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Still not great

So I went and saw the Dr and complained of my results.
He pretty much said I need to lose weight or get lipo this is funny as I weigh less than prior to surgery when he said I'd have a flat stomach.
I have lost 8 pounds since then- the first week of July- and still look the same. He seemed to be saying I did not have a TT, so I got what I should have. AND that would be all well and good if he hadnt told me I was going to get a TT, or as close as he could possibly get to it-- right before my surgery. I would just have been happy to not look pregnant I guess, but my hopes got too high.
Oh well.
Back to square one I guess.
--all the docs here think I need a revision. I haven't the heart to dream right now. As a mom home alone with 2 two year olds all the time and absolutely no money, I'll just have to stop looking in mirrors and put my bikini away.
Still losing weight, and am trying to get as healthy as possible at least that will make me feel better for me.
:-)
Best wishes to all with your real TTs. And if you get insurance to pay for repair like I did, dont do it until u can pay the difference for an actual TT. cause if u pay, I guess they would have to do it, right?

6 months post-op, not very happy

I am now 6 months post-op and thought I should update my posts here.
I have never seen anyone write about how disappointed they are this far out, and I am thinking that like me, as they were healing and things weren't good like all the other posts on this site, they became disheartened and didn't want to come here anymore.
I kept hoping that that magic 6 months date would come and I would be "on the flat side." But it came 2 weeks ago and I am still experiencing tremendous swelling, discomfort and sometimes pain.
My doctor's assistant, who herself is 17 months post op, says I am normal for someone who had such a huge diastasis (7-8 inches!). But it is really hard at this point to believe there is anything better than what I am dealing with now.
I have to wear a support garment just to make it through the day without being a beach ball by the end of the day and in pain.
I am chasing after and picking up 2 very active 30 month old girls, but I wouldn't expect that to make all the swelling that persists.
I have an appointment Tuesday with PS and am s sure he is going to tell me I am normal again and I should be patient. But I did for 6 months. And now I am just sad. I am supposed to go to a pool party Sunday and am embarrassed by how I look, and of course will not fit in the bikinis I bought so optimistically a few months ago.

I am still grateful to not have the painful and HUGE stomach of pre-op. And I guess if I had never done any internet research, I might have been content with these results because at least no one is asking me when I am due and touching my stomach anymore.
I do not fit into any pre-baby shirts though.
Pre Babies I was 170 pounds, with a 31" waist. I am 5'10" and that was not ideal for me, but healthy.
My ideal, which is hard to get to because of multiple health issues, is 140ish pounds, and my stomach would still be 29" if I don't eat carbs. :-)
I have never had a narrow waist, though it was very flat. Even at 128 lbs, when I modeled, I still had 27" waist.
NOW I'm 165 pounds, which is 7 pounds less than pre-op. I have been doing elliptical a few times a week and yoga once a week usually.
My waist now is 36".

Anyhow, we'll see what the doctor says, but I don't expect him to say anything different. I will probably ask for him to get me a test to see if there's anything wrong in there, he'll probably say it isn't necessary. I guess I'll find out next week.

The photos I am posting today are from today. You can see how ugly my scar still is, I did get infected and stayed in hospital for 4 days. This was likely because my hernia was incarcerated and there was lots of nastiness in there. And so they closed me with staples, as tape or glue wouldn't have worked with infected skin and would have come apart. I believe it was a good call, but its ugly.

I got my staples out today. What a relief! A...

I got my staples out today. What a relief! A couple hurt pretty bad but not for long of course. I'm now told to be careful not to stretch, lift, turn weird, etc. also not to sit with legs crisscross apple sauce. Apparently another patient was sitting on her floor like that playing with her kids and leaned the wrong way or something and her incision pulled apart. Yikes!
After getting home I noticed a little gap at the end of the incision, a small open part about half an inch. I put a steri strip on it. My dr is out of town until January 8th, so I made an executive decision. Maybe I'll see if another dr should look at it tomorrow. :-)
Also, today felt like I turned a corner in pain. I didn't need pain meds all day. I am still soooo swollen, but muscle pain is a lot less intense and a little more predictable. I just found myself overdoing today because I felt better. I need to be careful not to do that!
I'll try and post some pics soon. It looks a lot less ghastly without the staples. But it's still pretty ugly.
Anyone try Bio Corneum for scar therapy? That's all my PS recommends.

Provider Review

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
950 South Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena, California
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I have an HMO and was referred to Dr. Cox by the regular surgeon- I was referred to by my GP- to repair my repeat hernia from the pregnancy... whew. So- my insurance covered the surgery, so technically, I didn't have a tummy tuck. But my PS assured me I would be getting as close as he could get! -----AND if u read my journal, you'll see that he didnt even get close. My muscle is repaired and I have an ugly muffin top over an ugly scar and pain and numbness still, 7 months later. He was great pre-op. post op he could care less. :-(