57 YR, 2 Grown Daughters - Finally Going to Lose This Miserable Belly! Tummy Tuck, Chin Lipo - San Mateo, CA

I wrote a review and a series of updates about my Tummy Tuck and Diastasis Recti repair (also known as abdominal separation repair) last year. But I want to call out the Diastasis Recti repair in this separate review, because I think it's important to get this information out there for women.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was 57 years old when I had this surgery done. I'm 5'3" and weigh about 145 pounds. I usually exercise on a regular basis and have been thin my entire life. I've also suffered miserably because of back pain. If you've had kids, and you have back problems, please look into getting this surgery done. Getting this surgery changed my life in the best way. I'd had back problems most of my adult life. I discovered I had 2 herniated discs in my lower back (L5-S1) in my early 20s. I knew that certain activities made it worse, and I tried to avoid those activities. I had my ups and downs with it, but things were fairly stable with my back until after I had my 2 kids. Then I started to realize that things that used to be OK to do, were now making my back hurt. As the years went on, it seemed that I could do less and less. I had to stop wearing shoes with any height of heels. I couldn't lift anything over about 10 pounds. I had to curtail any strenuous activities around the house. I got massages, acupuncture, shiatsu treatments, tried the Egoscue method, did physical therapy, took NSAIDs, got cortisone shots in my back, tried this exercise and that exercise, Dr. Sarno's books and DVDs, and meditation. In short, I was put through the mill. Nothing made a big difference. My back would get better for a while, and it was only a matter of time before something would mess it up again, as careful and mindful and good as I would try to be. I stretched and exercised moderately several times a week. I didn't make any difference. Many times I tried to strengthen my core, and failed -- because ultimately, no matter how slowly and carefully I went about it, (even with supervision) my back would inevitably get hurt again.  And each time it got hurt, it seemed to take longer to heal. Little muscle strains that would affect most people for a week would affect me for a month. I thought perhaps it was because of my auto-immune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's). Or a deficiency of something (magnesium, vitamin D, you name it). Or maybe there was just something psychologically wrong with me. But now I know, it was mainly because of the space between my abdominal muscles and my inability to strengthen them. I remember one afternoon -- about 6 sessions into going to a particular PT place -- where they put one pound weights on my ankles, and told me to tighten my abs and lift my legs at the knee as I walked. They said I was ready for it now. I wasn't. It made my back hurt and I started crying. I cried all the way home that day and I never went there again. The doctor had sent me to that PT place to strengthen my abs. It was fruitless. I felt like a total failure; something was wrong with me. I was just broken. Getting this surgery -- to correct my umbilical hernia, and close the space between my abdominal muscles caused by pregnancy -- is the single best thing I could have done for myself. If I had gotten that surgery 20 years ago, I think I would have saved myself a lot of suffering. But who knew? No orthopedists or doctors of any type ever mentioned it to me. Not my gynecologist -- nobody. In fact, I had no idea that my abs were separated (or that I had an umbilical hernia) until I started going for consultations about plastic surgery to get rid of my ugly belly! I took gamble that getting the surgery would help my back -- and I won.  WHY DON'T DOCTORS MENTION THIS TO WOMEN? Why don't they suggest getting surgery to fix the abdominals? Sure, it's a big surgery, especially if you combine it with a tummy tuck. Sure, it's considered cosmetic in most cases. But it's a REAL PROBLEM and it causes REAL ISSUES! Now that my abdominals and umbilical hernia are fixed, I feel better than I have since I was in my 20s. I can walk for miles and miles, and now my back just aches a little bit -- like a NORMAL person! And the next day, after a little stretching, I'm absolutely fine. I can carry the groceries in from the car and not worry about it. I can exert myself a little and not fret that I will pay dearly for it in the weeks ahead. I had an inkling that my weak abdominals were messing me up, but it wasn't until I recovered from this surgery that I realized just how much they had negatively impacted my life.  Now, whenever I'm going to do something a bit strenuous, I tighten my abs and try to be aware of my posture. I still have two herniated discs in my back, so of course I still need to be careful, because those are not going away or getting better. But the quality of my life is SO MUCH better now because of this surgery. I don't feel semi-crippled anymore.  I still stretch and do foam rolling on a regular basis. I still do Tai Chi. I usually workout 3 to 4 times per week (the exercise bike, the treadmill, my bicycle, walking on a nearby track, hiking, swimming in the summer, etc). Since having the surgery, I have pulled a muscle in my back here and there, but it's usually better in just a few days -- like a NORMAL person!! I don't have allusions of becoming superwoman now -- I know that I still have limitations. But I have a lot of hope that as I age, I can stay strong, flexible, and able-bodied. And because of the tummy tuck and liposuction that I had in conjunction with the Diastasis Recti repair, I can wear a bikini while I'm doing it! If my story sounds familiar, please consider getting this surgery done. If you have tried to strengthen your core and, despite your best efforts, you have failed, consider it strongly. It has been life-changing for me. It gave me my life back

