30 Yr Old Mother of 2, 95 Lb Weight Loss - Columbus, OH

When I got pregnant with my eldest I really enjoyed food, a little too much! I saw my weight spike to 230 lbs and once I had my youngest I kicked my exercise and healthy eating in gear and lost 95 lbs. I am now 5'8 and 135 lbs, but no matter how hard I have worked in the gym I haven't been able to melt away the extra skin that sags below my underwear or hangs every time I bend over. I met with Dr. Donaldson (he also did my beast augmentation 2 years ago, perfection!) and he went over in detail what I could expect from the procedure. I have a long torso, my belly button sits high, and I don't have a lot of extra skin above my belly button so I will have a small scar above my TT scar where my old belly button use to be. I opted to have the little scar in order to keep the TT scar as low as it can go. I just don't have enough skin to pull down to remove my old belly button unfortunately. I'm ok with it though.

Post Op Day 2: I had my surgery yesterday and I'm doing pretty good. Standing and sitting was the most difficult tasks. The area under my ribs felt very bruised and tight, but as long as I didn't move too much I was ok. Today (Day 2) is better. I'm able to stand up a little straighter and once I get moving, things don't feel so tight. I feel a little burning from my drain every now and then, but other then that I'm better then I thought I would be!

Today has been about the same as yesterday. I met 2 milestones though! I had my first shower, which I used a shoe string to hold up my drain, and I finally went #2! Using the restroom was pretty uncomfortable, I had tried everything in my power to not get constipated, but I believe I went overboard on the fiber. I learned after it was too late (from reading an article) that women should consume about 25 grams of fiber and men should consume 30 grams a day. I ate way more then that and became very gassy and clogged, I had to have my husband get me a suppository this morning which relieved my problem. I'm sure this is normally TMI but I'm telling this to hopefully keep others from making the same mistake I did! :-) Outside of my potty experience and emptying my drain (which sometimes stings), I really don't have any complaints. I did pay an extra $250 for a 24-36 hour pain numbing injection that I'm sure is really helping a lot too. I also am taking my pain medicine every 5.5 hours, as well as, Bromelain to help with swelling and bruising.

Today I am officially 3 days post op. I decided last night to stop taking my pain medicine, so I have officially been off it for over 18 hours. I was a little scared at first, but I am happy to say that I have been ok with out it. Family has asked me how I feel, and the only description I can come up with is that I kind of feel like I have the flu. My body aches all over and I'm just really exhausted, but its not the "my body's been cut in two and I've been skinned" pain that I was expecting! :-) I met with my PS today for my follow-up appt and everything looks really good even with the swelling. I am very happy with my new belly button! My daughter used to tell me that my belly button was weird, I think she will approve of my new one once it heals! :-) I have a small incision below my new belly button, this is where my old belly button use to be, I am very happy too with how small the scar will be. Part of the old belly button incision is swollen in the picture, but part of it is flat, and based off the stitch I can already see that the scar will be minimal! Which brings me to my TT scar, it is sooo low! :-) If I pulled my pants down any lower in this picture my husband would have a fit because I would be giving the world a peep show! I was very nervous about my new belly button, my old belly button scar, and my TT scar, and I am so excited to say that things turned out better than I anticipated! I have been told that my drain can come out when it collects 20cc or less a day for 48 hours straight. I am currently collecting about 40-50cc a day, so I hope my body starts cooperating soon! I am still taking Bromelain every 6 hours to help with swelling and bruising (I don't know how everyone else looked with bruising, but I didn't really have any!) and I have now started taking Arnica to help with stiffness, swelling and pain. I'm very excited to see what the coming days and weeks bring!