TT, MR, Lipo (Flanks) and BL (No Implants) - Edmonton, AB

Gaining and then losing 60, 70 and 80lbs with 3 pregnancies did me no favors. I am 46, 5'3". It was time to take control because even at my lowest adult weight since children I still carried around baggage. I had a BR in 2001, 2 weeks before I found out I was pregnant with my second child. I managed to nurse and then found myself pregnant again and had my last DD at age 42. She is 4.5 now. I also nursed her. My breasts were a saggy 38D.

I am now 3 weeks PO today. What a whirlwind it has been. The fog of the drugs, the shock of my first peek under my binder, the drain removal and still the shock every day when I see myself in the mirror. Dressed or undressed.

My Mom stayed with me for the first 2.5 weeks, she and my hubby took over EVERYTHING and I am especially proud of my hubby for everything he has done. We planned the SX for when he was off work for 2 months.

My DDs are 12, 9 and 4.5. They have been amazing nurses. Bringing me water, fluffing my pillows and I am loving my coffee through a bendie straw. Last time I used one I think I was 6 when I had mo tonsils out.

My pain is bearable now. I was on oxycodones for 4 days, then Tylenol 3's with codeine for 3 more and then I was popping XS tylenols, pushing those to the max. Now I only take them at bedtime because my back and hips are so sore from sleeping on my back. I cannot WAIT to sleep on my side again.

I had the drains out on day 6, the worst part about that was the 2 hour drive each way to the city to get it done. I happened to have my before pics on my phone and I showed them to the nurse who changed my dressings. She does this a LOT and nobody has ever show her before pictures before. She said she has a whole mew respect for women who have this surgery done. She has only ever seen the after.

My binder drives me batty. I think because I am so short waisted. It is a 9" binder and I think I would better fit an 8" but cannot find one online in Canada. PS wants me to wear it until my 8 week PO visit, which means 5 more wees ugh. It fits fine while laying down, but as soon as I stand it rides up, if I sit it rides up higher until it is right under my breasts, sitting on the BL incision.

The lipo areas are tender and probably the most painful. The TT incision feels very tight like a tight rubber band around your wrist would feel. My scar is VERY low and I am beyond impressed with how that turned out. I am told to keep replacing the tape on it as well until my 8 week PO visit.

My BL does not really hurt at all. Sometimes a throb pain on the sides. I am really impressed with how they turned out. I had a BR 10.5 years ago and have since had 2 babies so I never really got to enjoy having perky breasts. I was also left with one breast a 1/2 cup larger than the other, and the PS addressed that by taking only skin from the smaller breast and a teeny bit of tissue with the skin on the larger. My areolas look great and the incision is healing really nicely. I was worried at first because they looked so small and flat, and were looking a bit like I had implants, but as you see in my pictures they are falling softly and look great. Right now they look a lot like they did when I was 15 LOL. They also measure the EXACT same size as they did pre surgery. Just now, they will not spill out of my bras when I bend over. I was using double sided skin tape before to keep them in place.

Cost (after taxes, included all visits and garments):

TT: almost 10K
Lipo: almost 4K
BL: almost 9k

BUT I paid 2K less because I got them all done at once and saved on the anesthetic fees. Best money I ever spent, I am so glad to be free of that baggage.

Well, 5 weeks have gone by. Definitely not FLOWN by, but it does not seem like it has been that long.

I am still in the $#@%ing binder, and my next PO visit is not until March 22. That will be 9 weeks. He said to wear it until then. I was also told to keep wearing the surgical bra, but the bottom elastic rides right on my incisions (BL). Add to that my short torso and the 9" tall velcro binder riding up you can imagine my discomfort. I have been switching out with a snug fitting sports bra from Old Navy that has a much nicer band at the bottom than the bra.

I probably adjust my binder 15 times a day, it really makes me crazy and the swelling on my hips right under the hard plastic 'ribbing' pinches me when I sit.

I am also super sick of sweat pants and yoga pants. I wish it was summer because baggy shorts look way better than baggy pants. I went and bought myself a pair of low waisted jeans yesterday, I only paid $24 for them because I am so swollen in the upper thighs and hips I had to go up a size and I am assuming they will not fit after a few months. I should say they BETTER NOT FIT because I am down 7lbs from pre-surgery but none of my pre-surgery pants will even go up past my a$$. I am hoping that is swelling from the lipo and TT. Please tell me it is? Even my 3 day PO pics look smaller (less poofy) than it does now.

I do love how my front looks in those jeans though, even thought they are bigger the front is so flat. It looks like the front of jeans on someone else!!! I can even tuck in a t-shirt and wear a belt and there is no more overhang!!! WOOT!!

I miss the tanning bed though, I use them all winter for a little color and to perk up my moods. I feel so blah without my 8 minute tan once or twice a week. It is like getting my battery recharged. I might try to find a way to do it while protecting my scars, I am not sure how much longer I can take it... winters are long here.

6 weeks (+2 days) post op.

2 weeks ago I had 2 small spots on the TT incision that opened up. I knew what they were (spitting stitches) but to be sure I called my PS office and made sure I was going to do the right thing. I was told to use a (sterilized) pair of tweezers and gently pull the end of the stitch out, and then to cover it. One of the stitches came right out with a tiy knot it in, it was not much bigger than 2 pieces of rice. The other one I was only able to pull it as far as I could and then snip it off. When I let go the end popped back under the skin and I never saw it again. The first hole healed up in2 days and the other one took about a week but everything is closed and looks great now!!

