I Did It!!!

So I am just about 9 weeks post op and feeling very good! I am so glad to be rid of the binder and cg!!!! That happened at about 6 weeks, though I still wear the binder at night sometimes if I feel really swollen. Very little soreness and slowly easing back in to exercise, no ab work yet. I can totally go about my regular day without getting tired, YAY! I am back to work and that is going well. I do continue to have quite a bit of swelling, which is frustrating. I still can not fit back in to my regular jeans. It is really just a waiting game at this point for your body to finish its healing. My ps told me that at 6 months I will look back and realize how swollen I really was. I am enjoying being able to wear tighter fitting shirts though and not worrying about my stomach pooch when wearing a dress! :) Although I had intentions of wearing a bikini this summer, I really didn't. I worried about getting parts of my scar too much in the sun, and still felt like my stomach looked a little like Frankenstein! I am sure I will feel differently next summer! I keep repeating this, but this is a LONG recovery and not to be entered into lightly! I do not regret it for a moment though! :) That is all for now... will post pics soon!

So what people say on here is true, the time waiting for your surgery seems to stretch on forever, but after it goes by rather quickly. 4 weeks past surgery - wow! I remember telling myself before surgery, ok 1 month recovery, 1 month recovery, 1 month recovery, you won't be doing much for one month. And even though it has gone by quickly, telling myself that helped as you really and truly can't do much for one month. There are exceptions of course, some of my TT sisters are out there running 5 miles 3 weeks post op, but I am not one of them. I was hoping to be the exception but alas it was not to be! So my days consist of doing a little laundry, resting, doing a little shopping, resting, doing a little cleaning, resting, taking a little walk (and I mean little), resting. I won't lie, it is frustrating. But my mantra is "listen to your body" and "patience" and the more I do the more my tummy hurts and swells. Before surgery I was use to jam packed days, teaching, running errands , cooking, cleaning, hiking, jogging or long walks almost every night. And my summers are usually filled with activity, spent outside. But not this summer. This summer I have watched 3 seasons of Downton Abbey and became a Pinterest expert! Despite it all though I have learned some very valuable lessons that I am hoping to take into my post surgery life:
1. The world does not come to an end if your house is not picked up, dishes are in the sink, and laundry not done. I repeat, it does not come to an end. Life in fact goes on, just as it did before albeit a little messier but maybe a little more relaxed and happier.
2. It is perfectly acceptable to put yourself first sometimes. Others will still love you, and in fact they may respect and admire you for it.
3. Days do not have to be filled with errands, activities, plans with friends to make them worthwhile. As the old saying goes, "Take time to smell the roses." I have actually smelled some roses this past month and taken pictures of them, and cut some and put them in a vase! I have read several books. I have listened to what my children have to say, I mean really listened.
4. What so many others are going through right now all around me is far worse than what I am going through with surgery recovery. Looking and reaching outward helps keep my mind off of myself. Busyness often got in the way of that for me.
5. I was scrutinizing every other part of my body after surgery but in order to not go crazy I forced myself to focus on acceptance, I will never have the perfect body and I am getting older. Nothing I can do will stop that entirely....
6. Did I say I LOVE my new tummy!!! I can actually shop for clothes now without worrying about that part of my body- SO FUN!!! And that comes to my last one-
7. APPRECIATION!!! Feel so lucky and blessed to be here, with a flat tummy, one month past!!! Onward and upward and love to me TT sisters!!!
Pictures soon!