fabulous forties - Skokie, IL

I have been contemplating this procedure for YEARS!

I am a mother of 3 great children and fully embraced the new curves that motherhood brought. I hit 30 and realized that the weight was not leaving as easily as it did in my 30s. The closer I came to 40 - the worse it became. My 40th bday was in July 2013 and while it was WONDERFUL, I realized I was the largest that I had ever been. When I met my husband 22 years ago, I was 5 feet and 120 lbs. Now, after 21 years of marriage and 3 children (20, 17 & 15) I was not liking what stared back at me in the mirror. My honey always tells me how beautiful I am and I have MASTERED the art of hiding my tummy, but I am sick of it!

My girlfriend had a TT about 5 years ago and she looks great - in clothes! However, she didn't like the way her tummy looked after. I was THISCLOSE to taking the plunge and looked at her belly and changed my mind. Fast forward to this year - another friend had it done. She was bigger than me and when she showed her belly - I was READY! PLUS - I wanted to FEEL FABULOUS in my 40s and since my husband and I decided to take our much talked about trip to Hawaii this summer, I wanted to ROCK a HOT swimsuit! After many consultations, I settled on my doctor and decided to push all my trepidation aside and JUST DO IT!!! I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER WITH MY RESULTS!!! I'm going into the 3rd week post op and while I'm still sore and moving slowly, I know I am definitely 40 and FABULOUS!!

Here's my story to the flat side. My surgery was scheduled for 1:30pm. I was SO NERVOUS leading up to the day, that my Dr prescribed Zanax. THANK GOD! I was on edge, so the night before, at the Nurse's suggestion, I took one. I was able to sleep and woke up ready to go. We got to the Dr and they took me right in. I got undressed, put on my surgery gown & compression socks & was ready! They wheeled me back, I got my IV and the last thing I remember was the nurse telling me to dream about the bikini I would be wearing on my trip. I woke up - listening in on the nurses talk about how my husband was in the waiting room. I WAS SO SLEEPY!! They were talking to me but I just wanted to sleep. I remember shivering and getting a heated blanket, and seeing my husband. I felt tight & kept asking for pain pills( I remember reading on RS to stay on top of pain) but they told my husband to get me something to eat. We had previously arranged to stay at a hotel close by the Dr because my follow up was the next morning.

We left the Dr & headed to the hotel. I was in pain but didn't want to get sick so I held out. My husband got me upstairs, called down for 10 pillows & ordered dinner. I ate a few bites and took my pills. I kept going to the restroom - which meant every few hours my husband had to get up and help me but my pain was about a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10, plus I took meds every 4 hrs. The 1st night was hard, but not brutal. I WAS ON THE FLAT SIDE!!!

Luckily, I have a couch in my room that has a chaise and a recliner. The chaise was perfect with pillows, so that's where I stayed. The first week consisted of meds, sleep, draining drains & movement. My family was great! My mom came to make sure I had everything & my husband and children were there every minute. My husband put a dorm fridge in the closet & stocked up on water, ginger ale, and applesauce. I made sure to walk every 2 hours and got up by wrapping my arms around their necks and they stood up, moving me upright. My girlfriend warned me about constipation, so I began tanking stool softners & my husband juiced every morning. Atstay 3 with no bowel movement, my mother brought magnesium citrate and VIOLA!!

I went to work at day 14, 2 weeks after surgery. I felt ok- just sore & CAN't WALK UPRIGHT!! UGH!! That's the worse! My Dr said I look good & walking upright would come - but it's driving me CRAZY!! My drain was still draining 50-75cc at day 7, so they didn't take it out. SICK OF IT - but glad I only have one. At day 15 I was down to 25cc so the drain is out!!! Glad I can pull undies up now! Lol! Speaking of- none of mine were comfortable enough & Granny panties still were cut wrong. So what am I wearing??? My husband's boxers!!! OMG - they are the right cut - and SO comfy!!! He wears boxer briefs and they are GREAT!! My first day back - I work in an office - was hard. I brought pillows, my secretary was there to assist in EVERYTHING, I walked often, but it was still too much. I was ready to go by midday & who calls? My Prince of a husband! He was coming my way because he didn't want me to overdo it. I decided then to work a half day for the rest of the week. I also stopped the Percocet - it had me itching like crazy!! I took Benadryl with it - but the ombination kept me groggy, so I needed something where I could function. I take Ibuprofen for pain when needed during day ( with Dr's ok) & ibuprofen PM to help sleep at night. I'm walking a bit faster & standing straighter & loving my tummy!