Tummy Tuck: Stories

All my life I have always had a lower belly and then after having kids and some weight gain, the belly became bigger. I used to drop the weight but gain it back. Each time I drop the weight I said I didn’t want to go back but did anyway.

We had this management class at work one day “Becoming a Corporate Athlete” and in that meeting they asked up to make goals for ourselves. He said he didn’t want to see “I want to loose weight” because if it was just that, we would have lost it by now. He asked us to dig deep and determine why we keep gaining weight.

I believe my deep issue was I was addicted to food and didn’t want to exercise and would have like to find an easy way to do it. So I made the following goal: I will become healthy and take care of body. I will admit that I am addicted to food and will take it day to day and in the process, if I loose weight, then great….

I changed mentally by telling myself I need to feed my brain good foods but not denying myself of other things if I will watch the amount I eat and make sure I do a little extra in my workout. I also changed physically. I began working out three to four times a week and now I’m up to four to six times a week. I keep my workouts very versatile (Zumba, dance cardio, gym and a little jogging (new).

Now for the physical part. I think one of the reasons I always gained the weight back was because although the loose weight and shrink, I still looked the same, just smaller. This time I’m going to do something about the look so I do not get discouraged. So this is the reason I’m here today.

So I received a called from my PS office today and I was told the doctor will not be available on 11/11 as we scheduled and asked if I would like to move my appointment to either 11/8 or 11/17. Of course I prefer the 8th not only because it's earlier but because my husband doesn't have the flexibility to change his vacation days as a fireman like I do. I need his time off and didn't want to shorten the time he will be home with me. I was also able to get my co-worker to cover me for a project that was due on the 10th that I was planning on dong myself.

So I call the office back and left a message to take the 8th and I'm waiting for confirmation. So it looks like my surgery will possibly move up a few days. I'm still awaiting on my pre-op day for this Friday. I will feel more comfortable when I have everything nailed down.

I did receive confirmation for 11/8 surgery day and I had my pre-op test today. It seems like it went well. They did some blood work. I hope it comes out okay. I wonder when I will hear back from them or if I will only hear from them if something is wrong. I forgot to ask.

I also seen my primary doctor today. I didn't know how he was going to feel about me getting a tt. He was totally okay with it and felt the same as we all do regarding needing to build self confidence and sometimes needing that extra boot to continue your lifestyle change. I was so relieve to have his support.

I think it's time for me to get the things I need to prepare for surgery.

My allergies got the best of me. I had to postpone my surgery. I came down with a sinus infection just days before the sugery. So I'm on antibiotics. I do feel totally better now but may have to postpone to January due to scheduling conflicts with my husband and my co-worker who is covering for me while I'm on vacation. Only if there is a cancellation with in the next two weeks I can re-schedule, if not, then I will have the surgery the first week in January (5th). I was so disappointed at first but it's only for the best....

I made it!!!! I had my TT and BL on Jan 5th and everything went nicely per my PS. I woke up in recovering and was not comfortable at all with the pain so they doped me up LOL. For me, the pain was similar to the C-section pain but wasn't as deep. They took the catheter out around 8 PM and I started going to the restroom.
So the first day was bearable.

Today is day two and it's like night and day. Not much pain at all. I am at home now resting comfortably.

Today is going okay. My husband helped me take a shower today. We are a good team. I'm feeling more twinges today and haven't napped much. I feel swelling in my breast from the breast lift. I can't seem to get the garment to fit just right. I'm trying to make sure it not on my wound around my breast.

I have been trying to eat foods with light sodium and drink plenty of water.

Day 6 Post op and things are going pretty well. I have been still taking it real easy. I do a lot of things on my own and asked for help in drying off after my shower and making sure I get the binder back on. I empty my drains but there isn't too much draining at this time. I still let my husband prepare the food. I don't want to rush recovery.

The last two days I have been sleeping more. I used to wake up after a couple of hours but now have been waking up after 5 hours. I have a feeling I will be sleeping longer this evening because I can now go a lot longer without pain meds.

Hi guys… I just wanted to say I’m definitely one of the ones who had a hard time deciding if I was small enough to have this type of surgery. But after reflecting on my weight loss journey over the years, I figured out one of the reasons why I gained the weight back was because of the way my belly looked and how discouraging it was to still have this look after all of my hard work of eating healthy and working out. So although I’m curvy and bigger than many of you, I satisfied with my results and decision to have this surgery. I want others who may deal with the same issues I have to see an example of how they can look if they choose to make the same decision as I.
Also, if you are realistic about your results, you will be happy you made this decision of getting a flatter tummy. I’m 7 days post op and have posted a picture from 5 days post op. I’m still swollen but I like my results so far.

Post op day 8. I woke up today and realized it's Friday and I have to see the PS on the 19th. I don't know if I can go another weekend with these drains. I have been putting out less than 30 ccs for the last three days. I called the PS office and asked the nurse if I need to wait until I see the PS on the 19th for the drains or if I can have them taken out today. She said today. YAY!!!!!!

To a shower I went and headed to the office. I am now drain free. She pulled both drains at the same time. Wow!!! Wasn't expecting that but it was quick and only felt a little twinge when the came out the hole. What a great feeling.

The nurse also told me to wear a sports bra instead of the garment they had given me. The garment they gave me was too loose. She said I needed more support. I switched to a sports bra when I got home.

Post op day 11 - I slept in today. I'm doing well. I almost have no pain at all but did do too much yesterday and ended up having to take a couple of tylenol for the muscle pain. I believe I got ahead of myself. I'm going to take it easy today.

