I'm 31 with a husband & 2 kids(3 & 4). I've always been active & healthy since my mom passed when I was 23 of a massive heart attack I didn't want the same fate for myself & didn't want to put my family through that heart break. After I had my daughter she was 2 months old, my son wasn't even 2 we found out my mother in law was loosing her battle to leukemia. I spent the next 3 months unexpectedly alone running a house & raising 2 little ones along with full time breast feeding while my husband stayed by his moms side, I went into post pardon & gained 30 pounds in about 6 months. I turned 30 & was sick of letting myself go when I had never been like that before. I started small doing any work out I could around the house whenever I had any extra time, I lost 16 pounds in 2 months & started running after that loosing another 5 pounds in a month. I then did Insanity with Shaun T.& lost the last 10 pounds in 2 months! I now am a size 5 & dedicate at least 30 minutes a day to bust my booty & stay trim, but as small as I am pregnancy & the drastic weight gain killed my belly so my husband is rewarding me with a belly makeover! I go in October 3rd & am so excited!!!
Revision planning time/Busting my Booty & Getting Rewarded! - Riverside, CA
One Week Away!
My tt is one week away & I am stoked! Eating super good & fitting in some extra exercises through the day on top of my normal morning videos trying to make my body as strong as possible for recovery. I go for my pre-op tomorrow & have a small list of questions, but don't want to leave anything out. Any tips ladies?
Tomorrows the Big Day
Well tomorrow is my big day & I'm just now getting nervous. How will my scar sit, how will both myself & my kids do with not being able to hold them (especially my 3 year old), will I be happy enough with the out come! I've always known this would be the route I'd take my belly has always been a very hard area for me & taken lots of work even as a teen, I once thought I'd need a breast reduction & lift I was a D to DD by the time I was 16, but breast feeding both kids for so long actually really improved my boobies I'm a perfect 34C with not enough sag to be unhappy or complain about! I'm going to keep myself very busy today & will be dropping my kids off for their 1st 2 nights away from me ever! ????????????
Feeling so everything today!!!
Feeling so everything today!!!
Post op day 1
Just came back from my post appointment & everything looks good. I'm feeling ok just sore & tired, but as long as I follow all the Drs instructions hopefully I keep feeling pretty good. Icing my belly, walking around for 5 minutes every hour, & getting rest! I'll probably post pics tomorrow after I take my pain pump out.
Day 2 post op
Still puffy & swollen, but overall feeling good also went poop & showered this morning!
5 days PO
Just left my PS office to have my left drain unclogged. I was hoping to have it removed, but am ok with having to wait. Luckily I took a pain pill in preparation not knowing what to expect because he had to mess with the drain tube & put pressure around the left side of my belly to release the blood clot. Everything looks good & he gave me 2 new CG in a smaller size that should help with reducing swelling! I'be been really good about my food consumption since the surgery which says a lot since I started my period the following day, but today I'm going back to my clean eating diet that I've been on for 90% of the last year & a half! I'm still feeling really good, but having a harder time sleeping @ night & staying comfy. I'm for sure taking some new pics later & posting. I think that's everything happy healing everyone!
Day 5 pic
My only chance for pictures during the week is in the evening so my husband can help me with my CG. I'm still quite swollen, but see improvement each day.
Things that can hard
So I'm 12 days PO & have been on my own the last 2 days with the house to run & the kids to care for. It's HARD! The 1st week & a half was a breeze other than the clogs to my drains, but now it's next to impossible to get the rest I need. My drain sites hurt so bad & because of a 3 day weekend & surgeries I can't see my surgeon when I want since it's really not an emergency, but to top off my feelings of emotion & pain my scar which looks amazing is starting to sting! I just don't know what to do!!!
2 weeks down!
Today marks 2 weeks for me & I'm feeling great, my right drain has been removed & my left has stopped being painful & is thankfully slowing down. I'm still sleeping on my recliner couch it's the only place I feel comfortable & it keeps me from to much movement when I sleep, the funny thing is my 4 year old son now sneaks out at night to come & join me. I've started walking about a mile at a time this week & doing my normal driving routine. House work is another story I'm sticking to just dishes & laundry & turning a blind eye to everything else because the 2 days I did try I hurt to much & broke down something that is not normal for me. I keep dinners super easy & my hubby helps with it. I can now shower all on my own now & my Dr gave me the ok to start giving my kids their bath. I'm still swollen, but am so happy with what I see each day, I started infusing my water & it has showed drastic improvement for me plus everyone in my house loves it. I've changed my eating around 3 different times to try & see what works best for me to reduce swelling through the day. I think that's all hope this helps someone if you have any questions ask away I'm an open book!
