POSTED UNDER Tummy Tuck REVIEWS
No- Drain Full TT W Muscle Repair and Lipo - Cary, NC
ORIGINAL POST
I am 31 years old and have 3 awesome kids ages 9,...
WORTH IT$9,550
I am 31 years old and have 3 awesome kids ages 9, 5, and 2. What is not so awesome is how my stomach looks post pregnancy x3. It resembles something between an apple doll and fredi krueger's face. Lots of deep stretch mark scars and loose skin. My husband and I decided it was time to close down the baby factory and he was kind enough to take one for the team and get the snippy snippy. I knew after my first baby that I wanted a tummy tuck once we were done having kids so I have been researching it for quite some time and after discussing my goals with Dr. Stoeckel I decided to get a full tummy tuck with diastasis repair and lipo on my sides to achieve the best possible end result.
fitmom82's provider
UPDATED FROM fitmom82
3 days post
3 days PO- feeling great!
Day 1 was great... numb all over, very tight and sore but no pain. Day 2 was a little rough, I had a hard time getting out of bed and realized just how much every movement engages your abs. I felt a little helpless and tearfull, but called my mom (critical care nurse) who advised me to step up my pain
meds to the max prescribed doseage and to get up and walk a bit every hour. I followed her advice. In between walksaround the house I lounged in
the recliner with a large size cool pack (refrigerator cool not freezer cold)
on my lower abdomen with a ten pound bag of rice on top for 20 ish minutes. I also made a point to drink tons of water and ate lots of small
healthy meals all in hopes of fastrack healing. By the evening I was exhausted and sore and a little worried that I may have overdid it.
wWell today is day 3 and I feel great! Still very tight and sore, but muchh better then yesterday AND I was able to maintain the same routine while cutting down my pain meds by half. Tomorrow I plan to try go off the meds totally.
One thing, I found early on that the surgical binder was pressing into my incision, making me very uncomfortable. With permission from my PS I ended up putting on a Marena stage 2 garment and wearing the binder with minimal tension on top... much more comfy now.
I have a little swelling but to be honest it is much better then I expected. I love how low my incision is too!
meds to the max prescribed doseage and to get up and walk a bit every hour. I followed her advice. In between walksaround the house I lounged in
the recliner with a large size cool pack (refrigerator cool not freezer cold)
on my lower abdomen with a ten pound bag of rice on top for 20 ish minutes. I also made a point to drink tons of water and ate lots of small
healthy meals all in hopes of fastrack healing. By the evening I was exhausted and sore and a little worried that I may have overdid it.
wWell today is day 3 and I feel great! Still very tight and sore, but muchh better then yesterday AND I was able to maintain the same routine while cutting down my pain meds by half. Tomorrow I plan to try go off the meds totally.
One thing, I found early on that the surgical binder was pressing into my incision, making me very uncomfortable. With permission from my PS I ended up putting on a Marena stage 2 garment and wearing the binder with minimal tension on top... much more comfy now.
I have a little swelling but to be honest it is much better then I expected. I love how low my incision is too!
Replies (15)
January 24, 2014
Incision is great! You look much flatter than I did at day 3. Testing and napping are sooooo important. Try not to over do it as it will come back to bite ya, lol.
January 24, 2014
Congratulations and happy healing! You look great! Rest up and enjoy your results!
January 25, 2014
Thank you thank you! Catching up on reading and tv in between doing the hourly lap around the house (a slow shuffle of 1,900 sqft) lol.
January 25, 2014
That's really good ! I'm only doing 1,400 sqft and feel so exhausted when I'm done my back its killing me.
January 25, 2014
I am wearing a surgical binder around my waist on top of my compression garment when I am up. It adds a lot of support and makes me feel much more secure. Zulybella, your results are beautiful! In a few months we will forget about how much of a pain in the butt this all is :)
January 25, 2014
Thank you for your kind words ! I'm going to try the binder in top of my garment that sounds like it will help alot w support . What kind are you wearing ?(brand)
January 25, 2014
It was given to me by my surgeon and not sold in stores, but it is a lot like this one. http://www.amazon.com/Curad-Abdominal-Binder-height-Premium/dp/B004UE4SRS/ref=sr_1_3?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1390683454&sr=1-3&keywords=small+binder+surgical
January 24, 2014
When I had my consultation with Dr. Stoeckel in Nov. he told me he did drains in addition to "quilting stitches" all the way down. So I went with Dr. Davis in Raleigh instead! I had surgery Jan 9th. I am swollen like a Goodyear Blimp! My waist is 4-5 inches bigger than before surgery. I will be following you closely to see how you're doing! It seems that drainless TT have more swelling initially from what little I have read on RS. I liked Dr. S a lot...Wake Forest educated, personable. I've been happy with Dr. Davis, just not my swelling. I'm trying to hang tough though! Only been 2 weeks. Hard for me to eat low sodium.
I have tried to post my story on RS using my iPad but it seems to erase....wondering if it's because I haven't completed the whole process and it doesn't save. If you want pics please pm me. Good luck!
January 25, 2014
Hmmm, the way he explained it to me was that the quilting elliminated the need for drains since there is no open space between the skin and muscle wall for fluid to accumulate. At any rate, drains were a big turn off for me, so I am glad I did not have to mess with them. Did your PS do the quilting? Did you have drains? I hope your swelling subsides soon. My mom recommended lots of fresh pineapple to help with swelling with. Not sure if it is helping but it surd is yummy!
January 25, 2014
Yes, Dr. Davis did the same procedure with no drains. I think that's why I'm so swollen. I think it all works out the same in the long run and the drains do open up another source of infection. I wasn't thrilled about dealing with the drains either. Good luck!
UPDATED FROM fitmom82
4 days post
Day 4 and a trip to the store!
So the continuing trend for me has been that each day is a little better then the next. Today was no exception. I showered this morning and was able to bend enough to do a decent job shaving my legs, yipee! I was so happy with myself I decided to ask my best friend and neighbor to take me to the store to knock out grocery shopping for the week. My husband is driving today to pick up our kiddos from his parents so I thought it would be a nice surprise if I got the shopping done and tidied up a bit. My trip to the store was great. I may have looked like the hunch back of notre dame, but I put my pride aside and hunched my way through the store with my best friend giggling behind me. Her giggling made me giggle which of course hurt like heck, but other then that it was a good trip. When I got home I tidied up and folded the laundry in hopes of winning wife of the year award when my husband gets home. As a result of all my motivation today, I am now all swollen and puffy. I have uploaded a picture of a puffy day 4. Now I am off to the recliner to rest, ice, and munch on pineapple before my hubby and kiddos get home. Take care my fellow TT survivalists!
Replies (5)
January 26, 2014
Oh my! I couldn't do that at your stage ! You surely have energy and are healthy...that's great
January 26, 2014
Thank you, I hope the progress continues. When were you able to return to "normal" activity level?
January 27, 2014
2 weeks if I remember correctly. I was walking straighter and doing some housework.
Replies (11)