Tummy Tuck - A 30 Year Old Woman's Personal Story (w/ Video)

A little about me: I'm a 30 year old married mother to one. I live in Toronto, Canada and I'm an entrepreneur/domestic engineer. In 2004 I became pregnant with my son and had a wonderful pregnancy. Somehow unbeknownst to me during the nine months I gained 100lbs and went from a 27" waist to a 56" waist. Totally in denial that I was gaining weight, and too much! My weight skyrocketed from a slim 160lbs to 260lbs and although I am 5'10 in height and carried it somewhat well, the damage done to my tummy was horrendous. Over the next few years I managed to naturally bring my weight back down to the 160 - 170 range through exercise and diet that consisted of mostly natural and clean eating, portion control, lean protein sources, complex carbs, fruits, veggies and good fats. Once I reached my personally acceptable weight, a size 8 in clothing, I never felt as though I accomplished anything spectacular physically because I carried these "tires" around my belly and no matter how much work I did, nothing helped my mid-section. Psychologically it was a barrier for me, in terms of overall happiness and self-appreciation. So, began the begging and pleading for a new tummy. It took about a year of convincing both myself and my partner that this procedure was the right thing for me. We both knew that I would never be happy with the baggage I carried in my midsection, and I wanted to be rewarded for my hard work and success at weight loss. I wanted my outside to reflect my lifestyle and my discipline. I was tired of feeling insecure that people were judging me because of the bulge. I went on a few consultations with various doctors in my local area and through research found a doctor who was a resident surgeon at a local hospital here whom I used for scar revision surgery a few years back. Through my research, his name came up as one of Toronto's best and I saw that he was practicing in a medical spa and was an assistant Professor at the University I couldn't help but feel that it was meant to be, so to speak. On January 22nd, off I went for the consultation, he, my husband and I spent a little over an hour together going through the nitty-gritty of the procedure and what to expect in terms of what I would look like etc, and by the end of it all, I was booking the biggest procedure of my life for February 26, and walked away from his office truly on cloud nine. I was ecstatic and called everyone I knew close to me to share my good news. Spent the next month in ecstasy, terror, anxiety, elation, panic and pretty much every other emotion under the sun. Decided to make a video blog and written blog to capture it all, and I also joined a forum, in my opinion the best resource for women seeking a tummy tuck or various forms of plastic surgery. The women on this group helped me beyond words, through my ups and downs, pre and post op. Looking back now, still an active member, the gals have become like family to me. My procedure was a cinch, again, no pun intended there. I spent the night in their spa, was on morphine and then percs and was in love with the world. The next few days are a bit of a haze and by day 9 I believe post Op I was free of pain medication and doing amazing. I am now exactly 4 weeks post op and completely back to normal in terms of my usual activities. I am working out daily ( lower intensity and no core work), I am happy, energetic, excited about my new tummy and so happy that I did this for me! I don't have "cons" so to speak, I guess the only thing that bogs me down is the fact that my lower body has swelled beyond recognition, and at four weeks I have yet to see relief to this. I went from a medium pant size, or size 8 here in Canada to an XL/Size 14. In my head it is hard to swallow, and at times it really gets me down. Sometimes I feel as though the universe is playing a cruel joke on me. Then the rational me snaps back and says, its temporary and will pass. My lymphatic system is severed, my body is healing from a major trauma, I must be kind to it, even in my mind. Other than that, this has been a great experience for me, and I am grateful and thankful that my results have turned out the way that they have. I feel blessed to have found a Surgeon that in my opinion put my end results and desires above anything else and worked really hard to make me look exactly how I envisioned it in my head. In terms of my procedure, I had a full tummy tuck with over 1.5 hours of muscle repair, from my understanding I had about an inch of muscle separation and he sewed them close to 4 inches together ( I hope I am articulating this correctly). He also removed about 400 cc's of fat from my flanks. My incision barely had a scab on it. It as if he sewed me from the inside out. The pain was very manageable and seemed to only worsen in the morning after a long night sleep. The only thing I was not prepared for was how debilitating it was going to be in terms of strength and mobility. I felt at times as if I was operating at 10% body capacity, but each week I got stronger and stronger until one day, last week some time I woke up and felt "gee I really feel like me again". Would I do this procedure again? Absolutely, the transformation this has had on my soul is priceless!