Mommy Makeover - No Kids, Needed for Years of Yo-Yo Weight Loss - Jacksonville, FL

As of today I am exactly two months post-op. At five weeks I got to have a drain put back in, which was wonderful, then it was pulled a week later, and two days later my seroma came right back. My doctor drained it again in the office and pushed alcohol into the cavity, let it sit for a half hour, and then pulled it back out, in the hopes that this would help resolve the issue. Two days later, I could again see fluid squishing around my stomach, so I got to visit my doctor again. He believes that the movement that I’m seeing may be fluid inside of tissues as opposed to a seroma cavity, but just to confirm I believe he will be using an ultrasound during my next surgery (thigh lift) to confirm that there is no seroma. If there is, he said he will throw in a few quilting stitches, and voila, all fixed.

As a note, the worst part of the drain is having the stitch pulling on the skin. My stitch ripped out the first day I had the drain, so I got creative with tape, and the week of having the drain in again was nowhere near as awful as the first time. It’s funny how that little tiny stitch could be such a giant B. Had I known that, I would have totally cut out the stitch the first time, lol.

At two months, my breasts feel fine and I can comfortably lie on my stomach or my side. I had a massage the other day and I was thrilled to find out that I could lay on my stomach on a hard table again without feeling like I had boulders for boobies. My incisions have all healed. The second incision in my stomach to place the second drain looks exactly like the others…my doctor clearly paid attention in stitches class- I am very pleased with the scarring thus far.

I went back to the gym last week and at first I felt really tentative, but once I started working out, I didn’t feel any pain. Outside of admiring my new rack and stomach every time I see a mirror (yes, I’m shallow) I really feel almost normal again. Nothing hurts, nothing is sore, and while occasionally my stomach feels a little tight if I stretch too much (pull-ups feel like I am ripping myself in half, so those are a no) and it’s still a little squishy, at two months I feel quite nicely healed. My stomach is still swollen in the mons area, but I’m hopeful that will resolve over time.

Overall, I am very happy that I had the procedure. I was really worried about gaining weight while I wasn’t able to workout but I actually lost 16 pounds since the day of surgery (whew!). I feel so much better not having to worry that my flap of stomach skin is ever showing or that the girls look saggy. I feel much more comfortable in my skin now and I have to say…plastic surgery is awesome. A few weeks of misery and you can be a whole new person!

My last appointment before my thigh lift is the first week of November, at which point we will see if my lipo swelling in my lower back area is gone. I still look like a duck…my butt protrudes, and not in a J-Lo sexy way, lol, and I figure if I’m putting myself through the misery of anesthesia and six weeks of recovery, I might as well fix as much as possible and maximize the use of time that I’m stuck spending recovering either way. I’m also back and forth about fixing my arms…batwings are such a bummer, but are the scars really an improvement? Either way I have two weeks to obsess over deciding on everything before my poor doctor has to deal with me and my 300 questions and then three weeks from then its D-Day number 2!

Countdown: 2 months post-op mommy makeover/ 37 days until thigh lift

It’s been exactly 5 weeks since surgery and as of yesterday I have a brand new drain! The seroma I developed around week 2-3 refuses to go away, so yesterday the doctor placed a new drain in the hopes that a week of constant draining, minimized movement and compression would fix the issue.

The drain placement was pretty cool and far less painful than I imagined. I clearly underestimated the magical power of Lidocaine. The doc sliced open part of my incision scar, found my seroma cavity, and then placed the drain. I appreciate doctors who let me watch procedures because I feel like it is an expression of their skill and confidence. Having the person whose stomach you have your hand in eyeballing your work from a foot away must be a little disconcerting, but no surprise, he was as polite and professional as ever.

I now get to have a drain leash for a week, which is frustrating on so many levels, but eh, whatever, part of the process I guess. After the trauma I intentionally inflicted on my body, I can hardly get upset about an extra week of a drain. Also, with the compression garments, at least half of everything I eat I throw up, so who needs the gym! Haha.

Outside of that, I have no other issues. The breast lift scars around my nipples and down the lollipop line are so faded you can barely see them. The tummy tuck scar was doing really well until we re-opened part of it yesterday, but other than that, it is healing perfectly. No issues with any of the lipo incision sights either. I’ve been using Biocorneum once or twice a day, so fingers crossed that it works as well as it’s supposed to! I’m very happy that I had this procedure done and unlike the serious concern (terror, lol) I felt before this procedure, I am moderately excited about the next one.

Countdown: 5 weeks post-op mommy makeover/ 63 days until thigh lift

As of today I am three weeks and two days out of surgery. I appear to be healing well. Yesterday at the doctor’s office, my steri-strips were removed, so soon I can start using the scar cream. My initial reaction was one of relief because my scars do not look anywhere near as awful as I imagined they would. The abdominoplasty scars are symmetrical and really light in the middle of my stomach. The lateral edges of that scar still have some stiches that haven’t fully dissolved, so it’s a little bumpy there, but that will resolve soon. The scars from the lift are ok looking and I think they will fade very nicely. I am still jealous of everyone who gets to just have an augmentation and not a lift- I can’t even see the scars under my breasts. I will say though, that for basically having my nipples cut off and stitched back on, the girls look pretty good. They have not yet finished dropping, although I don’t really notice a difference from last week.

Outside of that, I went to dinner the other night and for the first time in my entire life since I was 10 years old, I didn’t wear a bra! Ok, the shirt I had on had a shelf bra, but I would never have been able to wear that in public before. That was kind of cool. I’m still not quite sure my new bra size and I’m hesitant to really go shopping for the regular bra-type until they have dropped and fluffed a bit more. I am still really glad we went with the 400cc’s because I would have been disappointed if they were any smaller. I no longer fit into my 34DD bra, but the 36DD seems to fit in the cup area, just not terribly well in the circumferential aspect around my ribs. Also, I’ve always worn a push-up, and there is no more pushing the girls up at the moment, so I’m curious to see if that changes once everything is healed.

The only thing that I’m starting to get frustrated with is my seroma. First, the damn thing will not drain when I do it, and for the record I’m not a hack randomly sticking myself with needles, lol- there is no reason why I can’t get it to drain. So, this week I got to go back to the doctor’s office yet again to drain it and within 24 hours, it was right back to being full of fluid again. Not only is this wasting my time, but it’s also a waste of time for the doctor’s office. I'm like, oh hi, yes I am here again, did you miss me? Ugh. Geez Louize, I am not a patient, inefficient person and the seroma and its total refusal to cooperate with me is trying my temper! It also has this fantastic quality in that it makes it look like I have a big, fat donut around my belly button, which I think is something that only really I notice, but every time I look in a mirror I look like a bloated chunky monkey (granted one with a great rack, lol).

So, this week I officially scheduled the thigh lift for 11/26, the day before Thanksgiving and paid my deposit. I tentatively discussed additional lipo with the patient care coordinator, although I’m not entirely sure about that yet. The thing is…I look like a weebles wobbles. I have normal shoulders, and then my butt and my stomach are round, and then my thighs taper down to normal, athletic looking calves and ankles- kind of like a duck. I think there’s really only so much you can do with surgery and then you’re left with genetics. I believe there’s a Pinterest quote about gracefully accepting this, lol...

Countdown: 3 weeks and 2 days (23 days) post-op mommy makeover/ 75 days until thigh lift