TT BA- CA

I love being a mom and I gave my body for 4 incredible kiddos! Over the years I struggled with self image, clothes, being asked if I was pregnant, wishing I could keep my nursing breast size, pain and nausea with pressure on my stomach and whether cosmetic surgery was "okay" for me to do. I'm sure many of you understand at least part of what I'm talking about. Through a supporting husband, listening to experiences of others and lots of personal meditation and prayer I came to feel for myself that there was nothing wrong with doing this for myself but that it shouldn't define me. I knew I had to feel confident in who I was and how I looked before undergoing this so I didn't rely on surgery to determine how I feel about me!

I waited a couple years after that until the time felt right. I have relied on so many of you for tips, encouragement and loving, kind remarks. In gratitude I share my own story as it continues to unfold...

Am I glad I did this? I don't know yet. This is harder than I thought. I have struggled with regret at the same time reminding myself that I can't know how I feel about it in the middle of the hardest part! I WILL say that combining all the procedures I did at one time may not be the best choice. I had tummy tuck with hernia repair and major diastasis repair. I had lipo of flanks and abdomen and I had a breast augmentation. Yikes! So far the most painful recovery has been the muscle repair and BA. That's not true of everyone. In fact, everyone's procedure is a little different depending on where they start from, their skin and what they want as a final result. I think my surgeon did a great job but he really beat me up with the surgery so healing is going to take some time. Maybe the aggressive surgery will result in a better look?

I also had a complication from narcotics that landed me back in the emergency room three days after surgery. My bowels had completely stopped! I was in so much pain that I had to go to the hospital and have a tube put down my nose into my stomach. I don't want to go into detail because the experience is still fresh for me and it was a nightmare. Now that I am back at home and starting to do a little better I feel encouraged. The result of that complication is that I have not been able to take any narcotics cents D3. I am on ibuprofen and Tylenol which I've never done much for me. I think I have been in more pain than you usually would need to be. Please be careful and baby your body! Be careful what you put in it and make sure you give all your systems the attention and care that they need to function properly!

OK, here are a few tips I got from other people on this site and from my own experience that I really like.

1. Get a walker. I got a used one from the ads in our community paper and it cost me $10. Don't spend much on this because you will probably only use it the first couple weeks. However, with muscle repair and tummy tuck, your back will be aching after standing or walking for a few minutes and this really helps take strain off your back!

2. Have a recliner available to rest and sleep in. Again, I got one from the ads in our local paper. I slept in this exclusively for 2 weeks because I could get comfortable and stay elevated without pillows slipping out of position. My husband had to help me in and out since I couldn't pull the lever to raise my feet but he was a trooper and I'm glad I had it. I can now get in and out of my own bed but I use the recliner to rest during the day and I can pull the lever on my own at 15 days out!

3. Start stool softeners BEFORE surgery. I wish I had done this. It may have kept me out of the ER a couple days after surgery when I had a blockage in my small intestine which caused me a night of pumping everything back out through a tube down my nose. Miserable, awful, nightmarish experience that should have been avoided. Fiber Therapy or Psyllium is also great for constipation. It is a powder you add to anything and works wonders. It doesn't taste but has a gritty texture so best added to something with texture. Mixed with Gatorade it does a great job but I had a hard time choking it down.

4. A lanyard is perfect around your neck to hold the drains while you shower. Better than ace wrapping your middle and not being able to wash easily.

5. I LOVE having the shower chair I bought at Walmart. It was not expensive. I used it with the handheld shower head and it made showering much easier. Again, you will only use this for a couple weeks so if you can borrow or sell it afterward...

6. Freezer meals prepared ahead are your best friend unless you are blessed to have lots of church and family that bring in meals for you like I did. :) Don't plan on doing ANYTHING the first week. Anything! Well, you can walk to the bathroom and around the house a bit but not much else.

7. Prepare yourself mentally and spiritually! We plan ahead for physical challenges but forget often to cover the rest of it. Write a mission statement about your goals and reasons for doing this. Write your expectations and then leave room for eventualities. I wrote a few paragraphs that also include how grateful I am for my healthy body and read it several times when I got discouraged. It was really helpful. Take before pictures to go with this. You will be surprised how quickly you forget what you looked like preop.

8. Don't let yourself form opinions or make decisions the first week at least. You will wish at times you hadn't done this. Don't compare your worst day after surgery to your best day before. Just watch movies, read books and don't think about it for a while. You WILL feel better. I promise you will not be miserable for long. In fact, it will surprise you how quickly you will improve if you just relax and don't worry too much.

9. Call your surgeon as many times as you want. Don't worry about bothering someone. Don't feel bad about bugging them. Call any time you have a question. If the make you feel like you are a bother, remind yourself that you paid a lot of money for this and they are there specifically to answer YOUR questions. Get over the feeling of bugging people and make those calls!

10. This shouldn't be last. It's really important! Have someone with you the first week. It is very hard to remember what meds you took when. It's hard to get your own food. It's dangerous to walk around a shower without someone close by. It's depressing to struggle through something this difficult without support and love. Find a buddy and keep them close. My husband is my hero. I could not have done this without him. Grab a sister, friend, spouse...You will be glad you did!