Tummy Tuck w/MR (No Lipo) - Boston

I've been a record breaking yo-yo dieter most of my adult life. I say record breaking because the numbers that I yo-yo are between 80 and 150 pounds. On average, I've lost 100 pounds 6 times in 20 years. My biggest loss was 150 pounds. Each time I lost that weight, I was basically at my goal weight, with the exception of all the excess skin that hanging in my belly. I would deal with it for a while. I could hide it fairly well in clothes, but I was limited to the kinds of things I could wear if I was going to pull it off. Eventually it would become frustrating and I'd convince myself that it was easier to deal with when it's just loaded with fat, so the scale would start to climb again and I didn't care! I was never in a position to get this operation. My insurance would not cover it and I could not afford it.

A few years would pass, I would be really really big again and then I'd decide how unhappy I was to be so big and how much I missed being small and fit, so I start all over again. I'd lose 100 pounds and once again, be at my fighting weight, working out hard on a regular basis, feeling strong and muscular ready to take on the world! Then there was that belly! :( I would wear undergarments to compress it as much as I could tolerate but I was never comfortable with them. I have never in my life enjoyed going out shopping for clothes, not even at my smallest weight! People would often tell me that I should STOP losing weight, I was getting too thin..... they had no idea what was lurking under my clothes. It was my own personal pain. I just deal with it (or I didn't deal with it and gained it all back)

My last big loss was in the fall of 2010. I lost 86 pounds and once again, reached my personal goal. I made a promise to myself that I would maintain this weight until 2013 and I was going to get this skin removed once and for all! It was time for ME! In late spring of 2013, after much research on docs in my area, I found the one I wanted to meet with and I set up a consultation! I was a smoker at the time, and I knew that would have to change, but I was ready! The doc told me I was an ideal candidate for the procedure but I needed to be smoke free for 8 weeks before he would touch me! My response was simple, If I'm a good candidate for this and smoking is the only hurdle, then lets book it for 8 weeks and I"ll walk out the door a nonsmoker! I never looked back!

I was so excited that I was finally going to do this! I did struggle mentally with the smoking in the first 4 weeks! I took out all of that anxiety on my workouts! I worked out harder than I had ever worked out in my life. Seven days a week, never skipped a day. I did an hour of cardio almost every day, followed by 20 minutes of weight training 4 times a week! I used my dumbbells and kettlebells every day for 10 minutes in the morning. I just had to keep moving and keep feeling strong! I could not smoke! I could not binge (that would defeat the purpose but what else can you do when you have so much anxiety?) hop on the elliptical and pound it out at level 8/ 4mph and sweat your butt off! That's how I rolled!

In a blink, it was the day before surgery! I never had so much anxiety in my life! I was so scared. What if I didn't wake up? What if I'm in over my head, since I live alone now and I'll have to rely on people coming over to help. What if things just go wrong? I was so scared I was literally trembling. I had to leave the house at 4:30 a.m. My son spent the night with me so he could just roll out the door and come with me to the hospital (the hospital is 50 miles away) By the time I got there, I imagine I'd be ready to have the big one! that's just not how it went! I was overcome by a sense of calm. I don't know what was going on. My blood pressure was lower than I'd ever seen it and I have never had a blood pressure problem so it's always been normal.
The doc marked my belly, I met with the anesthesiologists and the rest is history! (I'll be sharing my post op recovery as well)

OK Constipation???? Really??? I think it was the worst thing about the recovery! I thought I would die before I found relief. I knew it would happen. I was prepared. I was taking colace 2x a day for a whole week prior, and every day after, but nothing seemed to help me. I was eating prunes, apples, drinking tons of water etc, then one day a friend shared with me a GENIUS idea. "Sit your butt on a heating pad" WOW I knew this was going to be miraculous! I just knew it! I sat for 20 minutes on the heating pad. Not only did it feel AMAZING to my very uncomfortable body but it did the trick! I felt things stirring about in there and voila! 20 minutes later I found the relief that I had been dreaming of for a few days! Pass this one along! I have to get the word out there! It's truly a miracle and I've since been telling everyone I know, especially those with little kids who suffer from this problem. It's a miracle tip and it must be shared :)

Being alone most of the time I found myself getting annoyed at some of the limitations in the first week especially. If I dropped the remote once I was finally settled into the recliner and all comfy, it was a catastrophe! I found an app for my iPhone that replaced the remote (thank god for smartphones) and it became my backup remote! I couldn't always just wait until 12 hours passed and someone came to help me out! Same thing when I forgot to shut off the light! I ordered a remote control for the living room lamp. It worked like a charm! I also had a remote for the oscillating fan, that was a MUST have! I bought myself a fantastic laptop desk for my computer after the first couple of days were just impossible to get computer comfy! I had a table on both sides of my recliner. One had my meds, tissue, lip balm, body lotion and body spray, a couple of bottles of water, container of prunes and some ricola throat drops! The other table was for my computer, my chargers for the laptop and phone, extention cord access and magazines. I bought a raised toilet seat to get me through the first week. It was a great thing for me personally, especially in the middle of the night! It just made it a little easier. I also had my Zero Gravity lawn chair set up for the days when my back was just KILLING me from that damn position! The zero gravity was AMAZING on the lower back!!! A few hours lounging in that would make a world of difference in my lower back pain! I used it daily for a couple of hours for about a week. (would have used it sooner if the lightbulb moment hadn't taken so long)