20 days PO
So everything seems to be going well aside from the God awful swelling. I'm back to full responsibilities with the hubby, kids, & house ps: they are way spoiled by all I do for them! Lol I'm sleeping on my back in my bed after having to take an emergency trip to my Dr Sunday to have my last drain removed it was causing unbearable pain! At this point I'm really just desperate to get the ok to get back into working out once that happens ill be so happy! Ill be taking & posting pics after my shower today.
I've turned into a downer
I'm 4 weeks today & am less than thrilled than my TT recovery. I've never had an issue with the pain & to be quite honest I wish I had the pain other than the constant speed bumps that I've run into cause at least you can mask the pain with the pills. My left drain constantly clogged & then turned into unbearable pain luckily at that point it was ready to be removed after that everything was looking up for a week my swelling was getting a little better I started doing brisk walks with small weights & keeping up around the house I was exhausted, but I felt good. Well Sunday due to family issues the good feelings left Monday I noticed a small red mark under the left side of my incision & by early Tuesday afternoon it started to lightly drain I called my PS office & they said keep it clean & put ointment & a bandaid on it till my appt Friday it should be fine. I was not comfortable with that response so Wednesday morning I got my kids & showed up at his office, thank God I did one look& I was prescribed antibiotics to beat off what looks to be the beginning if an infection!!! My kids are 3 & 4 my son turns 5 next week & is having a big party this weekend there is no slowing down for me. I thought at this point the worst be be behind me & I would be back to my normal life catering to my family & I am doing it all, but the choice of this surgery weighs so hard on me I really wish I had waited if not skipped on having the surgery all together at this point! Sorry, but I take great care of myself & am a good person I really don't understand why I'm being tested this way.
5 weeks today
A week makes a difference I had to take the reigns & create my own balance. I'm me for the most part again, I got through my sons 5th birthday party & am trying to get a handle on the family issues that got slammed on us. I have some discomfort in the evening sometimes, but the draining on my left side had stopped thankfully. Tuesday I started a regular workout routine it was very necessary for my mental health if I didn't start getting back into something I was going to go into a depression so now I'm doing 30 minutes of brisk walking with wrist & ankle weights & 30 minutes of low weight arm workouts throughout the day. My old pants fit again & my shirts are all big, but not ridiculously I can still wear them. My swelling is uneven my right side is smaller than my left its all just going to take time. I'm a very busy housewife so I'm pretty swollen in the evening, but 30 minutes of icing does help considerably! Hope this is helpful to some people anyone whose about to go through this just remember its a very up & down journey for me it feels like all my emotions have been amplified!
Pic taken @ 33 days
For some people interested I really swelled bad I was bigger after surgery for a good month than before good thing I had saved some of my bigger clothes from my weight loss journey.
6 wk appt
Just came from my 6 week appt & have decided that this process was way more than I bargained for. I had already planned on telling my Dr that now that the swelling was down I felt my skin was looser than I thought it would be, but as soon as he saw my stomach before I said anything he said I would need to go back under for a revision, another couple of inches of skin!!! Definitely not something I had planned on. I am doing it even though I have had a less than happy recovery & this really is the cherry on top of this experience because I want what I've already paid for & signedd on for at this point.
The bright side no more girdles, spanx, or CG's necessary & I've been cleared to go back to a regular workout routine which makes me really happy cause I miss squats to be honest!
Posting some pics with description sorry if I mess up on the order of descriptions.
The bright side no more girdles, spanx, or CG's necessary & I've been cleared to go back to a regular workout routine which makes me really happy cause I miss squats to be honest!
Posting some pics with description sorry if I mess up on the order of descriptions.
It's Monday Nov. 18th, lets do this again
Got my revision scheduled for Feb 27th 2014. Not sure about the final cost yet I should hopefully be getting an email later. I was told that a drain is a strong possibility because lipo may be needed again since my tummy wasn't pulled tight enough weight gain in the area is common. Just keeping with a healthy living diet & keep my body as strong as possible again!
