38 with 3 Kids, Partial Hysterectomy and Mommy Makeover Coordinated FINALLY - Austin, TX

I have one big uterine fibroid that is finally getting to be too much to handle. My back hurts, I have awful cramps, etc, and I'm done. I went for consultations for less invasive procedures but since the fibroid is so large and growing, and I'm done with my family, everyone has suggested a partial hysterectomy would be my best bet. I'm a little nervous because my surgery will be probably 8 hours long. Everyone has reassured me it will be safe, and I'll be in the hospital for the surgery and staying at least one night. It has been really hard to get everything coordinated, finding the right hospital, dates, etc, and I had to change gynecologists just to find someone that would be available and could work well with my plastic surgeon, but I hope the results will be worth it.
I've had an awful looking stomach since having my first child. The skin really just never shrank back to my pre pregnancy self. It has always been a huge source of me being self-conscious. I breast fed all three of my kids for 18 months plus, and so they're wrecked too! I don't want implants and I have enough tissue to have some nice lifted boobies without, or so I'm told.
I also have a herniated belly button, bad stomach muscle separation, and lots of extra "cushion" in the flanks and inner thigh, so it will be lipo'd. My inner thighs have always been trouble for me and I can't really wear shorts because they ride up unless they are really long.

Wow so it kills me when I look at these. I went through a three year awful awful depression and anxiety after a loss and I just stopped running, ate whatever I felt like, and let life get in the way of caring about myself. I can't wait to post after photos because theses are just...ugh.

Surgery ended up being very long (11 hours) so I'm still recovering from that! Hysterectomy went as planned as did everything else. My boobs are really tight and high so I'll be glad when they soften up a bit. No implants.

I'm exhausted and still not 100% but glad to be home after a two night stay. The hysterectomy went well (all benign!) and now I'm just trying to get used to this tight tummy and boobs! Have felt faint more than once so I may be seeing the doctor before my appointment Monday if it doesn't subside. My iron was low. I'm really excited so far even though there's tons of swelling and tightness. Very hard surgery but still glad I did it!

Feeling better day by day and I'm really happy with the results. It seems almost secondary to just feeling good truthfully, but I'm glad I like what I see. Feeling anemic and just got a prescription for iron so I hope that will help. Amazing changes day to day on my incisions. I bruise easily apparently because my body is completely covered with black and blue marks. Liposuction was definitely the most painful of all of this. I have to stay on top of my pain meds or I'm miserable.

Super swollen tummy and lotsa lotsa bruising

Can I just vent here a second? I really had no idea that the recovery for this was going to be so difficult. I'll be honest. I've only ever had a gall bladder removed, and that was laparoscopically (sp?!) and really no big deal at all. For some reason, cutting my entire abdomen in two, removing a huge diseased organ, as well as sucking tons of fat out, remodeling my boobs, and slicing off layers of skin didn't seem to me that I would be feeling so bad as I still am! I don't want to scare anyone, but I'm being very real. I wake up feeling like I'm in one of those magician's boxes where they cut the lady in half. I feel raw and sore. These drains coming out of my hips are sensitive to even a light breeze. If I lean forward my stomach burns, and if I lean back the lipo spots on my flanks ache. My thighs feel like I"m walking around with giant tennis balls rubbing together that I can't drop. I plie' around the house, hunching over and trying not to raise my arms too high. Can we talk about pooping? Its like some distant dream I keep trying to reach and once I do I'm just screaming in pain. I either am sitting and pooping my guts out or going days with a giant hard belly and no action at all. Maybe this is mostly from the hysterectomy? I have no idea. Would I do this again? I have no idea. Do I look skinnier? Yes. Do I feel hot? No way. Ask me in a week. I pray this vent sounds funny to me in a week. I pray these drains can come out soon. I hope I can poop on my own whenever I feel like I need to poop and not mark it in a calendar as a goal. I hope my boobs don't feel hard and tight and stuck high up on my chest. I never thought much about how your boobs can wobble around and move with you until they just didn't. Nips that stick straight out and aren't droopy and saggy are actually a little less comfortable without a bra, fyi. Things I didn't think about before this surgery. They say people go through a depression stage and I guess that i'm there? I'm mostly lonely because no one wants to bump into my drains or stomach, everyone takes my kids places so that I don't have to do anything, etc but I'm just bored and tired and in pain! Did you know percocet makes you ramble?

I'm better. These drains are still really holding me back but I feel a lot better. Changing clothes for pictures made me sooooo exhausted!

Some pics from today and yesterday! First bikini in YEARS! I hope the thigh swelling goes down sooner than later--I paid a lot for that lipo! Lol