Modified Abdominoplasty with Hernia Repair - Texas
Lost my bikini body in 1988 when I gave birth to...
Lost my bikini body in 1988 when I gave birth to an 11# bouncing baby boy and have been trying since then to get it back. My son was delivered by an emergency C-Section after 16 hours of hard labor without pain meds. I have since had numerous abdominal surgeries (cholecystectomy, myectomy, hysterectomy and a unilateral oopherectomy) and have nicknamed my stomach "Frankenbelly" due to the numerous scars, stretch marks and deformities.
Since my son is over 20 years old I cannot call it "baby fat" anymore and have spent the past year dieting and exercising away 70 lbs. Technically I am the same size I was pre-pregnancy, but I look nothing like that young naive girl that I once was! I am hoping that the hot little mama that used to wear the skimpiest of clothing is under all this loose skin just waiting get excavated and brought back to life!
I also have a 6.0 incisional hernia resulting from the unilateral oopherectomy which has become larger with the weight loss and has recently started causing a lot of pain, mostly when I sneeze, cough or laugh hard, but have also started to experience a lot of nausea and vomitting after eating full meals and have found myself snacking or eating much smaller meals to avoid this feeling.
Since the surgery is medically necessary it has taken a lot of the anxiety out of the picture for me.
Replies (9)

Dr. Horndeski answered a question I posted and the information he gave me made me feel he would be the one to do my work. I have had hernia repair and I think I need another one, so the fact that the DR specialize in this made me hopeful. Then I read your post and now I am excited. Do they help with financing? Is there any advice you can give? I am going to call him I just wanted a heads up on what to expect.
nervous,excited,scared,and hopeful all at once
thanks!!!!


I haven't experienced too much pain and definitely rate this better than any of my past abdominal surgeries. I haven't even had a need for any of the prescribed narcotics since about 2-3 days post op and have been managing fine with Tylenol. I am still experiencing swelling of the lower abdomen and pubis but know that this will subside in a couple more weeks. So far I rate the experience far better than expected and am glad that I opted for doing everything at the same time. I also cannot say enough wonderful things about Dr. Horndeski and his staff, they have been awesome and I definitely plan on having him perform my breast lift. I would have done it at the same time but since we knew my abdominal surgery was going to take about 5-6 hours he didn't want to risk me being under for the additional 4 hours. Thanks for sending good thoughts my way...I truly appreciate them!
10/10/11 - not quite 2 weeks post-op and feeling...
The only discomfort that I have experienced has been the pulling of the internal mesh girdle. It causes slight discomfort in the groin and along my right hip, I know once I lose more weight this will cease and has let up greatly the past week.
I have not had serious pain since 2 days post op and noticed that once I became more ambulatory the pain subsided immensely. Still growing accustomed to seeing my stomach sans belly button! The hernia was over 3" in length and in close proximity to my belly button. The decision was made to not cut through the mesh to pull the belly button through until after the repair has had time to thoroughly heal. Hopefully I will have a belly button before next bikini season! In the interim it is nice not having that massive bump sticking up out of my abdomen and I still have to perform a double take when I walk past mirrors, I don't recognize myself!
I will have my husband help me take a 2 week post op photo to update my file.
Replies (0)
Two weeks and 1 day post op and feeling great. ...
Will post some updated pictures by this weekend.
Replies (3)

Welcome to RealSelf!
Wow that was one big baby...OUCH! Your poor tummy has been through the battle field and back.
Congratulations on the weight loss; that's wonderful. I am sure your doctor will fix you right up and you will get the pretty little tummy you have been wanting.
Keep us up to date on how you are doing. I will be watching for your updates.