Tummy Tuck: Stories

I lost 50 pounds over the past year with diet and exercise and after 2 kids many years ago it was time for me to take care of my baby apron.

Well everyone, I had my pre op tests at the hospital done today! Received my antibacterial scrubby soap and paid the hospital and anesthesiologist! I am all set to go this coming Thursday! OMG, OMG, I can't believe it is coming soo fast!! I am sooo excited and ready for this!! Two more days to finish preparing, cooking some meals and then its my time! Wish me luck everyone...I'll be checking in as much as possible.

5 days post op and am sooo glad that I had this procedure done. The recovery has not been near as bad as I imagined and I scared myself for nothing. I will say though that the lipo is a bugger! If it weren't for that it would really be smooth sailing! I am already extremely bored and can't wait until I can start doing something! Ladies this is worth it for sure..don't scare yourself into thinking its terrible and unbearable. You can handle it and will do great.

Today was a hard day. Pain was still okay but my emotions were riding high...I'm bored, I'm tired of the drains, I'm tired of being stuck in the house not able to do anything, I'm tired of the stings and burns and I tried to change into my other compression garment (which I hate those also) and because of the drains couldn't hook it at the crotch so it then sat and pinched my lipo site! OUCHEE, OUCHEE, OUCHEE!

I'm hoping that my pity party is coming to an end today and that tomorrow I will be better! I have my one week appointment tomorrow and I best get at least one of these effin drains out or I'm gonna scream! I know she won't pull both cuz I still have more than 30cc worth of drainage but one will be better than nothing! My mom is taking me to doc tomorrow and maybe we will have lunch and I will feel like I am still alive and kicking! BOOHOO :(

Yay, yay, yay...12 days post op and I was able to have one drain removed today! Still have to wait a couple of days for the other..hoping that it stays under 30cc/day so I can go Friday and have it removed so I won't have to spend my 3rd weekend with a drain. SoO annoying!! I was told today though that I can go to the gym and ride the recumbent bike and can walk slowly on the treadmill. Probably should wait until the drain is removed though cuz more activity=more drainage.

12 days post op and feeling so much better. The drain removal was WEIRD...felt like a snake slithering out. My husband couldn't believe it when I told him the end of the drain was up past my rib cage. He thought it was little and short...fooled him..that sucker was long :) Funny that the hole is already closed up also.

Need to update some more pics...maybe in the morning. Nite all!

15 days post op and both drains are now gone!! Yippee, but that second sucker HURT coming out, but only for a minute and I'm so happy to have them gone.

Recovery is going well, but I'm bored and want to get back to the gym. My lipo bruising is almost gone but my hips are sooo hard where it has settled. It gives me the heebie jeebies to touch/massage it much myself. Any suggestions on what I can use to help massage; a ball? IDK.

Swelling is not too bad but binder is bothering me and compression garment I bought from PS sits right on my hard hip and incision so I don't like it. I'm supposed to be able to change into a spanx type garment at 3 weeks and I'm going this weekend to purchase some boy short garment or mid thigh that will be more comfy and I see myself switching before my 3 weeks. I need to put some more pics up also, maybe tomorrow. I was given the go ahead to ride a recumbent bike and walk very slowly on treadmill so I think I may go to the gym this weekend now that drains are out and give it a go. Hope everyone else is doing well!!

20 days post op tomorrow and I feel better for the most part but the new sensations that are coming back in my tummy are really creeping me out! Everything feels prickly, stinging and just a nuisance. The compression garments and binders are still my biggest complaint, but I took it off last night and tried to go to sleep without it and that felt weird too so i put it back on. I think I'm letting this recovery beat me and get the best of me and I need to decide that I'm in control of my recovery and get on living. I haven't gone out and visited with friends or really done anything and I think that is getting to me. My 16 year old daughter stayed home today with the stomach bug and I'm praying that I don't get it. My husband and I lysoled and clorox wiped everything and she stayed in her dungeon (room) all day so hopefully it won't hit me...I don't know if I could handle the puking right now.

