. HATERS!!!!.

I laughed so hard about one tummy-tucker's fart post. Seriously folks. The 1st 4 days after surgery all you want to do is fart and you CAN'T!!! I suggest Beano or something. Day 5 (today) I finally broke down and did the enima and it worked like a charm. I would like to suggest to the Fleet Corporation that they create a little more of a comfort tip. That thing is ridiculous. And FYI I take 3 Milk of Mags or 3 Colace per day and fiber gummies twice a day so I was doing my part but nothing was happening on its own down there.

So I'm a little emotional late at night all of a sudden. I'm not in much pain and I love my results so why is this happening? My selfish little 13 year old daughter turned into a TRUE TEENAGE GIRL tonight so that didn't help but instead of grounding her or telling her how I felt I just burst into tears. And the night before I was crying for absolutely no reason at all. Has anyone else dealt with this? How long does it last?

I have been focusing on caloric intake and low sodium eating so my weight is 1 pound below surgery day but it's darn near impossible to button my jeans so that tells me I'm swollen. Everything else is great. I'm at 19 dpo and I can do everything I could before surgery except work out my core, lift over 15 pounds without it stinging, vacuuming hurts, and sneezing still stings a little. Honestly the recovery has been very manageable. Now if the swelling would go away I could really see what I'm working with :)
My doctor tod me no ab work until I was 10 weeks from surgery. I've seen posts that say patients were released at 6 weeks. I'm ok with 10. I think you have to trust your own body. And 1 more thing - this is the BEST thing I've ever done for myself. I'm really really happy I did it :)

5 weeks post op feels great. The only negative thing i can say is that when your stomach all of a sudden looks awesome, you realize how bad the booty needs a workout :) I went to an indoor waterpark with the kids this weekend. I wore a bikini but not one that showed where the silicone tape is so you couldn't tell I'd had surgery, and the stares felt pretty awesome. This was a great decision and I'm glad I did it. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to put anything on the scars for healing other than the silicone tape I bought from the plastic surgeon. I'll read on here and see. If anyone has any suggestions on that please advise.

60 days of p90x plus a tummy tuck equals an amazing stomach for bikini season. I'm 7 months out and couldn't be happier with the results.