tt

I wanted to post some incision line updates.
Last night I felt tingles under my belly button where I haven't had any feeling. It makes me so relieved. I thought I'd never feel anything in between my bb and my incision line ever again!
Also, as a RealFriend for RealSelf, I was given some scar cream called biocorneum, I began using it last week. I'll post a picture of it.

Ten years ago this spring, I suffered a life threatening injury, had a stroke and spent a week in the critical care unit at Swedish Hospital. I was placed on bed rest and tons of restrictions. My life was dramatically changed. I went from kayaking and rock climbing to watching "The Office" on DVD (still a fan!) I put on some weight. I was depressed and I felt like I had lost myself even when the restrictions were gone.

One day, while talking to a friend of mine who is a breast cancer survivor, she told me how she was figuring out who her "new" self was. The facts were that she had changed and would never be the same person post-cancer that she was pre-cancer. This really struck a cord with me. This was a turing point in my life where I began to figure out who I was - post injury.

I write this because that conversation changed my life - and yet again I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm not the same person pre-tummy tuck that I am now. I realize that I have to find my new self. We all have to find our new self, our real self everyday. Adapt, change, move or we become stagnant.

I wanted to post this picture to show the truth of a tummy tuck. It's getting up in the morning, throwing on my gardening jeans and even though my weight is up 13 lbs, my underwear and jeans are flat and I'm not frantically looking for a shirt that will hide my belly. My tummy tuck just made me normal - which is all I wanted. My back pain has been noticeably less - which I attribute to my major muscle repair.

However, I'll be the first to say that there have been many times I've questioned my choice to have surgery. There have been many hard moments and stray thoughts and regrets - BUT, the things I wanted from this tt - I got. Are my results perfect? I am far from perfect, but that's okay with me. I love my body, it's strong and healthy and beautiful, no one in the world is quite like me.

So, my goal today (well everyday) is to appreciate the small things in life and look for ordinary happiness in everyday things.

Happy healing! *hugs* Thank you my friends for walking through this journey with me.