Flat tummy! I’ve noticed a huge difference

So I've been wanting a tummy tuck for over 16 years. I have 4 kids. My oldest is soon to be 17 and immediately after I had him I was in tears because my stomach was destroyed. I had to wait until I was done having kids to finally go through with the tummy tuck. I was actually referred to Dr. Angelos by a different plastic surgeon who did my lower Bleph. I heard great things about CAPS anyways, but had a hard time selecting a doctor.Dr. Angelos was my go to and the first time I met him, he was very engaging. He made me feel comfortable as we discussed all of our possible options. I originally went in for a consult for a complete Mommy makeover, but ultimately decided on the complete tummy tuck with 360 degree lipo to the lower flank and a diastasis repair for now. My diastasis was huge. Like over 4 inches wide. I was a pretty small frame before I had kids. I was 5'2" and weighed 105 pounds.Carrying babies was not my thing. I had no hips and always looked huge while pregnant. I'm now 145 pounds pre-surgery. Anywhoo I had my surgery fairly recent and I'm only 2.5 weeks post op. Leading up to my surgery his nurse Kelly was great at promptly answering any emails with any questions that I had. On the day of the surgery I was to go to OhioHealth outpatient surgery center.Everyone there was absolutely great. I mean absolutely no complaints at all. Dr. Angelos came in to talk to me prior and "marked" me up before heading back. He checked on me afterwards as well. I don't remember much as I was still pretty doped up. My first follow-up went great with him. He's very professional and seems very knowledgeable and has a good eye on what's best for his patients. I would definitely recommend Dr. Angelos and his team.Please follow my recovery period journal through this process. I'm still early on, but wanted to start posting pics for people that are on the fence or want to see how the recovery process is. There are typos as I did the journaling on my phone and sometimes while doped up, so I apologize in advance. All in all I'm already happy with how my belly is looking and am glad I did it. I've already lost several inches from my waist and can already feel my confidence boosting and can't wait to wear bikini's again!Day 2:Nausea has went away for the most part. It seems like I’m getting more mobile. Granted I haven’t much done walking. I live in a 5 level split and haven’t been up and down any steps. I just walk around my room and to the bathroom. It’s doesn’t last long becasue the muscle pain in my back starts butchering me from being hunched over and then my belly starts burning. It’s hard to get comfortable in bed.It’s hurts in my back and stomach of course from both the lipo and surgery itself. The main source of pain is higher up on my stomach from the diastasis repair. I haven’t taken the belly band off yet but I can least see results. People talk about swelling but I can’t tell really. My appetite hasn’t been that great. Really a lot of dry cereal and some hash browns from McDonald’s. I try to push water as much as I can. I’m finally passing gas but haven’t had a bowel movement yet which is what I’m afraid of.I’ve started col ace yesterday. I’m definitely gassy and have been taking Pepcid to get rid of some of the excess gas. Pain is about a 6 to 7. I actually felt better pain wise when I took excedrrin plus 2 Motrin. I had a really bad headache. Allergy season. I have 2 JP drains and the fluid hasn’t been bad at all and really easy to switch. I was once considering doing both boobs and belly together and am so glad I’ve waited. I use a lot of my arms to help move me and wouldn’t have been able to do that if I got my boobs done too.I think the pain may have been too much. I get to shower tomorrow! Yay! I can’t wait to give my belly a break from this belly band.Day 3: pain is about the same. Was able to shower which felt good. Tummy looks good. Some swelling is present. Was able to walk downstairs briefly. The problem isn’t walking its being constantly in a hunched position which puts Strain on your back and belly. Feels like muscle cramps is coming on in my back and it burns like fire with my stomach. Going to the bathroom is ok. I have to slowly squat and having drains is annoying. About the evening time... HELLO!Bring on the muscle contractions! It’s like doing sit-ups without doing anything! The pain isn’t bad but it’s definitely annoying and uncomfortable. Think Braxton Hicks without the uterine pain. Thankfully the doc ordered flexeril. Waiting the Med to kick in and have been drinking more water. I wasn’t very good at drinking. I should know better. Push the fluids people! Also....still waiting to poop!Day 7: I had my follow up appointment yesterday. Doc and nurse was surprised I was getting around so well. I do feel like my mobility is Good for the most part. Still have my moments though. Mainly it’s just these abdominal muscle contractions. It gets ridiculously tight and like rock hard. If you’ve been pregnant compare them to uterine contractions like 9 cm dilated but without the uterine pain. It just so uncomfortable to the point where it takes my breath away.And I can’t get comfortable at all. It’s like someone giving you a bear hug around your abdomen and back....yes it’s radiates to the lower back, plus add in the additional binder. Ugh sucks! Not everyone has them though. I have a girlfriend that had it done with the diastasis repair and never had them but I had another friend that did. Doc associated it with because my diastasis was over 5 inches and he really stitched them tight.Which is what I want, it just sucks. I ditched the flexeril because it doesn’t relieve the contractions at all. What helped was 1 Percocet with 2 Motrin. I only need the Percocet once maybe every 8 to 10 hours now