My "one year" review had to be pushed out because, in November 2018, I suddenly discovered that a bone spur in my right shoulder was threatening to tear my rotator cuff. So I needed to get arthroscopic surgery and have time to recover from that. And then I got a really bad coughing virus...and it was just one thing after another. So, I didn't have my "one year" appointment until actually one year and four months.


Dr. Lim liked the way things had turned out, except for a few scar areas that had gone keloid -- some of the scar around my navel, and a small area of the scar at my pubis. She injected those areas with cortisone, so hopefully those lumpy areas will flatten out. I am wearing the silicone patches on them to help it. I may need to go back to Dr. Lim one or two more times for more shots. I had a similar situation about 15 years ago with a scar on my left shoulder -- it took 2 or 3 bunches of shots from my dermatologist to get rid of the keloid scar there.


So, how does my belly feel? Well, I have regained about 60% of the feeling on the skin below my navel. And it feels like I have a support garment on all the time on my abs (it's a bit tight but not uncomfortable). I have gotten used to it; it is the "new normal." The scar is starting to mellow out, but it will be a few years before it fades completely. None of this bothers me very much. Sure, it's different. I wish I had 100% feeling back in the skin below my navel. But frankly it's not that important to me. IMO, it's a small price to pay for such a vast improvement in my life.


Since my last update, my husband and I went to the Greek islands in Sept. 2018. I hadn't even thought of buying a bikini for the trip -- I had my old tankinis (and I could happily wear the "smaller" ones that were previously getting "too small" due to my belly). But after a week on the beaches of Greece, I realized that most women -- of all ages and shapes -- were wearing bikinis. And in most cases, I looked A LOT better than them (especially the older women)! So when we got to Santorini about a week into this trip, I turned to my husband and said, "entertain yourself for a couple of hours tonight. I'm going shopping for a bikini!" And I found one. And I wore it for the rest of the trip! And I was SMOKIN in it! I can't even begin to tell you how good THAT felt!


FYI, I still had a bit of a "franken-navel" from the surgery, but I had some DermaBlend body makeup and powder with me, so I was able to camouflage the redness of the navel scar with that pretty well.


It has also been fabulous to be able to wear so many of the tops and bottoms that I was on the verge of discarding because of the belly a year earlier. I'm still going through my clothes. I was able to donate a huge amount of things that are definitely too big now. But I kept the things that are on the borderline of fitting and being too small. I was able to lose about 5 lbs before my trip to Greece, but between being inactive due to the shoulder surgery and the coughing virus I got afterward, I managed to gain most of it back. So, I'll hang on to those clothes (mainly pants) for a year longer. If I'm no further along in my quest to lose a few pounds, I'll give up and donate them. No sense in beating myself up about it (not to mention getting rid of more piles of clothing).