I read all the stories about this recovery and knew it was a process but boy oh boy is it ever a process! I definitely don't regret having it done, but I do wish that I could fast forward to 6 months out so I would feel better! I really need to take some new pics and post..maybe tomorrow!

Day 20 post op, almost beginning week 4 and I'll tell you this week has been a rough one! I thought that having the drains out would help things so much and from that aspect things have been better, but I am having so much trouble with compression garments that I just want to scream and cry! I woke up this morning at 5:34 whimpering and in so much pain and discomfort from the binder sitting on my hips. The lipo bruising and swelling is now sitting on my hips and after sleeping on my back all night with the binder on it is killing me! I ripped the binder off and put ice packs on and went back to sleep around 8 with no binder or garment on. My tummy is also still one prickly, stinging mess and it hurts just looking at it right now much less touching it. I look a hot mess also with glue hanging off of me as it begins to come off of my incision.

To top it all off, my washing machine has bit the dust and I need to go to Home Depot to buy a new one, but my daughter is still home sick with the stomach bug and I'm still praying that my hubs and I don't get it! We are lysoling and clorox wiping everything so please wish me luck there!

I know this journey is a process, I know this journey is a marathon and not a sprint, but I'm hoping for a better week next week!

Can I get an Amen and a Hallelujah and all that jazz? Went for my 3 week post op appointment yesterday and all was great! I was released to go back to the gym! I can jog on the treadmill and I can also begin lifting weights as long as my core is not too engaged! My PS said let my body dictate how much I can lift and didn't set a specific weight limit. I am so utterly excited!!

I can also switch to a spanx garment and since my swelling is at the hips, a boy short or mid thigh type garment is best for me. She wants me to wear it as much as possible during the day and when I'm working out but if I don't want to wear it overnight then DON'T! Thank you Jesus! I am going to see my trainer first thing Monday to get my workout program to tone up my arms and to get back into my running!

I told my PS that she had to let me work out b4 I start to get flabby and she told me there is no skin to get flabby. I can start with the scar cream now also so I'm happy about that also. I can also tan..outside or in a tanning bed as long as the scar is covered. I went to the doc yesterday, then shopping, then a job interview and then a little more shopping, all in my size 8 pre surgery dress slacks and had no issues with swelling and all I had on was a lightweight, light control boy short on for compression. I hope everyone is doing as well as I am! Have a great weekend!

Well I had my first workout today and I feel fantastic! I did a very slow 14 minute mile on the treadmill with some interval inclines also and I had no problems. Ran the last .15 mile at a 5.4 mph and a .5 incline and it was awesome! I had no pains, no burning, nothing! I felt a little swelling or tightness during the run but nothing major! Talked with my trainer and did some light arm work and was told to stick to circuit weights with a seated back which will aid in my core not being engaged. He is going to begin working on my get back into full routine mode for when I'm released to do ab work in a few weeks! I did the jog with my garment on and I really didn't even swell. I'll try for 1.5 miles tomorrow. Here are the pics I took after the run!

Ladies I can't tell you how excited I am and how this makes me feel so much more like my normal self.

Lipo and compression garments = Devil! That's all I have to say about that! GRRRRR!

Day 29 today and I've had a great week! My 3 week post op appointment last week was my turning point where i decided I was in charge of my recovery and I was NOT going to sit around any more! I went to the gym on Monday and jogged a slow mile, Tuesday I went to lunch with a friend and the mall and then came home and made dinner, put dishes away, etc., Wednesday I did some cleaning, Thursday lunch out with another friend and cooking dinner and today back to the gym and jogged another mile at 13 minutes today and then did my upper body workout. Still not too much swelling considering all of my activity. Working out though I can really tell my diet has not been as clean as it should be, so Monday I clean it up!Overall I'm doing great and I hope everyone else is also. I can't believe that I am less than 2 weeks away from being cleared for all normal activity...it really goes by fast! Yay!

