The Final Chapter - Baltimore,

I am a 47 yr old mother of 3, 2 girls 20 & 22 yrs old and a son who is 18. Just recently I got my stuff together and lost the 40lbs of baby fat i obviously have been carrying around for 18 years! Not entirely true, but you get my point. I am looking forward to having a stretch mark free stomach and flat belly with tight stomach muscles! I have considered doing something a few times but the timing was never right and realized "when exactly would be the right time?" the answer was NEVER! So just do it!!

I am looking forward to feeling myself again, I use to look at a picture of me and my husband at 18 and say that's who i am walking out the door in a size 16 dress, now i can do it with a size 8 and really look in the mirror.
I am anxious about tomorrow but more excited, I will also have some lipo and under my chin tightened, as there is some flabby skin there too. I think this is not vanity, but sanity for myself.. i really want to rock a bikini again!
I am fully prepared and educated, I even watched a video of the procedure so that when I am recovering I can understand why I am feeling certain things, I wanted to throw up watching it but yet again couldn't look away.
I have learned several things in the last few weeks(this is the amount of time I have had between deciding to do and my surgery date) that everyone who you choose to speak with about your choice wants something done too, and that they all wish you well and are jealous in one way or another. Meaning they wish they had the courage and means cause if they did everyone I have shared with would be right after me tomorrow!

I have also learned that no matter what you prepare for your experience will be just that, YOURS. You cannot figure to be like anyone else, be as prepared as you can get all the knowledge you choose to about what you are having done, and if there is that one person you are not sure about telling because they judge, trust yourself and wait till after and blow there minds! Cause you will find out quickly they would love to have something done too.
BE PREPARED, this is the best advise I can give anyone.
BE well Be safe, and do what makes you happy!

Post op day 7, it has been a very long road getting here. Surgery went grt , took 3 inches and almost 6 lbs of fat, I stayed over night at facility . Long night but they took grt care of me. Post op days 1-3 are the worst! Everything hurts nothing really helps long enough to feel relief. But then all of a sudden things slowly turn around, ur not so swollen so the binder doesn't kill you. And getting up and walking actually does make u feel better( forgive my abbreviations I am on an iPhone) Tylenol is all you need and while coughing or sneezing can literally kill you! You begin to see the light, packing comes off, a long shower and some hope that tomorrow is goi g to be better. The The drains, and pain pump come off with stitches ( day 6-7) maybe drains earlier, your thrown back to swollen and the compression garment is ur enemy again, but only for the night and next morning u feel okay again.

It is a learning curve to know what pushes you over the edge each day, so take each one as it comes.....

Photos soon!! I promise

WOW, is all I can say. Pod 14 doctor visit and I am so totally awestruck. I was nervous about stitches being removed and just plan everything.. I traveled 3 hours to my ps , so it has been a very long day as well . Left at 8 am and back home at 6( we stopped for breakfast and lunch.) I am awestruck at the healing I have done. My scar is almost not noticeable my belly button is so damn cute! I could not have hoped for more.. Ps said no more cg or anything at this point! I am free to be intimate with my spouse again and was told to leave the newly applied tape on for two more weeks then to order oleeva brand silicone strips and use this for four more weeks. He advised me not to buy or alter clothes, he said full complete results will need six mths and that I will shrink even more! I have been ten lbs down from day 4. I feel free without cg he said if I need it for comfort use it but I don't think that is going to happen. I still have some very hard areas on my back but he said those will go away in the next few weeks.. He cleared me for my Australia trip in April, and just pretty much made my yr! I thought at some point I would regret this move and it never happen regardless of how tough the first 3-4 days where, I would want to cry but cudnt help but smile cause I did it! After this long day I am not swollen and hope that tomorrow I stay feeling okay. I will be posting my before, during and after pics tomorrow on my profile. Happy me today