and been controlling most of my pain with 600mg of Motrin. Plus I need to give my poor gut a break. I’ve hardly pooped despite the use of Colace. I even tried a glycerin suppository and hardly did anything. So annoying.Other than that stomach is looking good. I still have a lot of swelling, which doc assured me will dissipate with time. I got one drain removed and the other one will stay in for another week. I don’t have much drainage at all. My friend said the removal of her drain was a bitch but mine wasn't bad at all. I did feel it slide through my belly as the nurse was pulling it out. It felt gross.That sucker is really in there! Then I felt a cool sensation and what felt like bubbles. No pain though. So I guess one drain sits higher in the gut and one is lower. He removed the drain that’s sits higher. No pain for me there. I feel like I have relatively mild to mod pain tolerance. I mean I hate getting IV’s. One thing that’s weird too is that my stomach is really numb. I mean it feels fake because I can’t feel anything and it doesn’t look like my regular stomach.Maybe the numbness is helping the pain but all of that is normal. So in the beginning the I was constantly like oh shit what did I get myself into, but I will say that I like the way things are progressing and hopefully things continue to improve from here. So even if you’ve had c sections anticipate the pain to be worse.Like all over the stomach instead of a low lying incision it feels like you’ve been in a really bad physical fight and they’ve kicked you in the stomach multiple times. Plus I had lipo lower flank area 360 degrees, which I recommend for a more desired result. With that being said the holes hurt. So trying to get comfortable on my back is a bitch and my ass is bruised up and I have a hole right along my spine where I bed my back so leaning against things hurts! I’m going to raise. My hand to get lipo again unless it’s when I get my boobs done.2.5 WEEKS POST OP:Ok so I returned to work this last week. I didn’t really have to but i hate sitting still and feeling like I’m not productive. Probably shouldn’t have done that but I work from home and do no walking. I only worked about 4 hours. I will say that it gets uncomfortable sitting after awhile. My stomach tightens up big time and takes a sec to get it stretched out. Even when getting out of the car!My second drain was pulled at the middle of last week and it felt like heaven! Ever since the drains have been pulled I no longer have those Braxton Hicks like contractions. Makes me wonder if the drains were just irritating my abdominal muscles and it wanted the drains out! I actually started peeing out more afterward and felt like the swelling went down even More.Granted I’m still pretty swollen especially around my Pubic region and right under my belly button. I’m probably always going to have a mini pooch down there anyway because I have fibroids and my uterus is enlarged. I’m in desperate need of a hysterectomy.Anywhoo I’m still loving my new tummy. I actually can look down and don’t see my stomach sticking out. I just see boobs. By now I’m using scar gel on my Incision twice a day. I heard Silagen Silicone scar gel was really good so I purchased that for about $75 In addition to what the doctor gave me (SkinMedica Scar recovery Gel). I often alternate. It actually feels good because I feel like it makes the skin less tight and itchy around there.My soreness is less but it’s def still There at times, especially in the obliques. I’m completely off the Percocet but still have to rely on 2 ibuprofen with 1 Tylenol to help control pain. I get generalized body aches and fatigue (like I’m coming down with something) when I’ve done too much and the medicine is wearing off. It’s my body’s way of healing. It’s like it’s in overdrive. The same thing happened to me after every C-Section.At night it’s still hard getting comfortable but it’s been better. I’ve rounded up all the pillows and blankets in my house to get myself comfortable. Pillows in front of me and between my legs. Pillows under my back. It reminded me of being 9 months pregnant and trying everything to get comfortable, but this is basically to feel less pain. Like you don’t want to feel the burning sensation or too much pulling.I’ve been trying to stay mobilized. I went on a mini walk yesterday in my neighborhood. Like 7 houses down and back and walked back like a Grandma. I’m trying not to overdo the muscles but I want to get them loosened up. I still wear the annoying abdominal binder all day except when showering. I hate it. If I were you, I would have at least 2 so when one is in the wash then you are wearing the other one. I still had two other ones from a prior c-section. It’s annoying.I hate it mainly at night because I feel like it bunches up and pinches my skin. I even wear it over top of a tank top and it still does it. I do also recommend readjusting your binder throughout the day. I don’t have feeling in a lot of my abdomen and I get a lot of indentations in the skin that gets sore from my underwear pressing on my skin or my tank tops. I’ve noticed that every little seam in my underwear and tank top seems to leave an annoying indentation in my skin and it gets tender! A lot has to do with the swelling too.Finally, I noticed that my belly fills up quick when I’m eating. It doesn’t have much room to expand since my diastasis repair! I don’t push it at all. I wouldn’t mind losing more pounds and keeping my belly flat.My next appt with dr Angelos is in a couple of weeks so I’m sure he will do better photos than me. I don’t have the best angles since I’m trying to take a pic of my belly standing up and leaning forward! I’ve noticed a HUGE difference though. I just can’t wait to get passed this tightening of the belly and ditching this abdominal binder!

