8 Weeks PO - photos uploaded

Post op Day 3 - wow can't believe I actually did it.

Arrived in Bangkok the day before my surgery and did some mad shopping for my kids b4 Surgery day. Checked into our hotel in downtown Bangkok and did the hour countdown.

Surgery day- got picked up by the hospital van at 8am for a 10am appointment. The hospital is only about 30mins away but due to the unpredictable Bangkok traffic they pick up well before time. I was overwhelmed when I got there. Not only being surgery day, but being in a foreign country where everything looks different, smells different, tastes different and you can't understand anybody...for the first time I got a bit nervous. Luckily I was assigned an interpreter to stay with me through out my pre op tests. Pre ops didn't go down smoothly. Throughout my life I've never been to hospital apart from having my two kids. Have always been healthy and never go to the doctor for any ailments. So I thought I'd breeze thru the pre op tests. Well apparently the EKG test was abnormal and I had an enlarged bottom half of my heart which was causing an irregular heartbeat and the nurse said there was a probability I would not be approved for surgery. I couldn't believe it. I had spent so much money already, and just sat thru a 9hour flight to get here and then to possibly go home with nothing. I couldn't believe it, I was soo upset. I was then sent to a cardiologist to do further tests and to cut a long story short she eventually approved me for surgery. But that hour of waiting to see if she would approve me was soo nerve-wracking.

Had the consult with my PS at 3pm and by 5pm I was rolled into surgery.

Luckily the doctor told me bout the shivers and spasms when you wake up from surgery or I would have freaked out thinking something was spastically wrong with me. I was shaking like crazy when I awoke, but I just kept telling myself it was normal, I'm ok, cos I don't remember anyone around me and I was still in the operating room. But eventually someone came and I was rolled up to my room about 10.30pm. That's so freaky when you go out like that and you wake up and so many hours have passed. Anyway, I was pretty out-of-it, had a short conversation with my ex who came with me for support and told him to message my family back home to tell them I'm ok, and then I was out for the night.

Day 1 post op - woke up that morning and felt pretty good. But I was still connected to the IV and morphine. Once they came in and turned that down it felt like I had been hit by a truck, and every wheel on that truck had rolled over me. I just couldn't believe that I could recover from soo much pain. Crazy thorts going thru my head thinking "yip, I'm probably that 1% that the doctor has stuffed up and I'm feeling 100 times more pain than other women. Surely all those women on here didn't go thru this much pain". I was just feeling sorry myself. Lol. Before the surgery I was more worried about the pain of the tummy tuck, but the worst pain was from my BA. I felt like I had a heavy truck on my chest, I could hardly breath and every muscle in my chest ached when I moved. So all I kept saying to myself is "just wait for day 4, every1 says the first 3 days totally suck". I didn't fully believe it myself cos of all the pain but I needed the hope. So Day 1, I just tried to sleep the day away. I hated it when the nurses kept coming in and reducing my morphine. Lol Didnt get much sleep that nite, wasn't really in pain but was just soo uncomfortable lying in that hospital bed that long. So whenever I woke up I just did some leg exercises or just moved my bed up and down. But day 1 really sucked!,

Day 2 post op- still feeling totally crap. Not being able to move because of the pain in my chest and being in that bed now for nearly 48hrs straight. The hospital advised they wanted me to stay there for 4 nights. Although I still have to stay in Bangkok for 2 more weeks for post op checks etc.. the hospital is more like a hotel. My room was huge, with a plasma tv, kitchen, lazy boy, couple of couches and a dining table. The nurses checked in on me every hour, taking my blood pressure, temperature, I had about 3 sponge baths on day 2 cos they kept asking me and I kept on saying yes. Lol. So the service was pretty awesome. Didn't really like the food menu, but my liaison said to just order anything I wanted and they would just go get it anyway. So I usually just ordered Maccas! Lol I didn't get nauseous or feeling like I wanted to vomit. And unfortunately my appetite had not changed a bit. Lol I wish it had tho, as I had gained 5kgs in about 4weeks once I stopped my smoking and alcohol intake. But I knew I had substituted food for cigarettes, I didn't care I just had to stop smoking or I wouldn't be able to do the surgery. But hopefully when I get home I'll have to watch what I eat so I don't gain anymore. So anyway day 2, they took the IV out, my drains, and my Cathetor out. This was it, now I had to get up and move no matter how sore I was if I wanted to go to the toilet. It was a struggle and so painful, but it felt really good. And I actually felt better when I eventually walked around. So day 2 was pretty boring, just watching tv and walking around my room most of the day.

Post op Day 3 - still in quite a bit of pain when I move, but I can get up and down and go to the toilet by myself. Although the lazyboy was my most comfortable seat in my room it took me nearly 15 mins to wiggle myself into position so that I could get out of it. I'm sure if someone were watching me they would have a good laugh at me do that. But today I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and actually feel when people in here say that you recover soo much in just 1 day. Although I was supposed to stay another nite I asked my doctor if I could go back to my hotel and I promised that would not go out and I would would just rest as if I was at the hospital. So yah!! He checked me out and I'm now writing this from my hotel room. I've taken a few photos tonite, but I believe I can't upload them on here from my iPad. And all I have is my iPad so I'll have to wait til I get to Australia before I upload them. As far as I can tell I'm pretty happy with the job. My tummy is super swollen. My pants are tighter to put on than they were b4 surgery. My doctor said I was swollen, but I added the Super hoping that my tummy will go down a massive amount!! Lol one boob is more swollen than the other, so I hope those will even out in time. Haven't really seen my stitches yet, as they are still covered with waterproof dressing so I can shower. Won't get to see his work until Wednesday when he takes the stitches out. But everything seems ok for now. Will check in tomorrow

Post op Day 4 - pretty uneventful day. Stayed in my hotel room all day and watched tv or read my book. Still sore when I attempt to get out of bed. Still walk pretty hunched over. But aren't experiencing most of the complaints ladies have had on here. Never have felt nauseous or dizzy, appetite hasn't changed, had a BM on post op day 2 and have been pretty regular since then, don't take my pain meds until I go to bed at nite and even then I probably don't think I need to, haven't had any moody blues yet. So all n all going pretty good. Tomorrow I think I will venture out for an hour and see how I go.