44 Long Awaited Tummy Tuck and MR with Lipo to Flanks, Upper Tummy and Outer Thighs - Royal Tunbridge Wells, GB

Hi everyone, this site is so amazing ! You beautiful ladies have given me the confidence to take that proverbial bull by the horns and just go for it !! I am 44 years old from the UK, I've had 5 children ... Now aged between 18 and 8....with weights ranging from my smallest (my first) who was 8lb 3oz ...3 weeks early ! And my heaviest (number 3) at 10lb 6oz who resulted in my first c section as he got well and truly stuck trying to come out face upwards .... The last 2 were also c section, so this poor belly has well and truly been stretched to the max. My muscles also need repairing.
I hate my belly, I hate the overhang, even in Spanx or the like, it's still obvious, now that the surgery is booked I find myself looking at those bodycon dresses and thinking ... Maybe one day I might actually wear one? :-P.

So I have been reading here like every day (it's my new obsession)and also other forums, and I made a list of surgeons that were near-ish that were getting lots of positive comments, and then narrowed them down doing my own research, and met with a couple and finally settled on Brent tanner at the spire in tunbridge wells, I think I knew I'd like him the best ... He has a YouTube video talking about tummy tucks and I really liked what he had to say. And he was just the same at the consultation, he was the only one who didn't make me feel rushed, he also doesn't charge for his initial consult. And as I'm 2 hours away from the hospital he wants me to stay in 4 nights, which I'm actually quite pleased about...I am worried about this first few days, the pain etc, it will be great to have the nurses on hand at the press of a button to administer anything I need :-) also having 5 kids at home I am actually looking forward to the rest and peace ???? so all booked for 9th November. Buying supplies already from the recommendations from you lovely lot, things like shower seat, wedge pillows, raised loo seat etc ...if I don't use them .... Never mind I'd rather be prepared, I've also employed a local carer/cleaner to come in every lunch time to stack dishwasher, load washing machine, change beds, generally tidy the whirlwind that is left once the kids have all gone out the door .... Just so that I don't feel guilty ...I can't bear mess and untidiness so I know I will find myself overdoing it while I'm alone during the day while hubby and kids are out. Talking of hubby he has been great, really supportive which helps a huge deal, although I think he's getting slightly bored of me talking about it allllll the time Lol

so I will post a couple of the dreaded 'before' pictures ....it's so funny to remember not to breath in, while I was taking them I had to remind myself, it's just second nature now. ????

well, I have to say what a difference a week makes. Up until now, I won't lie, I was thinking why the hell did I do this to my self? It is rather painful ....I think the actual tummy tuck on its own would have been a breeze, it's the muscle repair and lipo that have kicked my butt !

Today I feel like I've turned a corner, they say the first 7 days is the worse, it really is, feeling pretty good about the whole thing today, bruising is going, although I think I've been wearing my compression garment too loose as bruising has apeared above incision ... Is that normal? I haven't noticed that in anyone else's pictures?

Any way here are my 1 week pictures, obviously swollen still,but actually I'd be happy with it if it didn't get any flatter it's so much better than the over hang !

hey everyone, I'm now 2 weeks post op. Feeling slightly better every day, walking getting quicker, but disappointed I don't seem to have progressed much straighter, I was quite upright to start with so I thought I'd be properly upright within days, but muscles still feel so tight, when I feel in the centre just below my bra line it feels like a think tight/taught elastic band is at full stretch and it's so uncomfortable, I went out for the first time yesterday to a local pub for father in laws birthday lunch, I felt fine but the car journey wasn't fun, the roads in England (especially in the countryside where I am) are very bumpy with lots of pot holes ... So I don't feel up to driving myself yet even though my PS said I could drive at about 2 weeks if I felt I was able to do an emergency stop, so perhaps I'll give it one more week. I'm still sleeping on the recliner downstairs ... I can lay flat, and I can lay on my side and use my arms to lever myself upright once on my side but I can't move myself once I'm on my side...if that makes sense, but the recliner is leather so I kind of slide easily which is easier on the stomach muscles, I might try the bed again tonight and wear a satin slip which might help ? I'll let you know :-) I can't wait to sleep flat, I'm not a back sleeper at all.

I was a bit silly last week,I had a follow up appointment with the PS and he said that as I'd been seen by him every day up till day 4 post op, the next appointment was just a quick look to make sure everything was still going well so if I didn't feel like I needed to see him then it was ok not to go and I was to just make an appointment for the following week (this week) where he will definitely need to see me to look under the steri strips. So, it was my mums birthday, and friends wanted to pop over and make me and mum lunch, and my PS is about 2 hours away, and even though I was a little bit worried about the bruising above my incision I didn't go, so I 'think' the bruising is slightly better a week later, but not much. Nearly all the lipo bruising has almost gone, I guess I'm just a bit paranoid about getting a necrosis .... I don't think it looks typical of that....but I'm still a little worried. I started gently massaging it last night it feels quite hard underneath so perhaps there was a bleed under the skin after they took the drains out, one of them was really painful coming out, it got a bit stuck and really burned when it came away, so we'll see if the massaging helps. I see the PS In 3 days so we'll see what he says.

Sorry the new pictures aren't great...the lighting wasn't too good. I think I, slightly more swollen than I was last week. But not a great deal