I couldn’t be happier with my experience with Dr. Hancey and his team! Like many women I was not happy with my breast after nursing. I had multiple consultations and felt most comfortable that hancey would be the best fit. He’s very honest about your desired results and straightforward with the facts but still warm and has good bedside manner. His nurses are awesome too! I’m very active and went with subfascial placement and a donut lift, they look better than I could have even imagined! I had minimal pain and was fine with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. I developed some vertigo a few days after and there after hours nurse was very attentive. I feel like a new woman! I got Natrelle 385cc SRF
I have wanted a tummy tuck since going through puberty. I have always had a belly and a spare tire around my midsection. Going through 3 c-sections made my stomach even more saggy, poochy, and sad. I haven’t ever been able to change it with diet and exercise. I had my last baby 3 years ago and decided this was the time to get it fixed. I started my consultation process in December of 2019. I met with 5 doctors and decided on Dr. Hancey. He is based out of our local hospital and that gave me a little peace of mind and his nurse was great as well. They didn’t rush through the consultation and were very thorough. I scheduled my surgery for March 18, 2020. Well, as we all know, all hell broke loose with COVID the week before and my surgery was cancelled 2 days before my surgery. I was devastated! All the planning, preparation, arranging sitters, taking time off work, plus all the stress of COVID and a 5.7 earthquake the day after was a lot to handle. So I pushed it aside and got through the next few months and decided to schedule the surgery for the fall. I scheduled for October 15. Updated on 18 Oct 2020: I checked into hospital at 9am. Got prepped and the anesthesiologists came and talked to me about the TAPS block (Exparel) and general anesthesia. Helped me relax and set me at ease. Wheeled me into OR at 11 am and I went right to sleep. Woke up about 3pm in recovery with very little pain! The thing that was the most sore on me was my throat! Probably from an oxygen tube or something. My husband and I checked out of there around 5pm. Got right home and in bed! I felt amazing though. The Meds and Exparel were doing their job and I was able to get some good sleep the rest of the day and through the night! Here are my before pics! Updated on 18 Oct 2020: Slept okay on and off through the night in bed propped up with wedge pillow under my legs. My husband helped me get to and from the bathroom hunched over a couple times during the night and emptied my one drain I have. Consistently draining around 40cc every few hours. Had an appointment early in the morning and got to check out my progress! I am really sore in my upper abdomen, probably from the Ab repair. I had 4.5cm separation that my doctor stitched back together. Everything is really tender and swollen, but I am excited for it all. He said he removed 800cc of skin and 600cc of fat through lipo. Taking 800mg ibuprofen every 8 hours and half a Percocet every 4 hours today and arnica tablets every 4 hours as well. Got started on Miralax. Really hoping to have a comfortable BM! Updated on 19 Oct 2020: Had a really hard time sleeping last night. The binder was digging into my hips and my abs are SO sore! I am worried because still no BM even though I have been drinking Miralax and taking stool softener. At this point I hope I can move my feet fast enough to the bathroom! Sleeping in a recliner and able to kind of shift my weight on my sides a little instead of the pressure being on my back. Really going to take it easy this week. Still not standing up straight. My PS doesn’t want me to for a week. I’ll post photos this afternoon when I take a shower. I am still really swollen under belly button. Updated on 20 Oct 2020: Oh my goodness.... today was so much better than yesterday. I feel like I kind of hit rock bottom yesterday. Was trying not to take narcotics, was super depressed, sore, worried about my belly button, everything! But woke up and finally went to the bathroom! All the stool softeners and laxatives worked and it wasn’t a problem at all. I take my binder off a few times a day for a few minutes just to get a break. Has anyone transitioned out of a waist binder and into a faja type binder after getting drains out? I want to do that on Friday after this drain is out. I am tired of this binder digging into my skin even with a tank on underneath it. I have a little oozing from my belly button. Hoping it is okay and not infected. Sleeping a little better at night in my recliner. Can’t wait to be back in bed! Just taking ibuprofen 800 two times a day to help with swelling. Also Arnica twice a day. Updated on 21 Oct 2020: Wow. I woke up feeling like I have really turned a corner! Can ALMOST stand up straight which is helping my back so much! Got in the shower on my own today. Still don’t have the strength to wash my own hair, but will have husband help me tonight or tomorrow to do it. Slept terrible again last night, but I just think that is how it is in a recliner with a tight binder on. I have been getting restless leg syndrome so bad in the night I just have to get up and walk around. Here are some new pics I took right before my shower! Feeling pretty happy with my results! I am still really swollen right in front at incision line and hope that swelling goes away eventually. Down a few pounds from pre surgery