Tummy Tuck Muscle Repair Hernia Repair Age 55 Black Female, 5’5”, 151 lbs

Hello. I’m so glad that this is helpful and that is why I am posting this journey for this specific age range because I couldn’t find an exact match that was realistic to those very real circumstances. I just had the surgery on December 20 so as of today I’m 13 days postop. I’m careful to mention that I workout regularly prior to this for over a year and a half so it probably has made some major difference in my recuperating and maybe even my pain. I already had a high pain threshold so I don’t want to appear as if there was no pain but the only thing I honestly can say that had me almost crying was GAS!!! I did not finish all of my pain meds or muscle relaxers. I made sure to finish my anabiotics and I haven’t taken any pain medication since then but that does not mean there isn’t pain. It’s just pain that I can tolerate and go about my day. Right now in my recovery I’m very tight with this compression so I’ve been trying to massage my sides and back as much as I can even with the compression garment on. Yes I absolutely plan to use the massage because in talking with other people that I know personally, they recommend it for sure and this is too much of an investment to cut back on having the best outcome possible. I can feel some firmness from the liposuction. They recommend going back to work after two weeks and I am blessed that I have a job that I can work from home because there is absolutely no way that I would be able to sit at a desk for eight hours without being up probably six of them! I do get stiff if I sit too long and that’s like 45 minutes. I had my first follow-up appointment on post-op sixth day, December 26 and I’m not scheduled to go back until the end of the month on 30th of January. I do have to go back to have the drains removed this Friday if they reduce more tomorrow or it will be early next week. The drains are the most cumbersome part! I hope that answers your questions and if not just hit me back.

In my opinion, once over 50, we have the same concerns! Realistic recovery time was my biggest thing. We no longer have that 35 yr old snapback! I can't wait to get these drains out, insert site is itchy. My next anxious thing is healing the scar, reducing to the most unnoticeable scar possible. Oh, and I am itching to exercise! Also forgot to mention, I lost a couple of pounds, no appetite the first 3-4 days but I made myself eat soup for the ingestion of medication as I was on oxycodone/acetaminophen as well as a muscle relaxer with pain reliever. I also had some type of pain control done during the surgery that was to last about 72 hours. Not sure what it's called but that might be why I didn't have earth shattering pain. It was just hard to move, hard to cough or sneeze and basically hard to stand up straight. I did spend the night in the hospital and I knew that was the right decision. I actually almost fainted because I wanted to sit up in a chair, tired of the bed and sat there too long and had to call the nurses when I started seeing a few stars. Got to me in time to get me in the bed, cold compresses on my head and shoulders. Temp just shot up but quickly came down. I will tell anyone over 45 for sure, SPEND THE NIGHT, no matter how healthy you are. Over 50 female, you will have to be cleared by a heart doctor. Procedure was scheduled for 4.5 hours. That's a long time to be under! I had no complications per the doctor, totally text book. I give thanks to being in shape before undergoing this major surgery. Keep me posted, 57 is still the same age at this point, LOL. it's not like the difference between a 10 yr and a 12 yr old. Over 55, we're the same! Ask all questions, nothing off limits. You know your medical and health history! I have HBP, minimum prescription amount, very controlled. Let me know how your visit went.