Totally Worth It, but Find the Right Doc!

I had my lower abs done, that little pocket of fat just below my belly button. I have a 23% body fat, so I wasn't overweight, but it was definitely a localized deposit. After being unhappy/obsessive with that one part of my body for years, I decided to have it fixed. Not to mention, more than one time I'd been asked if I was newly pregnant due to the awkward location of the fat deposit. I couldn't wear fitted dresses or low cut jeans because I literally had this pooch that stuck out. The clinic I saw was excellent. It wasn't a fancy spa but a real doctors office, which is how I recommend you go about it. I was heavily bruised and looked like I had been beaten up in a bar for a couple days. I took off work the day of it, and work a 5 hour shift the next day. I bought a slimming body garment (like the spanx, but not) that was an all-tummy trimmer for about $17. My nurse said it was better than the medical ones! The bruising and swelling was bad for about a week (i felt like a stuffed sausage) but it wasn't bad after that. It wasn't like I couldn't drive or go to the restroom or anything. I took pictures and notes every day for 2 weeks to chronicle what I went through to share with a friend who was considering it. The first day all you do is lay around and sleep on your back. I was drugged a little and bloated from all the lidocaine but it's not searing or unbearable. It's uncomfortable to bend over, say, to tie your shoes. And you get weird numb patches on your stomach for awhile until the nerves grow back. That is still a strange sensation, but after 3 months it went away. I was able to work out again after 3 weeks. After 5-6 weeks I'd say I hit a point where it felt normal and I didn't get a "pulling" sensation if i twisted too hard (sometimes it felt like i pulled a stitch for a millisecond during a gym class), and after 2 months I had fully recovered. At 3 months I decided I needed a touch-up due to a ridge that had developed--a lot of fat removed from my lower stomach and not enough as the tube tapered up--but it was easily fixed. It was significantly easier the second time, much less swelling. After one week, felt just fine, no swelling, minor yellow bruising.