Highly recommend - excited to continue to see improved results

I had very professional and pleasant experience with Dr. Vath & the Center for Cosmetic Surgery. I highly recommend his work. I had a tummy tuck at the beginning of March 2022. My initial consultation was on November 23, 2021 with the earliest surgery appointment available at the beginning of March 2022. The Center for Cosmetic Surgery has 2 locations. I opted for the Golden location which was clean comfortable.

My initial consultation with Dr. Vath was quick & straight forward. I was assigned with 2 patient coordinators to answer any questions and provide updates in between my consultation and surgery date. Each person I spoke with was pleasant and helpful. Carrie Masters was my patient counselor and she was a pleasure to work with. We communicated mostly through email but also spoke on the phone a few times and through text. She sent me a reminder before my surgery date with important information and we reviewed a list of things I’d need to do before surgery. We also spoke the day before surgery so all requirements were met to ensure went smoothly.

The day of surgery things moved pretty quickly. I felt very comfortable at the Golden office. I did choose to pay extra for the Exparel injection for pain which keeps the incision area numb for a little longer (about 24 hours after surgery).

I had my first post-op appointment with a nurse 7 days after surgery. At the post op appointment the nurse removed the dressing around my belly button and made sure my tummy tuck incision and belly button looked normal for the one week progression.

I am a healthy individual: I eat healthy, exercise almost daily and have an active lifestyle. Two of the most difficult parts of the surgery for me have been taking it easy and giving my my body time to heal. Since I’m used to being on the go I have had to accept that I have to be patient and go slow. Also, sleeping has been more of an inconvenience because I’m a side sleeper but it’s best to sleep on your back while recovering. I actually have an adjustable bed which has been very helpful but I still haven’t slept great for the last several weeks. The prescribed muscle relaxers have come in handy so that I am able to get a few hours of solid rest each night. I used the prescribed pain relievers for the first week but switched to Tylenol as soon as possible.

Overall, everything has gone according to plan and I feel my body healing more each week.I started walking around the house in the first 2 weeks as instructed. Now, I am walking twice a day for 30 minutes at a time. Still taking it slow and listening to my body. I am excited to continue to see improved results.

I'm feeling much better after week 4. I feel like my energy levels are returning to normal although I'm still not at 100%. I had a few days to think over my initial review and wanted to provide a little more detail.

My daughter said that she read that some individuals go through a short period of depression after surgery because of the time it takes to heal. After going through this surgery I have a better idea of what she means. Prior to surgery I lived a very active lifestyle - I do yoga and strength training at least 5 days a week, I hike often, play volleyball and golf year round.

After surgery, I slept as much as possible in the first two weeks. I followed my doctor's instructions and although I was sleeping a lot I still woke up every couple of hours to walk around. That's as much as I'd recommend in the first 2 weeks. I have allergies so I had to stay on top of that because sneezing hurts. I do not recommend sneezing or coughing and I know laughing is usually a good thing but laughing also hurts. Being in the car the first week was an adventure - not only was I slow getting in and out of the car but my body was sensitive to bumps and turns.
Daily activities became slow and intentional - things like showering and getting dressed took more time.

I was not able to workout in the first 2 weeks (walked around as much as I could though). I also continued to focus on my breathing and taking deep breaths to fill up and clear out my lungs multiple times a day. On week three post-op I started to implement more stretching: lifting my arms up and around, side to side. I noticed more swelling around the incision area on week 4 post-op. If I noticed more swelling I made sure to drink more water and get rest while elevating my legs.

Every day I lightly massage (very light) around my abdominal area just to feel around the area, for relief and sometimes it would help alleviate areas of pressure (or maybe gas). In week 4 I have started using very light weights (2lbs.) after my stretching. I have mostly just been working on body movements and getting comfortable feeling my body out during the healing process.

5 Week update with photos. My previous update has more description about the healing process over the last 5 weeks.

Swelling increased at around week 4 and mostly at night. I made sure to cut back on salt and drink plenty of water. The pressure from the swelling was pretty intense and uncomfortable. Using breathing techniques and staying relaxed really helped me during the entire process so far but especially with the swelling.