POSTED UNDER Tummy Tuck REVIEWS
My New Tummy! 31 Years Old, Two Kids
ORIGINAL POST
I have two boys who are now 7 and 11 years old....
WORTH IT$10,500
I have two boys who are now 7 and 11 years old. The youngest was 9lbs, 2oz, and he really stretched out the skin on my stomach. It always bothered me, but it never seemed like a good time to be out of commission for such an extended recovery time. I was in the Army when I had my kids, and after I got out I went through a divorce and was the sole provider for my children. Now, almost eight years after the damage was done, I just finished my first year as a teacher and, with the entire summer off except for some online courses, it seemed like the perfect time! I applied for a carecredit card and was approved, and after that I selected some providers near my sister's house, so that I would be able to stay with her after, to get consultations from. I went some consultations, but I canceled the third after meeting with Dr. Mizuguchi because I knew after I met with him and his amazing nursing staff that this was who I wanted to do my procedure.
At the preop he touched my stomach skin without flinching (sounds silly to those of you who aren't really stretched out, but it was something my husband and the one man I've dated in the three years since we split up would never really do), told me that my body was beautiful and that we could make it even better. He was brisk in the consultation, but warm and confident. (His nurse had given me so much information before that I didn't really have much left to ask him anyway.)
Anyway, here is my journey so far, and I will keep posting reviews as I find things that you guys might want to know!
Day One: Mostly slept, drank broth. There was a lot of blood tinged fluid that came out of my lipo incision sites. (I was wearing a pajama shirt I’d borrowed from my sister, and I had to replace it because I stained it.) I was forewarned about this, and really it wasn’t so bad. I just had to sleep on those blue puppy pad looking things like they use for you to sleep on after you have a baby. So, ladies(and maybe some gentlemen too?), don’t wear anything that you don’t want stained after you have the procedure done if you are getting lipo too!
Dr. Mizuguchi did internal quilted sutures instead of a drain, and though I can feel them sometimes I think I would prefer them to having to deal with drains after surgery!!!!
Day Two: This was the worst pain for me. I had extreme burning in my abs when I tried to do…well…anything. The information packet that the doctor’s office sent home with me before the procedure said that the 2nd 24 hours is the worst after lipo, and they weren’t kidding. (This was the worst part of the entire process so far for me though, and it only lasted a day.) I had crazy dark bruises on my lower back. (The pictures below were actually taken several days out and had a bit of time to start fading, but you can look and get the picture.)
The nurse told me to do dressing changes on the recliner I’d been sleeping on, but I tried to lay down on my niece’s bed for some privacy. (I stayed with my sister for two weeks after having this done, pretty much living in a recliner in her living room.) Big mistake! Trying to lay down was absolute torture, and we didn’t have enough pillows propped behind me the first try, so it was still extremely painful when I finally got down.
This was my first follow-up as well. Getting onto the table to let them lean it back was torture, and when the compression garment was unzipped for the first time, I got really dizzy and nauseous. (The nurse said this was normal, that people sometimes experience a drop in blood pressure when the garment comes off. My blood pressure runs on the low side of normal usually, so I guess it isn’t surprising that this happened to me. It was pretty unnerving, but I came out of it fine. I continued to feel lightheaded and dizzy during showers until after week two was done, and then things kind of got back to normal.)
Week One: Getting in and out of a car is still a challenge, but I manage it. I found that keeping a pillow in the car to put behind my back helps me to relax my core and be more comfortable when going over bumps in the road. I didn’t leave the house a lot that first week, but I went to postop appointments and went to have my hair washed at a salon three times during the five days I couldn’t shower after the procedure. I had A LOT of swelling in the evenings. To you ladies who have had kids, it felt like that last week or two of pregnancy, when you feel like if anything else enters your abdomen it is just going to burst wide open. Not pain, just really, really full.
I had a few dark red spots on my stomach, like dark bruises but red instead of black. This caused some concern at my one week check-up, and they put me on steroids to prevent a seroma. So if you see this, call the doctor’s office! The meds caused the awful swelling to go down, but I wished that someone had told me to look for the dark red spots. I could have gotten rid of the swelling earlier. Haha. The prednisone helped with the swelling, but it made me so emotional. I spent two hours one day crying and texting my ex, who took the whole thing very well because he is a sweetheart like that. (Not my finest moment, but in a way, it was pretty therapeutic because I got some things off my chest that my normal, not crazy-hormonal self wouldn’t have said for fear of hurting him.)
I had a spot below my belly button, on the right side of my stomach, that was bruised. The skin also felt a bit different there, less soft than the tissue surrounding it. At my checkup they said that it was a drainage suture, and it would clear up as the suture dissolved. They were right, and at three weeks out I could barely see the bruise and the skin felt normal again.
This checkup was when they took out the sutures in the main incision and replaced them with steristrips. (All of these came off by my two-week checkup on their own.) I was kind of worried about taking out the sutures so soon, but when they explained that there were plenty on internal sutures for support I felt much better.
