I’m a 28 y/o mom of two boys, aged 3 and 8. I’ve wanted this procedure for years now. Pregnancy was never easy on my body, I’m petite 4’11 around 110-120lbs, and left me feeling like I was a 25 year old in a 50 year olds body. I researched and saved relentlessly. Finally my husband came across Dr. Chris Thomson, only a few hours away from where I live. I was so excited and nauseatingly nervous once I was finally booked for a mastoplexy (lift and augment) and tummy tuck. The staff were so inviting from the start. Dr. Chris was very straightforward and I trusted his knowledge fully. The experience so far has been really good. I’ll post updates as my recovery process goes along.
Updated on 31 Oct 2021:
Sorry I’ve started posting late but will try and go back as detailed as I can. Surgery day was Oct. 25th, I was so nervous I hadn’t slept much in a week, as a mom I felt like I had so much to prepare for up until surgery day, so when it finally came I actually just got anxious for the recovery to start. The whole process was very quick, the nurses and anesthesiologist were amazing to me and my husband. One nurse I’ll remember forever because she would tell me how much like her daughter I was so I feel like she really gave me motherly care that my nerves so desperately needed lol. I had some complications under anesthesia that no one had foreseen, but I feel greatful I was in safe capable hands. I had hoped to put in 450cc ultra high profile implants to upgrade my very deflated natural 36D’s and Dr. Thomson explained the risks of trying to put in implants that technically will fit but might cause complications. I ended up with 415cc regular profile (I’ll talk more about that soon) The pain off the very start was more than I had expected, I feel like I got more pain meds for getting a tooth pulled lol, but not too excruciating. I feel like all the pain came from the abdominal muscle repair, Dr. Thomson had explained my muscles were extremely separated and he did more than usual to bring them together, and it still is the main source of pain. Feel free to ask any questions, I’ve been a long time lurker on here so any help I can offer, I’m more than happy.
Updated on 1 Nov 2021:
Each day has gone by slowly but easier and easier. Still the majority of my discomfort is due to me still having to clear my lungs after intubation, coughing is no easy task but gets less and less. I’ve stopped taking the small dose of Morphine I was prescribed and used just for nights mostly. I ended up having to send pics to Dr. Thomson as my tummy had gotten quite hot, red and increasingly swollen just between the belly button and the incision. Not an hour later and he had sent in an antibiotic for me in case of early infection starting. I can’t lie it was hard not to panic but I hadn’t had any other signs of infection so I just tried to take it easier. I haven’t been sleeping well at night, especially without the hard pain meds but feeling pretty good otherwise, trying to walk and go out for fresh air with my dogs helps quite a bit to not feel like such a zombie. I’m still unsure of my implant size, they are crazy swollen yet so I know I cannot say much but they look so tiny! Like from surgery day to now my side profile is the same if not smaller, so I’m growing crazy impatient to see them drop and fluff lol. But otherwise I’m super excited to see the results, I wasn’t able to look at myself before yesterday because I’d get queezy. But now it’s so far so good! Fingers crossed the antibiotics kick the chance of infection.
Updated on 3 Nov 2021:
It’s crazy it’s been a week since surgery day. I was feeling so good day 5 that I really over did it the last two days. It doesn’t help that I expected to have more help with my kids and house than I ended up having. So really trying to slow down more. My tummy is really starting to itch. I can’t wait till I’m not so swollen but I never thought I’d be so happy to finally see a glimpse of my hips again lol. My boobs feel like they’re crazy engorged and I can’t close my armpits. I can’t wait till they feel like a part of my body’s again.
Updated on 12 Dec 2021:
Starting to feel back to normal. The having to sleep on my back is what really messed with me as I’m a strict side sleeper. I’ve gotten full sensation in my breasts/nipples but very numb on my tummy. So loving every day the swelling gets better and better! I can’t believe how happy I am to see my hips lol. Sorry for the late updates but I tried to at least take pics to show the progress. Everything has gone really smooth. Oh other than I had went WAYYYY too long without having a bowel movement, which I was taking something for every night but it must not have been strong enough because I almost had to go into the ER it was so bad. Lots of mineral oil and aloe Vera juice later and it did the trick. DONT let yourself get too backed up. Trust me. Taking the tapes off was also really nerve wracking, it was a struggle not to get faint so I relied on my hubby a lot and he helped reassure me till I could bring myself to look and I was so pleasantly surprised.
Updated on 12 Dec 2021:
I’ve been feeling really good! I love looking at my stomach become more defined every morning. My boobs…I love from the front view but the side profile not so much right now. But they have ALOT of settling and dropping and I know I’m being super impatient. I’ve started carefully sleeping on my side with a body pillow. Which makes my sleep almost back to normalish. I’ve been getting a tight pinching/lightning shooting pain in both my boobs and tummy but I was told is totally normal and my nerves waking back up. It goes away more everyday. I have some denting under my breasts and puckering on my incisions on my hips I can see now but I’m honestly so surprised how happy I am with my results it doesn’t bother me. And Dr. Thomson said if I did develop dog ears that it’s an easy fix he is happy to do for me.
Updated on 24 Jan 2022:
These last two months have gone by so quickly so I’m sorry I missed my 2 month update. But things have really been uneventful when it comes to healing. Everything has been going great. I’ve been putting on my SkinMedica Scar recovery gel 2x a day (Dr. Thomson provided). My belly button has settled nicely, which I was worried about. I’m still quite swollen around my TT scar between my belly button and the lower scar-I’m guessing it’s from the muscle repair. I did notice I must have pulled stitches in the muscle, I had a bad fall on the ice and tried to catch myself not noticing how much I had overstretched at about my 2 month mark. It’s not overly noticeable unless I flex my stomach there is an area on my left side that doesn’t flex in. I did have pain after that but not any more. I’m still getting used to the implants, they have dropped a lot and I’m liking the front view. Still not loving the side profile tho. I’m sure they still have a lot more settling to do yet. I haven’t been able to start exercising much yet so I’m excited to get back into it soon and see the results. Also have been advised to not wear underwire bras yet. I’m not sure for how much longer? But all in all I’m completely back to normal and loving it. No regrets and I can’t explain how much this has helped with my confidence!!