Well ladies today I am 5 weeks post op! I never imagined that time would go by this fast but it certainly has! My recovery is going well, but I haven't been in the gym as much as I'd like, I have been busy with family this week with the end of the school year and all. I did get a new job and will be a clinic administrator for Massage Envy....can you say lymphatic massage here I come!

My incision is healing pretty nicely and what I thought might be a dog ear or excess skin on one side is really lipo fluid/banding sitting there. It looks like my incision was pleated and I really thought it was the incision, but it's lipo. The only discomfort that I still have is from the lipo! I can't believe how much it pains me! I feel it moving around when I massage my hips and I'm hoping it will release and move on out!

My swelling is still not bad and I can wear my 29 waist jeans, shorts with room to spare in the waist but my swelling is still sitting on my hips so they fit tighter there now. Hopefully this will pass because I didn't want to trade my muffin top for wide load hips!! :)

I have added a few pics that I just took this evening. Let me know if you can tell a difference from the last ones because I'm not sure I can! Thanks ladies and if i can help any of you in any way, just give me a shout!

Well I have a spitting suture at my belly button that I discovered yesterday. It's not bothering me and my 6 week check up is Friday so I'm sure I can wait and let my ps take care of it then! Did I mention that I can't believe time has gone by so fast!! I can't believe that I'm about to be 6 weeks post op and get cleared for all normal activities and living life!! YAY!! I worked out yesterday and ran another 1.5 miles and ran a quarter mile at a 9 minute mile pace. I didn't have any pulling or tightness and didn't swell up like a balloon after either and I left the house after and went grocery shopping in the 100 degree TX heat! I'm afraid to see what August brings us if this is where we are in June!

Well everyone, I'll be 6 weeks post op tomorrow...oh my, oh my, oh me! I can't believe that it has gone by so fast! Not as fast i would like; I'd like to be 6 months tomorrow, but I'll take what I can get! I went to my trainer today and told him that he had to be ready to train my flabby ass beginning on Monday! My arms are flabby, my butt has spread which isn't helping my wide load hips right now where my swelling is sitting, my diet is not clean and I start a new job on the 20th so he's got one week to get me a workout program, and diet to get me rocking again! My trainer is great! He is co-owner of the gym in our little small town and he is truly passionate about health and wellness and helping his clients succeed. I could contract with him for one hour and til the end of time he will help me if I need a new workout, new diet plan, anything he will do it at no charge. I won't do that to him but that's the kind of person he is! AWESOME!

I'm starting a new job on the 20th after being at home for almost 2 years. I took a time out a couple of years ago when my daughter was beginning her freshman year in high school so I could be "there" for her, which was something I had been unable to do in the past with my career. It was difficult to walk away from the $$, the power, but it enabled me to build a relationship with my daughter that wouldn't exist had I kept working and climbing the ladder. Now as she prepares for her jr year I am no longer as "needed" since she has a driver's license and a vehicle. Mom's taxicab was retired last October :( My hubs works a lot also, so it is basically me just hanging out alone much of the time so I decided I wanted back in the rat race but in a scaled back level. I'm rejoining the mouse race instead of the rat race and taking Quality of Life over $$ because my priorities and outlook on life has changed in the last two years.

I have already prepared my husband and daughter that dinner will not be prepared every evening any longer because i will be working and then hitting the gym. I will NOT work and rush home to cater to them (when most of the time he is working late and she is gone also)and forget about myself when they are both grown and perfectly capable of fending for themselves. We will have a lot of YOYO (you're on your own) nights!

Sorry I was rambling...anyway my trainer sent me to the health food store to get a 7 day cleanse and I have a 3:00 appt with him on Monday afternoon. I can't wait to find out how much I'm cleared for and I can't wait to get back into a workout program! Take care ladies and I'll ramble again on Friday after my 6 week appt!

