49 Yrs Old, 2 Children 28 & 24, Much Needed Tummy Tuck. Las Vegas, NV

I'm scheduled to finally get rid of this flabby, jelly belly on 9/16. I've hated my belly for the last 20 yrs and I am tired of trying to camouflage the fat with clothes and more importantly I'm tired of being embarrassed and humiliated by carrying this spare tire with me everywhere I go. A protruding belly is ugly and I'm tired of feeling ugly. I can't wait to wear clothes and not worry about how my fat and ugly my tummy looks. I can't wait to put on a 2 piece bathing suit and feel like I did pre pregnancy. I used to have a flat, firm tummy and it's time for me to regain my self-confidence once again. Now, that my kids are all grown up, it is finally MY TIME. It's finally all about ME and surprisingly enough, I do NOT feel one ounce of guilt being selfish at my age. It's finally time to give to myself and I deserve it.

With all the above said, I'm scared to death. I'm terrified of the pain. I've been reading nonstop and gathering all the info I can to prepare myself. I previously had a breast reduction with lift and lipo 2 yrs ago and those procedures honestly were not that bad. I remember hurting very little and pulling myself off the hydrocodone the 1st night because codeine and I dont do very well together. I have an adverse reaction and it gives me severe insomnia. I remember being up for nearly 2 days post op due to the meds. I switched to Tramadol and 800 mg of ibuprofen and that seemed to knock the discomfort out for me. I find it funny, cuz I wasn't worried about controlling pain with the previous surgery, but after reading here, I'm truly scared with the TT pain. This time my Dr is giving me oral Demerol. I know Demerol works very well on me, but I've never taken it orally. So, yes, I am honestly concerned about being able to control the pain since I've had such horrible experiences with codeine in the past. I certainly can handle discomfort, but throbbing, burning pain is what I'm scared of. If anyone has experience with Demerol please tell me how you did and what you think. One thing I know for sure is I WANT TO SLEEP post op. Is that asking too much... I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO SLEEP.

Tomorrow is the big day. I'm about as ready as anyone can be. Today, is day 3 of a mostly liquid diet with some very light eating here and there. Today, I plan to do a liquid diet only. I want to start off with a cleaned out colon due to the constipation issues that tend to follow post op. Took Milk of Magnesia last night, so I'm good to go for now. I will be staying at a recovery center for the 1st night. I went to check it out yesterday and it's very nice. I think I will be comfortable there. Just have to pack my over night bag and I'm ready to go....except for my nerves!!!

Ok, so, here are the dreaded before pix. I can't believe I'm actually going to post these, but I know it's only fair to those before and after me. Believe it or not, this is really a good day for me in these pix as I'm not as bloated as I normally tend to be, due to the above mentioned diet.

I will try to post pix tomorrow right before surgery after Dr Miller draws his art work all over my tummy.

Wish me luck.