9 weeks
Saw my dr today to make sure the unevenness in my belly wasn't residual fluid built up; it wasn't. I swear he looked at me & wanted to scratch his eyebrow! He asked if I had twins & when I said no he asked how much weight I gained in pregnancy he was blown away by response of 25 & 30 pounds very normal pregnancy weights to be so badly stretched in the abdomen. He's going to be trying a new type of surgery style for the revision & on the plus I definitely won't need lipo just skin removal. Love being back to a full workout routine & just waiting for February to finally get my desired results!
Revision Pre-op
My pre-op appt for my revision is today. I'm ready to go at this again, but hope everything turns out as it should this time. I'm 4.5 months PO and completely fine in day to day duties except for some crazy itching. I workout hard either running, doing weights, or Insanity videos sometimes mixing in T25 depending on what I'm in the mood for.
I have a few questions, but not to many for today like how far back he'll be cutting this time, if I can get just a high dosage of Ibuprofen this time I didn't like the Vicaden and why he doesn't have me use the special soap or do the bowel cleanse like other doctors. My surgery is set for next Thursday the 27th.
I have a few questions, but not to many for today like how far back he'll be cutting this time, if I can get just a high dosage of Ibuprofen this time I didn't like the Vicaden and why he doesn't have me use the special soap or do the bowel cleanse like other doctors. My surgery is set for next Thursday the 27th.
2 days PO revision
I had my revision 2 days ago & boy what a difference I can see even with the swelling! I'm way stiffer & hunched over quite a bit this time around. My Dr had to cut into my lower back this time to fix the "dog ears" & lipo'd 2 pounds of fat from my sides! The drainage is way less this time with the new style of surgery he did so that's a big bonus! I took pics from the day before my surgery & pics this morning I'll be posting both.
1 week 1 day PO FROM revision
8 days today & feeling pretty good. Still hunched & I get sore easy with some back pain, but I'll gladly take it I'm so thrilled with my results this time around! I had both drains removed on day 6 I wanted to do a back flip I was so excited! Got my period at day 7 so I'm miserable with cramps & bloating on top of swelling.
2 weeks PO from revision
This recovery was a walk in the park compared to the 1st time around, but I'd say I've earned that! Saw my Dr yesterday & everything looks great there was no fluid build up which made us both happy & I got cleared to start working out. I'm going riding in the desert this weekend so I'll start fresh Monday! My left side has random intense burning & my scars that lay on my back can become very irritated, but it all fades a bit each day. One big thing is the turmeric really really does help I wasn't taking it & noticed a lot of swelling all over my body once I got it into my system the difference was instant! Now I don't go back to my Dr for a month!
24 days PO
24 days today & doing pretty great! I'm having a way different recovery process this time as far as discomfort, but thankfully no speed bumps. I started working out last Monday (day 18) & it feels great I've actually lost 2 lbs!
6 wks 4 days after revision
I'm doing overall well. I'm on a great workout routine & seeing change, the revision really helped in motivating myself to look at what I wanted in my body & start really trying to get it. My eating is crazy healthy pretty much just shakes & salads with a glass of wine as a treat. My scar had been giving me some issues I had a couple of festered sutures that weren't healing so last night I tried a DIY detox bath & today they are 100% better it seems also my scar sits a bit higher than I'd like, but at this point it is what it is. I like my dr, but no I would not use him again or recommend him.
3 months PO from revision
Not much to report overall my results are great. My scar sits kind of high & I have a small dog ear on my left side, but I'm hoping over time with hard work it will diminish. I'm doing the 21 day fix program & Insanity every day to make sure I'm pushing my body as hard as I can & I'm seeing the results I want. I'm not loosing weight I stay between 123 & 127 no matter what, but I'm still loosing inches & toning so I don't worry over it. This whole experience wasn't what I expected so it's put me off to surgery that's for sure, but thankfully I'm happy with my body now that my belly is fixed & have no desire to mess with anything else. Hope someone finds this helpful happy healing & good luck!
6 months PO from revision
I had my revision just over 6 months ago & am thrilled with my results. Saw my surgeon about 2 weeks ago cause I've been experiencing some painful cramping in my core where you could actually see the muscles contract from the spasms, I could compare it to the 1st stages of labor. He said it's regular just my fixed muscles adjusting to my workout routine & just give it time. I've lost 2 more pounds since surgery & been more motivated than ever in pushing myself through workouts to make everything as happy as my belly! I see a lot of people posting is the tight belly still a normal feeling at the end of the day & I'm like that quite often I never worry about it. Feel free to ask questions I'm not shy.
Really liked him the instant I met him & so excited to see how he transforms my mid-section!
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