weight. I forgot to post that I was 5’ 5” and 155 pounds pre-op. Updated on 23 Oct 2020: Well, I had my one week check up today and was set on getting my drain out. I am still draining around 40cc every 24 hours so they didn’t remove it. I was pretty sad about that as I am DYING to sleep in my bed on my sides and can’t really do that comfortably with the drain in. But I also understand the risk of seromas if I have it removed too soon. So I will talk about some positive things from this first week and tips for anyone interested. I had my kids go somewhere other than home for the first three days. This was the absolute BEST thing I did for myself and for them honestly. My husband could give me one hundred percent attention and help and my kids were having a great time with cousins so we all won. My husband went back to work on post op day 4. I had my mom take my toddler during the day while my older two were at school. Once again, this was the best thing. I could relax and not worry about needing to help anyone other than myself. I had easy quick things to snack on or eat stocked in the fridge and pantry. I didn’t want to be preparing anything that took a lot of time. And I didn’t have the energy to. Wear a tank under your binder against your skin! This helps so much with comfort and binder burns! Buy yourself a cozy new blanket and have things you need on a table right next to your bed or recliner within reach. Tissue, chapstick, phone charger, water, medications. Get up and walk often. I also had a new puzzle that I kept on a table in another room that I would work on for an hour a day just to keep my brain working. I got sick of watching shows and searching the Internet all day. GET A SHOWER CHAIR!!! I am kicking myself for not doing this. Showering is exhausting! Hmmm.... I am sure there is more. I will post when I can think of them! Maybe another updated photo this weekend too! Updated on 26 Oct 2020: I am finally standing up straight and I got my drain out today! I was draining around 20ccs every 24 hours and had plateaued there so the doctor gave the go ahead to remove it. Feels so good to be free of the drain. Doctor said my belly button is looking good, and the next appointment I can get the mesh tape off of my incision and glue out of my belly button and hopefully the marker off my skin as well! I don’t know how that hasn’t come off in the shower yet. I have been wearing lipo foam for a few days and the doctor said it doesn’t really help past this point? Any thoughts on that? But he did recommend going to compression but keeping my binder on over the top for a couple weeks so I think I will do that. The foam was kind of starting to irritate my skin. Still taking the arnica and I take 600 mg ibuprofen in the morning and 2 Tylenol PMs at night to help me sleep. My swelling is on my hips/flanks today. Still in my mons area as well. Can’t wait for that to go down. Showered tonight and took some pics right before. Updated on 30 Oct 2020: I feel less swollen in the front today but more swollen on sides. My sides are pretty firm where I had Lipo. Wondering if/when I should massage them? I get my mesh tape off and cleaned up in a week! It will be nice to get that and all the marker off. I have worn normal clothes a couple times this week over my binder and I feel so good and so confident! I am already so glad I did this for myself. Don’t need any pain meds during the day, only at night to help me sleep. Taking 2 Tylenol PM. Went back to work yesterday and felt pretty good. I stand at work all day as a hairstylist, I was tired by the end, but got through it. Still wearing my compression shirt and binder. Updated on 6 Nov 2020: Went to my 3 week post-op check up appointment today. I was feeling tired and that I had regressed a little this morning. I worked a seven hour day on my feet yesterday and got a flu shot after so I am achey and sore. The nurse said days like this are normal and to listen to my body and take it easy or back off of doing so much. She cleaned up my incision which felt sooooo good. The tape, dried blood, and marker is all gone now and I love seeing the results. I am still swollen and hard on hips from lipo. She told me to massage a little each day. Also, still have lots of swelling in front on mons area. She said a lot of the swelling will still subside and that in office revisions are always possible down the road ( more lipo if needed) My belly button looks a little angry from the glue that was removed, but nurse said it looked amazing and was healing perfectly. I am really happy with it, just can’t wait to heal up all the way and be able to start exercising the rest of my body that seems to be turning to mush! Haha! Updated on 13 Nov 2020: Wow! This week has me so excited about my new body! I feel so great in clothes, my pain is pretty much gone, and I have more energy! I have stopped taking any pain medication for about a week. I have been taking Benadryl to help me sleep because my incision line is soooooo itchy. I have been putting vitamin E on it and my belly button and started using silicone strips to help my scar. Purchased them on Amazon. I will screenshot which ones I am using. And the vitamin E oil. I wear my compression tank and binder to work, or run errands. I don’t sleep with anything on so my skin can breathe for a bit. My husband and I have had sex a couple times this week and it was great! My orgasm felt more intense and I felt so confident the whole time. I was on top and in control so that if anything started hurting, I could easily switch