“Mini Tummy Tuck - St. Louis, MO”

I still have quite a ways to wait still: 52 days on April 2. But I went and got my consultation and although the doctor said I could get amazing results from a full tummy tuck, he also said I would get great result from a mini tummy tuck, and I would perfer a mini for a variety of reasons. I don't really have a super excessive amout of skin, just enough to drive me insane but little enough that nobody else notices it unless I REALLY point it out. My husband thinks its ridiculous, but my mom and my 3 closest friends totally support me. After 2 kids I managed to lose all the weight, but of course, like everyone else, just some skin is left over. I'm 26 yrs old, 117 lbs and almost 5'3". I am REALLY hoping to wear a monokini this summer, something I never thought was ever going to be possible. Pics coming soon.

Updated on 2 Apr 2012:
I cannot believe my surgery is today!!! That 52 days flew by! We just moved a week ago so I hadn't really been thinking about it much. But I am today! Bought canned soup, spaghetti-os, and frozen pizzas for a couple days for the hubby to give to the girls. Lord knows he wont actually cook! Hope to be back cooking soon. I'm a really quick recoverer, so hopefully I will be again. Hope to check in this evening.
BTW, I'm not getting any lipo. I have nothing to lipo! I noticed most tt or mini tt have lipo done too, so for anyone wanting to know about a mini tt with NO lipo, this is it. Talk to you soon!

Updated on 2 Apr 2012:
BTW, I lost a little bit of weight the past 2 months, so now am 5' 3" and 108lbs. In case your a numbers person like I am.

Updated on 2 Apr 2012:
Well I'm all done! Feel really great actually. I chit chatted with the doctor and the nurses the whole time. They were great. Got to see the inscision before they put the bandages on it. Looks kinda creepy right now! lol but he said I looked like I would heel fantastically. So here I am home. Slightly dizzy, but nothing much. Just a little discomfort but no real pain. Maybe Ill be lucky and it'll stay that way.

Updated on 2 Apr 2012:
Been home for 2 1/2 hours. Slept for 2 hours and just got up to walk around for a minute. NOW its kinda painful, probably a 5 on a 1-10 scale. Glad to be laying back down. But I know it's going to be worth it. I hope!

Updated on 3 Apr 2012:
PO Day 1: not too bad. I slept most of the day off and on thanks to the meds. The most pain is when I'm going to stand up or going to lay down. The movement hurts. Once I'm up or down tho Im ok. Where the pump is in is the worst though. Thatt $h*t hurts! Seriously, is it necessary for a whole week? I might not make it til next Monday to take it out.

Updated on 4 Apr 2012:
PO Day 2: well my pain wasn't horrible yesterday, but it's a little less today. Still taking the meds. I have been up and moving probably more than I'm supposed to be, but my 2 and 4 years don't care that mommy is "sick". They still need their water, soup, bananas, fruit snacks, etc. That's actually the most frustrating part, not having help with the kids all day until 3 when my mom gets here. I moved from the bed the the living room chair and it's made getting up and down SOOOO much easier. I don't generally eat big meals anyways, so thats been the same. Just some soup, applesauce. Not really sure what to eat though. Was trying to eat "light" foods, but I don't reallyknow what that means.Pump still bothers me like a son of a gun. And it just seems to be collecting blood droplets, no light colored anything like the nurse said. Thinking of calling them to see if thats bad or not. I did briefly take the binder off just long enough to put a shirt on underneath since I have really sensitive skin and the binder is itchy as anything. Besides being up way too much, I'm doing well.

Updated on 6 Apr 2012:
PO Day 4: Lessened my pain meds a bit yesterday and used nothing at all today. Didn't really have too much pain, but I skipped the pain meds because I have so much homework and the meds make me sleepy and I have no time to be sleepy. Only the pump was really irritating. I did sponge bath today and washed my hair. Just getting a little better day by day. Monday I have my 1st post op visit where they take the pump out. Not looking forward to that and looking forward to it at the same time.

Updated on 7 Apr 2012:
PO Day 5 I could NOT stand that pump another second. It had kept me up 2 nights in a row and was really painful, so this morning I took it out. 2 days earlier than it shoulda come out. O well. I feel so much better without it.