Week Two: I was able during week two to stop the Percocet. I still took one some nights before going to bed, but during the day I was fine on just the muscle relaxers. During this week was when I finally started to be able to stand up normally, except in the mornings when my abs were still super tight and in the evenings if I had overdone things.
I went to shower 8 days after the tummy tuck, and one of my pupils was bigger than the other. (I will post pics.) It really freaked me out, because all I knew about uneven sized pupils was that it was a bad thing if you had a head injury. Haha. Called the doctor's office, and it turns out that this is one of the reasons they tell you to wash your hands after removing the anti-nausea patch. (Which I didn't, and obviously regretted.) I was told it can take up to months for it to go back to normal, but for me it only lasted a few days, and I just wore glasses instead of contacts to help camouflage it. :)
I tried to lay down flat, just to see if I could, about nine days out. I could, but it felt very tight so I decided to wait a while before trying again. ?
Some of my incision, instead of closing up like the majority of it, got a white coating that looked like a blister, but was made of some kind of thick stuff that didn’t come off. This actually started a couple days after my two week checkup, which I had 10 days out. I had two one inch long, quarter inch wide places like this at the center of my incision site, and a place about half the size of a pea on the left side of my belly button. They have me washing with antibacterial soap and putting nonstick dressings and bacitracin on it, just like I was doing with the whole incision before it healed enough to start scar gel.
Week Three I am finally feeling somewhat human again. The white place on my belly button is now about the size of the tip of a pencil, although the area along the incision is healing more slowly.
I had to clean my house because I am moving with only my seven year old to help me. (My sister, who has been the one to help me with everything so far, fell down her basement steps and broke her rib a few days ago, so now we’re kind of lying around being broken together. Haha. Great for company, but not so great when something needs to get done!) I had a lot of pulling on the left side of my stomach, a bit higher than my belly button. When I asked about pulling here at a previous checkup I was told I have internal sutures there, so I think I must have just irritated them with all of the movement. The day after the cleaning spree I was walking a bit hunched over again, but by the second day after cleaning the house I could only feel it sometimes.
The skin on the stomach flap below my belly button still feels colder to the touch than the rest of my stomach, but less so than before. So far I am so pleased with the way my stomach looks, and I don't regret my decision at all!
My lower abdomen, between my belly button and the incision, is hard and firm but bulges when I stand. (When I lay down it is fine.) My mom is an RN and works in a rehab clinic in a hospital, and most of her patients are there following surgeries. She was over yesterday and I asked her to take a look at it, and she said as long as I am wearing my binder I should be fine. I'm going to take her at her word, but I will ask about it at my appointment next week, or if I start to feel any pulling on the incision site from it. :)
At the preop he touched my stomach skin without flinching (sounds silly to those of you who aren't really stretched out, but it was something my husband and the one man I've dated in the three years since we split up would never really do), told me that my body was beautiful and that we could make it even better. He was brisk in the consultation, but warm and confident. (His nurse had given me so much information before that I didn't really have much left to ask him anyway.)
Anyway, here is my journey so far, and I will keep posting reviews as I find things that you guys might want to know!
Day One: Mostly slept, drank broth. There was a lot of blood tinged fluid that came out of my lipo incision sites. (I was wearing a pajama shirt I’d borrowed from my sister, and I had to replace it because I stained it.) I was forewarned about this, and really it wasn’t so bad. I just had to sleep on those blue puppy pad looking things like they use for you to sleep on after you have a baby. So, ladies(and maybe some gentlemen too?), don’t wear anything that you don’t want stained after you have the procedure done if you are getting lipo too!
Dr. Mizuguchi did internal quilted sutures instead of a drain, and though I can feel them sometimes I think I would prefer them to having to deal with drains after surgery!!!!
Day Two: This was the worst pain for me. I had extreme burning in my abs when I tried to do…well…anything. The information packet that the doctor’s office sent home with me before the procedure said that the 2nd 24 hours is the worst after lipo, and they weren’t kidding. (This was the worst part of the entire process so far for me though, and it only lasted a day.) I had crazy dark bruises on my lower back. (The pictures below were actually taken several days out and had a bit of time to start fading, but you can look and get the picture.)
The nurse told me to do dressing changes on the recliner I’d been sleeping on, but I tried to lay down on my niece’s bed for some privacy. (I stayed with my sister for two weeks after having this done, pretty much living in a recliner in her living room.) Big mistake! Trying to lay down was absolute torture, and we didn’t have enough pillows propped behind me the first try, so it was still extremely painful when I finally got down.
This was my first follow-up as well. Getting onto the table to let them lean it back was torture, and when the compression garment was unzipped for the first time, I got really dizzy and nauseous. (The nurse said this was normal, that people sometimes experience a drop in blood pressure when the garment comes off. My blood pressure runs on the low side of normal usually, so I guess it isn’t surprising that this happened to me. It was pretty unnerving, but I came out of it fine. I continued to feel lightheaded and dizzy during showers until after week two was done, and then things kind of got back to normal.)