Mmmkay, long post for those that have nothing to do. So earlier this week everything was fine and dandy. Worked. Went on a few errands. Swelling was still there, but then noticed a lot of fluid had shifted into my pubic region. Like it looked like I had a FUPA or something! I was worried because it was along my incision line and I didn't want it to start separating the incision. Then I started feeling achiness in my hips and knees leading down both of my whole legs. Feeling slightly chilled. Feeling just off. I'm thinking hmmm, well I have endometriosis and I'm coming into my first period since my TT. It was getting worse and I found myself taking Motrin and Tylenol around the clock to mainly relieve the hip and leg achiness. 2 nights ago it was the worst night ever. Felt like I had the flu. Of course my unreliable digital thermometer said my temp was 96.9. I'm like no way. Didn't sleep at all. Was waiting for 4 Motrin and 2 Tylenol to do it's job. Yes, it was a lot, but I felt like crap. If it wasn't going to get me through the night, then my hubby was taking me to the ER. Fell asleep around 3am and woke up at 5am dripping in sweat. I'm like umm yeah I probably have an infection going on. But I felt way better. I emailed the nurse and worked from home for a couple of hours. I was like "man, whatever that was, I feel way better!" I went to the bathroom and I noticed that I had a little bit of blood on my shirt, and then a little on my underwear, and then a little bit on the gauze. I had on a small incision that was beginning to open around the swollen area that the gauze was on. Well I removed the gauze to change it and it was like a river of blood that exploded out of my stomach. It looked like a crime scene in my bathroom. I will spare you the gory photo that I sent to my Doctor. Ok so I will explain that I am in the medical field and I've done acute care for 15 years. I immediately thought...."that was fu**ing gross" and "that's why I was feeling like sh*t." So I didn't bleed profusely and I'm still around telling this story. It was like if you had a big pimple and you popped it with all of that lovely fluid inside. It was like that, but waaaay bigger and more disgusting. Anywhoo, my lovely doctor saw me within like 2 hours. I discovered that I had a refill on my prophylactic antibiotic that I never knew about. Whoopsie! So he described this blood sac as a seroma, but I was under the impression that a seroma's fluid is clear. This just seemed like a pocket of blood. But hey, I learn something new everyday. They cultured the site. Tried to drain more of the crap out, but that wasn't before the Doc had to cut my incision a little open. (That was real fun, let me tell ya!) After he cleaned me up, he gave me a revised lesson on what it's like to do wound care and yes I mean packing my wound twice a day with Idoform. Gross yes, but it's so important to let the skin heal from the inside out. (Can I stay out of the OR please???) This has to work or I'm going back under to fix this puppy. On top of that I have a small area that looks like a "white patch" on my right side along my incision. (Lord Jesus anything else???) So he cleaned that up and told me to apply Neosporin at least three times a day to the area. I also had the end of my incision become irritated because of the dumb dissolvable suture. (My body hates those.) He removed that and my skin likes it without it. I also have to apply Neosporin to that area. This all happened yesterday and I will tell you that today I feel like a million bucks since that fluid came out. No more body aches! He started me on Doxy and Cipro, but once my cultures came back, he discontinued the Cipro. Gram Positive Cocci was my fun bacteria. We all have it, but don't let it get inside open wounds and have a party in there. Now I hope I didn't scare anyone : ) If you are considering a full TT, just keep in mind that is surgery is no walk in the park even if you had c-sections. I've had 4! I had complications with my second c-section. There's a risk for everything. One thing is just knowing your body and keeping an eye on your incision. The next thing is having a doctor that will address any concerns quickly and not put you off. I'm so very please by the nurses and Dr. Angelos for communicating with me and attending to my needs so quickly. I even had the nurse call me today to update me on my Blood Culture and go over any questions that I had. I'm so very appreciative of Dr. Angelos and his team. I'm hoping I can heal through this process quickly! It's driving me a nuts! Where's the easy button????

On a side note. My tummy looks pretty good LOL. Swelling is still there, but its taking shape. I left some fun photos including my bandaged tummy. Enjoy! Hopefully I come back with better news!

Aside from having to still pack this wound with Iodoform, I feel great! It’s annoying and a bit of a setback, but I’m getting through it. The hole is like the size of 2 pencil erasers. He had to cut the incision open slightly. The wound is more hollow from the swelling as opposed to deep. I’m praying it will close up in a month! I’m going on vacay soon! The other "white spot" is nearly healed now. I still apply Neosporin to it with gauze. From the pictures I seem pretty bandaged up, but I'm wearing a big ABD pad because I still ooze blood from the packing wound. (Yes it's gross and I'm over it). I'm following up at Dr. Angelos’ office every week to keep an eye on this wound. I'm still on antibiotics. My stomach is looking good and everything else seems to be healing well, with no more issues thus far (praying it stays that way). I still have muscle tightness especially if I’ve been sitting for a while. It’s not nearly as bad and I don’t find myself hunched over like an old lady. I'm still wearing my binder religiously. I purchased spanx and of course it makes me look awesome in clothes, without the bulkiness of the binder, but my binder is giving me more of the tightness that I want for now. I hate wearing it, but I want my stomach to stay tight while the Muscles are healing. I still have some swelling, but it’s looking better everyday. I purchased by first bikini since I had kids! I can’t wait to see what it looks like on!