Updated on 9 Apr 2012:
PO Day 7 So the past 2 days without the drain have been wonderful, and I went to my first post-op appointment today. It was great. They took everything off including the tape. Dr. P noticed a 1-2 mm area where the skin hadn't aligned exactly, so he numbed it and redid it quickly. I hadn't seen my stomach yet. It. Looks. GREAT! Of course it looks like I just had surgery a week ago, but still you can tell it looks a million times better. I'll get some new pics up sometime in the next week. But it actually looks flat! My PS had tried to talk me into a full and I wouldn't have it. I didn't think I needed it. And BAM! Today he says "you know, I thought you'd need a full, but now I'm seeing I don't think you did." Yeah, I KNOW! OMG, best surgeon ever. If you're from St. Louis, go to him. You will love him.
Have my 2nd post-op next Tuesday.
Oh, one other point of advice that the nurse had suggested last week that I couldn't have survived without with this: wear a tank top or shirt UNDER your binder. It gets very itchy and irritates the skin, and keeping a shirt on underneath it was a lifesaver.
I'm still going with "undecided", but only because I want to wait and see what it looks like in a week or two. But I'm almost positive it is worth it.

Updated on 10 Apr 2012:
PO Day 8 Still feel good. Walked all around campus getting ready for next semester and I did get winded and tired after walking a lot, but "thankfully" there's was hours of waiting around too, so I recovered.
Took my first shower today and shaved my legs. That felt great! The scar looks a bit scary right now, but its only been a week, so thats to be expected.
Still sleeping in my chair. I tried sleeping in my bed the night before last, and after a couple hours I woke up SOOOO uncomfortable I went back to the chair in the living room. I think I'll be there for another week or so. But that doesn't bother me. At least I get to sleep by myself that way! LOL I still take the pain meds at night, I figure just in case, but nothing during the day. Doing well though! High hopes it'll stay that way.

Updated on 15 Apr 2012:
So it's been almost 2 weeks (as of tomorrow) since my surgery. My incision started to look improved a couple days ago. On the flip side, I seem to have a lot of swelling. I knew I would, but I look even more swollen this weekend then I did before, or maybe it's just that I'm eating normal again. I've been feeling really good. But up doing all the normal I usually do. Although my daughter wanted to wrestle yesterday and I fould I cannot do that yet. lol My tummy/incision does start to hurt a bit after walking for too long. Example: the husband and I went major grocery shopping Friday night (we needed everything!) and at the end of the trip it'd been 2 1/2 hrs of walking I couldn't wait to lay down. Haven't been taking any pain meds. Tried on an old bikini that I haven't worn in 5 years and it perferctly covered the scar. I can't say I looked great in it because I'm so swollen I look bigger than I was before. Hopefully that goes away soon, because it's really bothering me.

Updated on 17 Apr 2012:
Post Op Day 15- Holy Swelling Down! I look like a normal person again! (well, normal with a big scar lol). But seriously, I went to take a shower this morning and noticed most of the swelling had disappeared literally over night. When people say swelling down around 2 weeks, they're not kidding. Now that it's starting to look a little bit more normal, I'm getting kinda excited. I can't wait to see the real final results, but just starting to see it today totally made my day.

Doing everything back to normal. I still can't pick up my kids. While normally thats ok, sometimes they want up and I have to say no. Although yesterday the 2 yr old feel asleep in the car and I HAD to carry her inside, which was painful, but I suffered through it. Still can't really lay down flat either, mostly because I can't get back up. Everything else is going like it was before. Feeling really awesome.

Updated on 22 Apr 2012:
Post Op Day 20-It's been 3 weeks tomorrow and I feel totally normal. Back to sleeping in my own bed again, which is great. Had my first day back at work yesterday. It went really well. I work in a restaurant which is why I took nearly 3 weeks off, since it's such an active job. I had more swelling after work than I had had all week. Tried to go out then last night and maybe not quite my best idea. Eating and dancing with a tight binder on just made me feel sick all night and I didn't even drink. So I'll wait til the binder is off to try it again. But besides that, all is well. Incision is totally healed, and it just continues to heal and get better looking. Lots of dead dry skin flaking, but all part of the healing. Will get new pics up soon since it looks so different than it did just last week. Just want to make sure it's a swell-free pic :)

Updated on 22 Apr 2012:
Also, started wearing high waisted Spanks under my binder. Just feels nice and tight.