Almost 6 weeks PO! -Mount Vernon, WA

I am a 37 year old mother of an 11 year old son. I was morbidly obese for many years and had a c-section with my son. I lost over 100lbs through diet and exercise and have kept it off for 3.5 years. I had been considering a tummy tuck for a couple of years now but was too fearful of pain and a long recovery time to actually go through with it. I also felt guilty about spending money on something that seemed so vain. I did consult with a surgeon a little over a year ago and that one consult terrified me. First of all the Dr. gave me the impression that he might leave me disfigured with dog ears and a missing belly button. Secondly he reeked of booze at noon on a Tuesday. Scary!

After another year of prayer and consideration, I finally decided that I needed to go through with this procedure more for my mental and emotional well being than any other reason. Having this apron of skin and fat hanging around my middle has been depressing to say the least. I have faithfully worked out 6-7 days per week for almost 5 years and since having the weight off, nothing I do workout wise changes the shape or size of my stomach. I am an avid runner and also do crossfit.

Thankfully my husband has been more than supportive of my decison to have a tummy tuck. He has actually talked me back into it every time I talked myself out of it.

I had my procedure yesterday. It took about 4 hours and I was in recovery for about an hour and a half. I can honestly say that my pain thus far is way less than I expected. Walking hunched over sucks and my lower back does hurt. The drains aren't a big deal at this point, but the medicine ball of pain meds is cumbersome and annoying. I have been propped up in a recliner in my bedroom since I got home around 8:30pm last night, so a little over 14 hours ago. I had one block of sleep that was about 5 hours last ngiht and I work up pain free. I am staying on top of my meds by taking them every 4 hours on the nose, lol. I am not trying to be strong or heroic here, lol. If I can avoid agony, I will!

I have 3 weeks off from work. I wait tables part time, about 30 hours per week. I am praying that I will be ready to go back to work as scheduled. I plan on taking it easy with the lifting when I do go back but the job is still very physically demanding. I work anywhere from 5-9 hours per shift with no break or sitting down at all. I am on my feet and walking, sometimes running, the entire shift. My boss did tell me to take more time off if I feel I need it, which is nice.

I plan on taking some post-op pics tomorrow when I remove the gauze and dressing from my wound as per the doctor's instructions. I will post them asap!