Tummy Tuck with Hernia Repair 2/22/12 - 3 months 3 wks PO

I haven't updated in a while. I am feeling much better and have returned to running outside and doing some P90X videos over the past few weeks. I am pretty frustrated with my belly button. I need to get it revised and I am pretty unhappy about it. It doesn't even look like a belly button and the skin hangs over causing a lump in the middle of my abdominal area. The other weird thing is that when I eat too much or drink too much, I get bloated above where my belly button is. Overall, my body looks much better than it did, but between my belly button and my stretch marks returning, I feel myself having doubts about my choice on doctors. I loved my PS and felt very comfortable with him in regards to bedside manner, skill level, experience, etc... But every time I go in for my follow-ups, he kind of looks at me with a grin and shakes his head saying he knows we need to do a revision in October for my belly button, but he is not exactly sure how he is going to fix it. He also said that he will try to pull my skin a little tighter since it has started loosening up again. I should only need to pay for the use of the tools needed and not the office fee, but the last time I went in, he mentioned possibly having to go back to the hospital to do this revision...he said the pain may be too much for me to handle in his office. The problem with that is that I would have to pay the hospital fees AGAIN! I am not sure if I would have had a better outcome with a different doctor, but after spending this much money, I can't help thinking about it and second guessing my choice on doctors. I definitely would have done the surgery again and do not regret it in any way, but I guess I was hoping my results would be a little better. It probably also doesn't help that I am gaining a little weight. I believe that it is going in my thighs. I also still have some swelling in my flanks where I had lipo, but the doctor said that that should go away in a few months. We'll see. I was 138 pre-surgery and went down to 134 post-surgery. Now I am back at 140! I really need to focus on the eating because I have been exercising 5 days a week. I have posted new pictures...not much difference.

Week 6 PO - Feeling great. Still wearing my compression garment. At my 5 week PO appt I forgot to ask my PS when I should stop wearing it. It doesn't bother me right now so I am going to continue wearing it until my next PS appt which isn't until the end of this month. I figure that it can't hurt.

This is my first week on my own with no help and my three kids have spring break. So far so good. I feel back to normal for the most part. Every once in a while I sneeze or move in the wrong way and I get a little twinge of pain, but nothing too bad. I can sleep on my sides now which is a huge help. I still have some pain in my lipo areas, but that's really it. It is amazing how quickly this recovery went...I can't believe that it has been 6 weeks already! I would do this again in a heartbeat even though I still need to get a belly button revision. I was going to start exercising this week, but since I have all three kids full-time (my husband works long hours), I figure that I am getting enough exercise and my real exercise will begin next week. I still have some swelling, but nothing major.

I uploaded another picture just to look at the difference from week to week. It is definitely not a major improvement each week, but I definitely see changes. I can't wait to see what I am going to look like in 6 months!!

Week 5 PO - I feel like I am almost back to normal! I had my 5 week PO visit on Tues and my PS said that I am healing very well. I do need a few revisions. My belly button, which he mentioned a few weeks ago, and now he thinks that I will need a little evening out with the lipo in my hip area. He said that I have a bit of Scoliosis so my ribs on my left side are lower than my right, therefore my sides look a bit different in the way that they are settling. He said that there is definitely still swelling there so we won't know for sure until that goes down, but the revisions would both take place in about 6 or 7 months. Other than that, he started me on my scar treatment, which is a silicone strip called Metipec. So far so good. He also said that I was free to pick up my 32 lb son and start exercising again. For the exercise, he told me to stick with cardio for now (elliptical, treadmill, running, etc...) and start at 40% of my pre-op intensity and work up from there. He said that I can basically resume all activities and just listen to my body.

As for my daily activities, I am back to cleaning and cooking. I actually vacuumed for the first time yesterday. I took it easy and did not feel any pain. I still have not actually carried my son around or picked up anything extremely heavy. I figure that if I can get someone to do it for me for a little longer, it can't hurt to wait to do that. I plan on getting back on my exercise routine on Monday and little by little working up to where I was before. I pushed a cart at Target the other day and had no issues. I am sleeping better and was even able to roll on my side yesterday which felt great!!

The most exciting thing that I did today was a little shopping!! I told myself that I would not do that until I was further along and less swollen, but I couldn't help myself. I went into the GAP and they were having a 30% off sale. The dresses that are out right now are so cute and there was no way I could wear them before with all of my extra skin. They looked awesome and I was so excited that I bought 3!! I am going to be in big trouble with the shopping once I am totally healed!! I couldn't wipe the smile off my face!!

I know I am rambling. I hope everyone is healing well. I don't go back to the PS until the end of April!! I am excited to see the difference a month makes. I have uploaded a few pictures...not too much different than last week.