Only Time Will Tell - Bangalore, India

Almost a year now from my surgery, and I've settled in nicely to the new body. I'm still very pleased with my inner thighs, they look much better than they used to. I'm a bit disappointed that I still have a small pooch just around my belly button - but the doctor did warn me that area was the most difficult to get everything.

In hindsight, I probably should have found a doctor who had more experience performing this procedure on persons of my height/weight ratio. Most of her previous patients fit into the obese category, and so I'm not sure she was as skilled at the "detail work" that I needed. However, overall, I'm still pleased with the outcome.

I just completed Stage II - my inner thighs - day before yesterday. I felt like the entire process was MUCH easier with the thighs, mostly because the bandaging is not nearly so hot. I did have a small bit of leakage through the bandages the first night, but again, not nearly as bad as my abdomen area. I'm hoping that the huge bandage comes off tomorrow (day 3). If so, I will post pictures, and include photos of my abdomen as well, since it has been three months since the date of my surgery for that area. I am VERY pleased with the results of my abdomen area, and I have high hopes that my thighs will look just as good when I'm healed.

I should mention that I no longer have any pain in my abdomen area, though I do still have red scarring on the puncture wounds, but they have faded a lot, and I have no doubt they will be almost invisible in another 6 months or so.

Day 2 post Op

The draining has almost stopped! I'm very excited that the leaking has stopped, the thick gauze is having no trouble keeping up with any liquid escaping, and I was actually able to leave my apartment today. The pain has subsided into a general sore sensation, and while bumps are uncomfortable in a car/auto-rickshaw, they don't make me feel like additional damage is being done. (When I had my c-sections, anytime we hit a bump, I felt the need to put my hand over the incision to make sure my guts didn't spill out! This is nowhere near that painful).

But with one happy thing comes a new irritation. I'm starting to bruise quite a bit, mostly right under the girdle, which makes sense because gravity and the pressure are forcing all the blood into my lower hip and crotch area. My privates look like a war zone, which is odd, because the area doesn't hurt at all.

I can already tell that I look slimmer - I was able to wiggle into a pair of my old capris, and actually button them, which is no small feat considering I'm wearing probably three extra inches of gauze and girdle. And since these pants used to be very tight around my middle, they're making me itch to see my new body, which is smaller already.

I'm still getting out of chairs like a pregnant lady (using my arms to shove me belly-first to my feet) since I can't really bend in the girdle, but already my movement is much easier, and while I'm still taking pain medication, they are an option instead of a necessity.

I'll take some pictures tonight and get them posted tomorrow, but until then, here are my pre-ops