Saw my ps this morning for my 6 week check up and I have been cleared for ALL activities! I have no restrictions at all and can even do ab work but I will begin very slowly with that. I plan on just building my core back up first without doing specific ab work and then I will get back in to the abs! She confirmed that they hard spots on my hips is indeed swelling and will go away with time and massage. My scar is already very light but I need to massage more to flatten it out in spots. I hate the way it feels on my hand as I massage it so I don't do it as often as I should. I bought a gardening glove and put lotion on it and the glove on and massage so I don't feel it and it has worked well. I don't go back to the doc for another 6 weeks. As I was leaving, some of the ladies in her office saw me as I walked by and yelled at me so I went back and they told me how "awesome and skinny" I looked! Yay Me! I told them I had an appointment set with my trainer for Monday already and to just wait until the next time they see me! Whoop Whoop!

I am SOO excited to have the ok and go ahead from my doc to begin all my activities again and get back to my running regime and speed!

After a long busy weekend of eating and drinking more than I have in over 2 months I made my way to the gym this afternoon for my appointment with my trainer. Only problem was that he didn't make it to the gym! He had car problems or something so he didn't make it!

Crap! I've waited all this time and i'm ready to work off this flab! So I went to work without him and it felt so good. I did my arms and legs and then ran 2 miles on the treadmill! It felt so freaking good and I didn't wear any kind of compression garment. I was a bit swollen but really not much and not enough to have to put on a garment! Cleaned my diet up today also and getting rid of the junk in the house! I can't tell you how much better I feel after being in the gym!
 

7 weeks post op and had my first major workout with my trainer this morning. Oh my goodness...it was both awesome and really HARD!! It is amazing how quickly you can become deconditioned. He put it to me and I seriously didn't think I was going to be able to complete it, but he wouldn't let me quit. He worked every muscle group today even my core with planks and side planks. Woo, I can feel it in my abs doing those planks and also the push ups but it really felt good! I have to admit that I had to run to the locker room and dry heaved...thank goodness I only had a greek yogurt for breakfast or I would have tossed my cookies!

I have been dying to get back in the gym and this morning I was kicking myself for wanting that...but you know how it is, after the workout you always feel so much better and even though I did swell some, some of my lipo swelling is releasing in my hips. I did a 45 min workout with my trainer plus 5 miles on the bike and a one mile run before my workout!

I added one new pic I took this morning after the gym and my hourglass shape is really beginning to show! Happy Healing Ladies!

Added 3 more pics!

Soo I am SORE this morning from my workout yesterday...I am feeling it big time! I have a lot of running around to do though so that is good so I can't sit around and get stiff. I'm not gonna make it to the gym today but I'm gonna try and get a run in on the treadmill.

Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers out there! I'm sad that my husband is working today on his day due to all the widfires and wildfire danger we are in right now in Texas:(

Well ladies, I completed my first week training program with my trainer. I worked out on my own on Monday, and began with my trainer on Wednesday and Friday and then he text me to come train with him yesterday....boo I thought I would have a rest day but oh nooo! I am proud to say that I made it through the program with minimal puking but a lot of soreness! It is intense and I'm definitely feeling it. My program for yesterday included walking lunges, shoulder presses, kettlebell swings, reclined underhanded pullups and chest presses. 4 sets of 20! OMG those pull ups will be the death of me yet...and I have them on day 1 and day 3. So I stay on this program for 4 weeks and I have a 2 week meal plan which includes eating basically NOTHING!! I'm gonna be a grumpy girl for a couple of days until I get used to the plan. Lots of brown rice, sweet potatoes, lettuce and white fish and no olive oils..for my dressing on the lettuce apple cider vinegar. YUK! I'll just eat it plain.

So anywho, I begin my new job tomorrow along with my new diet and I've gotta do some meal prep today so I better get crackin! Have a great day with your families!