So yesterday I was having some minor (sharp) pain under my areola in the vertical scar area on one breast. I took of the tape and saw where the incision had come apart about 1" long and about 1/4" wide. The other breast incision is completely closed. There was a bit of blood and fluid, but it looked the same as the fluid that came from the drains. No sign of infection though. Now, I had a BR 10+ years ago and had the same thing happen, and know now there is no need to panic. I washed the area thoroughly with anti bacterial soap and covered the hole with gauze and taped it back up. (I was told to keep it all taped anyway for 8 weeks).

This morning I took the tape off to check it and it looked good, I think it looked worse yesterday because the tape stuck to the wound and when I pulled it off it opened it up more. I used non-stick gauze last night. I can see the skin is far too thin on each side to even think about stitching it back together and I know the skin will fill in I just have to watch for infection and go to emerg here if it happens. I washed t again and ut clean gauze on it, and put a dab of manuca honey on the gauze where the opening is. Manuca honey has amazing healing properties (google it!!) and if all goes well there will be no more hole in 5-7 days.

I am going to the city tomorrow and we may stay over night. If Monday rolls around and I need to see my PS I should have no problems getting in for a quick visit for him to take a peek.

The jeans I bought last week (1 size bigger) seem a bit looser. I hope this trend continues.

Oh, and my hubby is totally bored with helping out around the house anymore, he left for the day today and left me with an overflowing garbage can and an empty water jug on the cooler. NOT SMART hahaha.

Well I am now 8 weeks 3 days PO and feeling good! Yesterday was the first day I went ALL DAY without my binder. we had a family photo session, then hubby and I went to Home Depot (renovation hell) and then came home and spent 3 hours cleaning my house. For the first time in 2 weeks my FLOORS ARE CLEAN (they have been covered in drywall mud and drywall dust). I got most of the main floor clean of drywall dust and even vacuumed the garage and mopped the floors in there (more drywall dust). I'll tell you I was ready for bed after that and put my binder on because I was swelling so bad.

I did wear jeans when we went out, and a few times I caught my reflection and STILL get shocked when I see how tiny I am. I am not quite in my pre op jeans, I can get them on but they are still tight in the thighs and they end up being pulled down when I sit and them the crack of my butt hangs out LOL They are also a little tight around the incision. I hope I can wear them them soon!

My vertical BL car is still healing. I ran into problems when I reacted to the advanced healing band-aid I was using to cover it. When I went to change it I saw the skin all around the opening in a 3.5" square was red and blistered, it took some f my skin off with it. So then I used non-stick gauze with tape and manuka honey (see amazon if you are interested in why I use it) and then when I tried changing the gauze, the 'gentle' surgical tape I used peeled my skin right off and I actually saw blood! This happened NOWHERE near the incision and hurt like hell! So now I just use the honey on a non-stick teflon gauze (3 x 4) and a mini pad under it with a surgical bra to keep it all in place. What SHOULD have been a minor thing turned into a HUGE mess because I can no longer use surgical tape or butterfly bandages on the incision and now I just have to wait for it to heal over and see what kid of scar I am left with. I am not worried though, there is no infection, the opening is granulating and slowly closing on each side. I see the PS on Thursday and I am sure he will be pleased with how it is healing despite the condition of the skin all around it. The red raised blistered square is gone, but I refuse to put any more tape on it because the skin is so fragile.

My TT incision could not be more perfect though!! I still get some ripples, especially at the end of the day when I am swollen. I am carrying around 20lbs of extra weight, and he did tell me that he could not lipo my upper abs during surgery and anything left up there would be fat. I am OK with that especially considering I can actually bare my belly now, even with JEANS because I no longer have a muffin top! WOO!!

Still VERY VERY pleased with my results!!

I had my 8 week PO appt on Thursday (well it was actually 9 but who is counting LOL) and Dr. Chong decided he wanted to stitch the opening on my vertical BL incision closed. It was just to big and taking far too long to heal. I was willing to wait it out, but now that it is done I am glad I listened to him. I felt bad because they had to juggle some people around to fit me in at the hospital outpatient clinic to do it... I guess I should have called him sooner about it, but I honestly thought they would just tell me that it happens and it will heal.

I was SOOOO NERVOUS OMG. I was WAY more nervous about that then I was about the entire makeover 2 months ago. I hardly slept a wink all night. I think it is because I knew I was going to be awake through it all and I despise needles more than anything. But as usual, Dr. Chong was comforting and the nurse there with him was kind and even offered to hold my hand LOL.

He froze my breast, I felt nothing more than a few prickles. He did have to debride some flesh, which was not pleasant. It is like a little wood burning tool and you can smell burning flesh ew. He put in a LOT of stitches and I will have to keep it covered with steri strips until I go get them removed in 2 weeks. He wants to be sure it STAYS CLOSED. he figures my body rejected some stitches and that is what happened. plus, the skin is thinner there from a previous reduction. He also told me to be SURE and call his office next week and let him know how I am doing. He promised me he will do his best to make the scar as good as possible. I was worrying about puckering but he assured me everything will be great and if anything goes wrong he will fix it. He laughed when I told him my hubby referred to it as warranty work LOL.

So it hurt a lot the first night and all day the next day. He gave me some T3's, but they just do not do much for me. It was worse when lying down. But today feels a whole lot better and I am just really glad it is closed and will heal quickly and I can get back to wearing normal bras!! He did say a sports bra was fine, which is great because that surgical bra was NOT comfy and looked terrible under t shirts LOL.

I no longer need to wear the binder YAY!! I told him the lipo hurt the worst and he said that is what everyone says. I also told him I had to go up a size and he said to not worry, those jeans will be falling off me in a few months YAY!! THAT give me something to look forward to next fall, because I rarely wear jeans in the summer so one pair will do the trick hahaha.

I am still on light duty until my breast heals. :)