A Little Scared, but Excited Too... 12 Days and Counting. I AM ON THE FLAT SIDE NOW!!! - Houston, TX

Hi All, I had my one month PO appt yesterday. Dr Rock says I am doing great, and that he thinks my result is amazing. I must say that I agree. I was hoping my breasts would be a little smaller, but they really look so beautiful now that I still do a double-take when passing the mirror in my bathroom each morning. So I would say I am thrilled, even though I am bigger than I wanted to be. He siad this si because the pocket left after he took out my contracted old implants was the size that it was, and he had to put the size implant that would fit or they would have moved around and been a very poor outcome.

Same double-taking goes for my tummy. I just can't believe how amazing it looks too. This is seriously the very best thing I could have ever done for myself. I hope my hubby is looking down from above and is happy that I did it.

So I am finally able to take a bath! Yay!!!!!!!! I love baths, and doing without for the past month has been hard. I am also allowed to exercise and do all activity except weight lifting, and abdominal exercising. What a relief. I love to work out and will be glad to get back, but unfortunately, I am primarily a weight training and abs work girl. I will also do yoga, so that is good, but my main workouts are still taboo. But it is worth it, and I trust Dr Rock and how he says the muscle repair needs the full 90 days to scar over and become as strong as possible. I do not want to do anything to weaken or undo the amazing work he did, so I am going to follow all rules he gives me! My next appt will be at 90 days so he can examine the suture line and scar before releasing me to all activity.

I still have the glue/tape combo on my incision line. He says the longer it stays put, the better and more imperceptible will he scar outcome be, so I leave it alone too...although I am dying to see my real incision line. Am going to the beach in Fort Lauderdale the week after Christmas, so if it has not fallen off by then, I will take it off. I am sort of excited to try to wear a bikini. I will be with my family and my new guy. Will be interesting to see if I actually have the nerve to do the 2 piece...hmmmmm. I will let all of my RS friends know. When the tape is off, I will take new photos and post them too. He said my swelling is really minimal and mainly around the incision and in the lower abdomen. Overall, I could not be happier. TOTALLY WORTH all the pain, the down time, the emotional swings, etc. Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all of you!!!

Hi All my flat side friends. Today I am 3 weeks post op. What a ride this has been. I am thrilled with the results of my surgery. I am so very grateful that I have had no complications so far...knock on wood. I read a review this morning in which a very brave woman got an infection in her incision at 2.5 weeks PO, and it helped me to realize that I am not out of the woods yet, that excellent hygiene, hand sanitizer, fanatical hand washing, and using the bacitracin is still extremely important!!!!!

Regarding making Christmas happen for me and my 2 boys, I have had to let go some of my expectations and be gentle with myself. I am recovering from a huge surgery, and I simply can not do all that I want to do, and will hurt myself if I try. I am feeling a little blue because we do not have one single light outside, and nothing inside either yet. It could be July for all anyone can tell. But today I will start, with help of course, and it will be better. My husband did all of the outside stuff, and so that has its own set of sadness, now that he is passed. Holidays... I LOVE them, but this is sad and surreal too. And with a new man around the edges of my life, the holiday is even more wonderful, and more complicated than ever. I will not introduce him to my boys until after the season is over, but I am really and truly falling in love. He wants to help with Christmas tree and decorating, just because he know I can not do it for myself, but he understands fully and agrees with the reasons to hold off on introductions. He will be telling his daughters after Christmas as well, so we se on the same page on that.

So I am feeling pretty good in the mornings each day. Still sleeping in the CG and wearing it all day too, although I have been naughty and slept without it and had blissful sleep twice! One day when getting dressed and in a hurry, my friend came to the door, and I forgot to put it on too. Then we went to the beach and walked a mile or so. Yikes did I regret that. The CG hold everything in place, and especially on a sort of active day (as much as we can be active at this stage at least) it helps to hold everything still. I was very sore the day after I had a 6 hr outing without it, and as soon as I had it back on, I was so relieved. Is that mental, or real? Felt real.

My PS wants me to wear the CG for about one month. So after another week, I will probably graduate to Spanx or Yummy Tummy or something like that. How long have you guys who are ahead of me worn yours? Did you gradually go without, or just stop wearing it cold turkey style?

These pictures attempt to show how not being able to stand up fully straight keeps my back from arching/swaying like it normally does, which is making my butt look pretty flat. After all the darn exercising I do to get and keep it "perky" I am eager to be able to fully extend my abdomen and get my back and body back into its normal posture.

Any flat-siders able to tell us newly operated on gals how long till you were "back into your fully upright and normal position" ?? I sound like a flight attendant...hahaha