Well ladies my first week at my new job is on the books and I am really enjoying it. I haven't been too terribly tired but have been staying later than necessary getting to know my staff and I have missed the gym too much this week. I did my 2 days of cardio here at home on my treadmill...I didn't know it went to 15 incline but does and today I went to the gym. I will go tomorrow and Sunday to complete my week and get in all my workouts and try to spread them out better next week. I haven't had too many issues with swelling and have worn my new work clothes with no problems. My new size 8 pants are not going to fit for long though...they are already getting big!

I'm still on my 2 week diet plan that my trainer put me on and I'm SICK of eating the same damn thing everyday!! I complained to him today at the gym....but guess what....HE DIDN'T CARE! Hahahaha, like I really thought he would anyway. He said one more week and then we will change it and I stomped off! Anywho, I hope all my April TT sisters are doing great...our board has gotten very quiet as well as the May board and I hope that the June ladies and all the up and coming ladies are and will do wonderful also! It's sad in a way that we all begin to live life again and the TT is not on the front burner and we lose touch with all the ladies that we have recovered with! Take care ladies!

Hi ladies...well I am 9 weeks post op and things get better every day for the most part but I am definitely ready to just feel normal again! I am back at the gym full speed and still on my 4 week workout program that my trainer put me on. I completed my day one program in 11 minutes and it originally took me 19 minutes to complete when I started so a HUGE improvement in my stamina and capabilities. I am amazed at how fast we become deconditioned. I finished my 2 week deprivation diet he put me on, which consisted of eating the same things over and over and over for 2 weeks and I only lost 3 pounds. I just think my body has decided that I'm not losing any more weight! I dont really mind what I weigh...I am wearing a size 6 clothes now and I'm 5'6'' so I look really good so I don't know why I get on the scale every day! I need to just throw it out but the scale has always been my gauge and keeps me in check. Of course now I want more lipo done as I look at my tight tummy and see the flab on my arms and my inner thighs oh and I also wish I had done my boobs. My husband would kill me though if I told him I wanted more done...so I either have alittle lipo and hide from him or just hit it at the gym more and be happy :)

Here are a few pics of me at 9 weeks! Have a very happy and safe 4th of July to everyone!!

I will be 12 weeks post op on Thursday and go for my 3 month check up on Friday and I seriously can't believe it has been that long!

I'm loving my results although the scale is not moving in my favor, but I have been back at the gym for a solid 5 weeks with my trainers and I can tell I have gained muscle with the workouts that he has put me through! Even though I know that, and even though I know that muscle weighs more than fat...I'd like to see the scale going down! Oh well, I look great and I can't believe it when I look in the mirror how tiny I have gotten.

My doctor was absolutely amazing and did a fantastic job! My swelling is less and less each day and I was lucky to never have it as bad as most, but today it was bad so I had another lymphatic massage and I feel so much better!

I can't wait for my appointment next week to see how my doc thinks I'm progressing!

Take care all!

Going in for a little revision tomorrow. I have had a knot on my right hip that has never dissipated and is very prominent so tomorrow I go in for bilateral hip lipo and scar revision. I have a wrinkle that has never fixed itself either on the end of my scar.

I hate to have to have it done, but after paying all that $$ for the tummy tuck, I don't want to have a knot that shows and makes me look funny...so here I go.

I dread the thought of wearing a compression garment again though but this recovery will be a walk in the park compared to the tummy tuck recovery 8 months ago!

Wish me luck ladies! I'll talk to you soon!

Revision surgery went well and I was in and out of the hospital. Contour already looks better and no bruising yet. Sore but more of a minor inconvenience than pain really and I love this garment she put me in! I hated my TT garments...all of them but this one is a high waisted long capris garment. Crotchless and zippers and hooks on both legs! Taking it easy until I go back to work on Tuesday and hoping this garment will fit under my clothes. If not I'll have to go buy a couple pairs of pants to wear for 2 weeks until I can switch into spanx!



Happy New Year ladies!