Week One: Getting in and out of a car is still a challenge, but I manage it. I found that keeping a pillow in the car to put behind my back helps me to relax my core and be more comfortable when going over bumps in the road. I didn’t leave the house a lot that first week, but I went to postop appointments and went to have my hair washed at a salon three times during the five days I couldn’t shower after the procedure. I had A LOT of swelling in the evenings. To you ladies who have had kids, it felt like that last week or two of pregnancy, when you feel like if anything else enters your abdomen it is just going to burst wide open. Not pain, just really, really full.
I had a few dark red spots on my stomach, like dark bruises but red instead of black. This caused some concern at my one week check-up, and they put me on steroids to prevent a seroma. So if you see this, call the doctor’s office! The meds caused the awful swelling to go down, but I wished that someone had told me to look for the dark red spots. I could have gotten rid of the swelling earlier. Haha. The prednisone helped with the swelling, but it made me so emotional. I spent two hours one day crying and texting my ex, who took the whole thing very well because he is a sweetheart like that. (Not my finest moment, but in a way, it was pretty therapeutic because I got some things off my chest that my normal, not crazy-hormonal self wouldn’t have said for fear of hurting him.)
I had a spot below my belly button, on the right side of my stomach, that was bruised. The skin also felt a bit different there, less soft than the tissue surrounding it. At my checkup they said that it was a drainage suture, and it would clear up as the suture dissolved. They were right, and at three weeks out I could barely see the bruise and the skin felt normal again.
This checkup was when they took out the sutures in the main incision and replaced them with steristrips. (All of these came off by my two-week checkup on their own.) I was kind of worried about taking out the sutures so soon, but when they explained that there were plenty on internal sutures for support I felt much better.
Week Two: I was able during week two to stop the Percocet. I still took one some nights before going to bed, but during the day I was fine on just the muscle relaxers. During this week was when I finally started to be able to stand up normally, except in the mornings when my abs were still super tight and in the evenings if I had overdone things.
I went to shower 8 days after the tummy tuck, and one of my pupils was bigger than the other. (I will post pics.) It really freaked me out, because all I knew about uneven sized pupils was that it was a bad thing if you had a head injury. Haha. Called the doctor's office, and it turns out that this is one of the reasons they tell you to wash your hands after removing the anti-nausea patch. (Which I didn't, and obviously regretted.) I was told it can take up to months for it to go back to normal, but for me it only lasted a few days, and I just wore glasses instead of contacts to help camouflage it. :)
I tried to lay down flat, just to see if I could, about nine days out. I could, but it felt very tight so I decided to wait a while before trying again. ?
Some of my incision, instead of closing up like the majority of it, got a white coating that looked like a blister, but was made of some kind of thick stuff that didn’t come off. This actually started a couple days after my two week checkup, which I had 10 days out. I had two one inch long, quarter inch wide places like this at the center of my incision site, and a place about half the size of a pea on the left side of my belly button. They have me washing with antibacterial soap and putting nonstick dressings and bacitracin on it, just like I was doing with the whole incision before it healed enough to start scar gel.
Week Three I am finally feeling somewhat human again. The white place on my belly button is now about the size of the tip of a pencil, although the area along the incision is healing more slowly.
I had to clean my house because I am moving with only my seven year old to help me. (My sister, who has been the one to help me with everything so far, fell down her basement steps and broke her rib a few days ago, so now we’re kind of lying around being broken together. Haha. Great for company, but not so great when something needs to get done!) I had a lot of pulling on the left side of my stomach, a bit higher than my belly button. When I asked about pulling here at a previous checkup I was told I have internal sutures there, so I think I must have just irritated them with all of the movement. The day after the cleaning spree I was walking a bit hunched over again, but by the second day after cleaning the house I could only feel it sometimes.
The skin on the stomach flap below my belly button still feels colder to the touch than the rest of my stomach, but less so than before. So far I am so pleased with the way my stomach looks, and I don't regret my decision at all!
My lower abdomen, between my belly button and the incision, is hard and firm but bulges when I stand. (When I lay down it is fine.) My mom is an RN and works in a rehab clinic in a hospital, and most of her patients are there following surgeries. She was over yesterday and I asked her to take a look at it, and she said as long as I am wearing my binder I should be fine. I'm going to take her at her word, but I will ask about it at my appointment next week, or if I start to feel any pulling on the incision site from it. :)
Mary031716's provider
UPDATED FROM Mary031716
25 days post
25 Days PO
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!
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!
Replies (2)
July 11, 2017
You look great. Wishing u a continued speedy recovery! Congrats
UPDATED FROM Mary031716
29 days post
30 Days PO
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!!!
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!!!
Replies (0)