The Final Countdown…this Journey Begins - Rockville, MD

I did my homework, researched the doctors, had my consultations, made my decision to put my dream in action, booked my date and paid for my procedure. That was the easy part. I have 6 more days before my surgery and the emotional roller coaster has begun. Anxious, nervous, excited, reluctant, hopeful.

I am a 49 year old mom of 2 great kids (23 & 19) and married to my best friend for the last 25 years. I really am blessed in many ways. My husband encouraged me to follow my dream and go get this done and stop sitting on the sideline wishing I had. So it is really one of the first big things I have ever done just for me.

I am still unsure if I should share with people that I am having a TT. I opened up to two of my girlfriends a few weeks ago and their reaction caught me by surprise. They were very negative and could not understand why I would want to do this at my age. They thought it was ridiculous, a huge risk and a waste of money. I feel very comfortable with my personal decision, but was wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar. To tell or not to tell…

Meanwhile I am doing my best to prepare and get ready for the big day. I know it will not be an easy recovery, but nothing ventured nothing gained. I know I am worth it and the end results will be wonderful.

More soon…

KimD

Well less than 48 hours from now I will be home and on the other side of this adventure. I have been cooking up a storm so my support team (hubby & son who is home from college) can stay nourished. I also made a big pot of low sodium chicken soup. I have picked up my post-op medicine, finishing up laundry and give the house a quick final cleaning.

Question to those who have gone through the recovery - did any of you do the massage therapy post op? Did it help with recovery at all or expedite getting your drains out? Did you use ice post op to help with swelling at all? Looking through my post op directions it doe not really say anything about this.

Any other suggestions on ways to support getting the drains out sooner rather than later or is it just a matter of letting things run their course?

So excited - feels like I am going to bust!

I am so excited and nervous and cannot believe in 2 hours I am heading for the surgery center. I can't wait to be on the other side of this journey and focused on healing, feeling better and achieving the results I have wanted for more than 20 years!!

Hope to check in tomorrow and let you know how I do. Praying that my doctor is the expert I have been hoping for and I am thrilled with the outcomes.

I have been hesitating to post "before pictures" as it is so incredibly embarrassing, but I want to celebrate the results - so here goes nothing. Humility be gone, here is me and all my BEFORE glory.

More soon on the flat side of this journey.

KimD

Well it has been 6 days and I seem to be getting the hang of all the contraptions, medicine schedules and drains. The first few days were a bit of a blur, but I am tapering off the pain pills and seems to be getting by better with Tylenol and Valium. I have not really had an appetite, but have been forcing myself to get a little jello and crackers down and at least one protein shake. That seems to help me to,erase the medicine pretty well.

The first 2 days I really needed help getting up and down to get to the bathroom, but the last few days I seem to be managing. I had my hubby take off all my contractions and help put fresh pads on from all of the drainage. That made me much more comfortable. A nice sponge bath bad he even helped me shave my arms and legs so I felt a little more human. The drain has not been too bad , really only getting about 20cc a day now so I am hopefuls it will come out on Wednesday at my post op,

My compression garment was really snug on the first 2 days, but is much more comfortable as some of the swelling is coming down. The bruising is really from the liposuction. My doctor was really clear that it will take 10-12 weeks before I really see the full effects of the procedure. I am resisting the urge to get on the scale and instead will just see how my clothes are fitting. Staying hydrated and laying low on day 6.

Well I have muscled through my first week and seeing progress each day. The bruising on my thighs are still pretty intense, but I was told to give that 2-3 weeks even with the the arnica. I had to was my compression garment last night so I switched over to some compression under armor shorts and T-shirt while that washed & dried and used my compression belt washed. I definitely need more of the large pads for all the weeping of the liposuction punctures and incisions spots. I will be so excited to get this darn drain out tomorrow it is only filling up about 15 cc all day so I can't imagine he will male me leave it in any longer. The idea of a real shower sounds delightful. My hubby did wash my hair in the sink yesterday - that helped for sure, but not the same as a real shower.

I will have my hubby take a new picture today to see any progress. The changes are definitely slow. Very curious on what my scar and belly button will look like. - it is still covered with the surgical gauze. I think I will be much more comfortable once the drain is out. Hope you are all doing well,

kimd

Had my first follow up yesterday and I thought my drains would come out since I was down to about 20cc a day. Well come to find out I actually had blood clots blocking the fluid from flowing out. So instead I had to have a HUGE needle poke in y tummy to drain off about 65cc if fluid. I did not actually feel the needle since my tummy is pretty numb but it is now very sore where they drained the fluid. I have to leave the drains in another 8 days and hopefully next week they will come out. Also was told I need to sleep more upright since this is probably contributing to the blood clots.

I also found out the heart burn I was getting is because I need to minimize my meal intake to less than 1 cup of food at a time. The doctor said this is really going to need to be a life. Change and not just a temporary one - guess it will help keep my figure looking cute.

On a positive note my belly button and scar are really straight, cute and low - so happy about that. The bruising on my thighs are still pretty intense but starting to see them slimming down. This has definitely been a more intense recovery that I expected, but I know I am healthy and can get through anything.

I did have doctor switch me to a milder pain med. the OxyContin basically wiped me out for 5-6 hours. Hoping the Vicodin will be a little more tolerable. How are the rest of my TT gals doing?

KimD