My New Tummy! 31 Years Old, Two Kids

Okay, so some of these photos were in my first post, but I decided to group them all together into one post. I had a lot of swelling in the first few weeks, and was put on steroids to prevent a possible seroma from forming.

I think maybe it was because I had a job interview less than a week after surgery and I forced myself into pants over all the swelling and garments. Then the parking lot was being repaved and I had to walk a pretty decent way to get to the front door of the school, sit in the too-tight pants, get a walking tour of the building, and hike back to my car...totally worth it because I got the job and can't wait to start. I was living 2.5 hours from my mom and sister, and now we're all within a 10 minute drive of each other. :) Or it could have been something else, but I was really careful with all the post-op instructions...

Whatever the reason, I have two places at the center of the incision site that are really reluctant to heal, but I think they are coming along now. :)

Okay, so today I am officially 30 days out. I went to my 4 week appointment, and it was good news for the most part. I am out of the binder and compression garment for 12 hours a day (YAY!!!!) and Dr. Mizuguchi said that if I would like to I can start doing light jogging. I really want to, but I think I am going to wait for the incision to be totally closed.

I have to go back in two weeks because the incision isn't completely sealed. :( I was expecting to not have to come back again after this until the 3 month check-up. I'm in the middle of moving, the school year starts in less than 3 weeks, and I haven't even gotten the keys to my new classroom (teaching a new grade level) yet, so I was hoping not to have any more drives to Louisville. It kind of made me feel a bit worried that my incision isn't apparently healing as quickly as expected, but some of you on this site have posted stories that were so much more trying than mine, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

In the end an extra drive is more than worth having a surgeon who follows me until I am in the clear. I am definitely happy about the choice I made. :) I feel like the swelling is going down more every day, and I am so happy with my results!!!

Today is 25 days post-op. I didn't take any medications at all today, and didn't have any pain besides when I sneezed and it caused a short muscle spasm. The last of the 'white spot' on my belly button came off, and it is just clean skin now. (Yay!) I am going to start applying the scar gel to it now, even though there isn't much redness at all. Better safe than sorry!

I am not sure the home lymphatic massage is helping any with the swelling, but I keep doing it because it is an excuse to take the compression garment and binder off for a while.

I get to start wearing them only 12 hours a day at 4 weeks out. Three more days and I can't wait! I am choosing to take it off at night because I don't sleep very comfortably with them on, and because I feel more comfortable wearing the binder while I am active during the day. :)

I can't believe how much my body has been able to heal itself over the last 25 days, and I can't wait for it to continue healing. I am loving my results so far, and can't wait to see how things look when I am fully healed and the swelling is gone!