Aside from the aesthetic upside of the surgery, I want to talk about how tightening up my abs has changed my life in the best way. As I had mentioned in previous posts, I've had back problems most of my adult life. I discovered I had 2 herniated discs in my lower back (L5-S1) in my early 20s. I knew that certain activities made it worse, and I tried to avoid those activities.


I had my ups and downs with it, but things were fairly stable with my back until after I had my 2 kids. Then I started to realize that things that used to be OK to do, were now making my back hurt. As the years went on, it seemed that I could do less and less. I had to stop wearing shoes with any height of heels. I couldn't lift anything over about 10 pounds. I got massages, acupuncture, shiatsu treatments, tried the Egoscue method, did physical therapy, took NSAIDs, got cortisone shots in my back, tried this exercise and that exercise, Dr. Sarno's books and DVDs, and meditation. In short, I was put through the mill. Nothing made a big difference. My back would get better for a while, and it was only a matter of time before something would mess it up again, as careful and mindful and good as I would try to be. Many times I tried to strengthen my core, and failed -- because ultimately, no matter how slowly and carefully I went about it, my back would inevitably get hurt again.


And each time it got hurt, it seemed to take longer to heal. Little muscle strains that would affect most people for a week would affect me for a month. I thought perhaps it was because of my auti-immune thyroid disease. Or a deficiency of something (magnesium, vitamin D, you name it). But now I know, it was mainly because of the space in my abdominal muscles and my inability to strengthen them.


I remember one afternoon -- about 6 sessions into going to this particular PT place -- where they put one pound weights on my ankles, and told me to tighten my abs and lift my legs at the knee as I walked. It made my back hurt and I started crying. I cried all the way home that day and I never went there again. The doctor had sent me to that PT place to strengthen my abs. It was fruitless. I felt like a total failure; something was wrong with me, I was just broken.


Getting this surgery -- to correct my umbilical hernia, and close the space between my abdominal muscles caused by pregnancy -- is the single best thing I could have done for myself. If I had gotten that surgery 20 years ago, I think I would have saved myself a lot of suffering. But who knew? No orthopedists or doctors of any type ever mentioned it to me. In fact, I had no idea that my abs were separated (or that I had an umbilical hernia) until I started going for consultations about this plastic surgery! I took gamble that getting the surgery would help my back -- and I won.

WHY DON'T DOCTORS MENTION THIS TO WOMEN? Why don't they suggest getting surgery to fix the abdominals? Sure, it's a big surgery. Sure, it's considered cosmetic in most cases. But it's a REAL PROBLEM and it causes REAL ISSUES!


Now that my abdominals and umbilical hernia are fixed, I feel better than I have since I was in my 20s. I can walk for miles and miles, and now my back just aches a little bit -- like a NORMAL person! And the next day, after a little stretching, I'm absolutely fine. I can carry the groceries in from the car and not worry about it. I can exert myself a little and not fret that I will pay dearly for it in the weeks ahead. I had an inkling that my weak abdominals were messing me up, but it wasn't until I recovered from this surgery that I realized just how much they had negatively impacted my life.


Now, whenever I'm going to do something a bit strenuous, I tighten my abs and try to be aware of my posture. I still have two herniated discs in my back, so of course I still need to be careful, because those are not going away or getting better. But the quality of my life is SO MUCH better now because of this surgery.


I still stretch and do foam rolling on a regular basis. I still do Tai Chi. I usually workout 3 to 4 times per week (the exercise bike, the treadmill, my bicycle, walking on a nearby track, hiking, swimming in the summer, etc). Since having the surgery, I have pulled a muscle in my back here and there, but it's usually better in just a few days -- like a NORMAL person!! I don't have allusions of becoming superwoman now -- I know that I still have limitations. But I have a lot of hope that as I age, I can stay strong, flexible, and able-bodied. And wear a bikini while I'm doing it!

I just want to say -- I don't understand why sometimes on this site, the paragraph breaks show up, and sometimes they don't, resulting in a huge block of run-on text. It's really annoying.