Update-PO 4 Weeks-Tummy Tuck, Breast Red/Lift, Lipo- Annapolis, MD

It's been a few weeks since my last update. I added 2 recent pics, including my first bikini ever! I've been improving little by little...it's just a process. I'm able to stand pretty straight now but ususally by the end of the day I'm feeling tight and hunched over a bit. The swelling in my pubic area is much better. Still some swelling in the abdominal area. I asked my PS if my breasts were still swollen when I last saw him. He said maybe 10% swollen...the right one seems larger to me and I don't know if it's just more swollen. I have some stitches popping through the incisions and a few tender spots on the incision under my breasts. Hoping it's not an abcessed stitch. I'm allowed to wear the compression garments just 12 hours/day now. I've gotten a lot more mobile lately. Until last week, I still hadn't taken my son out alone. I feel fine lifting him now. I'm still looking forward to the day when I don't feel this soreness anymore. I guess that can take months. All that said, I'm really happy with the decision to do the surgery. I feel like it's already boosted my confidence. I'm anxious to be able to work out and really try to get some definition in my mid section. Hope everyone is healing well!!

Just added Day 11 pics. I got my drains and tape removed on Monday (Day 7). I'm pretty tough when it comes to pain but that really made me sweat for some reason. I had to lay down because I was feeling a bit faint after they pulled the tape. The drains weren't as bad as a was anticipating but one was definitely worse than the other. It was a relief to have them gone though. Since then, I've had some minor oozing from the drain sites. I was putting gauze on them but it kept sticking and then I'd have to pull it off, opening the wound again. Yesterday, I started just putting a small band-aid over the spots and I think it's drying up better.

I feel like I'm more swollen now than I was in the Day 4 pics. My pubic area is really swollen and it feels like my crotch is being yanked forward. Nice. I'm still slightly concerned about the breasts being too large. They are bruised and sore, and I'm hoping still very swollen. My PS said he made me look like the pic I brought into him so hopefully they calm down.

I've been on my own during the day with my 22 month son for the past two days. He's been very cooperative and seems to understand that Mommy has a boo boo. I'm using the stepstool to get him into his crib at naptime. I feel like I'm starting to get antsy about my limitations. I'm anxious to feel normal again.

Oh, this morning my weight was 119! Yay!! I'm sure my bout with diarrhea helped to get me there so I wouldn't be surprised if that's a low number but I haven't seen that since early high school.

Post Op Day 5 - The past 2 days have been an improvement. I've been able to straighten up a lot and stopped taking the Oxycodone on Wednesday night. I felt like it was starting to make me feel a bit crazy. I kept nodding off to sleep and having dreams about me getting hurt in frightening situations. Also, I wanted to get off of it because of the constipation issues. I've just been taking Tylenol since then. I ended up using a Dulcolax suppository 2 nights ago which was supposed to cause a bowel movement in 15 min to 1 hour. The next morning I still had nothing and the gas/bloating was so uncomfortable. I decided to use the Milk of Magnesia and that did produce some small loose bowel movements and I was able to pass some gas. Not very satisfying, but it was better. Still working on that.

My mom came yesterday and was able to wash my hair. I kneeled on a chair and leaned forward over the kitchen sink. It was very nice to feel somewhat clean again. I also removed my garments so they could be washed. We took a picture and you can see my hips are still really swollen from the lipo, but I'm really happy with my shape so far. The breasts are still on the large side but it's crazy to not have them hanging down by my belly button.

I slept for the most straight hours that I have since surgery last night. But I woke up drenched in sweat. I got up and changed my soaked clothes and fell back asleep for about 2 more hours. Soaked again. My body temp is also pretty low. I've been registering between 97-98 degrees. I looked up the night sweats and a lot of people reported having them and say it's the body healing. But I couldn't find any official medical explanation.

My son woke up from a nap today when someone came to the door. He started crying and I could hear my husband was caught up with something so I wobbled in there. I tried to lay him back down but couldn't even manage to try to assist him back into a laying position. My hubby is going back to work Monday and my mom will be helping next week but not full time. I still think it'll be tough.

My weight before surgery was about 124. Right after I was up to 130. Today I was down to 123 and hopefully more to come. My drains are still putting out about 40-80 cc's each in a 24 hour period. It's going down but still not where it needs to be to have them removed. Hoping it cooperates for my appointment on Monday afternoon.