Here We Go...Tummy Tuck, Breast Augmentation & Lipo on Inner and Outer Thighs! - Huntersville, NC

Today, I am 3 weeks post-op and have done really well this week. I've been driving everywhere, grocery shopping, running errands, etc. I would describe how I feel as just uncomfortable. My legs, back and boobs are really sore still but totally pain manageable. I am just getting around to posting my before photos and will take more after photos as soon as I get a chance (I'm that girl that's always 1 step behind). I feel like once I got my drains out last week, it was a pivotal turning point in my recovery.

My breasts have come down a bit now that I've been instructed to do massages on them. I just bought a bra at Victoria's Secret and I went from being a 38B to a 36D so I am very glad to hear that. I have saline implants, under the muscles and they were each filled to 600 cc's. I can't wait for them to drop into their pockets, I wonder how long that takes?

I'm out of compression garments but have to wear ankle-ribcage spanx for the next 3 months. Guess I will be wearing a lot of skirts and dresses. Thank goodness, they offer a pee hole because getting those spanx on takes an act of God!

My kids come home this week after visiting family in Colorado for the past 3 weeks so now I have to pick them up from the airport and act all normal and try to stand up straight and not complain about pain. We are taking a weekend trip to Savannah, Georgia so this is going to be real test to see if I can be on the go for 3 solid days. Wish me luck!

Thank goodness, I have made it through the worst of it! My surgery went well and the first 5 days have flew by in a medicated blur. It was hardcore surgery and I was no where near prepared for that kind of extreme pain. I set up shop on the main floor living room on one of the couches. I had to stay in a V shape so I had 2 couch pillows behind me and 2 more under my legs. It's funny to think that I took my Kindle to the hospital with me as if I would have time for some leisurely reading during recovery. How lame, I couldn't even focus my eyes for the first 4 days!
I went into the hospital at 9 am on the day of surgery, they weighed me and took tons of photos in the glorious paper bikini bottoms. The anesthesiologist came in and told me every little thing that he was going to do to me and made me feel comfy and then my surgeon came into the room and started drawing all over me and he was so pumped. He acted like he was sculpting his lifetime masterpiece. I had this fatty tumor on my thigh called a Lipoma and that was being removed in surgery as well so all together, I had Lipo from my knees all the way up to under my armpits, the tummy tuck with muscle plication, the breast implants and then the Lipoma removed. Surgery ended up taking 9 hours and they removed 24 pounds of fat and skin. I was so swollen that I looked twice the size of when I went in. The Lipoma on my upper inner thigh ended up being breast tissue and my surgeon talked about it's rarity as if he struck gold and won the lottery on the same day since it's so rare. He took tons of pictures and sent it off to pathology. I can't believe I was growing a 3rd boob on my inner thigh. I do think now that it was because of years and years of being on birth control pills or maybe that had something to do with it but I won't go back on them again now that I'm off.
Since the whole operation was to take about 7 1/2 hours, I hugged and kissed Derek (my fiance) goodbye and we told each other that we were each others whole lives and we were both teary eyed as they took me back to the operating room. I told him not to worry and I would see him when he picked me up the next day. 9 hours later, they woke me up and I opened my eyes and standing over me were 2 blurry Derek's!!! My first words were, "You came back?" and he was like, "Of course I did, I couldn't let you wake up without me after major surgery." I couldn't keep my eyes open even though I could talk but they let him stay for about 20 minutes before he kissed me goodbye.
The night nurse stayed by my side all night long as I was the only over nighter and she woke me up every 15 minutes or so to do something. Around 3 am, she made me stand up and walk to a line on the floor. I thought I was going to die! She did it again at 7am and I was so nauseous that I started to retch but that killed so bad so she made me eat crackers which were like sawdust in my mouth and rushed to give me a shot to stop the retching. Derek was told to come around 8am to pick me up. The surgeon had already checked on me and then updated him with my at home care. I've been going back into the office every other day for progress checks and further care.
The first week: My entire body is black and blue and I have taken 2 showers now, both of which I almost passed out and made me nauseous. I have a folding metal chair in the shower and cannot stand for more than 4 minutes at a time yet. My tummy looks really flat and my boobs look like 'renaissance festival boobs' which are really high up but hopefully soon they will drop down into their pockets and become [RS bleep] magazine boobs instead.
16 days post op: I'm doing much better. You know when you have the flu really bad and your whole body just aches and aches? That's how I feel this week which is a million times better than I did 2 weeks ago when I could have sworn I'd been hit by a train! I got my tubes and drains taken out yesterday and that made a world of difference. I hated being connected to all those things and they kept me all hunched over and it killed my back sooooo bad to stay hunched like that for 2 solid weeks.
I have to give Derek mad props for being an excellent nurse. He normally can't stand to look at wounds, doesn't want to see it, get's all squeamish, etc....but he really stepped up to the plate by changing all of my dressings and bandages, emptying all of my drains, keeping a medical chart of all my antibiotics, pain meds and blood thinners, helping me to the bathroom, bathing me in the shower when I couldn't move a single muscle to save my life. Everytime, I went to the bathroom during the first week, it looked like a crime scene took place in there and he had to clean that whole mess up and do a load of laundry every day of my robes and bedding. Sheesh, that man must love me!
So, that's my update for now. I do pretty much nothing except heal. I never told anybody about my surgery (except for a 3 close friends) so when people call and ask what's up, I just have to act all normal. I'm still about 70% swollen and I am still going in for my surgical check ups about every other day so that my doctor can check my progress. Every time, I go in, my surgeon repeats over and over, "I'm just so proud of you, I'm just so proud of you!" All I'm doing is laying there trying not to die and he acts like I have magical powers and am healing myself at a mind blowing rate!
I do have to say that Dr. Kortesis is an amazing surgeon! He is so personable and reassuring and his bedside manner is impeccable. On surgery day, while he was drawing all over me, I asked him if he brought his A game that day and in an energetic, excited way, he answered, "Oh yes I did!". I knew he was the doc for me and I went into surgery without any hesitation.