Time For A Tummy Tuck! - San Francisco, CA

It's now been 4 months since my TT and I couldn't be happier with the results! I'm completely back to my work out routine and "normal" life. I do strength training (boot camp / HIIT style classes) 3 days a week and I do Spin 2 - 3 days a week. Also maintaining a healthy diet (which I was doing well before my procedure). My stomach is still really tight, which initially made me nervous about working out. At my last post op appt. Dr. B reassured me that I'm healing fine and had no restrictions with working out. Overall I have no pain, just a little discomfort when doing ab workouts. The only thing is that at the end of the day I still have a significant amount of swelling (especially after a work out). Mornings are always super flat. For Scar treatment I used Embrace for 8 weeks. The first couple applications I went to PS. After checking out the Embrace website I realized that it was substantially cheaper to order direct. They cost about $100 per box and you need 7 boxes to last the 8 weeks. I had a friend apply the strips for me and it was fairly easy. My skin has the tendency to keloid so for me the cost was well worth it. My doctor tells me that I'm still not 100% out of the red zone for developing a keloid, so I'm still massaging the scar daily (using bio oil) and applying a regular silicone tape every other day on the scar (get it from Amazon). I also just start using a skin lightening cream 2x a day on the scar. My PS gave me a prescription and it cost $40 a bottle. Aside from the darkness of the scar I'm really happy with how low and flat it is. Hoping that time and the cream will help it to fade more.

Not too much has changed since my last update. Bloating is really bad and night!! I completely understand "swell hell". I started using Embrace scar treatment at the recommendation of my surgeon and I'm now on week 2 of the strips. Has anyone else used these? I'll post scar pictures at my week 6 update. I basically go to my surgeons office every 12 days and get new strips applied. They have a hefty price tag, so really hoping these things work!

Still sleeping in the recliner the majority of the time just because it's more comfortable, but I occasionally hop in the bed. It's still a little uncomfortable to sleep on my sides which is why I prefer the recliner.

Overall I'm still really happy with my results. I've slowly been more active and plan to kick my work outs up a bit starting next week. My doctor cleared me to work out for max 30 minutes of cardio. My first day back on the stationary bike and I thought I would die! But it's definitely starting to get more comfortable / easier.

Tomorrow makes 4 weeks since my TT, MR, Lipo of Flanks. So far I'm extremely happy with my results. The first week was brutal, week 2 was easier. I honestly didn't feel "real" relief until Week 3.

I started back to work 3-weeks post op. There's still a lot of swelling! I completely understand "swell hell" now. Mornings are fine, but by the evening there's a ton of swelling above my incision (below the belly button). I got my period last week which made the swelling even worst! I stopped wearing the compression garment during the day after week 3, but I still sleep in it at night. Next week I'm going to start wearing Spanx to work during the day to help with my posture. I'm cleared to start like workouts (cardio) next week for 30 minutes.