Less Than 48 Hours Pre-op! - Harrison, AR

I'm a mother of two amazing boys, both born via C-Section. I'm 5'3 and pretty well-toned thanks to my love of exercise and working out. My huge confidence-buster is my stomach. I have loose skin and stretch marks, with my worst issue being a rather nasty scar from an emergency appendectomy at age 12. I've always been self-conscious of my belly and have talked about a tummy tuck for years, but never thought it would ever be a realistic possibility. This year I'm turning 40 and decided to go for a consult and subsequently save up the money. Hubs is a boob man and would love for a breast lift with implants to be taking place right now, but totally understands and supports my decision to prioritize the Tummy Tuck.

We arrived at 6:30 a.m, did all the preliminary stuff--most of which involved being a naked art easel while the doc mapped out his road to my new body. He was quite meticulous and detail-oriented, talking us through the process and explaining the hows and whys in layman's terms. Hubs and I are both planners, so we found this part interesting and much-appreciated. The procedure was done in-office at my doc's private surgery center, so it was super easy, convenient and hassle-free. Went to the OR around 8 a.m. Anesthesia shortly after that, and I was up and walking by 1:30 p.m. We are at the hotel now, preparing for a sleepless night of walking every hour through the first 24. Also have the Flowtron hooked up to both legs to keep the circulation going. No abdominal pain, only tightness. Walks have been going great! I fully expected to spend the first day or two zonked out with drool running down my face, but other than having to be hunched over, I'm good to go! Here are a few tips and pointers so far: (1) A walker is a MUST-HAVE!!! I was able to borrow one and it's perfect--it has wheels, hand brakes, a seat and a carrying basket. I can definitely feel my arm muscles getting their workout, so it's nice having strong triceps and biceps beforehand! (2) I don't know what everyone is talking about when they say to expect little or no appetite for the first week or two. I. AM.STARVING!!! 3) I opted to go in without bra or panties under my clothes. Motivating factors were ease of undressing, redressing and toileting. Not to mention the obvious--all the goods would be on display to everyone in the room anyway!! (4) Dying of thirst!!! Drink drink drink!!! Water water water!!! (5) Walk right away. This will help so much! (6) Last pee/drain break, I got really lightheaded and queasy. After a few minutes back in my chair with my eyes closed, it passed. Phew! (7) Buy your compression items WAYYYYY larger than normal size so it holds you in, but doesn't put TOO much pressure on the abdomen. 8) Your nurse will be with you quite a bit, so hopefully you like him/her. I really lucked out with mine--very experienced with an awesome personality. We are kindred spirits, that's for sure! (9) They put an anti-nausea patch on me--it seemed to help since I puked after coming out of anesthesia with both C-sections. (10) I got a tube down my throat for oxygen production because my doc does the lipo face-down (prior to the TT, of course!). Point being, my throat hurts!!

That's all I can think to post right now. I've been writing this since we got to the hotel around 2 p.m. And it's now 6:45-ish and still doing awesome! I'm waiting for my food...hope they hurry!!! My (nice, flat) tummy is rumbling!!!