Finally had my post op appointment. PS said everything looks good. He did take out some fluid he found but it didn't hurt at all because that area is still numb. It wasn't too much at all. He said he likes to remove it mostly because it can make the skin extend unnecessary and make it loose. I definitely don't want that.

He told me I could change my cg to something more comfortable and tighter. So I will be shopping tomorrow to find some since I will start working next week. He still doesnt want me to put anything on the incision yet.

18 days post op today - yesterday I took off the binder from the hospital and tried a cg I purchased from the store. It did feel tighter but I think it may be pressing up against my breast too tight. So since I was sore from that, I decided that I will do my trusty binder today again and try the cg that just comes underneath my breast.

I only problem I'm seeing with the CG is taking pulling it down every time I have to use the restroom. I'm used to not worrying about that with the Velcro binder.

I have felt like some of the others in regards to wondering if I'm going to get the results I'm hoping for. My belly do still seem bigger and swollen (I guess) than I want. I sure hope it goes down more. I keep saying to myself... patience, patience, patience.

I am returning to work a half day tomorrow. I really don't want to go but thought I could work a half day tomorrow and Wednesday and save a vacation day. Sometimes I think I should just wait until my original return to work day, Thursday.

I feel fine for the most part. Actually I feel the most normal these last few days but just haven't had a chance to relax and enjoy these days because my husband and I have had so much going on. I told him he must win the lottery.... hehehehe

Went to work for a half day. It went okay but had some discomfort in getting comfortable at times. I think I will just get up and move around a bit and re-adjust in the chair as needed.

I was speaking about how my lower stomach is still swollen or even have fluid built up. I'm posting a side view so it can be seen. Has anyone had this type of swelling or do you think it's fluid? Maybe I should just have patience and see what happens and if is a bulge, I believe my PS can fix.

Just completed my 2nd full day at work. It went pretty well. I glad I started out with half days before going a full day.

Yesterday and today I wore a CG instead of the binder and it was much more comfortable. It actually felt tighter. Yesterday I wore a basic high waist brief and it was pretty okay but today I wore a high waist CG with straps that I purchased from makemeheal.com and I think I really like it. It really pulls your belly in and it was the first time I felt really flat even with the little fluid I have built up.

I understand how some folks feel when they say they feel really secure in their garment. I think I'm going to order another on tonight.

Made it through a full work week this week and I’m back to the full swing of things. PS said no treadmill until I’m 4 to 6 week post-op and I was 4 weeks post op this past Thursday. I went for a walk. It was about a mile. I did take a shorter walk on Tuesday but Thursday was the longest I walked since surgery. I have to say by the time I got to the last 4th of the walk, I was getting a little bent over. The sides of my breast, where I had the breast lift, are a little sore today. Not sure if it was from the walk or not. Outside of that I feel really good.

I am pretty much back to all of my activities I was before surgery except for working out. I still have swelling of course and I believe I still have fluid build up. I see my PS this coming Thursday for post op and to have fluid removed.

The glue and scab is finally falling off on my belly. Most is gone but have a few areas that is not ready to come off yet so I’m hoping I will start some scar treatment or at least be able to put something on it after my post op visit.

Tomorrow I will be 5 weeks post op. I seen the PS today and he released me to exercise but no ab work or weight lifting that put a strain on my abs. He did remove a little fluid but not too much. It was nothing to be concern about. He said everything is healing properly. I think I'm going to try some aerobics tonight.

5 weeks post op. I'm taking this time to reflect today. I'm focusing on how big of an improvement my tummy is. I could look at it and see all of the imperfections and flaws but by focusing on the positive, I can see that I will take this over my old belly any day. The pain and discomfort was short lived. I really appreciate being able to have the opportunity to improve myself in this way. I'm very grateful.

I feel great physically and mentally. Now I have been released to exercising again, I have to get back to my old routine. This was such a great decision.

Hi everyone, I will be 3 months post ops on April 5th and have been enjoying my new belly. I don't know if you notice the little pooch I had in my lower belly from the pictures I posted earlier. I did try to show my best shots in the photos but I added more pictures to see if you can see it. I expressed my concerns about this pooch to my PS and today I had revision surgery. I am again really pleased with the results. I added the pictures from today. It’s not nearly the pain I went through the first time. So far I have only taken some extra strength Tylenol. I’m trying to decide if I should take something stronger so there is no discomfort tonight.

This journey has been really interesting to me. I was never looking for perfection but I have to say I am extremely satisfied with my realistic results from the tummy tuck. I like how this journey contributed to building my self-esteem and helping me except me for me and changing parts of me that can be changed with diet (something I continue to work on) and exercise (which I have learned to love) also the parts of me diet and exercise could not change through diet and exercise. I just love this site for letting me express my feelings with others who are going through some of the same feeling as I.

My PS has been wonderful. He has been extremely nice and made me feel very comfortable throughout this whole journey.

2 weeks since revision and still happy. I almost had no pain at all, just twinges here and there and Tylenol worked even though they gave me stronger meds. I seen my PS on Tuesday and he had to remove fluid since I had no drains this time. It looks like I he will do a repeat in a week. Other than that things are going really well. I added more photos including pics of the breast lift.

Feeling totally normal again. Had PS appointment this week and there was just a tiny bit of fluid left, hardly nothing at all. I have to wait one more week to start exercising other than walking again. I'm ready to get back to my normal routine. I am totally satisfied with the results.