it up. I am down 4 lbs from surgery. I definitely swell at night and after working, but I think I get better every day. Can’t wait for my post 6 week appointment to get the green light for exercise. Any recommendations for helping the bellybutton scar? Maybe I should try a cream on that. Still have lumps on hips from lipo that I need to keep massaging, but I am so happy with my new tummy! Updated on 29 Nov 2020: So... I have been feeling frustrated this week. I am swollen and look pretty lumpy, I feel like I am noticing areas that should have been liposuctioned and were not done. I am still sore, but I feel like my binder makes it worse. I am trying not to do too much during the day, but also need to start living my life! Haha! And I am also starting to worry that areas I think are “swollen” are just always going to look like this! Yikes! I am spiraling! I also tried on some bikinis, but I don’t look good in them at all! What is happening?! Sheesh! I have an appointment with my doctor on Wednesday for my six week post op. I am going to discuss all these concerns with him and hope for some answers and solutions for what to do in six months if I am not happy with the results. My scar is healing nicely, and I am wearing silicone sheeting on it 24/7. I take them off once a week to clean it up and put new silicone on. I also started walking on my treadmill this week. I do about 30 minutes at a 3MPH pace. I was climbing mountains before I did this surgery! It will take me a while to get back to that I am afraid. Updated on 7 Apr 2021: I had a little revision lipo done and my belly button tweaked a little. I was awake during the procedure which was pretty intense, but I had taken a Valium before which really helped. Especially during the numbing part. My doctor removed another 200ccs of fat in parts on my stomach that were a little uneven. It has been a week, and I am tender and only slightly bruised. I had to wear lipo foam for a week and now my binder for another two weeks. I am starting to wear silicone tape on my belly button to help with the scarring as well. I wore it on my lower incision and it really helped it to heal flat and is barely noticeable. I am a little swollen in these pictures and just had my binder on to they aren’t as real to life as I probably am, but I am excited to see the results in another month!
I am scheduled for a breast augmentation next week! I am still trying to choose between 265cc high profile vs 295cc silicone implants, under the muscle. I really want a natural looking result. My doctor said high profile will better suit my frame. I’m 5’4.5” 112 lbs. completely flat chested I’ll have to get a photo up. Any advice on size choice would be great! I’ll keep the review updated after surgery. Updated on 9 May 2019: I had my breast augmentation 3 days ago. Went with 265cc high profile, under the muscle cohesive implants. I’m glad I went with 265cc... it’s definitely big enough for me going from nothing! Today is my worst yet of recovery. I’m nauseated, swollen, and just don’t feel great. I was in good spirits the day of and the day after procedure, but today is not great. I’m hoping for a better night tonight and day tomorrow. Everything looks tight and swollen at this point, but I think I’ll be happy with the appearance after recovery. Updated on 15 May 2019: 8 days post augmentation with 265cc high profile silicone implants placed under the muscle. Still high and swollen. More swelling on the left than right at this point. I wanted a smaller implant, I’m happy with the size! Updated on 15 May 2019: Updated on 15 May 2019: Today was my one week follow-up appointment. I’m doing well with recovery. I am still glad I didn’t go bigger, I wonder if I should have gone smaller though, like 230cc. But no regrets. I’m very happy with my surgeon. He’s been great. I’m glad to have the first week behind me because recovery is very uncomfortable. Today at my appointment they did some massage of the implants. I’m looking forward to them dropping a bit and hoping once things settle they look more natural and a touch smaller. I’ll get current photos up soon. My pre-op I’m in a gown but you get the idea... Updated on 19 May 2019: Still some swelling, more on the left than the right... hoping that’s normal. 265cc high profile. Updated on 28 May 2019: Still healing! I hit the 3 week post augmentation mark today. I am still sore or sensitive might b a better word. Each breast is doing sort of it’s own thing at this point. The left appears bigger than the right. They are still a little tight, but not hard so I’m hoping all is well. Will continue to update!!
With sharing my story I hope to help anyone else thinking of taking this journey to better themselves. Well here we go! I come from a long line of big breasted women. For some reason it skipped my sisters and I was blessed with the gene most women want. After having 2 kids, never finding a bra that would fit, experiencing increased back, neck, and shoulder pain for years, I have finally thrown in the towel! I was approved through insurance and had my pre-op appointment today. I am currently a DD. My doctor, who I am very happy with, said my size would come down to a full B or C. With my insurance, 600 grams have to be taken from each breast. Now this is a lot. But I know it will be worth it. I use to be very fit. I worked out daily until I had kids. And we all know how that goes. So, now it’s time for me to do what I have wanted to do for years! I’m excited, nervous, and anxious for the BIG Day. More to come...........
