You guys! I am about to embark on my journey in a few short weeks. I am so excited and a tiny bit nervous.
Actually, picking a reputable board-certified surgeon and doing my research has taken a lot of the anxiety out of this journey. He lets me know exactly what to expect, and he and his staff have taken their time with me to answer all of my questions.I had my pre-op yesterday and it went great. I feelcompletely at ease. I am always slightly nervous about going under anesthesia-only because it is a risk and I have young children who depend on me. I have had 2 c-sections- 2006, 2013 as well as 2 BA’s- 1999, 2009 so I am familiar with post-op recovery. At this juncture, I’m getting exercise, juicing and hydrating well each day and gathering items for my recovery. I will keep updating at each stage of my journey
Updated on 23 Feb 2019:
Updated on 9 Mar 2019:
Hi everyone, I’m 6 days away from my TT. I’m getting excited! I’m nesting like I did before my bebe’s...deep cleaning, organizing, steaming carpets and getting things prepped.
I found out at my pre-op that I’m the first surgical procedure of the day, so that’s wonderful. I’m having my surgery at a surgical center. I cannot stress enough how important it is to pick a board-certified plastic surgeon with hospital admitting privileges. It takes a LOT off my mind so I can focus on recovery and healing.
It will be weird being home for so many days in a row. I’m a full time college student, I work 40-50 hrs a week and have two kids- daughter is 5 and my son is 12. It’s nice they are old enough so I don’t have to worry about physically picking them up. It’ll be the most I’ve sat still in years, haha. I can finally catch up on all the tv shows people tell me about.
Now for practicalities...I didn’t bother renting or buying a recliner, or get a special toilet seat or shower chair, or buying fajas yet or anything other than post-op supplements for healing and prescription meds. My patient coordinator at my PS’s office had the procedure done and those those things are not essentials, and my PS provides compression garments. If I was having more than a TT done, or more than one procedure, I would’ve probably rented those things. I did grab a used walker at the resale shop because it was only $6. I figured it couldn’t hurt and I could bring it in the shower if I needed some stability. I also bought a couple packs of disposable bed pads I can use in my bed or on the couch in case there’s leaking. I also bought some extra tanks tops for under the abd binder and soft sports bras from wal-mart.
I will take pics when I’m marked up and after surgery. Sooo excited
Updated on 16 Mar 2019:
So, this is 2 days po for me. I’m not surprised I’m this swollen. When I went in for my first post-op appt yesterday, my blood pressure dropped pretty
low and they had to give me a full bag of iv fluids. And then drinking soo much on top of that.
I also had to ask for a prescription for Zofran because I’m still nauseous- even though I was prescribed a scopalamine patch that I on before the night of surgery.
I have to say I am SO pleased with the placement and thinness of my incision. I was less swollen yesterday and when the nurses took the binder off, my bb looked great!
The clear catheters going into my body are called the On-Q pain mgmt system- it drips anesthetic all along my inner abdominals which cuts down on pain meds.
All in all, I’m pretty happy. My doctor and his staff are wonderful
Updated on 17 Mar 2019:
Updated on 19 Mar 2019:
Swelling is slowly getting better. I’m still hydrating by drinking a ton of water and electrolytes.
Dealing with a headache for days and days- it was minor but this morning is really annoying. I’m laying in bed all day with a cold pack on the back of my neck.
I have some minor pink rashes on the sites of the OnQ pain pump catheters. I put on a little topical benadryl and will see if it will respond to that.
I might’ve done too much yesterday in terms of being upright and not resting as much. Lesson learned
Updated on 23 Mar 2019:
My swelling is still winding down, though I feel more swollen than most people I see who have this surgery. I’ve always been prone to swelling, so this isn’t completely unexpected. My follow-ups so far have gone well.
I’m still drinking a ton of fluids/electrolytes each day which helps a ton.
I’m only emptying my drain once a day and it’s putting out about 50 cc’s per day. Not sure when it will come out. I have my third post-op dr appt this coming Tuesday.
Updated on 25 Mar 2019:
So, today I saw my PS for follow-up and to check out some rashes I had to make sure there was so infection. He prescribed Topicort for them and it’s helping. So far, so good.
My belly button had dark blood come out two days in a row~ he said to wash with q-tips in the shower, dry with q-tips afterward, use neosporin, and stick some gauze in there to absorb the moisture. The close-up was to show the amount of blood- it’s a bit blurry. I just wanted to show the amount in case anyone hs that- it’s not too common. He does not think my stitches opened up there.
Also, he pulled out the one drain which was only putting out about 25 cc’s the last couple days. I didn’t even feel it.
I got the next compression garment..the multi-paneled one and holy sh*# is it more comfortable! That one panel was just not doing the job of compression anymore and it was so uncomfortable.
Now, it IS true I am more swollen at this stage than most others. As I’ve said, I’m def a sweller. So, this new cg is compressing me in all the right places and I think will help my swollen lipo’d flanks settle down.
Lastly- wow! Will you look at that beautiful, smooth, thin incision?! And he didn’t have to do the vertical incision below my bb like he thought.
All in all, I’m getting amazing care, and I am feeling better. I am still WAY tired at the end of the day and have forced myself to not do unnecessary errands, cleaning or anything. I’m in bed by 8:30 every night. I drink 96 oz of water/electrolytes per day and am taking good care of myself. Recovery is a major factor in a good surgical outcome and I want to give my body the very best chance to recover.
Also, I’ve lost ten lbs since my surgery. Things are slowly healing. I feel very grateful and in awe of this whole process and look forward to not hiding my tummy this summer and playing in the sun with my babies
Updated on 25 Mar 2019:
Updated on 28 Mar 2019: