Mini Tummy Tuck (No Lipo) - Madison, WI

5 Weeks PO: It's been a month and a couple of days now, and I feel totally back to normal! I have been exercising at normal intensity, including heavy weights and core exercises. Nothing hurts, and I'm getting close to the same fitness I was at before my surgery. I'm happy with my results. There is definitely still some swelling above my incision, but my ps said it could be 3 full months before that's gone. It's not at all noticeable under clothes, so I don't mind too much. At times I feel like the contouring gave me love handles, which I didn't have before. I haven't gained any weight, so I think it's just me being paranoid. I used to have a very straight waist, so now that I have a more defined abdomen, I think I'm confusing curves for fat :) At least I hope so! I still have slight dog ears, but they're getting better and better. Hard to tell if they'll need to be revised, or if they'll just go away.

23 Days PO - Had my three week post-op appt today. He pulled a couple of stitches that were poking out. Didn't hurt at all. He noted my dog ears and said that 50% of the time they go away on their own, so we'll wait until my 3 month appt to decide if he needs to fix them. I only have minor swelling in the area above my incision, but that will go away slowly. I'm cleared for all exercise provided I resume gradually.

PO Day 19: I have been using my elliptical machine since PO Day 12. I was allowed to start light exercise that day, and I consider the elliptical to be light exercise. The first couple of days I felt some discomfort when I would use my abs while breathing heavy. That discomfort very suddenly went away on PO Day 14. Very strange, but happy! Slowly weaned myself off of my binder which I was told I no longer needed to wear at my last post op. I still wear it at night for comfort though. I went to a college football game and was out and about all weekend - it felt just fine! Finally doesn't hurt to laugh or cough, but I do think I've learned to hold back, so I don't know how it'd feel to cough really hard. I am going to start back with my workout class tomorrow morning. It's a very intense, difficult class, but I'm going to just not go 100% right away. My next post-op is at PO Day 23, and I'm supposed to be cleared for everything at that point. My incision is looking better and I'm happy with my results so far. I do get some swelling by the end of the day, mostly in the few inches above the incision.