Tummy Tuck: Stories

I had a tummy tuck and a medial thigh lift with Dr. Viennas at Eastern Virginia Medical School in VA Beach, VA. I am a 20 something female who had lost a lot of weight and had hanging thighs and redundant skin on my tummy. I had dieted and exercised to get my bodyfat low. However, the loose skin would not "snap back" no matter how much working out I did.

In mid December 2012, I had the procedure as an in office procedure. Afterwards, I stayed with a nurse in the recovery suite in a local hotel for a little over a day. Then I went home.

I am still recovering and am somewhat swollen but my tummy and thighs look a lot better. I am satisfied and would do it again. Dr. Viennas is very nice and knowledgeable. He has excellent bedside manner and will prescribe you whatever medicines you need to be comfortable. I have nothing but nice things to say about this man!

The procedure was painful right afterwards but that is to be expected. The only thing that I would have changed was I would have had intravenous pain medicine for the post operative surgical recovery suite or a pain pump. I was using oral medications (Demerol) while I was with the nurse in the recovery suite and I was still really hurting. That oral medicine really does not cut tummy tuck pain for the first 24-36 hours afterwards. You need something intravenous or a pain pump. But other than that, my experience with EVMS was great and Dr. Viennas does great work. My scars don't even look that bad. I am about to start using a little scar treatment and they will surely fade to barely noticeable.

I am off of narcotics now and I am just using extra strength Tylenol. I get little "twinges" in my stomach and thighs but it is not bad. My incisions are a little itchy but I guess that means they are healing. I have started using Mederma and scar guard on them to reduce scarring. My swelling is going down some. So far, I am satisfied.

I am feeling pretty good. I go for another check up soon. I have not been cleared to do any abdominal or thigh work yet. So, I will be glad when I am able to work out again and make my results look even better. I still have a little loose skin at the top but my tummy tuck is still new and a lot of loose skin was removed. So, I will give it time to tighten up and also begin working out again as soon as I am able to tone things up. A tummy tuck is not a magic bullet. The nurse who cared for me after surgery even said that. She said that my stomach looked better than a lot of her patients because I waited until I got down to my goal weight before having it done.

I had horrible constipation one day about 2 weeks after surgery. So, if you have this surgery, I recommend you eat 2 prunes in the morning and two prunes at night with a glass of prune juice until you are off of narcotics!

About a week and a half ago, I had a stabbing pain in my stomach and a little nausea. My doctor said it could be from the nerves regenerating. The stabbing pains are gone now. I have a little soreness in the incision area. But, I feel that the surgery was worth it. You must go in with realistic expectations. You are not going to look like a 15 year old who has never been fat after the surgery. Doctors are not magicians.

I have a little "looseness" at the top of my belly but nothing like before. Also, when I am medically cleared to begin my ab work again, I believe that little bit will go away. I am pleased.

You must remember that a tummy tuck is a major operation. Here it is almost three months out and I am still having some swelling. It takes time to recover properly. You will not go from the operating room to a bikini in a month. Anyone who thinks that surgery is the easy way out is a fool. There's nothing easy about a tummy tuck recovery.

So far, I am still satisfied. My stomach is tightening up. I have been doing a few sit ups. I still have a little bit of soreness, swelling and numbness. I thought the swelling would be over by now but they did say that tummy tucks are major surgery. So, I guess I am still healing. I do feel a lot better about my body. I will wear my first bikini ever in life this summer! My scars do not look bad. I have been using copper peptides, scar zone cream and using chemical peels on them. Scars mature up until one year so I am still working on them while they are easier to reduce--while they are new. In a few months, I will consider using cortisone shots from the dermatologist on the scars but I want to let them heal a bit more before using that. My dermatologist says it is still too soon to use that. She says that my scars look great. So we will see. So far, I still love EVMS and Dr. Viennas and I am pleased with my results. Cosmetic surgery is not magic....you still will have to put in the work if you want to look good and heal well but it can give you a much needed boost and do things that no amount of sit ups will do.