nancy8886

Very Fit Mom of Two Gets Full Tummy Tuck and Abdominal Hernia Repair

Twins Mom: My doctor wanted to be extra cautious with me because of all the swelling I was having. She was worried that too much activity would make the swelling worse. And YES, my swelling was mostly in my pelvic/pubic area below my incision, it was completely protruding. Stay positive! Hope this helps :)

Hi Twins Mom, Hang in there. I was so frustrated and borderline depressed about how long my recovery took and how bad my swelling was. I got even more swollen after the "after" photo I posted above. Honestly, my swelling only started getting better at about 14 weeks. Although my doctor kept telling me that I was doing great and that I was still very swollen, I was starting to think that the swollen look would be my final result. But, I am finally starting to see the results I was hoping for and I am sooo happy! My doctor also did tell me that if you are very lean, the swelling will show more. My swelling started going down after I was able to start exercising again. I was not cleared to exercise til about 12 weeks which was also very frustrating! I will try to post some updated photos soon to give you hope that things will get better. So again, hang in there!

I also had the same recovery "issues" as you. It was very frustrating. I am now 10 weeks post op and just started to feel pretty normal. My back pain started on day 2 and lasted about a week to 10 days. My back was is spasm from the top to the bottom from being in that hunched over position. The back pain was far worse than any tummy pain I had. My tailbone was also very sore from laying on it constantly. I got a little "donught" pillow and that helped tremendously. I also got prescribed some muscle relaxers for my back and that also helped tremendously. It also took me about 3 or 4 weeks to stand/walk upright (I am still not 100% upright all the time). My drains also gave me problems from the beginning. I had the "burning" discomfort all the time with one drain. And, I am still pretty swollen at 10 weeks. Everybody recovers different. I think it made it harder for me reading all these posts that people were back to normal after a few weeks. Like the previous post said (and my doctor keeps telling me), you had a MAJOR surgery. Your body is still trying to figure out what is going on. On a side note, I was in excellent condition before my surgery, so I did not expect to have such a long recovery. Again, we are all different and our bodies will heal in different ways. Hang in there, it will get better very soon!

My story is very similar to yours. I am going on week 7. I had muscle repair from top to bottom and umbilical hernia repair. I feel like recovery is taking forever and I am very frustrated by not being able to exercise and still feeling weak and tired. I am also frustrated by my lower ab/pelvic area swelling. I am usually a very active person and very physically fit. This is starting to take a toll on me emotionally. I am trying to stay up-beat and positive but I am struggling with a little bit of depression. At any rate...hang in there and know you are not alone. Please keep me posted as you are a few weeks ahead of me in recovery. I would love to hear how you are doing.

I think I know what you are talking about. Sometimes when I am active, I feel my stomach get hard. It actually feels like a pregnancy contraction. I keep forgetting to ask my doc about it. I am also wondering if it is normal. And I would love to know exactly what is happening. Please let me know if you get an answer to this.